News

Black Friday/Cyber Monday wrap-up; trucking markets; how supply chain shortages hurt an arcade brand; and more.

The investigation makes progress after between 300 and 400 parcels were found in a wooded ravine last week.

The Federal Trade Commission will investigate whether large companies have taken advantage of the supply chain chaos at the expense of consumers or smaller competitors.

Wallace served as CSX’s executive vice president of sales and marketing before moving into an advisory role in July as he underwent cancer treatment.

Among Tuesday’s notes: Stay firm on rates out of Indy, rejection rates spike in the Northwest, and more.

An environmental coalition urges Target, Walmart, Amazon and Ikea to clean up their maritime emissions and shipping routes.

The commercialization of autonomous vehicles is an all-hands-on-deck affair, requiring competitors to collaborate with each other.

While automation offers the quickest path to increased efficiency, many companies are held down by slow-to-adapt legacy operations or siloed solutions.

Heightening the clearance of the Howard Street Tunnel will enable double-stacked trains to run in and out of the Port of Baltimore.

Echo Global Logistics’ Jay Gustafson describes the best formula for managing transportation needs.

While building out custom solutions is an important part of many brokerages’ road maps, some tools — especially those that require significant maintenance and regular updates — are better outsourced for maximum efficiency.

As Christmas grows closer, these are the dates you should know while contemplating when to ship your gifts.

Telemedicine is all the rage right now, and Uber is cashing in with a new partnership with telehealth provider Hims & Hers.

Federal regulators are keeping in place a work-hour exemption giving truck drivers more time to haul pandemic-related freight.

President of PGT Trucking said the load-matching trend doesn’t adequately respond to today’s supply chain constraints, driver shortage and polluted environment.

Daimler Truck estimates the revenue loss from a persistent shortage of microchips will cost billions in lost revenue.

Holiday shipping deadlines are nothing new, but for those last-minute needs, it is the on-demand providers that will be trusted to deliver.

Before its two-truck autonomous convoys hit the road in 2022, startup Locomation points to a scientific study validating its approach.

Parsyl extracts and transforms data into actionable insights for a particular commodity’s transportation network.

“This is the largest amount of funding that has been dedicated to building a complete business management solution for trucking entrepreneurs and we are excited to be leading the charge here,” says CloudTrucks CEO Tobenna Arodiogbu.

Truckers in Montana face a high risk of rollovers the next two days, with winds of up to 100 mph in spots (video forecast included).

Lockheed Martin spent months planning how it would safely transport the nation’s latest weather satellite.

Canada’s supply chain is in a “crisis situation” as over 50 ships wait to dock at the Port of Vancouver and CN struggles to restore service.

The owner of a small Delaware-based trucking company described his driver, who was recently arrested and charged with holding a woman captive in his truck for nearly eight months, as “religious” and “a nice guy.”

Werner Enterprises triples the size of its final-mile offering with the addition of Northeast-based Nehds Logistics.

Container truckers at two carriers serving the Port of Vancouver are set to go on strike Friday over benefits and detention pay.

The union that failed to organize workers at Amazon’s Bessemer, Alabama, warehouse will get a second bite at the apple, it said.

Markets will likely need time to settle before the retail markets capture much of the recent decline in commodity diesel prices.

Southern California ports and private operators are using carrots and sticks to help eliminate a massive pileup of cargo.

Here’s how omicron variant could impact tanker, container and dry bulk shipping rates.

Third-party logistics provider Transport Investments Inc. has acquired a majority stake in specialty freight brokerages US Logistics and Nationwide Logistics.

A former university lecturer faces four arson counts in California, where firefighters battling the Dixie wildfire could have been trapped.

Among Monday’s notes: Reefer spot rates jumping in Columbia, longer-haul capacity increasing, and more.

“Beginning with the 2018 merger of Transportation Insight and Nolan Transportation Group, we have been on a mission to bring together the most innovative thinkers with the most powerful technologies and data to empower the largest network of people to create a new future of logistics,” says CEO Ken Beyer.

South Carolina and Ohio appear to be taking the most significant steps in conjunction with the release of the governors’ call for less regulation.

