Intermodal

Trade uncertainty and loose truck capacity continue to weigh on rail traffic.

The Port of Savannah’s expansion plans will benefit shippers — so long as infrastructure needs outside the port are met.

The International Road Transport Union has taken the lead in setting the global road transport agenda, which calls for greater cooperation between industry stakeholders and government bodies to ensure economic prosperity.

The latest company to join the Blockchain in Transport Alliance (BiTA) is Imaginnovate, which is headquartered in Visakhapatnam, India. The company has strong roots in the delivery of technology solutions to enterprises.

Australia is linking its interior to its coasts and its export markets by building a giant railway to the main seaports. But someone forgot to link the railway to the northern port.

Transplace’s 2019 Carrier Symposium in Dallas discussed the latest topics impacting the carrier industry, including both capacity excesses and shortages, ELDs, regulatory changes, and driver issues. Frank McGuigan, chief executive of Transplace, kicked off the symposium with a “State of the Business” address, saying supply chains are more complex than ever and expanding; and that […]

Executive director and governor report volume records and expansion opportunities.

IMC Companies added its eighth regional trucking branch with the addition of a new drayage and intermodal provider in the Pacific Northwest, The third-party logistics and intermodal trucking provider said it launched Pacific Drayage Services (PDS) in August, 2019 to provide drayage and warehousing services to customers in the Seattle and Tacoma markets. PDS will […]

Borderlands is a weekly rundown of developments in the world of United States-Mexico cross-border trucking and trade. This week: Border checkpoint affecting truck wait times; Protestors shut down Houston Ship Channel; Trailer Bridge moves into Mexico market; Texas trucking company indicted for drug smuggling. Customs inspections, construction projects affecting border wait times in El Paso Commercial […]

FreightWaves releases carbon emissions indices, fleet counts and more.

In Australia this week: new truck sales this year in Australia are slumping when compared to last year; transport company PAGE buys Allalong to exploit the Sydney to Tasmania freight market; seaport says millions of truck movements can be eliminated; electric truck is donated to charity; stink-trunk gets un-sunk.

Data confirms that U.S. importers are increasingly opting to bring Asian cargoes into East Coast ports.

Millions in private and public funding are going toward the two western Canadian ports.

TIA President is excited to see what the future holds for the 3PL industry.

Georgia Ports Authority touts record volumes and expansion projects during State of the Port event.

Fast growing port is one of the rare balanced markets for ocean carrier services.

CSX needs to be more proactive if wants to compete with trucks, CSX’s chief said.

Amazon Air to begin flying at Dallas/Fort Worth regional hub next month

Two of the nation’s largest truckload carriers said they are seeing green shoots in freight demand.

FourKites was founded with the idea of developing a cloud-based SaaS platform that allows for seamless communication and real-time collaboration in the supply chain. As it passes five years in business, founder Matt Elenjickal details why he thinks it has been successful.

U.S. rail volumes are down nearly 4% year-to-date amid a 6.6% decline for coal and a 4% drop for intermodal.

The railroad was building the train when it derailed and caused a tank car to catch fire.

Can carload rail become a volume and market share leader in today’s emerging high-tech freight logistics world? Or will it continue to exhibit a declining role?

This week’s addition of intermodal volume data to our SONAR platform brings us one step closer to having price, volume, and capacity for all modes of transport including air cargo, trucking, inland waterways (barge), ocean and rail.

The U.S. Federal Maritime Commission on Sept. 6 unanimously approved a set of recommendations to bring about fairness in the way demurrage and detention fees are administered by ocean carriers and marine terminal operators against American shippers. Commissioner Rebecca Dye delivered her recommendations to Chairman Michael Khouri and Commissioners Daniel Maffei and Louis Sola for […]

The two railroads said customers should expect delays and possible rerouting.

The decline in U.S. coal production could cost the railroads billions in lost revenue.

While management teams at some of the nation’s largest TL carriers have been talking up the potential for a solid peak shipping season, Universal Logistics has seen peak season sentiment move the opposite direction.

