Business

Union Pacific’s second-quarter 2021 net income grew 59% from a year ago to $1.8 billion amid a 30% gain in operating revenue.

Covenant Logistics Group reported a better-than-expected second quarter as freight demand remains elevated and capacity is in short supply. The company said the favorable conditions have carried into the third quarter.

Canadian trucking and logistics firm Mullen Group reported strong growth in the second quarter from a combination of a robust freight market and acquisitions.

Freight broker Landstar System sees continued strength in consumer spending push freight demand higher during the second quarter. The company posted its best quarterly results ever Wednesday after the market close.

The report is for a company that is about to undergo yet another change, with HubTran now in the fold.

The sale of property rights of CSX-owned line segments in Virginia more than doubled CSX’s net earnings for the second quarter of 2021 compared with a year ago. Net profit was $1.17 billion in the second quarter.

Fetch Package has created a last-mile logistics solution to optimize deliveries to multifamily housing communities, eliminating the need for updated package rooms or lockers and increased staff to handle incoming traffic.

Daimler Truck sold more vehicles in Q2 than the previous quarter but warned that supply shortages threaten second-half financials.

Customers’ push to manage inventories will support rail volumes in the second half of the year, even though potential headwinds in the form of wildfires, supply chain congestion and COVID-19 loom.

Knight-Swift Transportation beat second-quarter estimates and raised its full-year guidance to include the favorable operating environment in addition to accretion from recent acquisitions. However, the improved outlook includes the expectation for continued cost headwinds around labor.

Ratings agencies’ reviews don’t reveal profitability levels, but they do provide a window into some private company metrics.

Lyft riders in Miami will be able to choose a self-driving car later this year through an agreement with Ford and autonomous-tech company Argo AI.

The cybercriminals who operate a dark web marketplace admit to hacking companies’ networks and stealing their data. But they say ransomware violates their moral code.

Is this the start of more union representation at XPO or just a head fake?

United Airlines’ cargo division is one of the company’s biggest assets right now, with big returns again in the second quarter.

Higher revenues propelled CN’s adjusted net income for the second quarter to grow by 16.5% to CA$1.06 billion.

Volvo makes no mention of the UAW strikes but smaller sibling Mack Trucks delivers more units in Q2 as the industry recovers from year-ago pandemic shutdowns.

Kuehne + Nagel is one of the largest third-party logistics providers in the world and it got larger in the second quarter.

“The Transfix team is extremely talented, but there’s a quality to the culture that’s got gumption,” said newly appointed CCO Sophie Dabbs.

Midwest Carriers announced the acquisition of alcohol transporter Osborn & Son Trucking for an undisclosed amount.

Walmart leverages ongoing supply chain investments to land a spot among the FreightWaves Shipper of Choice top 10.

“Drayage is one of the biggest pain points for shippers right now,” said industry entrepreneur Andrew Leto.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services beat second-quarter expectations Monday. However, the back half of 2021 will depend on how well the railroads and shippers can improve their operations.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services reported better-than-expected second-quarter results Monday as the company saw double-digit revenue growth in all divisions when compared to the year-ago period, which contained widespread lockdowns from COVID protocols.

Prologis’ second-quarter results exceeded analysts’ expectations, and guidance moved higher as property rents are increasing at a record pace.

Heartland Express records its best consolidated operating ratio since its last acquisition was fully integrated.

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, progress toward sustainable supply chains has not slowed like experts predicted, according to a recent report.

Logistics real estate investment trust Prologis announced Monday that demand for space remains robust and that operations are the healthiest in its 38-year history. The company modestly beat expectations for the second quarter and raised its outlook for the rest of 2021.

Despite headwinds, KCS thinks it can still achieve double-digit revenue growth for 2021.

The newly wrapped Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, driven for Rick Ware Racing and sponsored by BYRD Racing, will showcase the two FreighTech companies for the NASCAR Cup Series midsummer installment.

The $700 million fee to terminate a merger agreement with Canadian Pacific dented KCS’ second-quarter net income. But revenues were up 37% year-over-year.

