Loaded and Rolling: FreightTech 25 announced

Driver overtime pay bipartisan bill introduced; peak season volumes pick up

Thomas Wasson

11 months ago

FreightTech 25 announced

On Thursday FreightWaves presented the FreightTech 25 awards, which were chosen independently by a panel of CEOs, industry leaders, academics and investors who scored the companies. Chattanooga, Tennessee-based accounting and auditing firm HHM administered the vote. The awards recognize the most innovative and disruptive companies in the freight technology sector.

Of the companies that were named to the FreightTech 25, 17 were newcomers, while some previous mainstays fell off the list entirely. Amazon Freight (No. 1), FourKites (No. 12) and J.B. Hunt (No. 15) are the only companies that have appeared on every FreightTech 25 list.

Regarding the large influx of newcomers, FreightWaves founder and CEO Craig Fuller said, “This was the most disrupted list I’ve ever seen. If you think about the venture cycle from 2015 to 2022 in freight for that first stage, we’re largely past that. What’s interesting about this list is how different it is than past years. A lot of new names — and a lot of names that have been on the list for many years did not make the list this year.”

Driver overtime pay bipartisan bill introduced

A bipartisan bill introduced Thursday in both the House and Senate seeks to eliminate a clause omitting truck drivers from overtime pay from the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act. This comes after the Biden administration recommended to Congress the addition of drivers for overtime pay according to a document from February 2022. A previous attempt for legislation was introduced by a Democratic lawmaker back in April 2022 but lacked the support to move forward.

Regarding the benefits of extra driver pay, FreightWaves’ Rachel Premack wrote, “Studies suggest that increasing pay for truck drivers reduces crash count. Reducing uncompensated work, like the hours that drivers often spend unpaid waiting at warehouses to get loaded or unloaded, also is a boon for safety and overall supply chain efficiency, studies suggest.”

Proponents of the legislation include the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, Teamsters union, Truck Safety Coalition, and the Institute for Safer Trucking, which issued statements in support of the bill. Opponents include the American Trucking Associations, which argued the law would bring about “supply chain chaos and the inflationary consequences for consumers.”

ATA CEO Chris Spear said in a statement on Thursday, “It would reduce drivers’ paychecks and decimate trucking jobs by upending the pay models that for 85 years have provided family-sustaining wages while growing the U.S. supply chain.”

Market update: Peak season volumes pick up

Peak season freight volumes appear to be picking up. Outbound tender volumes nationwide rose 668.41 points, or 6.13%, in the past week from 10,906.37 points on Nov. 2 to 11,574.78 points. Breaking down the volume index by equipment type, dry van tender volumes increased 318.97 points, or 4.03%, from 7,907.72 points on Nov. 2 to 8,226.69 points. Reefer volumes also saw an increase in the past week, going from 1,434.19 points on Nov. 2 to 1,497.58 points, an increase of 63.39 points, or 4.42%.

While outbound tender volumes saw a notable movement, outbound tender rejection rates nationwide remain muted as abundant truckload capacity soaks up the extra truckload demand. Outbound tender rejection rates nationwide remained mostly flat, falling only 2 basis points from 3.46% on Nov. 2 to 3.44%. Dry van outbound tender rejection rates continue to underperform the nationwide average at 2.93% while reefer and flatbed continue to see more favorable conditions for carriers at 8.83% and 9.37%, respectively.

As the trucking peak season continues, shippers continue to enjoy record outbound tender compliance levels and favorable spot rates for last-minute ad hoc shipments. For carriers, there remains the relentless challenge of finding freight volumes while attempting to limit the impact of falling rates.

FreightWaves SONAR spotlight: Carrier exodus continues amid trucking peak season

Summary: The ongoing exodus of carriers leaving the market continues as trucking’s traditional peak season fails to impress from excess truckload capacity. From Oct. 27 through last Friday, there was a net loss of 380 unique carrier operating authorities, according to the Carrier Details Net Changes in Trucking Authorities (CDNCA) data set. For the weeks ending in October, there was a net loss of 1,720 carriers that exited the market as higher costs paired with lower rates continue to erode their operating margins.

While carriers continue to leave the market, outbound tender volumes nationwide increased 1.56% or 172.45 points in the past week from 11,046.42 on Oct. 30 to 11,218.87 points. This is the highest level recorded by OTVI since Oct. 4. Rising contracted volumes did not cause an increase in nationwide outbound tender rejection rates, with OTRI falling 25 basis points week over week from 3.54% on Oct. 30 to 3.29%.

Carriers with access to contracted freight volumes are in a better position to weather the capacity-driven trucking winter compared to newer entrants that operate exclusively on the spot market. Larger truckload carriers exclusively exposed to contracted volumes should continue to expect pressure on rates as shippers enjoy record tender compliance and push for higher service levels. Failure to maintain both could result in a carrier losing incumbent status and falling down the routing guide.