How contract and spot rates are competing for dominance
Headlines
UPS announced Monday it was waving the white flag on its LTL division, selling UPS Freight to TFI International for $800 million. The deal reached unanimous approval from both company’s boards and will close sometime in the second quarter of 2021.
A roller-coaster year came to a close on a high note for Georgia ports and the Georgia Ports Authority has increased its movement of twenty-foot equivalent units by 1.8% from 2019 to 2020. GPA Executive Director Griff Lynch expects this trend to continue in January, predicting volumes to be up double digits.
Drone manufacturer Wingcopter has secured $22 million in funding and plans to use that money to expand its health care-related endeavors, including COVID-19 vaccine delivery.
Zach Strickland joins hosts Kevin Hill and Michael Dooner in this edition of Midday Market Update to report tender volumes have fallen into seasonal patterns but not necessarily to seasonal levels as the market continues to stay hot. He says it’s interesting to watch this happening despite the continued elevation in consumer demand.
Kyle Lintner, principal and managing director at K-Ratio, joins the show to discuss how contract bid season is a major driving force in the current state of the market. He says right now spot rates and contract rates are so closely intertwined that it is going to take a drop in contract rates to rebalance the system.
Bridge Logistics Sales Director Chris Seeds adds his 2 cents about the market state and he echoes Lintner, saying contracted carriers are accepting more freight as shippers want stability and are willing to accept higher contracted rates.
He thinks mini-bids are going to happen this year, and the second half of 2021 will be a time for reset.
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