Lync Logistics, a young freight brokerage based in Chattanooga, cut the ribbon on its new headquarters last Friday afternoon and shared its aggressive growth plans with FreightWaves.

In partnership with Slync… globalized supply chains are complex and subject to many risks. By automating workflows and creating AI assistants, companies can speed time-to-decision, reduce error, and make their supply chains more resilient.

A surge in freight from Los Angeles has started to inflect the Dallas and Houston freight markets. Meanwhile, Harrisburg, PA’s strong headhaul score makes that Northeast market a diamond in the rough.

We spoke with Mark Haraburda about FreightWaves’ new data and content partnership with Barchart, a leading digital provider of commodities and futures data.

In partnership with Slync… It has become clear that the market increasingly views digitization as one of the most important means of creating value and improving the financial fundamentals of companies operating in the supply chain.

McKinsey, Goldman Sachs, Stifel Nicolaus, and Susquehanna are all in agreement that technology and data are critical for driving productivity in transportation and logistics companies. We survey recent research by the firms.

Trident Transport, a four year old freight brokerage founded in Chattanooga, has announced its plans to open a second office in Tampa Bay, Florida. Russ Feldhacker, a veteran broker, will lead the new branch.

ArcBest posted excellent operating results for the third quarter, but executives failed to clarify the company’s pension liabilities, which were the subject of a controversial short seller report last month.

Slync, the intelligent platform for shipping, logistics and the supply chain has appointed John Urban and Robert Edwards—two established and successful entrepreneurs with almost $1B in combined company exits—to its advisory board. 

The pipelines taking oil away from the Permian are at capacity, causing a buildup of WTI inventory at the Cushing, OK storage sites and depressing the price of WTI against Brent. Prices would be even lower if Venezuela and Iran weren’t causing further worries about global supply.

The FreightWaves Research Institute is excited to announce the release of its second white paper, Global Freight Tickers, a worldwide study of publicly traded transportation and logistics companies

As we approach the holiday retail season, carriers and brokers have shifted their attention to the country’s major ports to capture upward volatility in trucking volumes.

OD’s top line revenue grew 21.2% year over year to $1.06B and earnings per share swelled 71% to $2.12. Even more impressively, Old Dominion achieved a 78.4% operating ratio, a company (and possibly industry) record and 280 bps improvement over Q3 2017.

Tesla’s best quarter ever is a huge deal: a rich mix of high end Model 3s and lower capex helped. We still don’t think TSLA shares are rationally priced.

8VC, the venture capital fund dedicated to solving real-world problems through industry transformation, announced Alan Gershenhorn, former Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer of United Parcel Service, Inc., (NYSE: UPS), has joined the firm as an advisor.

Uber Freight and FreightWaves are renting out a nightclub and providing drinks, BBQ, and a band to entertain the transportation and logistics industry at MarketWaves18.

CEO David Parker expects very strong demand in Q4 and Covenant to shift further to dedicated capacity in 2019 in an effort to “get deeper into the supply chain.”

Capacity constraints, strong demand, and chaotic tariff-related traffic pushed transpacific containers rates to new heights, but the current inbound container surge, unrelated to consumer demand, will create a steeper drop off in Q1 2019.

Overall truckload volumes and spot rates are soft, but a huge wave of containers hit the West Coast in September, retail demand is strong, and additions to the national fleet of drivers have been marginal.

In partnership with Slync.io… Multi-partner views of realtime supply chain data are necessary to eliminate manual communications processes like email, which will remove friction and add value to collaborative relationships.

West Coast ports post strongest volumes ever; Norfolk Southern is moving to Atlanta; flatbed tender rejections stay down; expect electric trucks in 2020; pregnant XPO Logistics warehouse workers suffer miscarriages; E2open buys Inttra; Iraq produces more oil but can’t rebuild.

FreightWaves is excited to announce that Mark Solomon, formerly the executive editor at DC Velocity, has joined our editorial team as Managing Editor of freight markets.

The credit rating agency says that well-capitalized, risk-sharing joint ventures between incumbent automakers have the best chance of successfully bringing AV products to market safely and at scale.

SONAR’s signature index has a birthday; Ocean Network Express to lose $600M; oilfield service companies guide for tight margins in Q3; President Trump bails on coal industry incentives; pros and cons of blockchain in container shipping; spending 60,000 hours reverse-engineering a Tesla Model 3.

