California’s produce shipments can wreak havoc on trucking capacity in the spring. This year’s season was s shell of the previous two.

The volatile 2018 freight market is still being felt throughout the nations trucking industry. The freight futures settlement

Diesel prices jumped in the Midwest this month due to a significant tax increase. Small carriers will have to adjust to keep costs down and maintain business.

Durable goods and dry van orders are declining. Could this mean a rough second half of 2019?

Spot rates have fallen back to where they were two years ago. The problem for carriers; their costs have not.

Freight volumes may have peaked for the season, but it certainly doesn’t feel that way. There is still a lot of uncertainty for Q3 as we close a disappointing Q2.

Michael Lewis wrote “Moneyball” about the tactics Billy Beane used to improve the Oakland A’s. Read Zach Strickland’s take on using moneyball tactics in the freight market.

Reefer carriers are weathering the cooling freight market more efficiently than two of the main trailer types. An interesting data point supports this claim.

The demand for temperature controlled equipment is keeping the freight market active for reefer carriers and produce haulers, but general volumes continue to slide off 2018 highs.

International shipping has become one of the largest drivers of domestic shipping volumes in the United States over the past several years. Knowing when and where container volumes are moving […]

FreightWaves’ SONAR chart of the week (June 9, 2019 – June 15, 2019) Chart of the Week: Wait Time (El Paso, Laredo) (SONAR: WAIT.ELP, WAIT.LRD) International trade has been a […]

The last month has been like Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride for the freight market. Starting with the Trump tweet about increasing tariffs on Chinese goods another 15% in early May […]

Last year, carriers avoided hotspots for vehicle inspections during CVSA’s Roadcheck week. Now the market has turned, so has their attitude about these areas.

Capacity normally tightens into the holiday weekend, but this Memorial Day is nothing like the previous years.

Volumes took a nosedive after the tariffs increased and are starting to recover slightly, but the damage may already be done.

The trade war between China and the U.S. is having a noticeable impact on freight markets. Shippers and carriers are struggling to adapt.

Freight volumes should be increasing heading towards Memorial Day weekend, but they are headed the other direction as shippers take a pause over tariff concerns.

Freight volumes continue to increase steadily with no real implications to rates yet. Mother’s Day flower season hits Miami.

The relationship between truckload and less-than-truckload (LTL) is like two cities positioned around the epicenter of an earthquake.

FreightWaves continues to push more features and data into its data analytics platform with 8 new features and 3 data sets.

Freight volumes recover from Easter lull as volumes are flat from a year-over-year perspective. Comparing load volumes is not the whole story, however.

National freight volumes took a nosedive this week as Easter had a decent impact on the freight market, but how much of the drop is related to the holiday?

Volumes are flat year-over-year, and after a brief period of disruption the freight market has stabilized. Container volumes that have fueled the port cities freight, may be due to soften in the coming months.

National spot market price movement has a surprisingly tight relationship with new truck orders.

Capacity is still being added to the market. Truck orders numbers for both new and used models support this.

Market volumes remain strong from a year-over-year perspective, driven by the continued strength of the West. What does this imbalance mean for the freight market as the busy season approaches?

Specialty retail and electronics retail stores are the least efficient loading and unloading docks for carriers according to FreightWaves latest index.

L.A. volumes are propping up national freight volume but starting to fade. Are there any signs of another region emerging to take over for the West Coast?

After a period of attempting to improve detention times with carriers, they appear to be falling into the old habits of making load/unload times are lower priority according to FreightWaves’ Detention Minutes Index.

National freight volumes pulled back a bit this week after a strong start to March. Not all areas of the country are having the same experience.

Los Angeles has had the heaviest freight volumes in the U.S. for the past several months, but carriers should be paying attention to where that freight is headed.

Volumes have jumped to seasonal levels, but capacity has not been significantly impacted yet. Will March volumes change freight market conditions?

National freight volumes are flat year-over-year, but capacity is as loose as ever. What is driving the discrepancy?

Market volumes have increased significantly over the past several days, bringing national levels to those similar to early March of 2018 when the market was thought to be more active. The data tells us one aggregate value cannot tell the whole story.