FreightWaves Founder and CEO Craig Fuller has been named to the Folio: 100.

Weakness in the manufacturing sector is dragging U.S. rail volumes lower, AAR says.

Trade talks back on; human cost of Amazon last-mile delivery; Cowen Transport Conference takeaways; precious metals rally in negative yield world.

The outlook from JBHT was notably better than the concern around the lack of an uptick in seasonal demand that many carriers expressed at multiple investor conferences in May and June.

Slumping coal demand, trade wars and a competitive truck market are weighing on rail volumes for the remainder of the year.

Labor unions claim the effect on jobs is not being properly considered.

The railroads say customers should expect delays and rerouting because of the hurricane

Market Voice Jim Blaze contents that railroads are using the wrong KPIs to increase volume and capture market share from trucks.

Rates and rejections into the Southeast are elevated as trailers and tractors are staged for disaster relief.

Hurricane Dorian’s approach upward along the U.S. Southeast coast will shutter maritime and rail assets throughout the region during the week.   Dorian was located just 100 miles off the Florida coast as of Monday evening, according to the National Hurricane Center, and was stationary just off Freeport, Bahamas. It was downgraded to a Category 4 […]

A sewage truck met a watery end in New South Wales; regulators in NSW have improved port access; National Transport Commission overhauls assurance framework; ATA wants truck drivers to be treated humanely; and K&S announces profit slump and sale of Regal General Freight.

Third largest carrier reports rebound in results, partially thanks to rates and partially to subsidies.

The line serves communities in western New York and eastern Canada near the St. Lawrence River.

J.B. Hunt imposes peak season intermodal surcharge to recoup costs of returning empties

Strong regional and transloading demand keep inbound numbers strong.

Year-to-date U.S. rail volumes are still slumping this year, due in part to a competitive truck market for intermodal shipments.

Several intermodal containers on trains running between China to Europe run empty due to lack of exporter demand for capacity.

Marine terminals to offer guaranteed empty returns, common portals for truck appointments.

Market Voice Jim Blaze writes about rail intermodal and what is happening to this area of the railroad sector.

It takes a year of advance planning and up to 10 loads to move a single monster turbine.

Using data from FreightWaves SONAR, economist Ibrahiim Bayaan writes about the state of the U.S. retail market and what is ahead for this key sector.

Freight tonnage will grow 25.6 percent by the end of the next decade, the American Trucking Associations (ATA) predicts in its annual ATA Freight Transportation Forecast: 2019 to 2030.

Truck wait times at ports of entry along the United States-Mexico border are up, from El Paso, Texas, to Otay Mesa, California. Industry professionals said the longer wait times are a combination of truckers spending more time waiting to load and unload freight at docks and intermodal facilities, as well as slower border inspection routines […]

Integrated bulk, rail, trucking, box, warehousing and ports operator, Qube (ASX: QUB), has announced weighty full year earnings of A$1.73 billion (US$1.5 billion). It also made net profit after tax of 15. 4 percent to A$123.2 million. But it sees a subdued economy ahead…

The continued slump in U.S. rail volumes is putting pressure on overall North American rail volumes.

The railcar manufacturer and lessor has been tinkering with its designs for railcars to expand their volume capacity while also making them lighter.

Maersk is partnering with Indian digital freight startup BlackBuck to enter the Indian containerized trucking market for export-import logistics.

Women In Trucking will honor transportation firms at its Accelerate! Conference & Expo.

Jim Blaze writes about FreightWaves SONAR and how it could be a helpful tool for the freight railroads.

The nation’s largest logistics warehouse owner, operator and developer bolsters its Los Angeles portfolio with an increasingly difficult find.

PE firms pay up to eight times EBITDA for chemical haulers.

A Chicago startup has proposed using crane rails to move containers in and out of terminals to ease congestion in the era of mega-ships.

Move to non-tariff sources means switching ports, intermodal executives say.d

Ohio-based container yard/terminal management software system Depot Systems has today been bought by Sydney, Australia-based WiseTech Global (ASX: WTC) for an undisclosed sum.

