Finance

The Teamsters union is seeking executive compensation reform at XPO.

Formerly containerized cargoes are being loaded onto bulkers. Box-ship orders are keeping future bulker growth in check.

Analysts are looking at various explanations for why the number of drivers today is lower than it was two years ago.

Flatbed truckload provider Daseke reported first-quarter adjusted earnings better than expected. However, with a more than 5x run-up in share price over the past year, a decent quarterly report without a guidance raise sent the stock lower on Friday.

Cold storage facility operator Americold said food manufacturers are “failing to meet the needs of retailers” as COVID-related production shutdowns have drawn down food stocks. The impacts from lower inventories and throughput were seen in the company’s first-quarter report.

An improving economy and a $170 million investment in Bitcoin drove payment provider Square’s revenue up 266% and profits up 79%.

Tanker execs explain lack of distress sales and scrapping this time around, and why new orders will be more curtailed.

A market recovery is underway for railcar lessors and equipment manufacturers, but the market also has a ways to go before it bounces back completely, according to industry observations.

Wayfair said its active customer base grew 57.1% in the past year, and those customers are ordering more items, leading to a nearly 50% increase in Q1 revenue.

Anticipated growth for intermodal will help to support Hub Group’s investments for that sector in 2021.

Less-than-truckload carrier Yellow Corp. reported a sizable first-quarter loss Wednesday as weather, increased purchased transportation expense and a lack of gains on real estate sales weighed on the period.

The earnings call revealed that Uber, like so many others, is working to fill out its driver ranks.

First-quarter revenue results were aligned with FLEETCOR’s expectations, but at $609 million, they fell 8% short of first-quarter 2020 results.

The across-the-board gains exceeded expectations and reflect increasing end-market strength, Trimble CEO says.

Nikola was early to the SPAC party. Now it is among the first to take a paper loss on stock warrants by following stricter SEC guidelines.

There is a small window for new loans to underserved communities, but after spending of about $800 billion, the cupboard is bare.

The German company posts record first-quarter profits and substantially raises full-year earnings and cash flow targets.

Maersk reveals more details on its shift toward long-term contracts at the expense of spot exposure.

Cargojet wants a bigger slice of the U.S. e-commerce and heavy air cargo market. It’s looking for an investment opportunity and has identified new trends in e-commerce that will keep volumes high in North America.

The first-ever deal with Apple is part of $4 billion in logistics contracts for XPO since the year began.

Lyft reported a narrower loss in its Q1 earnings as riders began returning to the platform.

Engine maker Cummins absorbed $105 million in freight costs to get microchips needed for engines during the trucking boom.

Despite a tough comparison with a year ago, Meritor saw sales and earnings increase in its Q2 fiscal quarter.

ArcBest points to the current “robust demand” environment as supportive of raising equipment spending in 2022.

In the prepared statement released with earnings, CEO Musser says the current market has no precedents.

Logistics provider ArcBest Corp. posted first-quarter results well ahead of analysts’ expectations Tuesday.

Diesel sales at the company showed a slight decline from the fourth quarter but were significantly higher than Q1 2020.

Truckload shippers are accepting double-digit rate hikes in 2021 and further increases in 2022, Deutsche Bank’s lead transport analyst says.

Company boosts its full-year EBITDA range, and discloses 11-year, $1.8 billion logistics contract with unidentified customer.

Executives with parent company Berkshire Hathaway expect BNSF to take steps to protect the railroad’s franchise as the merger between Kansas City Southern and one of the Canadian railways makes its way through regulatory review.

Chinese container production still trails torrid demand. Ever Given accident was ‘icing on the cake’ — making box shortfall worse.

Universal Logistics Holdings reported $415.2 million in operating revenue during the first quarter.

Forward Air provided some clarity on longer-term margin expectations during a Friday conference call with analysts. The company beat first-quarter expectations and its new guidance came in much better than expected.

Olsavsky says the one-day delivery service needs to get on top of burgeoning demand and warehouse space shortages.

