Intermodal

With U.S. rail volumes still slumping, the Class I railroads wondered in third-quarter earnings calls when the downward trend would end.

Industry veteran picked to head one of the largest U.S. East Coast terminals, which is undergoing upgrade.

The eastern U.S. railroad declined to share its expectations for 2020 but said it would be prepared should rail volumes rebound.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services reports earnings light of expectations, but cost headwinds from digital platform transformation appear to be the primary culprits.

Knight-Swift Transportation lowered its third and fourth quarter 2019 guidance amid intermodal and truckload woes. However, some analysts find this as a reason to celebrate.

Kristy Knichel keeps a level head while growing the business her father started.

The next FreightWaves Live event has added air cargo to the range of topics discussed, with a variety of expert speakers who can help attendees understand factors influencing today’s market. […]

Market Voice Darren Prokop writes about automation at ports and the progress – and disruption – that will bring.

Freight shipments and expenditures declined on a year-over-year basis again in September according to the latest Cass Freight Index Report. The firm now believes that the index is “signaling an economic contraction.”

Now Goldman thinks that ISM data won’t turn positive until Q2 2020.

Maersk subsidiary looks to fix congestion that had been widely cited in 2018 front-loading.

Earnings estimates continue to be cut by equity analysts, however their outlook for the stocks is positive.

Philadelphia to Chicago futures (VPC) rise on Thursday as market continues to focus on trade flows.

What’s next at FMCSA after Ray Martinez departs? Tune in to FW Radio.

Both canal stats and container transport pricing confirm continued momentum for U.S. East Coast ports.

With U.S. rail volumes slumping in the third quarter, can PSR soften that blow to the rail’s bottom line?

The American Trucking Association handed out a number of awards, including the winners of its Mike Russell Trucking Image Awards, at its just concluded Management and Conference Exhibition.

Carloads on the railroads remained under water in the first week of the fourth quarter 2019. Intermodal weakness will be in the spotlight as third quarter earnings season approaches.

Freight futures looking beyond the East region for some direction on Tuesday.

Excerpt: The companies promote and assign new roles to longstanding employees.

New third-party logistics firm to take over yard and warehouse that handles ‘considerable’ freight.

Atlanta market freight futures strengthen on Monday as a result of trade flows.

Jim Blaze writes about the competitiveness of railroads vs. trucks and the railroads’ lack of interoperability.

SeaCube Container Leasing has rapidly expanded its refrigerated container fleet and is now the third largest lessor of reefers and largest lessor of gensets.

A popular manufacturing index is signalling a rough ride for trucking after the holiday season.

Trucks are competitively priced on East Coast lanes and offer better service than the railroads.

The Motley Fool discovers last-mile logistics. IMO 2020 will impact logistics warehousing footprint, JLL says

For decades, the European freight rail system has had no major upgrades with regard to axle load capacity, train length or car vertical height.

In this week’s Down Under Trucking – death by reckless driving; hill driving; trucker fired; police shoot tow truck thief; logistics industry urges government to ramp up!

From blockchain to 3D printing, new technologies have the potential to green the supply chain across industry sectors.

The forward curve inches lower.

The new executives contributed greatly to CSX as the railroad made operational changes, the company said.

Last Week’s Pricing Power Index: 35 (Shippers) The trucking industry operates in a market based on real-time demand and supply. When demand is higher than capacity, carriers gain negotiating power […]

Unionized Canadian drivers for CNTL approve four-year agreement that increases rates for wait times and mileage.

Heading into earnings season, the railroads clearly have a revenue headwind as carloads declined again in the latest week.

Energy markets appear to believe that capacity constraints will raise diesel prices next year.

Along with serving bigger ships and longer trains, the port of Savannah is making truck fluidity a priority.

Jim Blaze writes about the decisions that will go into determining 2020 capital expenditures by the freight railroads.

The company is following through on a pledge to acquire 1,000 branded intermodal containers by the end of 2020.

John “JT” Engstrom has spent 10 years studying the freight world. Here’s what he learned:

Trucking volumes are up YoY, while rail intermodal volumes have fallen. Now may be the time for long time competitors to explore new partnerships.

The outlook for intermodal freight transportation and what’s going on with driver cash flow and factoring issues will be two of the key topics of discussion on the September 28-29 […]

Year-to-date U.S. rail traffic down 3.8 percent from the same period in 2018.

Carriers face prospect of hiring more company drivers should they fail the ABC test.

The Canadian class I railroads outlined a number of growth opportunities at an investor conference. Intermodal capacity expansion at the ports and grain delays provided the big takeaways.

No short-term relief for cargo congestion at LAX is coming from infrastructure upgrades, so companies are looking at process improvements to speed up cargo hand-offs.

Port of Long Beach is offering incentive payments to ocean carriers in an effort to stabilize declining cargo volumes.

Norfolk Southern announced that Claude Mongeau has been elected as a director. The former Canadian National Railway head may be viewed as an effort to improve PSR initiatives or to explore potential opportunities to partner with other Class I railroads.

Team of rivals? The competing ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are looking at additional ways to cooperate for their mutual benefit.

Mike Baudendistel, a 13-year equities analyst with deep expertise in rail, intermodal, Jones Act and transportation OEMs, joins FreightWaves as a market expert.

Several updates have been made inside SONAR to improve the overall user experience.

BIMCO says there are “several indications” that goods are being shipped from the Far East to Europe and then transshipped to the U.S. East Coast to avoid tariffs.

Despite sea change in business model, carriers and drivers may want to wait for more clarity.

FreightCar America entered a joint venture to build a new manufacturing facility in Mexico as part of its cost improvement initiative.

If not enough 0.5% low sulfur fuel is available after Jan. 1. 2020 ships may resort to using more expensive 0.1% sulfur fuel used today in emission control areas.

Executives at North America’s major railroads are making the case that intermodal service will be more reliable and consistent after a year of major service changes. This comes as weakness […]

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 […]

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 […]

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; […]

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 […]

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 […]

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.