The sight of an armada of ships off the California coast garners much attention, but shippers should instead focus inland to digitize their driver networks.

Picking transport stocks in 2022 will not involve a blanket approach, according to Deutsche Bank. However, there are still several companies with significant upside potential.

Innovation and investment are the watchwords at the Georgia Ports Authority, where officials are rushing to deal with supply chain constraints.

TFI International expands its U.S. temperature-controlled business with the acquisition of Missouri trucking firm D&D Sexton.

Andy Owens, a member of the Southwest Oregon Workforce Investment Board, explains how trucking can gain strong support at the local level.

“I wanted to find a way to reduce emissions that was nonregulatory and allowed shippers to select carriers based on operational efficiency [and] price,” says Eric Beckwitt, Freightera founder and CEO.

Many e-commerce businesses start small, but as sales grow, the challenges of filling orders in-house can stymie growth.

CSX and Canadian Pacific were recognized this month by the Dow Jones Sustainability Index North America for the ways they address environmental, social and governance issues.

The quick movement of chassis and containers at the port, warehouse and yard is key to regaining supply chain efficiency.

Another storm could sustain supply chain disruptions in the Pacific Northwest this week (video forecast included).

While efforts to rein in Amazon, Google and other Big Tech companies continue, some believe the effort could result in these companies pulling the plug on small business e-commerce sellers.

Borderlands is a weekly rundown of developments in the world of United States-Mexico cross-border trucking and trade. This week: New customs requirements for Mexico shipments begin Wednesday; Samsung announces $17B semiconductor plant in Texas; Great Lakes Dredge & Dock secures $92M contract for Houston Ship Channel; and Truck driver charged in record-breaking border drug seizure.

Long-haul freight typically shrinks around the holiday season as fulfillment becomes a priority. The exact opposite is occurring this season, which may be indicative of shipper overcorrection.

This week: CMA CGM donates 12,000 turkeys, Gopuff donates $100,000 to fight food insecurity and supports rapper Quavo’s turkey drive, and SC Ports’ employees donate their Thanksgiving gift cards to a local food bank.

Hedge funds and retail investors led the takeoff in transportation SPACs that are barely staying aloft. Guess who gets the better end of that deal?

The decline is far from the largest percentage-wise, but raises the question of what will be the retail reaction.

Through noon ET, U.S. shoppers have spent 7% more than they did on 2020’s Black Friday.

Surface Transportation Board Chairman Marty Oberman is asking Norfolk Southern why service has deteriorated, according to shippers — and what the railroad plans to do about it.

J.M. Smucker Co.’s results highlight margin pressure even as CPG companies raise prices and continue to post strong sales. Overall, Smucker reported strong results as its earnings easily beat analysts’ […]

Thanksgiving always leads to a sharp decline in tender volumes. Leading into Thanksgiving freight markets experienced an uptick in accepted volumes.

New forms of e-commerce like influencer marketing, live shopping and conversational commerce are taking over the space, and they might take some getting used to.

Double demurrage in Seattle: A terminal operator is adding a second layer of fees for extended container dwell times.

The latest hours-of-service waiver is set to expire on Christmas Eve.

Last-mile logistics firm Sendle is rolling out a new program in nine states with shipping rates as low as $2.60 per item.

Two agencies in Mexico have given their approval of the proposed merger between Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern.

Lawsuits between two Class I railroads and three unions have been consolidated into one proceeding in federal court, with a request to fold an additional lawsuit from BNSF into the proceeding.

Nikola’s founder sells another large chunk of his holdings in the electric truck startup that wants him to reimburse an expected $125 million SEC fine.

CN hasn’t been able to reopen its rail main link to the Port of Vancouver due to weather issues as large backlog of vessels continues.

Aurora Technology pledges to be first to take the driver out of an autonomous truck in late 2023, but its freight ambitions are modest at present.

Supply chain turkey of the year; how to get on the WTT Christmas special; where truckers can eat; are inventory leftovers the next crisis?

Container truckers at two carriers serving the Port of Vancouver have voted to authorize a strike, threatening to bring more disruption as rail service resumes.