In Partnership with Arrive Logistics… we talk freight market data with executives from Arrive Logistics and ask them how they’re preparing to handle surging volumes in Q4 and beyond.

Linx Partners, a New York-based private equity firm, announced that it successfully sold its investment in Grammer Industries to Stellex Capital Management.

Despite an exceptionally strong year for trailer orders, Wabash National’s stock took a hit when the company guided downward for its Q3 results, blaming higher input costs and labor issues.

We spoke to Dave Dallas, CMO and President of Brokerage at SunteckTTS, about the addition of a brokerage centered on the West Coast.

The Freight Movement is in partnership with Arrive Logistics …Arrive Logistics has partnered with freight analyst and economist Donald Broughton to teach shippers how to take advantage of freight flow trends to benefit their business.

In his preview of the railroads’ Q3 earnings reports, Susquehanna’s Bascome Majors set optimistic price targets but warned that P/E valuations are at historically high levels.

Massive scale, cyclical and structural advantages, and best-in-class technology make C.H. Robinson a ‘buy’ despite a transports selloff, say analysts at Stifel and Goldman Sachs.

Hurricane Michael is forecast to make landfall as a strengthening Category 4; Sears may go bankrupt; retailers struggle to fill the hole left by Toys R Us; Cowen is bullish on Canadian Pacific; Seoul continues ploughing money into HMM to cover operations.

Hurricane Michael’s forecasted track will take it right over the primary cotton producing region in Georgia and South Carolina, and heavy rain could threaten the harvest of the crop, now in its most vulnerable phase.

Two high school friends, one from Access America and one from JB Hunt, founded a successful brokerage in Knoxville full of supply chain management grads. And they love SONAR.

Howard Green is best on fights between the serial CEO and his boards, activist investors, and proxy wars, but there’s a lot in the book for railroad buffs who want to know more about Harrison’s signature philosophy, precision scheduled railroading.

FreightWaves spoke to IMSA CEO Corey Ranslem about the first install, the ARMS platform’s official launch at the end of October, and entering the cargo ship markets in 2019.

The United States – Mexico – Canada Agreement (USMCA) protects multinational oil and gas companies’ investments in Mexico from incoming President López Obrador.

Stifel’s John Larkin captivated the audience with a wide-ranging presentation on transportation and logistics across modes during Tuesday’s lunch at the McLeod User Conference 2018.

Two of McLeod’s clients talk about how they use profitability analysis tools daily and how they drive better business decisions.

Capacity creator, waterfall tendering, and max buys based on near-time market rates should help make brokers even more productive.

FMCSA Administrator Martinez and his officials listened to truck drivers and fleet owners as they asked for more flexibility in the hours of service. The usefulness of split sleeping and breaking up the mandatory 30 minute break were brought up most frequently.

It’s happening: the SEC has charged Elon Musk with issuing materially false and misleading statements intended to manipulate the price of Tesla stock.

Yesterday Uber settled a lawsuit with all 50 states and the District of Columbia, agreeing to pay $148M for covering up a 2016 breach of driver and passenger data.

Home Depot is Uberizing same and next-day last mile delivery with two startups backed by UPS. It’s part of Home Depot’s $1.2B investment to makes its supply chains faster and more efficient.

Trimble Transportation CTO Mark Botticelli has been tasked with integrating all of the transportation technology companies under the Trimble umbrella into a single cloud-based exchange.

The investment bank issued a report this morning calling for one more spot rate peak in the fourth quarter, followed by a softer 2019 that should still be 12% above the 2012-7 cycle. New price targets were also issued.

Iran’s truckers are on strike in 100 cities for the second time this year, causing fuel shortages. Meanwhile, the Iranian rial is rapidly losing its value, and the country’s biggest crude oil customers are cutting it off.

Brent and WTI prices have reached 4 year highs, and the Brent-WTI spread continues to favor American oil exports on the international market. We explain how longer lateral lengths in Permian Basin horizontal wells are driving truckload demand.

Prologis is making further investments in the communities it has developed by launching an internship program for high schoolers from under-served areas to enter the logistics industry.

$200B of tariffs imposed on Chinese imports today; the 4PL era is here; China cancels further trade talks; Germany’s maritime fleet shrinks by 1/3; air cargo not yet feeling tariff pain; oil rallies.

We see falling demand for oil, lumber, and wheat out of Canada in the future due to a combination of market forces. Canadian Pacific Railroad appears to be especially exposed to this freight recession.

