Finance

Despite strong revenue growth, freight broker productivity fell sharply.

UPS posted its best quarterly operating profit in its history. It also declared a 49% dividend increase.

ArcBest raised long-term expectations Tuesday in conjunction with its fourth-quarter results, which were better than expected. The company now eyes doubling its size by 2025.

Forager founder and CEO Matt Silver will continue to work closely with his team as Arrive’s vice president of cross-border solutions.

ArcBest on Tuesday reported fourth-quarter results, which once again outpaced analysts’ expectations.

Chicago-based on-demand freight marketplace closes on $200 million series D round.

Carrier profits are reaching previously unimaginable heights as supply chain disruptions supercharge gains.

J.B. Hunt Transport acquires less-than-truckload furniture carrier Zenith Freight Lines from Bassett Furniture.

Volvo Trucks pulled out the stops to deliver in Q4, but it cost extra for expedited shipping and to navigate parts shortages.

A Mexican government crackdown has shifted volumes of refined products to truck instead of rail. But KCS hopes for that traffic to return to rail, according to executives.

Any concessions that CP would consider as it seeks federal approval to merge with Kansas City Southern must be “reasonable” and grounded in supporting competition, CP said during its fourth-quarter 2021 earnings call late Thursday.

Covenant Logistics Group said revenue for the second half of 2022 could be impacted by wage pressures and higher equipment and over-the-road repair costs.

Conversational analytics tool Athena received the 2021 Cool Vendor in Analytics and Data Science award from Gartner.

The Chattanooga, Tennessee-based truckload carrier said the outlook is for continued operational progress during 2022.

Freight broker Landstar closes 2021 with another beat-and-raise quarter. Demand has yet to buck normal seasonal trends, indicating the first quarter will be strong as well.

NS plans to roll out an operations program that will progress beyond precision scheduled railroading, according to executives speaking on NS’ fourth-quarter 2021 earnings call.

Knight-Swift Transportation reported another big quarterly result Wednesday. However, it appears the stretch of rapid growth will moderate as the comps have stiffened.

Canadian railway CN eyes volume growth from vaccine mandates and grain, and it expects higher volumes in the second half of 2022.

“We are finding that if we can focus heavily on the customer experience, we can deliver tremendous value to our customers and that’s what it’s all about,” says Logixboard CEO Julian Alvarez.

The railcar leasing market for 2022 feels more solid than past years, executives said Tuesday during GATX’s fourth-quarter 2021 earnings call.

Less-than-truckload carrier Saia announced a 7.5% general rate increase Tuesday. The carrier was the latest to announce rate hikes greater than the normal mid-single-digit increases.

Marten’s labor and purchased transportation costs were higher in 2021 but were more than offset by rising revenue.

Management from the nation’s largest flatbed operator, Daseke, says the demand backlog extends for “the foreseeable future.”

Paccar Q4 new truck deliveries were up 45% over Q3, suggesting some easing of supply chain disruptions and semiconductor shortages.

Zero-percent factoring will be able to provide relationships and data that can be used as a foundation for other trucking support businesses, according to BasicBlock’s CEO.

Triumph’s CEO Graft is not holding back, likening the automated deals to the invention of the telephone in terms of technical significance.

CSX has been hiring more aggressively not only to meet anticipated market demand but to safeguard against COVID-19-related absences, according to executives on its fourth-quarter 2021 earnings call Thursday.

UP’s capital expenditures plan for 2022 includes investments to intermodal terminals and intermodal ramps, executives said during the company’s fourth-quarter 2021 earnings call Thursday.

Among the major U.S. passenger carriers, United Airlines was the big winner in cargo performance during 2021.

FreightWaves reports very positive financial performance in 4Q 2021.

Heartland Express announced 2021 was its best year since going public. Fourth-quarter results were in line with consensus.

“Combining our visibility technology with a sophisticated fintech product will allow companies to make their payments around real-time updates,” says the founder and CEO of Shifl.

Could container shipping and tanker stocks end 2022 very differently than they began it?

P.A.M. Transportation Services finished 2021 on a high note, posting another large earnings beat during the fourth quarter.

