Trucking

FreightWaves SONAR has launched the Index-Linked Contracts solution to help shippers and carriers get consistent service and volumes.

Partnering with Relay for digital fuel payments — and utilizing its integration through Amous — has completely eliminated fuel theft for PURE, saving the company an average of $10,000-$15,000 per month.

Negotiations between the Teamsters union and Yellow Corp. remain ongoing, with the fate of the nation’s third-largest LTL carrier hanging in the balance. Yellow is facing stiff resistance from the Teamsters over proposed operational changes that would consolidate operations between purchased regional carriers New Penn and Holland and integrate them into Yellow’s nationwide network.

By making integrations accessible and affordable, Bitfreighter enables brokers to enter into the once-dreaded “EDI conversation” with shippers on the front end, using connectivity as a selling point.

Daylight recently opened the first LEED-certified trucking facility in Texas, proving its continued commitment to both sustainability and the people of the Lone Star State.

Authorities arrested four Mexican nationals in connection with the deaths of 53 migrants found abandoned last year in a locked tractor-trailer.

AI is helping the logistics industry solve a massive coordination problem to establish transportation reliability and save shippers, carriers, and brokers a serious amount of time and money.

Supply chain-focused startups Cart.com, Nuvocargo and CargoBot recently secured a combined $102 million in venture capital.

Mexico-based transporter Traxion has acquired Las Vegas-based BBA Logistics for $10 million.

Criminals looking to steal high-value cargo are attracted to the vulnerabilities associated with international border crossings.

FreightWaves’ Future of Supply Chain rapid-fire demo best-in-show winners include Ryder, Trucker Tools, Truckstop and Turvo.

The marketplace is at its most fragile when rates plummet and virtually every carrier is scouting out opportunities to earn more. Unfortunately, many of the “too good to be true” rates carriers come across in a precarious market are just that: not true.

FreightWaves’ Innovation Alley at the Future of Supply Chain event featured FreightTech demos from Ezlogz and Bridgestone Mobility Solutions/Azuga.

Consulting firm Kearney recently released its 34th annual Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) report, “State of Logistics 2023: The Great Reset.” A major theme of the report is the great rebalancing from the carrier-dominated market of the past two years to a shipper-focused one as freight volumes fell against a backdrop of higher truckload capacity. The report notes that total U.S. logistics costs rose 19.6% in 2022 to a record $2.3 trillion or 9.1% of U.S. gross domestic product.

This week in Borderlands: Exports of Mexican-built cargo trucks up 34% in May; a California commercial border crossing project receives $140 million; Mexico opens a $175 million highway project to boost trade with Texas; and a U.S. logistics firm is building a $2.7 million border export hub in Mexico.

Kroger management reaffirmed the “low end” of 1-2% identical sales growth guidance.

A proposal by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to alter and expand reporting categories for crashes is drawing criticism from the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, which argues the FMCSA should take stronger action to protect driver safety records.

Tesla’s Class 8 electric Semi truck’s production is being delayed due to battery supply chain constraints.

Redwood Logistics and FreightWaves have partnered to unlock the SONAR freight market intelligence platform for OTM users.

Some bullish commentators have suggested that strong heavy-duty truck sales means a recession isn’t looming. Further context is needed.

Toyota announced an investment of $328 million to build its new hybrid Tacoma pickup trucks in Mexico.

This week in Borderlands: Texas trucking company acquired by Online Transport Inc.; U.S. requests USMCA dispute resolution over Mexico corn ban; RK Logistics expands into Arizona market; and Watco opens railcar storage facility in Texas.

At the recent UBS Global Industrial and Transportation Conference, Heartland CEO Mike Gerdin and Vice President of Finance Josh Helmich highlighted freight market weakness and outlined the retention impact of their driver minimum pay program.

Arrow Truck Sales is closing its branches in Dallas, Houston and San Antonio due to state regulations on dealerships.

A federal grand jury recently indicted two former trucking employees of MH Group, alleging the pair orchestrated an elaborate wire fraud scheme to defraud the Texas-based carrier out of $1.4 million.

For truckers and 1970s country, the C.W. McCall hit “Convoy” shares a fun look into CB radio terminology.

“Unit economics matter more than they did. If you need money to prove out a concept, you could previously say, ‘That will work at scale,’ but that’s not going to fly anymore,” said FreightTech consultant Ryan Schreiber of Metafora.

The best shipping partners are those who collaborate to cut costs without service degradation.

This report shares an in-depth overview across the trucking, maritime and intermodal markets.

Nearshoring and reshoring manufacturing developments bypassing Canada for the U.S. and Mexico.

This week in Borderlands: Texas seaport completes a $146 million container terminal expansion; a chemical logistics provider expands its Arizona operations; Bollore Logistics opens a supply chain facility in Mexico; and border agents seize $38 million worth of meth hidden in a kale shipment.

Like many FreightTech companies that have laid off workers in recent months, CloudTrucks blames the declining freight market for the job cuts.