We spoke to T Rowe Price VP Andrew Davis about how traditional investors’ view of the digital brokerage had changed over time.

Coyote’s new white paper contains a stark warning to truckers and an optimistic promise to shippers, predicting a rapid collapse of spot rates.

FreightWaves CEO Craig Fuller, Chief Economist Ibrahiim Bayaan, and Senior Meteorologist Nick Austin discussed Hurricane Florence’s impact on freight, the general macroeconomic situation, and the upcoming IMO 2020 regulations on maritime fuel.

FreightWaves spoke to ArcBest officers about Off Wall Street’s research report, which they said raised concerns about off-balance sheet liabilities related to pensions.

North Carolina, the second largest hog producing state, has concentrated its pig farms in the southern coastal region, precisely where Hurricane Florence made its most severe flooding impacts.

The North Carolina Department of Transportation says not to travel in or to the state; Walmart grabs a 200K square foot foothold in NYC; the IMF says British economy will contract if no deal on Brexit; Freightos raises $45M; global seaborne coal trade grows 4%; Tesla’s having a hard time delivering cars.

A tanker barge operator, a Jones Act steamship line, and North America’s largest 3PL all posted big gains on the day, leading Dow Transports to a record intraday high against a softening broader equities market.

FreightWaves spoke to GlobalTranz CEO Bob Farrell and AFN Logistics CEO Owen Schnaper about the deal.

As late as last month, Maersk leadership insisted that scrubbers were not a solution for the new fuel regulations imposed by the International Maritime Organization beginning in 2020, but now they’ve admitted they will install scrubbers on some vessels.

Goldman Sachs issued a report last week highlighting the risks to incumbent brokerages’ margins and market shares, with useful information about the brokerage landscape and recent developments in VC funding that have powered new entrants.

Models predicting Hurricane Florence’s track are shifting the storm southward after it makes landfall, where it will hug the South Carolina coast and unleash extreme rainfall on the Carolinas.

The North Carolina coast is especially vulnerable to hurricanes. FreightWaves spoke to executives at Lync America, a Chattanooga-based freight brokerage, about the trucking activity they’re seeing related to disaster preparedness.

America is taking a week to celebrate its truckers: it’s National Truck Driver Appreciation Week. Thank you, drivers, for all that you do to keep our country moving despite all the obstacles in your way.

Recreational drug use and a new wave of executive departures sent Tesla equity and debt tumbling. Meanwhile, a class action lawsuit filed by short sellers alleges that Musk artificially manipulated Tesla stock by issuing false and misleading information.

Amazon is scaling up its asset side on both last mile delivery and linehaul, pursuing a low-cost strategy of leased vehicles, independent contractors, and power-only deals with enterprise carriers.

Steam Logistics, one of the fastest growing companies in the United States, is a young Chattanooga-based international freight forwarder on a mission to bring an unprecedented level of customer service to ocean and air freight.

K & L Freight has invested heavily in technology and data and grown 5x in the past two years. The next step is offering financial services to help their shipper customers hedge against spot market volatility.

Los Angeles volumes spiked just before Labor Day, but it doesn’t appear to be an artificial surge related to the holiday. In the next week we’ll start to see how the fall shipping season is shaping up.

CargoX used a smart contract-powered bill of lading to reduce transfer and payment times to four minutes. FreightWaves spoke with CargoX’s CEO Stefan Kukman by phone.

MoLo Solutions did $20M in revenue in its first twelve months of operations and is on a $70M run rate for its second year. FreightWaves interviewed CEO Andrew Silver and President Matthew Vogrich.

Peter Stefanovich of Left Lane Associates, an M&A advisory firm for the transportation industry, talked to us about the current outlook for M&A and why now is the perfect time to sell.

Techpertise together with TMW Systems …Transport blockchain startups have shifted their strategies from ICOs and token sales to traditional VC raises and the brand new thing: security token offerings.

Private equity group Summit Partners has acquired cloud-based TMS provider MercuryGate, and wants to bring the platform to Europe after fixing implementation issues.

The Journal of Commerce wants to prohibit us from ever quoting or linking to their content again. We just want information to be free.

We visualized the performance metrics of the publicly-traded truckload carriers over the past six quarters, using TCA InGauge’s data.

There’s mounting pushback among developing nations that China’s ambitious infrastructure project, the Belt and Road Initiative, is a debt trap. Countries using Chinese financing have seen public debt soar to unsustainable levels, and they’re increasingly worried about asset seizures.