FreightWaves is expanding with a new office in Portland, Oregon. There are opportunities for data scientists, software engineers and journalists.

Plus: Amazon opens “4-star” store in Seattle: Postmates tests robots in San Francisco.

American Trucking Associations (ATA) praised the fact that 53-foot intermodal containers won’t be subject to the next round of Section 301 tariffs on China. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative deleted the goods from the next planned tranches of trade measures to take effect September 1 and December 15. Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) subheading […]

Contract rates are still sliding down against steady spot rates.

Year-to-date North American rail volumes fell 2.3 percent last week. But what about for the rest of the year?

Asia-U.S. container rates are still not showing peak-season strength, but optimism remains.

Marten Transport to pay a $0.65 per share special dividend and increase its share repurchase program.

Major U.S. drayage carrier sees Southeast ports as areas of growth in freight.

Volatility appears to be the only certainty for transportation stocks as trade concerns loom. The transportation stocks walked through a less than stellar earnings season, but renewed trade concerns has them bouncing about.

The announcements confirming Canada’s planned investments in rail infrastructure come as the country prepares for a federal election in October.

Multi-modal data and channel checks with freight brokers point to a good setup for peak season.

But Japan’s biggest shipping line looks to restart Long Beach service after summer hiatus.

Third-party logistics provider aims to grow presence in its West Coast markets.

U.S. rail carloads no longer appear to be following the lead of broader economic indicators. Why? Look to concerns about rail service reliability and trade uncertainty as answers.

Barbara Spector Yeninas had the moxie to launch a business serving the male-dominated maritime industry 45 years ago. That determination has kept her going for more than four decades, although these days she’s wearing sneakers instead of stilettos.

Canadian government to invest C$18.5 million for logistics system, bridge, signs and “intelligent” communications to boost flow of trucks as part of a broader effort to improve trade infrastructure.

CSX and Canadian National’s partnership to create new intermodal service between Montreal and Toronto and the greater New York City area is a strategy to expand each other’s geographical reach and compete with the long-haul trucking market.

Chinese tariffs are impacting American agriculture. But declines in exports to other countries are also hurting American agriculture.

U.S. railroad operations loaded 5.5 percent fewer carloads and intermodal units in July, and trade uncertainty could threaten to maintain that downward trend in rail volumes for the remainder of 2019.

The owner of BNSF and the investor behind Uber have more in common than it seems.

Southern California drayage and logistics firm looks to add to customer base with deal.

FMC Commissioner Rebecca Dye is scheduled to deliver her demurrage and detention recommendations to her fellow commissioners on Sept. 3.

Roadrunner Transportation Systems reports another large operating loss and announces that it will narrow its focus to its logistics and asset-light LTL segments.

Jim Blaze writes about the recent history of intermodal rail service and what may happen in the next few years.

Delta Cargo has chosen FreightWaves SONAR for global freight intelligence and data analytics.

Top 10 intermodal company in the U.S. looks to broker to for drayage supply.

Cargo activity through the Jacksonville, Fla., seaport had a nearly $31.1 billion economic impact on the region and state in 2018.

Two mega-retailers partnerships signal an inflection point in the visibility market.

Second quarter revenue for BNSF rose 0.3 percent despite lower volumes for agricultural products, consumer products and industrial products.

There are reasons to expect a healthy pop in outbound Los Angeles spot rates.

How high will rates out of Los Angeles go in October and November?

East Coast ports saw better growth as trans-Pacific trade slows

North American rail volumes are still lower year-over-year, but U.S. carloads recovered somewhat last week.

Schneider is closing its First to Final Mile delivery operation due to poor performance.

Morgan Stanley, Susquehanna, and Deutsche Bank cut their price targets; Stifel maintained.

Schneider National sees “less favorable” trends continuing into the back half of 2019. The company lowered guidance and announced the closure of its First to Final Mile business.

Celadon’s turnaround gets a shot in the arm with a new three-year financing agreement.

Chief Insight Officer Dean Croke breaks down the intermodal market and how some areas if it are trending upward. While market expert Seth Holm gives us an update on Q2 earnings.