Forward Air reported first-quarter earnings results and issued second-quarter guidance that were both ahead of expectations.

Provider of fuel payment processing for fleets reported 5% revenue decline in first quarter

The truckload carrier’s OR went from in excess of 100% to 95.8%.

Schneider National sees several favorable catalysts through the remainder of 2021 that are supportive of its guidance raise. Finding equipment and drivers will be the challenge.

Schneider National’s first quarter comes in ahead of analysts’ expectations and the company raises its full-year outlook by 8% at the midpoint of the range.

Forward Air announced it has entered an agreement to acquire expedited transportation and less-than-truckload provider J&P Hall Express.

Werner Enterprises reported a first-quarter record for operating income Wednesday after the close. Revenue-per-mile guidance in its one-way segment moved higher.

Waggoner delivered record EPS in a difficult environment.

In what is expected to be its final earnings report as a stand-alone company, Grubhub reported 52% growth in revenue, but said restaurant fee caps hurt its bottom line, resulting in a quarterly loss.

Norfolk Southern aims to add longer trains, improve car velocity and provide more technological tools for customers and for safety inspections, with an eye toward future competition with autonomous trucks.

Ryder is a major supplier of used trucks to the market, and its numbers showed a healthy second sales demand in the quarter.

Despite supply chain constraints, Tier 1 driveline supplier Dana beat analyst expectations for Q1 and raised full-year estimates.

The CEO of TFI International suggests the Canadian firm is looking to grow its relationship with UPS beyond its $800 million acquisition of UPS Freight.

Less-than-truckload carrier Saia reported first-quarter earnings ahead of expectations and guided for second-quarter results to outpace normal seasonality.

The CEO of Covenant, while reviewing a strong quarter for the truckload carrier, gives his perspective on the labor market the company faces.

First-quarter operating ratio was 61.5%, compared with an adjusted operating ratio of 63.7% in the first quarter of 2020.

Less-than-truckload carrier Saia reports a big year-over-year increase in earnings during the first quarter even as weather negatively impacted one-third of its network.

The brokerage will pour money into new tech, new modes and new people.

West Coast congestion could last into the fall as retailers face stockouts on essential goods, says ocean carrier Matson.

Robinson highlighted improving productivity metrics.

TFI International reports a 17% increase in operating income during the first quarter as the Canadian trucking and logistics firm gets a strong start to 2021.

PACCAR puts up strong Q1 numbers, including record parts sales that suggest the new truck backlog is boosting aftermarket sales.

The move comes as the company reports terrific first-quarter results and its shares soar.

Less-than-truckload carrier Yellow announced it is taking delivery of the next wave of equipment, which has been facilitated by the CARES Act loan it received in 2020.

As TriumphPay gets set to bring in HubTran, a business with lots of companies may become one with far fewer firms.

CN outlined some scenarios in which a merged railway can compete with long-haul trucking.

DSV Panalpina announced Tuesday it plans to acquire the logistics arm of Agility Public Warehousing for $4.1 billion. The deal is expected to turn the transportation and logistics company into a top 3 forwarder globally.

Revenue jumps by double digits across the board; pension gains account for about half of EPS increase.

First-quarter earnings reports from truckload carriers highlight a booming freight market. A strong consumer, tight truck capacity and elevated rates appear the likely dynamics for the remainder of the year.

Tesla is focusing on making more cars, securing battery cells and finishing gigafactories in Texas and Germany. The Semi is again in the background.

Covenant’s overall OR improved by 620 bps from the first quarter of 2020, a significant gain.

Canadian railway CN reported net profit of CA$974 million in the first quarter of 2021, a 3.7% decline from the first quarter of 2020.

Daimler Truck AG, soon to be a stand-alone business, showed a modest recovery from the pandemic-impacted year-ago first quarter.

Variant is a company within a company that is being touted as the future of U.S. Xpress.

The company’s revenue rose but operating margins are higher; Variant targets are being met and revenue is 11.8% of total truckload.