Also on the podcast: What the release of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve means.

The owner of a tanker testing and repair company has been sentenced for lying to OSHA about an illegal repair to a fuel tanker that resulted in an explosion that severely injured him and another worker.

A 73-year-old woman was killed in Mount Pleasant, Texas, after her vehicle collided with a truck carrying a nearly 200,000-pound load in 2016.

Canadian and Mexican truckers will reportedly need to be vaccinated against COVID-19 to cross U.S. borders starting Jan. 22 amid fears of significant disruption to the supply chain.

Canadian transportation and logistics firm Manitoulin Group expands in western Canada with acquisitions of Diamond Delivery and First Canadian Messenger.

Lives and holiday travel were heavily impacted by these historic Thanksgiving Day storms.

DroneDek, maker of the smart mailbox, signed a deal with Indian manufacturing conglomerate BEL to start distributing smart receptacles around the globe.

The Drone Racing League and Draganfly are launching DRL Labs, a testing ground for automation, sensor technology, AI and other drone tech.

Among Wednesday’s notes: Headhaul Index in Ontario up 78%, Atlanta capacity eases, and more.

Several forecasts that look into 2022’s supply-and-demand balance see a market more favorable to oil consumers than that of 2021.

Shippers utilizing last-mile delivery providers face some level of risk due to claims, but some simple steps can help mitigate it.

New Fortress Energy subsidiary Energy Transfer Services’ permit allowing the transport of liquefied natural gas in special tank cars is set to expire next week, according to environmental group Delaware Riverkeeper.

A new series of storms could sustain supply chain disruptions in the Pacific Northwest through Thanksgiving weekend (video forecast included).

B-Stock Solutions CEO Howard Rosenberg shares a sustainable avenue for retailers to get rid of overstock, late or unsold seasonal goods.

Despite reports that congestion issues are easing on the water at California’s major ports, drayage truckers claim this isn’t the case for them as efficiency issues continue to plague terminal operators.

Record number of container ships waiting but they’re harder to see, as new plan spreads queue across Pacific.

Blackstone’s logistics real estate unit boosted its U.S. portfolio to 440 million square feet.

Spot rates didn’t experience the uptick that rejection rates did last week. Thanksgiving is impacting both freight volumes and capacity.

Host Mary O’Connell discusses process improvement with Cargo Chief’s Chris Arrendondo.

Trucking companies received an unexpected boost to their income statements in 2020 but inflation clouds loom.

Zipline is known for its work providing humanitarian assistance to remote communities, and it’s now coming to Pea Ridge, Arkansas.

Fleets and individual truckers buying at today’s elevated prices
assume a big risk when the used equipment market normalizes.

Among Tuesday’s notes: High SLC reefer rejection rates, Headhaul Index increases in Elizabeth, Shipper and Carrier Updates, and more.

The STB is allowing the merger application of Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern to proceed as is, rejecting Union Pacific’s concerns over the application’s completeness.

Yellow Corp. President Darrel Harris has filled the company’s vacant chief operating officer role.

Black Friday used to be a welcome mat for the holidays. It was almost a holiday in itself, with families waking up early in the morning rife with excitement to […]

CN’s line between Kamloops and Vancouver has been shut down since Nov. 15 following extensive flooding and mudslides. Canadian Pacific reopened its line to limited traffic on Monday.

The U.S. Department of Transportation recently awarded grants for a number of projects across the country that involve Class I and short line railroads, including G&W subsidiary Rapid City, Pierre & Eastern Railroad.

TCA and DriverReach will hold a fourth session of the popular Making Safety Happen program for fleet professionals.

“We cut out three to four hours a day of just nonsense back and forth between carriers, accounting, operations.”

About 15% of 1.4 million members cast ballots in the Teamsters presidential election. The question is will voter quality trump quantity?

E-commerce sales continue to roll, but a decline in Q3’s numbers compared to Q2 comes as in-store sales climb.

Unseasonably cold temperatures Tuesday night will have truckers bundling up in the Southeast (video forecast included).

PAM has long been known as a company that depends heavily on the auto industry. But that sector is making up less of its business these days.