Increasing spot rates lead carrier revenues in 2018, will revenues start to fall now that rates have started to come down again?

The overall market remains relatively stable as volume dip below 2018 levels in two major markets. Spring is around the corner. Will freight volumes return with it?

National spot rates have been flying high for the past year, but have only recently fallen under previous year values as illustrated on FreightWaves newest charting feature.

So far this February has been what we would expect. Does the normally slow month have any surprises up its sleeves?

Atlanta to Philadelphia’s spot rate has hit its lowest point in 3 years. The absolute rates may be similar, but the freight markets could not be further apart.

Volumes and capacity remain flat through the first week of February. Has the freight market weathered the slowest part of the year?

The two Super Bowl teams and their fanbases are very different, just like their freight market identities.

Freight volumes recover as January closes. The artic air freezes the Midwest as the Chicago market heats up.

The DOE fuel price keeps sliding as wholesale or rack prices are increasing. This can have a negative impact to carrier margins in early 2019 after receiving the benefit of expanding fuel spreads in late 2018. SONAR’s newest index can help you monitor this.

Last week had the largest single day percentage drop in volume since March of 2018. Capacity remained stable as we ride out the winter doldrums.

How can air cargo and dry van spot market rates be related? Could the movement of these two seemingly unrelated rates provide more evidence the market is slowing?

Capacity is abundant even though volume is relatively strong. Carriers are having little trouble covering the available freight making it a shippers’ paradise in mid-January.

The falling Purchasing Managers Index tends to be correlated with the general freight market, the Cass Freight Shipment Index illustrates this. Is it time for carriers to pull back?

The New Year has started off with a surprising amount of volume in the freight market. So far, capacity has been available to handle it. The tariff deadline extension may be providing a second wind.

Record intermodal shipments on the rail for the second year in a row has deep implication for the trucking market into 2019. Trucking will benefit, at least partially, from Norfolk Southern’s latest decision.

Carriers lower rates heading to the West Coast this year as inbound container volumes flood the ports.

Carrier operating ratios continue to fall in October with a less volatile freight market.

The freight market has softened significantly in the last few months, but it is not due to a drastic reduction in volume.

Volume continues to slide but there was little change in the market over the past seven days.

The big oil news of the week was OPEC deciding to cut production in an attempt to stop the price of oil from dropping further. Carriers should be happy with this in the long run but gained a short term boost to margins in the meantime.

Capacity is readily available in most regions of the country. Los Angeles has finally cooled off as the tariff deadline gets extended.

The spot market has been cooling over the past several months, but the players seem more uncertain than ever.

Freight activity surged prior to Thanksgiving with help from Los Angeles volume. Drivers returned to the road this week, and carriers have figured out where to position their trucks to alleviate some tightness.

The benchmark price of domestic crude oil has dropped by 25% since early October. Historically, that would be a great thing for truckers, but with carriers operating more efficient trucks and oil production tied into the freight economy more than ever, it could be a warning sign for the broader freight market.

With the Thanksgiving holiday approaching, drivers are spending less time on the road and more time at home. This is shrinking the availability of capacity in the market.

Ontario California has toppled the Atlanta market, the reigning capital of freight volume in the country. Surging volume is to blame. How long will the elevated volume last?

The freight market remains slow in most parts of the country except for one. Will it spill into other regions?

Lead times increasing are a sign that shippers are taking capacity shortages seriously. Carriers and brokers that depend on spot market freight are left wanting.

The freight market is showing the first signs of turning in over a month. Is this the start of retail season?

East coast bound containers from China are getting a pre-holiday discount as shippers increase volume to North America in front of tariff increases.

The freight market continues to stabilize, but there should be a little fuel left in the tank for one more seasonal push before the holidays.

Demand for flatbeds always drop off this time of year, but is this a sign of a broader industrial slowdown?

October of 2018 has been very different from the same month a year ago thus far. We have had 2 major hurricanes make landfall and the economy is still strong. So why does it seem so different?

