News

December was a month of growing uncertainty and severe declines in the U.S. financial markets. The only thing that seems to be growing is the level of ambiguity in everyone’s outlook. 

In partnership with Slync… There are numerous reasons to be worried about the health of global trade and the goods economy, even though, in our view, a full-on macro-economic recession in the United States is still unlikely.

U.S. Xpress today announced its plan today to exit its U.S.-Mexico cross border investment as part of its ongoing capital allocation and profit improvement initiatives.

The connected Smart Cities of the future require smart solutions that go beyond just autonomous vehicles.

Though cobalt is an integral part of our lithium-ion batteries, the extraction of the trace element is a huge cause for concern. Blockchain could provide respite by bringing accountability and transparency into cobalt supply chains.

New power given to the Federal Maritime Commission to scrutinize the effects of ocean carrier competition has been put on hold by the government shutdown.

Various duty refund programs remain on hold as numerous CBP employees are on furlough during the federal government shutdown.

Surprise fees for practice that reduces congestion at ports and improves driver turns amounts to ‘dirty pool’ on part of the steamship lines.

Capacity additions set to have knock-on effect for trades into North America; Australia’s port strike to cause Pacific Rim ripples.

Agriculture is excluded from the draft mandates on industrial goods tariffs and conformity assessment.

SpaceX’s lease on a 19-acre site at the port will end in February, while Cal Cartage will close its warehouse on an 85-acre site in July.

Under the proposed Telecommunications Denial Order Enforcement Act, Chinese telecoms that violate U.S. sanctions would face “the same severe punishment” as ZTE.

Plus: Skewering Theresa May, B.C. rail investigations, California clean air program assessment

It’s a long road from the wellhead down to the fuel going into a truck. Who makes money along the way?

Net income totaled $629.4 million for the year, while revenues reached $2.71 billion.

Ashley Coker (PHOTO: JIM ALLEN/FREIGHTWAVES) Some highlights from this month’s J.D. Power Commercial Truck Guidelines industry update: Class 8 auction market showed little change The number of trucks sold at […]

The advent of modern communications technology such as, obviously, the mobile phone, has created a new, yet poorly understood and under-researched, form of driver distraction. Australian road authorities are calling for research and are updating their road rules.

Rolling strikes by workers at the Hutchison Ports Australia box terminals in Sydney and Brisbane started at 6:00 a.m. (Australian Eastern Standard Time) yesterday January 17 and are causing logistics chaos.

The Conservative and Labour Parties are locked in a Brexit stand-off, with Labour leader refusing to enter into discussions with the Prime Minister unless a no deal Brexit is taken off the table. While Theresa May has said that it is not within her power to remove no deal from the list of Brexit possibilities.

This April, the Freight Alley Haul of Fame museum will open in FreightWaves’ new corporate headquarters in downtown Chattanooga.

Intermodal is about half the business. It saw its volumes decline but overall grew its revenue.

Significant snow, ice, wind to slam some big cities this weekend. Could take days to thaw out.

There’s been a significant increase in commercial motor fatalities over the past couple years. We look at some of the causes.

A growing number of factories, warehouses, and construction sites are integrating unpowered exoskeleton devices into their operations. Workers and companies using these devices are expected to benefit from increased safety and productivity.

FreightWaves adds air cargo volume and pricing data to SONAR platform

In the midst of the driver shortage and a growing economy, technology can be invaluable to brokers at third-party logistics providers working to secure reliable capacity for their customers.

“I thought: I can  book a flight online, a hotel online. Why can’t I book a shipment online?”

MSU Supply Chain Management and FreightWaves will partner on curriculum, joint events, and transportation-related research projects.

The company’s stock took it on the chin for much of 2018 but the company said it had a strong fourth quarter.

Chicago to Atlanta is holding up around $2/mile net of fuel, while lanes like Los Angeles to Dallas have crashed 40% off their November high.

In partnership with Reliance Partners …Cargo theft in absolute numbers is minuscule. But that does not negate the havoc it plays on the image of the carrier in question, and the supply chain disruptions it leaves at its wake.

Analyst Bruce Chan at Stifel praises the reorganization at the company that suffered an accounting scandal and sees the base being laid for future growth.

FreightWaves joined in on the third annual Alexa Conference with its estimated 600 attendees from more than 12 countries. What’s coming in voice technology for transportation in 2019 and beyond?

Gig economy companies contend with Supreme Court ruling that mandates full time workers to be considered as employees and not contractors; oil supply reduces after Saudi Arabia’s drastic production cut; government shutdown strains supply chains across the country.

The Senate Finance chair suggested the government shutdown could delay congressional consideration of USMCA as well as the start of trade talks with Japan and the EU.

 Container volumes remain strong, but delays mean fewer overall pickups; drivers also not pleased with new fees for flipping containers.

Set to launch in April, the network will involve the deployment of about 330 containerships with a carrying capacity of around 3.8 million TEUs across 38 services.

Forwarders say air cargo shipments keep moving despite the government shutdown.

The barge would move containers between the Wando Welch and Hugh K. Leatherman terminals.

The port handled a record amount of container volumes in 2018, but the outlook for the coming year is uncertain, according to the port’s maritime director.

The Class I railway posted a full-year net income of $3.31 billion on revenues of $12.25 billion.

How close are human drivers to interacting with autonomous vehicles on the roads? That is the answer a panel at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit tried to solve on Wednesday.

The freight brokerage company released the next generation of GTZcommand.

(PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK) By TCA Vice President of Government Affairs Dave Heller & TCA Manager of Government Affairs Kathryn Sanner At this point in time, virtually everyone around the world, even […]

Facility has been frequent target of labor action and drew attention of local politicians, who tried to evict third-party logistics firm.