The abrupt closure of K-Ratio’s fuel hedging program in late June has left trucking companies scrambling as they await answers from the Chicago-based company as to what happened and if they will recoup money owed to them since K-Ratio shuttered its fuel swap options platform.

Truckload’s operating ratio was better but OR deteriorated for dedicated.

Aurora Innovation gets a $10.6 billion enterprise value, the second highest of four autonomous driving software developers seeking to go public.

Delta Air Lines is seeing strong domestic travel demand, but cargo also helped the company move beyond breakeven in the second quarter.

A 7-mile stretch of I-16 in Georgia has been shut down after a hopper dislodged an overpass Thursday.

“We have to compete in a marketplace where my competitors don’t even have to be profitable.”

Hitachi ABB Power Systems Vice President Daniel Simounet talks about where opportunities might already exist to electrify freight rail — provided that the railroads, government and utilities are willing to collaborate together.

Temperature-controlled logistics real estate investment trust Lineage Logistics and venture capital firm 8VC have formed an alliance to invest in technology startups in the transportation and logistics industry.

“This collaboration brings us closer to another source of data and another way to look at last-mile problems.”

P.A.M. Transportation benefited from a tight truckload market in the second quarter to post record revenue and operating income.

Improving utilization of existing resources in a capacity-crunched market is a “game changer,” Locomation CEO Çetin Meriçli says.

Embark Transportation advances plug-and-play software to take drivers out of trucks.

Supplier readiness is a key to Navistar and TuSimple achieving commercialization of a high-autonomy Class 8 truck in 2024.

Torc Robotics was the first AV startup to partner with a truck manufacturer since becoming part of Daimler Trucks in 2019. Torc CEO Michael Fleming says utilizing Daimler’s relationships with fleets is helpful in the race to launch the first market-ready self-driving truck.

Fetch and Körber’s solution provides safety, efficiency and flexibility.

Kodiak Robotics co-founder and CEO Don Burnette explains why the development of autonomous trucking is poised to leap from the experimentation phase to a viable commercial product during the Autonomous & Electric Vehicles Summit.

A patchwork of autonomous driving regulations at the state level are ready to move to a more coordinated effort at federal agencies, according to Plus’ Wiley Deck.

AEye’s pencil dot-sized LiDAR sensor can see a half-mile ahead and instantly switch to wide view of traffic cut ins.

Railcar manufacturer Greenbrier sees near-term support for new railcars, as well as longer-term support as companies focus on decarbonizing their operations.

High barriers are a deterrent to starting a less-than-truckload operation. Knight-Swift’s recent acquisition sheds some light on the value in owning assets in the space.

Pay is rising under the two-year deal but union officials stress the formalization of procedures as the big win.

“Instead of reinventing the wheel, we partnered with someone who is a leading player in that domain,” says Locus CEO Nishith Rastogi.

GXO Logistics looks to capitalize on favorable macro trends.

Bulk carrier Trimac Transportation has acquired Southern California cement carrier Double Eagle Transportation.

Mastercard and Verizon want to turn your smartphone into a cash register.

As it navigates COVID-era supply chain challenges, The Home Depot focuses on treating carriers with the same respect as its own employees.

Commercialization and pace of growth are common themes among young companies seeking to lead in advanced technologies.

Walmart International bought a 77% stake in the India-based e-commerce shopping portal in 2018.

DeliverEnd and Perfit partner to provide a contactless e-commerce and delivery solution.

More than 158 unsecured creditors, including trucking, logistics and towing companies, are collectively owed hundreds of thousands of dollars after New Jersey freight forwarder Advectus Transportation Services abruptly ceased operations and filed Chapter 7.

“I think we need to squash the whole thing and start over,” said Kempisty.

President Joe Biden’s infrastructure deal, plus more Americans planning to hit the roads this summer, means more workers need protection from the elements.

Talkshoplive and its embeddable player network received a huge boost with $6 million in funding.

The financial and strategic benefits of shifting toward more direct-to-consumer sales is becoming apparent at Nike.

Critics of the move say truck drivers are already overworked and allowing more time behind the wheel ‘fails to address the underlying issues.’

