Shippers appear to be using intermodal as pricing spreads near all-time highs, but there are risks to this looming later in the year.
Trucking’s tightness could last well into 2027, if not further.
Monthly data from Cass Information Systems showed a volume recovery could be in store for an already supply-constrained freight market.
Order lead times are difficult to interpret, but the coming year could end a six-year rise and further tighten the trucking market.
Truckload rates have increased on a main transcontinental artery, showing that the value of truckload service has grown even though there is less demand for it.
Reports of immigration services targeting truck drivers caused a sharp spike in spot rates this past week, but as of late week tender rejections remained steady. Weak demand may be hiding growing fragility in the market.
Truckload carriers are not only hauling less freight, but moving it less distance. This has a compounding effect on keeping capacity loose as longer moves take up more capacity. If supply chain strategies normalize, it could have an impact on transportation markets.
Chart of the Week: Outbound Tender Volume Index – USA SONAR: OTVI.USA The national Outbound Tender Volume Index (OTVI), which measures truckload demand, jumped 6.5% in the week and a half leading up to the Labor Day holiday weekend. While an increase is typical for this period, the scale of this rise is unusual. Let’s break down […]
Two of the three primary freight demand indicators have fallen into significant slides with only intermodal holding up, but for how long?
Container bookings data has rebounded back to previous year levels. Is a wave of freight coming to surface markets?
May’s inflation data was set to be the first real test of how consumer prices would be impacted by historically high tariffs.
Uncertainty springing from erratic policy implementation in 2025 has made it challenging for businesses to make long-term commitments. That has kept the trucking sector from having its expected breakout moment this year.
Truckload capacity tightened noticeably during the annual CVSA International Roadcheck inspection period.
With so many fingers pointed at so many targets, the Q1 GDP data must have been an absolute disaster, right? Well, no.
Southern California is at the epicenter of freight coming from China. Domestic demand patterns have not changed much since “Liberation Day,” but no one expects this to last.
Demand for loads moving less than 100 miles has been resistant to the intermodal shift. Its representation of consumer and manufacturing activity could be the key to staying on top of the economy amid extreme uncertainty.
During the COVID years, transportation providers were flooded with freight that needed to move yesterday. The current environment is flooded with freight that needs to move in a few weeks, maybe.
The strength in ocean bookings today will not translate into domestic freight volumes until May at the earliest.
The difficulty in comparing “hard” versus “soft” data is that sentiment influences decisions that will eventually bear out in the hard data.
Until recently, surface transportation demand in total was relatively flat with shippers utilizing the rails more frequently. Annual intermodal growth has stabilized, with truckload demand eroding beyond the modal shift offset.
