News

The Biden administration announced Robin Hutcheson will replace Meera Joshi as FMCSA deputy administrator.

“Historic, pandemic-induced import surge” drove record-smashing volume at the Port of Long Beach.

David Weil would have a key role in determining the federal definition of an independent contractor.

“We founded Parallel to allow railroads to open new markets, increase infrastructure utilization and improve service to accelerate freight decarbonization,” said Matt Soule, co-founder and CEO at Parallel Systems.

Freight consultant Chris Jolly and Shannon Breen of FreightVana discuss strategies to help transportation companies develop long-term relationships with clients.

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.

“An earlier transition will allow more gradual changes, thereby reducing the risk of significant disruptions of the sector and of asset stranding,” the report said.

Forward Air’s Sylvia Cintron talks with FreightWaves’ Kaylee Nix about tailoring B2B marketing to fit the audience you’re targeting.

The Biden administration has rejected assertions made by safety groups that more flexible hours-of-service rules will make roads less safe.

“It’s the sunk cost fallacy. It’s human nature to want to stick with something you have invested so much in but, at the end of the day, no technology is going to last forever,” says Kinetic co-founder on continuously investing in FreightTech as your business grows.

Legion Logistics Chief People Person Kyle Kosco chats with FreightWaves’ freight broker/3PL market expert Mary O’Connell on the strategies that go into creating a company culture that attracts and retains employees.

“People see themselves valued more by the marketplace sometimes than they do by where they are, and that’s why you suddenly see a lot of this Great Resignation business,” said Adrian Chapman, owner and CEO of Cover 3 Consulting.

With Aurora Driver 2.0, the self-driving developer plans to field the first robotic ride-hailing minivans along with Class 8 trucks.

Live on the show: social media audience building; converting TikToks to sales; should your business create NFTs and more

FreightWaves’ Kevin Hill chats with SandTable founder Michael Fullam about his recent brokerage launch during the Sales & Marketing Summit.

Among Wednesday’s notes: The tweener lane from Chicago to Harrisburg, supply chain challenges, and more.

As carriers face stiff competition for drivers, Ten4 Recruiting President Matt Beach explains what it takes to recruit them — beyond big bonuses and higher rates.

Experts say 2021 was a “tough year” regarding impacts of climate change and extreme weather in the U.S.

“Before you start your TikTok or before you start your social media platform, make sure that you have a goal in mind,” said Luke Kostka, co-founder and creative director at New Norml Media.

ArcBest announced a $25 million investment in a software company that provides remote operation of forklifts and trucks.

Communicating expectations with drivers and customers lowers the sales risk in the volatile perishables market.

In a move that will triple its European carrier base, FourKites is building the continent’s largest multimodal carrier network.

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

SMC³ has fully embraced the FreightTech age and plans to continue innovating its LTL pricing and bidding tools in 2022.

Electric cargo bike delivery provider Urb-E is expanding to Los Angeles as the first city in an expansion of its service in 2022.

Schneider’s intermodal profits in the first nine months of 2020 were double those of a year earlier.

Truckers could hit delays later this week due to dicey winter weather in two regions of the country.

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

While vaccine mandates prompt real fears of a cross-border capacity crunch, the cost of moving freight between the U.S. and Canada has been underpriced for too long.

Shippers, not just passengers, will be negatively impacted by delayed flights and rerouting to alternative airports if telecom companies eventually launch service close to airports.

There may be more to come: The key commodity benchmark for diesel is at levels not seen since 2014.

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

For bulk commodity shipping, a rough start to the year. For container shipping, the profit bonanza continues.

The market set records across the board in 2021, with all-time vacancy lows expected to be set by the end of the first quarter, Colliers says.

Nikola secures a long-term battery supply for its electric trucks with Proterra, which earlier locked up critical cells with LG Energy Solution Electric.

President Biden thanked Verizon and AT&T for agreeing to the delay and said the DOT will continue working on safe 5G deployment.

All Daimler Truck segments reported higher sales in 2021 as the recent spinoff posted its first numbers as a publicly traded entity.

Another guilty plea last week brings the total to 30 for the U.S. attorney’s office.

XPO adds two terminals and 50 dock doors to its North American network.

Among Tuesday’s notes: Elizabeth outbound now a priority, Headhaul Index rises in Cleveland, and more.

FedEx wants to study the feasibility of putting a laser on planes to divert potential missile strikes. The FAA has shelved its review for the time being.

KLLM Transport Services is the latest carrier to announce a historic pay increase for drivers.

Comments coming into FMCSA look to be mostly opposed to the Apprenticeship Pilot Program.

Used truck prices continued to rise as 2021 ended with a short supply of late-model used trucks the main culprit, but there were other reasons too.

The western U.S. railroad is asking a district court in Dallas to prevent two rail unions from striking over changes to BNSF’s attendance program, saying a strike would result in significant disruptions.

For years, the industry has asked for the ability to expand its driver workforce. FMCSA’s apprenticeship program is that opportunity, and now is time to jump on this opportunity.

FedEx wants to put a laser-emitting device on a certain aircraft to protect against a missile attack. By all indications it’s for a very limited test, not a fleetwide procurement.

“We need to be able to not only get that data, but as a transportation industry, we need to understand how to interpret that data,” said Brad Benbow, business growth investments at Ardagh Group.

A winter storm slammed the eastern U.S. over the holiday weekend (video forecast included).

Data indicates delivery companies may have been overstaffed for the peak shipping season, leading to fewer delays and a successful season.

The railroad wants stricter penalties for those caught stealing from trains.