Using the California Advanced Clean Trucks (ACT) rule, the Biden administration’s proposed Phase 3 truck rule sees the EPA potentially imposing stricter standards on carbon dioxide emissions for truck makers and buyers.

The potential for higher pay and less idle time is appealing. However, constantly sharing a confined space with another person doesn’t work for everyone.

This week in Borderlands: Port Laredo remains the nation’s No. 1 gateway for international trade; rail cargo thefts were up 29% during Q1 in Mexico; a Taiwan automotive supplier is investing $1 billion for Mexico expansion; and Forza Steel is building a plant at the Port of Brownsville.

On Wednesday, FreightWaves founder and CEO Craig Fuller sat down with Zach Strickland, FreightWaves’ head of freight market intelligence, to discuss freight market conditions and expectations.

All eyes are on California’s new regulation to decarbonize drayage trucks. It probably won’t please everyone.

FreightWaves’ “State of Freight” webinar suggests there will be no surge in demand for freight capacity during 2023.

The U.S. has asked trade officials to investigate alleged worker rights abuses at a Goodyear tire plant in Mexico.

The more volatile and opaque market conditions become, the more opportunities scammers have to take advantage of unsuspecting companies. This is especially true when it comes to double brokering. 

Former employees and truck drivers for FreightWorks LLC claim the Rutherfordton, North Carolina-based truckload carrier violated federal law by failing to give a 60-day advance notice of a planned shutdown before firing nearly 200 workers on March 6.

Convoy’s co-founder and CEO suggests that FreightTech offerings have paved the way to disrupt fragmentation with a new model of shipping: the hybrid carrier model.

This week in Borderlands: An Uber Freight report says cross-border trucking is showing continued resilience; a 3PL secures $100 million to expand its network of cross-border warehouses; a pepper puree manufacturer opens a production hub in New Mexico; and 26 people were killed in a crash involving a tractor-trailer in Mexico.

DHL Supply Chain and GXO Logistics are laying off at least 185 workers in Texas as a result of losing customers.

Load board fraud is gaining attention after The Wall Street Journal reported Truckstop, a leading load board provider, found reports of fraud increased 400% from Q4 2021 to Q4 2022, the highest level since 2004, when it began tracking the data. This article prompted Craig Fuller, CEO and founder of FreightWaves, to write an article on Tuesday arguing for massive load board providers to take greater responsibility for instances of fraud that take place on their platforms.

Canada’s trucking industry is calling for the government to end Driver Inc., a business model they consider a tax scam that hurts the country’s freight sector.

Roadrunner has reduced transit times five times over the last 21 months, according to Roadrunner Vice President of Longhaul Operations Shari Leon.

The Mexican government has called on Texas to stop state-run cargo truck inspections at the border that have caused hourslong delays.

Latin American truck drivers are calling for a boycott of Florida freight over the state’s new law targeting undocumented immigrants.

This week in Borderlands: Experts see strong cross-border flatbed demand this year; Tesla breaks ground on Texas lithium refinery; DHL invests $120 million to expand operations in Mexico; and Mediterranean Shipping Co. opens Arizona office.

The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) is holding its annual International Roadcheck next Tuesday through Thursday.

The Canadian town of Caledon, Ontario, continues to aggressively target suspected illegal trucking operations in the community. Caledon won a legal battle Monday against a trucking company known as 2423274 […]

Some large retailers say they’d rather pay trucking companies more during this freight recession and avoid a trucking bloodbath.

Heavy gunfire has been reported near the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge, a key border crossing linking Texas and Mexico.

Four supply chain-focused firms have secured a combined $70 million in funding amid a sluggish investment market.

In the fast-paced world of freight transportation, a carrier’s success is determined by its ability to deliver goods damage-free and on-time. But it all starts and ends with the people behind the scenes who make it all happen.

Truck driver compensation is highly variable due to multiple factors.

Download a hands-on guide to help you plan your fleet’s electric future with ChargePoint.

E-commerce funding platform 8fig has raised $140 million to help online sellers expand their profitability and market reach.

Texas officials have reduced state-run inspections of tractor-trailers arriving from Mexico at two border crossings.

The Biden administration will drop its COVID-19 vaccine mandate at U.S. borders on Friday.

This week in Borderlands: AI’s rising impact on cross-border trade focus of new report; Mexican authorities recorded 142 tractor-trailer thefts in April; Texas logistics firm opens Phoenix location; and South Texas college launching CDL program.

Alaskan trucking companies are betting that six-figure salaries could lure truck drivers to haul freight in the frigid Arctic.

SONAR ocean container booking data suggests that the predicted freight rebound in the second half of 2023 may be increasingly unlikely. Import and ocean container booking data is typically used as a leading indicator for future truckload volumes, as containers are offloaded in ports and transferred into intermodal or truckload orders.

Wait times of eight hours are being blamed on state-run inspections of commercial trucks arriving from Mexico in South Texas.

Werner Enterprises reported first quarter revenue of $832.7 million, up 9% year over year compared to the same period last year.