Trucking owner Carl Bradley Johansson is facing federal charges in an alleged PPP loan fraud scheme. He is also awaiting trial in a separate federal case for allegedly ordering welders to illegally repair an oil tanker that resulted in a fatal explosion in 2014.

FreightWaves experts weigh in on the ramifications of KNX’s $1.35 billion deal to acquire AAA Cooper.

“We believe combining with good businesses makes us a better company and it will remain a large part of our plans going forward.”

IRIS is GEODIS’ eye-in-the-sky ocean and air shipments visibility platform for booking and managing exports in real time.

Federal regulators push for more data as automated trucking rolls from testing to reality.

Available in late 2021, the company’s card will allow drivers to facilitate transactions anywhere Visa is accepted.

“The rapidly legalizing cannabis market will be one of the first entirely new regulated supply chains to be built after the invention of the internet.”

Findings from a recent Spireon white paper survey, conducted in conjunction with FreightWaves, found that about 40% of carriers reported losing more than $500 per trailer per week in detention costs.

Kroger Co. continues to bring intelligent automation to its warehouses.

To tackle this bull market, ITF is adding automation to distribution and fulfillment, adding visibility to customer inventory.

Knight-Swift’s “transformational” $1.35 billion less-than-truckload acquisition marks the second big deal by a public truckload carrier in less than a week.

Knight-Swift Transportation acquires less-than-truckload carrier AAA Cooper in a deal valued at $1.35 billion.

Nowports aims to digitize supply chains from Asia to the Americas with $16 million in Series A funding.

Lowe’s “worked more closely than ever to support [its] carrier partners and suppliers” this year while navigating increased consumer demands during the pandemic, Kelvin Dedner, vice president of supply chain transportation at Lowe’s, said.

Professional drivers help teach their robotic successors while evangelizing for the technology among truckers who feel threatened.

Regulators in China target two Full Truck Alliance apps in a cybersecurity investigation less than two weeks after the freight platform’s U.S. IPO.

“I think about the fact that if we fulfill this mission, the world is better off and not many opportunities have that.”

Both defendants had pleaded guilty to their involvement in the staged accident scheme.

FMCSA is proposing to revise rules for advanced driver-assist cameras.

Truck Talk is a weekly newsletter offering perspective and context on happenings in the heavy-duty and commercial trucking sector.

Experts say disruption to the supply chain caused by the coronavirus crisis has been challenging for manufacturers of all sizes, particularly smaller companies.

Data apparently stolen from Navistar International appears on the dark web as an underground marketplace begins an auction for the heavy truck manufacturer’s internal files.

Transportation and logistics provider Werner Enterprises announced it has acquired an 80% equity stake in ECM Transport Group for $142.4 million. Werner has the option to purchase the remaining 20% of the 500-truck fleet after five years.

Manufacturing grew at a moderate pace in June, continuing a 13-month hot streak.

The company’s mission is to create the first logistics company that serves all humans equally.

U.S. House passes the five-year surface transportation reauthorization that boosts truck insurance requirements and mandates automatic braking on new trucks.

DP World announced it has acquired Auburn Hills, Michigan-based supply chain solutions provider syncreon at an enterprise value of $1.2 billion.

A lawyer who specializes in cyber incident responses gives the inside story of what happened after a ransomware attack hit a trucking company.

The U.S. Department of Transportation targeted highway expansion to improve freight flow in awarding the latest round of INFRA grants.

Excerpt: Mustafa Azizi, co-founder and CEO of ZUUM Transportation, talks to Ryan Schreiber of CarrierDirect about how small and medium-size freight brokerages can leverage technology to compete with the big players.

What does a chief product officer at a trucking sector company do given that the title is usually seen at software firms?

“Working with Transfix has to be an experience that’s better for carriers and it has to allow them to both make more money but in a way that is more sustainable for them,” says Transfix CFO.

There will not be a single tech winner, meaning that the only chance for true end-to-end visibility is through partnerships.

Worldwide Express’ Joel Clum explains how third-party logistics companies are giving small and midsized shippers the technology they need.