Outbound tender volumes have shot up 26% out of the Savannah market as the Southeast deals with hurricane Michael

Truckload volume continues to decline to annual lows after the first week of October. Freight volume is redistributing out west as Michael hits the Southeast U.S.

Trucking volumes have dropped by 6% since the beggining of the month of October. Is this an indication that the market is slowing or is it a normal seasonal pattern?

October is traditionally a slower month than the 4 preceding it in terms of volume. This year it has happened as soon as the calendar turned. This seasonal swing does not mean it will be a quiet fourth quarter for everyone.

Since the ELD hard mandate went into effect, the trucking market has added 4% more truck capacity

There is plenty of evidence for increased capacity in the freight market. Volumes are higher than they were in March when the spot market was considered more volatile.

Hurricane Florence has practically shutdown any outbound trucking activity out of the North Carolina coastal market

The full brunt of Florence has yet to be felt in the freight market, but there was plenty of regional impact as carriers and shippers scrambled over the past week to mitigate damages.

Charlotte and Atlanta see outsized inbound volumes as carriers move relief suppies into staging areas

Hurricane Florence bears down on the Carolinas. Freight markets are reacting before the first rain drops have fallen.

Truckers are not singing the blues in Memphis (except on Beale Street): It’s currently the number one headhaul market in the U.S.

One year later the memories of Harvey are still fresh. With the peak of the Atlantic hurricane season approaching the first real tropical threat to the U.S. mainland is targeting the central Gulf Coast with flooding rain and storm surge potential.

For the trucking market, the third quarter has been stronger than the second, but no one would know it

It looks like the freight market is waking up from the long running summer doldrums, or is it just a byproduct of the pre-holiday shipper procrastination.

Carriers and brokers have been talking about how slow August has been. Good news: According to our technical indicators, the market is about the turn back in their favor

Volume falls this week in the freight markets but rejections are flattening indicating there are still some spots where capacity is an issue.

The top five trucking origin points represent 18% of the volume in the freight market, according to a new index added to SONAR this past week

This week’s freight market continues the same patter toward stability, but volume remains steady as we move towards a more volatile time of year.

Tesla’s auto production in Fremont and high container volumes out of Oakland are driving demand for trucks in the San Francisco market

Tesla’s auto production in Fremont and high container volumes out of Oakland are driving demand for trucks in the San Francisco market

Wall Street is in a panic over fears that the truckload sector has peaked. Wall Street is wrong. We break down the reasons using data from SONAR.

Introducing the latest additions to our SONAR platform: DAT lane pricing / Lane Tender Rejection Rates

Tender rejections continue to fall towards the May 2nd low, indicating that capacity is loosening in the market. If it reaches the critical level of 19.12%, it could mean that the rest of the summer will be disappointing for carriers that reported a bullish summer outlook.

Freight markets continued to cool last week, but have stalled for the moment. Isolated markets showed increased activity around the international borders. What we should be looking at moving forward as we move into August?

July has started off slower than carriers would like, showing normal freight patterns. Softer demand is also impacting utilization in the market.

The freight markets continue to cool, but looking at the bigger picture provides perspective on what to expect moving forward.

Holidays have a huge impact on the freight markets, with drivers going off-duty and altering their work schedules. In this chart of the week, we examined how different holidays impacted available capacity.

The freight markets took a slight break in the last few days, but this is nothing new and is not a sign of a turning market…yet.

The Freightos Baltic Container Price Index shows the volatility of container prices out of China to the North American West Coast as importers try to adjust to a new era of global trade.

The Cass Shipment Index (CFIS.USA) is showing freight market volumes that are nearly as strong as the 2006 peak season. This is a bullish sign for the second half of 2018.

With the second quarter of 2018 coming to an end this past Saturday, we saw tender rejections spike to their highest level since January at almost 27%. Major markets like […]

The end of the second quarter was explosive in terms of freight market activity. Rates expanded as carriers refused loads. July typically sees volumes fall a bit in relation to June. There is no reason to think it will be indicative of any long run contractions in rates.

Digital trucking apps have a hard road to gaining traction, while the freight markets are not phased by tariff talks, yet.