Freightos is expanding its North American air cargo customer base with the acquisition of 7L Freight.

A confluence of critical events will determine if the company can deliver on its margin improvement pledge.

Warehouse robotics firm Exotec has raised $335 million in funding as it looks to deploy more of its solutions in fulfillment operations.

Clean up on Runway 2, please! We’ve got rubber deposits.

Borderlands is a weekly rundown of developments in the world of United States-Mexico cross-border trucking and trade. This week: Mexican fishing vessels will be barred from US Gulf ports; Mexico drops to third place among U.S. trade partners; Canada joins Mexico in a USMCA automotive dispute; and FedEx will open a distribution center in central Texas.

Reefer demand remains strong heading into late January, breaking seasonal patterns that many have come to expect.

This week: the transportation industry supports Truckers Against Trafficking, J.B. Hunt drivers donate school supplies to their kids’ teachers and Mayor Pete gets a bobblehead.

As the vaccine mandates begin for truckers at the U.S.-Canada border, here are five burning questions about what’s required, how many drivers might leave and what the freight markets are telling us.

Time is running out for trucking companies to upgrade or replace third-generation mobile devices to 5G network services or face possible violations if logging devices can’t function properly.

Rates reach new highs as capacity was slow to return to the road following the holidays. Tender volumes are soaring as demand is unrelenting…

“Climate protection is an issue that impacts everyone. While we can work towards this goal internally, we also wanted to provide an opportunity to enroll our customers in our mission toward carbon neutrality,” said Mark McCullough, Gebrüder Weiss USA CEO.

“The global supply chain will be further strained because of these lockdowns in China and the result would be a further gap in global demand and supply,” says Container xChange CEO Johannes Schlingmeier.

Schneider National says it will shut down its Canada-based business, impacting 150 personnel including truck drivers, by the end of March.

Jackknifed trucks were a problem during the recent snowstorm that shut down I-95; a senator thinks he has a solution.

The Biden administration unveiled on Friday the state allocations for a historic $27 billion bridge replacement and construction program with California coming out on top.

Autonomous sidewalk delivery company Serve Robotics completed robot deliveries with zero human interaction — an industry first.

A compilation of the past week in social media images includes whiteout conditions, floods, icy roads and more.

Marketing and sustainability go hand in hand in the success of any organization, and the balance of the two in the media can widely affect the perception of the organization.

This week’s CPG news items reflect a continuation of recent food/beverage trends.  More crossover between soft drink and alcoholic drinks: Monster Beverage is the latest soft drink company to get […]

FedEx Logistics is the latest company to find an alternative to big-port congestion by taking freight business to the Port of Hueneme in California.

Among Friday’s notes: Intermodal spot rates declining from LA to Chicago, SLC rejection rates drop to 26%, and more.

BLET and SMART-TD say the attendance program is overly restrictive and repudiates numerous collective bargaining agreements in place.

Robotic Assistance Devices Mobile is looking to bring to market a 700-pound autonomous robot for logistics and last-mile delivery operations.

Truck Tech is a weekly newsletter providing perspective and context on autonomy, electrification and other technologies impacting the fleet ecosystem.

Also covered on the podcast is the spillover from the natural gas price surge.

The 10th circuit court of appeals ruled that Oklahoma’s blocked crossing mandate violates the Interstate Commerce Commission Termination Act, ending a court battle that lasted over two years.

Australian officials’ resolution of recent raven-on-drone attacks isn’t much to crow about.

Truckers could hit significant delays this weekend due to harsh winter weather in the Southeast and Northeast (video forecast included).

Sandeep Kar, Noregon’s new chief strategy officer, pinpoints the issues facing his industry and his priorities in his new role.

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

The U.S. Department of Transportation is ramping up studies analyzing truck driver pay and unpaid detention time.

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

Worker outages and parts shortages becoming status quo for beleaguered trailer manufacturers.

Canadian officials say rules for unvaccinated Canadian truckers at border are still coming into force after erroneous statements sow confusion.

The partnership between Trucker Path and Loadsmart aims to provide more freight hauling opportunities to small carriers and owner-operators.

There is no turning back on the transition from diesel to battery- electric trucks, especially with hefty incentives offsetting their higher upfront cost.

American Trucking Associations was one of the many plaintiffs in the lawsuit that challenged the OSHA rules on 100-plus worker companies.

CN is asking the Surface Transportation Board to require Canadian Pacific to divest KCS’ Springfield Line in Missouri and Illinois to help ensure competition.

United opposition from four major U.S. cargo airlines has made Saudia reconsider its request for an exemption to fly freighters outside the normal regime governing air services.

Among Thursday’s notes: Rejection rates decline from Atlanta to Dallas, spot rates drop from Charlotte to Jacksonville, and more.

JK Moving Services and Kido are two very different businesses, but both SMBs can teach other companies about how to weather a global crisis.

Amit Bose becomes the 15th head of the Federal Railroad Administration.

There had not been formal guidance on truck driver status since the secretary of labor said they would not fall under the rule.

Vantiq is joining forces with IBM, Infosys and others to create a low-code retail development platform designed to encourage innovation.

North American freight railroads can pursue sustainability that not only benefits customers but also the railroads’ bottom line, according to panelists at a Transportation Research Board session.

Truckers may not be able to run in several regions this weekend due to a potential strong winter storm (video forecast included).

Growth in air cargo volumes decelerated in the last two months of 2021. Blame it on too much demand stressing the freight system.

An IBM and NRF survey of consumers finds that hybrid shopping options are becoming the default preference for many.

At least one Canadian carrier is taking it on the chin when it comes to losses suffered after devastating floods.