It’s a sign of the supply chain times when customers are renting entire planes from United Airlines to haul low-value commodities like mayonnaise.

Prologis provided better-than-expected 2022 guidance on Wednesday, citing the expectation that demand will continue to outpace logistics real estate additions during the year.

Logistics real estate investment trust Prologis issued 2022 guidance ahead of expectations on Wednesday.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services beat fourth-quarter expectations. Visibility into 2022 remains murky but management is calling for continued growth.

J.B. Hunt’s fourth quarter comes in ahead of consensus as the intermodal, brokerage and truckload divisions see notable year-over-year improvements.

In this edition, Fontinalis partner Chris Stallman describes his life-long passion for finance and his favorite 2022 FreightTech themes.

Delta Air Lines is on the path to recovery from the depths of the coronavirus pandemic, but omicron remains a hurdle.

Following numerous transportation and logistics deals in 2021, industry insiders discuss lofty expectations for 2022.

Port X Logistics adds warehousing and transportation provider Denver Express to its portfolio.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce wants the Biden administration to spend less time correcting economic problems the chamber feels don’t exist, and more on trade.

TPG, Thoma Bravo and Goldman Sachs led a $240 million investment round for the Chicago-based real-time visibility provider.

Intermodal trucking company RoadOne adds dedicated carrier EHS Trucking to its network. The deal marks its ninth acquisition in the last five years.

The Biden administration wants consumer protection regulators to examine whether giant retailers are creating supply chain distortions for smaller businesses.

The year 2023 and beyond could boost railcar production volumes for Greenbrier as global low-carbon mandates drive freight to rail, say Greenbrier executives.

Supply chain visibility provider project44 sees record top-line growth during the fourth quarter, with bookings, account wins and retention coming in better than expected.

Blume Global’s customers have access to the manufacturing solutions provided by LiveSource, including tools for value analysis and engineering, product part approval processes, advanced product quality planning and nonconforming reporting.

Schneider became the latest truckload carrier to bolt on a fleet. The company announced Tuesday the $263 million acquisition of dedicated carrier Midwest Logistics Systems.

Freight broker Trinity Logistics announced Monday it has acquired Team Eagle Logistics.

“Nearly every industry has been impacted by supply chain disruption, magnifying the need to accelerate improvement opportunities in supply chain planning and execution,” said a NTT DATA Services executive of the deal.

From relay networks to industry unicorns, FreightWaves looks at technology trends that will continue to transform supply chains into the new year.

The LTL carrier’s debt at the end of the third quarter was higher than a year earlier, but Moody’s is optimistic in making its upgrade.

Several asset-based carriers changed their course through M&A in 2021.

“We are a data company that happens to be applying our data points to solving problems in supply chain,” says Dray Alliance co-founder and CEO Steve Wen.

“We don’t partner with one asset, we partner with all box truck assets in a region and we aggregate the totality of orders to be sure that there is one full truck delivering to one ZIP code,” said Onward Delivery CEO Grafton Elliott.

RLS Logistics continues to roll up the cold storage market, adding one family operator at a time.

AskWaves looks at some of the catalysts that have heated up M&A in the transportation space.

FedEx’s Express and LTL units delivered solid performances, while the bottom may have been hit at its Ground unit.

Volume and yield gains powered the Express and LTL units, while staffing shortages and operating inefficiencies continued to hurt the Ground unit.

“The trucking insurance industry hasn’t innovated anything for the last few decades, so we thought with our insights and the right person we could change that,” said CEO Mats Holmback.

Shipware will deepen SIB’s shipping analysis portfolio, while Shipware clients can get spending needs addressed beyond parcel delivery, Shipware’s co-CEO said.

“I think the ability for us to pivot and be nimble to what the market is asking from us has become a huge piece to our success,” says Transflo’s CEO.

Strong selling on Friday follows the disclosure that XPO’s founder, and chair of both companies, sold 3.2 million shares in each.

Nuvocargo offers an all-in-one services platform, including freight forwarding, customs brokerage, cargo insurance and trade financing.

Cambridge Capital’s Ben Gordon details the roots of his “scrappy underdog” mentality, past investments and FreightTech’s recent defining and not-so-defining moments.