Transpacific container rates post gains; United States and Mexico try to reach an agreement on the automotive trade; what Amazon did last week; Lloyd’s of London rethinks marine insurance; Mexico City’s new airport has uncertain future; tanker market faces added pressure from US-China spat.

SONAR’s new index shows the cost difference for Asian exporters moving goods into East Coast or West Coast ports. When combined with trucking spot prices, the Panama spread helps explain recent shifts in trade flows.

Uber Freight is gobbling up $500M per year; the US and China hit each other with a new round of tariffs; Georgia Ports extends its inland intermodal network; Saudi Arabia’s Aramco IPO indefinitely delayed; cannabis supply chains mature; Houston is now an oil exporter.

By offering truck drivers and dock workers micropayments to upload data to the blockchain, Fr8 Network is changing the calculus of technology adoption and pushing the transportation industry forward.

Trident Transport has doubled its revenue every year since it began operations in 2014, and was just named the fastest growing company in Chattanooga, a hothouse for brokerages and freight startups.

Transpacific container rates continue to gain momentum; UPS files blockchain patent applications; Uber is uncertain about self-driving cars; Elon Musk doubles-down on ‘no sleep’; cautious optimism for US-China trade talks lifts equities markets; container lines expect profits in the back half of 2018.

Microsoft and IBM’s enterprise blockchain projects consume a lot of media bandwidth, but there is more exciting and ambitious work being done in transport and logistics by a thriving community of startups.

RTW Air Services SA, a Swiss General Sales & Service Agent (GSSA) for a substantial number of international air carriers, is the latest member of the Blockchain in Transport Alliance (BiTA).

Shippers feel like they’re in uncharted territory even a year into an extremely strong trucking cycle, and they’re adapting in a number of ways, including building depth into routing guides, accepting lower service levels, and extending tender lead times.

Senator Bob Corker (R-TN) spoke to FreightWaves about his efforts to rein in what he called the Trump administration’s abuse of authority in imposing tariffs on the United States’ allies and trade partners.

Musk’s Twitter habit has gotten him into serious trouble—he’s either manipulating TSLA stock on false information or given up all his leverage in a Saudi buyout negotiation.

XYO Network, a company bringing realtime location data to the blockchain, has announced its membership in the Blockchain in Transport Alliance (BiTA).

Intermodal tightness has pumped the hub of hubs, the Chicago freight market especially on lanes paralleling major railroads; meanwhile a minor heatwave in St. Louis may have been behind a massive surge in reefer turndowns.

Intelligent Audit’s new white paper about auditing parcel carrier invoices identifies a significant opportunity for shippers to gain freight cost visibility, reduce their spend, and get leverage for more favorable contract negotiations.

Elon Musk said that Saudi Arabia wants to buy Tesla; The New York Times wakes up to the driver pay issue; Amazon touts its private label brands ahead of the holiday season; lidar maker Quanergy appears to be struggling; Chicago’s mysterious surge in turndowns.

‘Work hard, play hard’ with a purpose: Redwood Logistics employees competed to raise money for a charity pairing up struggling combat veterans with horses in a therapeutic wilderness setting.

Seven acquisitions in the past year have nearly doubled Daseke Inc.’s topline revenue; Aveda Transportation in particular is a high-performing division commanding rich per-mile rates.

There are strategic reasons for the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund to consider a Tesla acquisition: the Saudis have the least diversified economy of any OPEC member and are perfectly positioned to supply solar power to Europe and the Indian subcontinent.

Techpertise together with TMW Systems …Millions of IoT devices are uploading vast quantities of data to the cloud, clogging network bandwidth and creating huge data lakes that still have to be navigated. It’s time for computing power to decentralize again, and move back to onboard devices.

Borderless Coverage allows brokers and freight forwarders to instantly secure Mexican cargo insurance for loads at about half the cost with the click of a button, removing barriers to international trade.

McLeod Software will launch a new product that uses machine learning algorithms to process inbound carrier emails in a broker’s inbox and automatically match them up with available loads.

State-backed Asian container lines have plans to rapidly expand their capacity; meanwhile Maersk cuts its guidance for 2018 by nearly a billion dollars in EBITDA.

XPO Logistics’ CFO Hardig resigns; Shanghai – Los Angeles container rates spike; watch heavy haulers move SpaceX rockets; Canadian National publishes its first annual ‘Grain Plan’; meet the teen who rides in a self-driving Waymo vehicle every morning.