The CEO of one of Canada’s largest trucking companies, Mullen Group, says the country’s freight market will bounce back after COVID-19 is under control.

The Surface Transportation Board will need to scrutinize a proposed merger between Kansas City Southern and either Canadian Pacific or CN to ensure it doesn’t hurt the operations of competing railroads, Union Pacific’s head said on the company’s first-quarter earnings call.

Old Dominion Freight Line set a first-quarter record even with adverse weather conditions. The second quarter is shaping up to produce a new all-time company record.

Aaron Graft has been assuring users HubTran’s open loop system will not be giving Triumph’s factoring business an unfair advantage

Sweden’s Volvo AB reported a record operating margin in Q1 following a warning of up to a month of downtime due to microchip shortages.

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A 4% drop in operating revenue contributed to a 9% decline in net income for Union Pacific’s first quarter.

Old Dominion Freight Line announced its best first-quarter result in company history on Thursday. Improved density and yields led to a 76.1% operating ratio, 530 basis points better year-over-year.

For now, Canadian Pacific is not planning to take part in a bidding war with rival CN to acquire Kansas City Southern, saying that its offer is more likely to meet regulators’ litmus test for mergers.

P.A.M. Transportation Services posted a profit in the first quarter of 2021. The bulk of the improvement came on the nonoperating line.

Truck repairs and parts sales covered all the cost of running Rush Enterprises’ dealership network in Q1 as year-over-year profits doubled.

Broker Landstar System blew out analysts’ expectations for the first quarter. The company’s earnings almost doubled from the year-ago quarter, which wasn’t materially impacted by COVID. Landstar’s new guidance calls for more of the same.

The bank’s book of business grew at a pace that far exceeded the additional business that came with its acquisition of Covenant’s factoring operation

Canadian Pacific’s revenue for the first quarter of 2021 dipped 4% to CA$1.96 billion.

Heartland Express reported a slight miss on first-quarter earnings expectations Wednesday. The carrier pointed to relative strength in March as it exited the quarter, noting that driver pay will need to be raised again.

CSX has capacity on its network, space on its trains and the workforce and locomotives it needs to handle an anticipated growth in service needs in 2021, according to company executives.

Knight-Swift Transportation posted a large headline earnings beat in the first quarter but it was less impressive by comparison when excluding nonoperating income. The company now sees over-the-road contract rates increasing in the mid-teen percentage range during 2021.

It is difficult to measure the precise size of the impact on retail fuel prices, but there are signs it is in the double digits.

CSX’s first-quarter net income fell 8% to $706 million from $770 million a year ago.

United performed worse in the first quarter than some analysts expected, but the consumer mood has shifted as the economy reopens and United says it can get to breakeven this year on a pretax basis.

Logistics warehouse provider Prologis sees the real estate market tightening further in 2021. Rents are expected to step higher by mid-single digits even as more capacity comes online.

Logistics warehouse provider Prologis reports a beat-and-raise quarter. The company is forecasting occupancy to continue to tick higher even as new properties come online.

One significant difference from traditional hedging: There is no chance of hedging losses, just upfront fees instead.

Kansas City Southern expects to maintain its financial targets for 2021 on a recovering economy and an anticipated volume rebound. It declined to comment on post-merger operational changes.

Also on this week’s podcast: Conflicting info about the US oil upstream that might actually be in sync.

Kansas City Southern’s net income for the first quarter of 2021 rose 0.7% despite a 4% decline in revenue and a 1% drop in carload volumes.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services updated its long-term division margin targets on its first-quarter call Thursday.

The weather-related closure of three Walmart DCs had an outsized impact on the company.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services announced first-quarter results well ahead of analysts’ expectations.

One more quarter taking its pandemic lumps and then Delta says it will steer out of the COVID vortex and start making more money than it loses.

Forward Air’s growth plans net 11 new final-mile terminal locations in the first quarter. While recent activist shareholder interests called into question the company’s capital allocation strategy, it appears the final-mile segment remains part of the plan.