U.S. truck engine maker Cummins on Tuesday reported first-quarter revenue of $8.5 billion, boosted by strong global demand for its products.

Arizona, Texas and other states aim to reconfigure the global supply chain for makers of electric vehicles, batteries and semiconductors.

This report shares an in-depth overview across the trucking, maritime and intermodal markets.

This week Borderlands: Nearshoring draws more U.S. logistics investment to Mexico; Volkswagen issues temporary work stoppage at plant in Mexico; commercial auto supplier TitanX expands Mexican factory; and a truck driver in Texas dies in a collision with a freight train.

The recent explosion of freight technologies has benefited companies of all shapes and sizes, but these solutions have had an outsized effect on small and mid-sized operations. 

Universal Logistics Holdings saw revenue declines in its trucking, brokerage and intermodal segments in the first quarter.

Reward and incentive programs are often thought of as financial expenditures. When executed well, however, these programs can garner serious savings thanks to improved driver behavior, allowing carriers to free up cash without making sacrifices.

Hub Group had year-over-year revenue declines in its intermodal and logistics segments during the first quarter.

The demand for skilled technicians to keep shops and maintenance terminals running continues to challenge recruiters due to high demand. A major source of lost utilization for fleets on the road is getting their vehicles repaired in a timely manner. A lack of technicians continues to plague shops, creating extra downtime and work order backlogs.

Carriers will now be able to handle their fuel expenses on Uber Freight’s app with no annual fees, according to the freight marketplace.

“Trucking as a business is not about what you make, it’s about what you don’t spend,” industry expert Adam Wingfield said at FreightWaves’ Small Fleet & Owner-Operator Summit.

Uber Freight’s head of product shares simple ways to improve decision-making and reduce costs while improving customers’ shipping experiences.

Download this freight market report and learn why FreightWaves experts are seeing a fairly bleak outlook for the rest of 2023.

Canadian Pacific Kansas City railroad announced a deal with Knight-Swift Transportation to provide intermodal capacity for a Mexico-to-Chicago train.

“We could make carriers’ lives easier by giving them a single tool that they can use to make sure that they are not missing any hiring steps,” said LogRock co-founder and CEO Hunter Yaw.

The Q2 Freight Sentiment Indexes show carriers lower, brokers higher and shippers about the same despite ample pricing power.

FreightWaves will host the Small Fleet & Owner-Operator Summit on Wednesday with a full day of industry insights.

This week in Borderlands: $102M cold storage warehouse planned for Houston area; auto parts supplier opens $34M plant in Mexico; steel manufacturer, distributor expands Texas operations; and CBP seizes $21M worth of fentanyl in green beans shipment.

“The Premier Partner Program expands our carrier family to include an even higher level of qualification of carriers that can meet the needs of participating shippers,” said president George Abernathy.

Earnings season is upon us and the freight recession lingers worse than salmonella-carrying potato salad at a tailgate party. Wisconsin-based truckload carrier Martin Transport reported its Q1 2023 earnings Tuesday. While operating revenue improved 3.7% from $287.3 million in Q1 2022 to $298 million this year, the actual operating income declined from $35.9 million to $29 million.

Join FreightWaves Founder and CEO, Craig Fuller, and Head of Market Intelligence, Zach Strickland on May 24 at 2pm ET for a conversation sharing critical insights from our SONAR platform and an advanced look into the freight market.

Deregulating trucking made modern supply chains achievable — but it also carved out one of America’s essential blue-collar professions.

At its core, Bitfreighter is an integration enablement platform. The company’s driving principle is to make integrations affordable and accessible by stepping away from the transactional pricing model and offering unlimited everything.

NFI Industries has acquired warehousing and fulfillment provider SDR Distribution Services in Canada.

This week in Borderlands: Production and exports of Mexican-built cargo trucks soared in March; Walmart is closing a logistics facility in Fort Worth, Texas; Target announced three distribution centers in Texas; and Maersk opened a global service center in Mexico City.

Commercial operations at a Texas border bridge have been suspended temporarily as U.S. border agents assist with migrant processing.

Trucking safety advocates are at odds with corporate-backed attempts at implementing a roadside safety exemption for autonomous trucks. For those unaware, current regulations require drivers to use three emergency reflective triangles, or at least six fusees or three liquid-burning road flares, if they stop on the road for reasons other than traffic.

Tesla this week delivered a fleet of Semi trucks to PepsiCo, which said the all-electric Class 8 vehicles will be used for local and long-distance deliveries.

Using the company’s platform, Repowr Connect, shippers, fleets and 3PLs can share their available assets with other network members, helping parties find on-demand capacity.

Team drivers for Cromex Inc. of Villa Park, Illinois, say they were stranded for three days in a hotel room, more than 1,000 miles from home, after the owner failed to deliver on his promise to pay drivers and set them up in a new truck.

Current market conditions – combined with the climbing expenses of operating and maintaining a truck – have created a difficult situation for the small companies that keep America moving.

President Joe Biden signed a bill ending the COVID-19 national emergency, but U.S. border vaccine requirements remain in place for foreigners.