Declining contract volumes may bring large carriers into the spot market, forcing spot rates into negative margin territory if they are not already there.
The contracted freight market is in great condition at the moment, but the short-term indicators raise questions about its sustainability.
FreightWaves founder and CEO Craig Fuller writes about the impact of Chinese lockdowns on global supply chains and the U.S. trucking industry.
There are numerous reasons carrier compliance rates have been increasing over the past few months. An increase in short-haul freight may be making it easier for carriers to cover more freight.
Shippers may have had a little more success with contracted carriers in May, but it came at a high cost.
Imports have fueled the domestic freight economy over the past year. That growth continues out of the traditional peak season with shippers booking maritime capacity in April. Could this translate to a record summer for trucking?
The relationship between personal consumption and trucking demand has strengthened even further as companies struggle to maintain inventory. This suggests a very active spring and summer for transportation providers.
The latest round of winter weather hit transportation hard. How does this compare to other events?
Transportation providers may spend January unclogging supply chains as warehouse capacity has become a precious commodity thanks to the continued influx of imports.
Trucking and rail volumes remain elevated while the imports fade. Is this is beginning of the end of the 2020 freight boom?
Import volumes continue to fuel the surface transportation boom. Will it last into 2021?
Freight volumes are not the only thing putting pressure on capacity.
Anthony and Zach bring on Maritime expert Henry Byers to discuss the near- and long-term impacts to the domestic freight market resulting from the record-breaking influx of shipments from Asia.
Freight is getting crammed into the U.S. West Coast as fast as carriers can pick it up. How long will it last?
Joined by special guest Zac Rogers, Anthony and Zach discuss the current freight market’s propensity to overachieve over the past few months and explore reasons why that will persist or crumble.
The erratic nature of the economic recovery has dramatically changed shipping behavior, which has strained carrier networks.
Capacity is almost as tight as it was during the panic buying inspired March. Could it get tighter?
Anthony and Zach discuss the booming freight market and reasons why it will or will not sustain into July as well as the implications for the new insurance bill and YRC bailout.
The uncertainty that accompanies a disaster can shake a network to its core. There are ways to build a more resilient team.
Chart of the Week: Outbound Tender Volume Index– USA SONAR: OTVI.USA After experiencing one of the most volatile periods in history over the past two months, freight market volumes have recovered to February levels in the past week. February is not a great month for freight traditionally speaking but considering a month ago volumes were running 15-20% […]
Chinese imports have fully recovered. Does this mean the domestic trucking market will see a similar outcome?
Anthony and Zach break down the Knight-Swift and Heartland earnings; slowing decline of freight rates and volumes and what the rise in imports mean for the recovery.
Even as freight volumes surged to record levels in March, drivers spent less time driving.
Anthony and Zach discuss the swelling unemployment numbers as well as the plummeting freight volumes and what the endgame might look like for the COVID-19 outbreak.
Trucking capacity is the tightest it has been in 17 months thanks to the surging volumes, but all signs point to this being a short-lived event.
Chart of the Week: Outbound Tender Volume Index – USA SONAR: OTVI.USA People have been clearing store shelves in parts of the country as if they were preparing for a zombie apocalypse this past week. This mass purchasing—or threat thereof—has spiked trucking volumes in the U.S. as the national Outbound Tender Volume Index (OTVI) increased […]
The coronavirus is having a far-reaching impact across the globe. The timing may make things worse for domestic trucking.
Chris Henry runs fleet profitability benchmarking and analytics for FreightWaves and facilitates the TCA’s TPP program. If you are interested in benchmarking your fleet’s performance with the best operators, join TCA’s TPP. The data presented in this article come from analytics of over 230 truckload for-hire fleets, representing more than 70,000 trucks. A wise trucker […]
A number of readers responded to Brian Aoaeh’s 12/26/19 “Commentary: Trucking industry observations heading into 2020.” His current commentary features some of those responses and information from Anthony Campo, a trucking industry veteran.
FreightWaves founder and CEO Craig Fuller writes about the issues the trucking industry dealt with in 2019 and what is ahead in 2020.
Ben Thrower writes about what most in the trucking industry know – 2019 was a tough year for almost everyone.
The truckload sector has had a breakout December thanks to a booming holiday peak. Is this a signal of a long-term shift to the over-supplied freight market?
Freight volumes fell off a cliff at the end of October. Is this yet another reason for concern that the market may slow even further?
Reefer volumes have declined in 2019 as shippers have taken advantage of cheap van rates, but declining production and trade wars have hurt the cause as well.
Retail is expected to be the great savior of the 4th quarter economy. Hopefully retaill shipment volumes are not an indication of things to come.
OTVI.USA began the week with a rocky start before recovering to finish the week.
Truckload volumes on a national basis have been trending 3% above 2018 levels for a week.