Less-than-truckload carrier Yellow Corp reports the weakest revenue trends out of the public carriers providing fourth-quarter updates.

Forward Air’s initiative to upgrade its freight mix to a heavier class of premium cargo was evident in November results.

Truck broker Landstar System announced Wednesday it will use 2021’s record performance to pay shareholders a $2-per-share special dividend.

Less-than-truckload carrier Old Dominion said share-taking efforts led to revenue growth ahead of its peers during November.

Radiant Logistics announced Monday that it acquired digital logistics services provider Navegate for $35 million.

“Our technology is picking loads for drivers based on what is best for the driver and what will generate the most revenue on the truck, which in turn, generates the highest potential salary for our drivers” said AI Fleet co-founder and CEO Marc El Khoury.

BMO’s quarterly figures on the health of its transportation portfolio are considered a strong indicator of underlying financials.

Knight-Swift adds to its less-than-truckload offering with the acquisition of Midwest Motor Express. Investors continue to see the value in owning LTL assets.

Difficulties finding trailers is starting to rival the effects of the driver shortage at the nation’s largest fleets.

During a Stephens conference presentation before investors, CEO Fuller also discussed the unique driver retention tool at Variant called the “squad.”

Intraquarter updates from less-than-truckload carriers show record third-quarter operating conditions have continued through the first two months of the fourth quarter.

“When we overperform, we expect to reinvest that back into our business. We focus on recurring revenues and establishing relationships with customers for life,” said Descartes’ CEO.

Supply chain tech is increasingly driven by late-stage venture capital activity.

Ashley Furniture has acquired Wilson Logistics, which provides asset-based third-party logistics services with a fleet of more than 1,200 trucks.

“This is a logical next evolutionary step for EKA to realize its original vision to democratize freight management,” says CEO JJ Singh.

According to Gartner, multi-robot orchestration has only penetrated 1%-5% of its total target audience and will become necessary as companies begin deploying more than one robotics technology within their operations.

General rate increases for less-than-truckload shipments not under contract are rolling in ahead of schedule and are a little higher than normal.

The regional parcel delivery carrier becomes the private equity firm’s 10th “logistics and infrastructure services” investment.

“This is the largest amount of funding that has been dedicated to building a complete business management solution for trucking entrepreneurs and we are excited to be leading the charge here,” says CloudTrucks CEO Tobenna Arodiogbu.

Werner Enterprises triples the size of its final-mile offering with the addition of Northeast-based Nehds Logistics.

Third-party logistics provider Transport Investments Inc. has acquired a majority stake in specialty freight brokerages US Logistics and Nationwide Logistics.

“Beginning with the 2018 merger of Transportation Insight and Nolan Transportation Group, we have been on a mission to bring together the most innovative thinkers with the most powerful technologies and data to empower the largest network of people to create a new future of logistics,” says CEO Ken Beyer.

Picking transport stocks in 2022 will not involve a blanket approach, according to Deutsche Bank. However, there are still several companies with significant upside potential.

Hedge funds and retail investors led the takeoff in transportation SPACs that are barely staying aloft. Guess who gets the better end of that deal?

“Leaders should realize that you’re not going to get a lot of benefit by trying to build volume with negative margins. The goal here is to be focused on value-adding technology and cloud adoption, not in volume building,” says Loadsmart co-founder and co-CEO Felipe Capella.

“The most effective way to address supply chain congestion is to move inventory closer to the end customer,” said Deliverr co-founder and CEO Harish Abbott.

A consultant’s figure exhibits the problem: Rail’s share of freight is where it was 12 years ago.

Air and ocean asset-light logistics provider STG has acquired International Warehouse Services.

Private ownership would allow Echo to accelerate M&A and technology investments.

FreightWaves’ new series dives into the stories behind the industry’s biggest investments. Its first stop: the 33-year-old Chicago-native Jason Duboe who leads project44’s scaling initiatives.

Zim’s profits are still going up — way up — despite more vessels getting snared in West Coast port gridlock.

Ensuring load accuracy at the shipper facility is key to on-time delivery.