Airbus (AIR: EURONEXT) broke ground for its new A220 manufacturing facility in Mobile, Alabama on Wednesday. The newest airliner in Airbus’ product line, the A220 is designed to revolutionize the market for 100-150 seat aircraft.

Several feet of snow, white-out conditions still on track to slam northern Sierras tonight. Winds will be worse than previously thought, gusting to more than 100 mph.

The operating ratio—strong enough in the third quarter that it can be argued it was earth-shaking—weakened slightly but was still ahead of the fourth quarter of 2017.

WorkHound, which offers an anonymous feedback platform for drivers, categorized driver comments into different groups to see what they were talking about. These were the top 5 themes.

After hosting two game-changing events in 2018, FreightWaves plans to shake up the conference circuit again this spring with Transparency19.

Simpson talks about legacy transportation companies adapting to change.

Arctic air heading to Midwest and Northeast this weekend. After rebounding, longer period of super cold weather could begin later this month, spreading to other regions of U.S.

FedEx started with Flying Cargo in 1990.

‘Swedish furniture,’ along with an IT refresh and 24 percent share premium, may factor in combining two top freight forwarders.

Only about 10% of drivers aren’t belted but as a share of fatalities it’s close to 50%.

Freight transport experts are alarmed by the scale of the defeat for the British Government’s flagship Brexit policy, the concerns are that a catastrophic no deal withdrawal is now looming. However, the markets have been more subdued, with the stock exchange showing minor shifts and the pound, quickly regaining losses it suffered on the vote.

Capacity is abundant even though volume is relatively strong. Carriers are having little trouble covering the available freight making it a shippers’ paradise in mid-January.

Vector is digitizing the trucking sector by extracting information that is offline and moving it online.

Walking the show floor at the Detroit Auto Show is an experience that transforms you from the here and now to visions of the future.

Autobon AI is building an aftermarket autonomous vehicle system that would allow any commercial truck to be turned into an autonomous truck.

The MOBi-ONE is large enough to move washers and dryers, and do so autonomously through the air, perhaps redefining last-mile drone delivery before it even gets started.

Shippers and freight-handlers say U.S. agencies that oversee the flow of goods are starting to cut back services and working hours. On Tuesday, the Supreme Court handed a victory to American workers, ruling unanimously that independent contractors who work in transportation may not be forced into mandatory arbitration.

Australia is carrying out a series of large scale studies into its domestic supply chain; one study currently underway is into the nation’s freight data requirements. (Photo: Shutterstock).

Truck drivers hauling in the state of New York will not see ELD enforcement until state regulators finish getting the rule on the books.

Infestations of the brown marmorated stink bug found on ships en-route to Australia are causing havoc with local supply chains. Bugs are breeding, ships are re-routing, trucks are idling and supply chains are collapsing.

U.K. votes down Brexit deal, leading to more uncertainty on rules for freight forwarders; stowaway bugs bug Australia.

Months after being rejected by CEVA, the Danish logistics company offered $4 billion for Panalpina.

John Veroneau says the passage of the trade agreement is very much an open question this Congress as several variables are in play.

The express carrier reached a deal to acquire the international express business of Israel-based Flying Cargo Group.

The United States is in the midst of a building boom for industrial space as the logistics market struggles to accommodate surging e-commerce demand.

The purchase of Our Freight Guy marked GlobalTranz’s eighth acquisition since January 2017.

There is growing interest in interchanging equipment between importers and exporters at locations other than marine terminals and container yards.

UPS names president of supply chain solutions; Imperial Logistics selects chief commercial officer; and CII appoints executive director and senior adviser.

Click here to nominate your Shipper of Choice FreightWaves announces the Shipper of Choice Award, which will highlight the top 25 shippers in America as voted on by carrier-members of […]

Once-manual process now automated, offering some relief to shippers having to fetch empty containers at congestion plagued ports.

Manufacturing supply chains must deal with counterfeit parts. One company is hoping that its blockchain-based tracking solution can help solve that while also providing transparency in the freight supply chain.

Originally planned as an outlet mall, lot to get new lease on life as industrial property

A humiliating defeat in Parliament on the Government’s European Union withdrawal deal has left the European freight industry in chaos as the road ahead is uncertain. The Government now faces a vote of confidence, but without an extension to Article 50 the UK could crash out of the EU.

Shippers aren’t shy about moving contract rates down in RFP negotiations, and even brokers are surprised at how cheap capacity has become.

FreightWaves will highlight the top 25 shippers in America for its inaugural Shipper of Choice awards. The award will rate qualities such as flexibility and detention on a five-point scale, with the winner announced at Transparency19.

A snowstorm is blasting through the Sierras right now. Here’s how much snow to expect and the impact it will have on transportation in the area.

Storm to dump several feet of snow in northern Sierras. Blizzard conditions, dangerous travel.

Cohen, a 30 year air cargo veteran of United Airlines and Etihad Airlines has been appointed as FreightWaves Market Expert, Air Cargo. In this role he will be providing analytics and commentary about the air cargo market and will be working with data partners in the air cargo space.

Theresa May’s Government is facing a defeat of substantial proportions in Parliament for the European Union withdrawal deal that it has negotiated with the EU. If the Government is defeated the margin of defeat may decide the next steps in the long running Brexit saga.

New Prime v. Oliveira tests use of arbitration in disputes in effort to avoid more costly and lengthier court hearings.

Data on producer prices shows that overall inflation pressure calmed further in December, weighed down again by declines in energy prices. Industry detail showed that trucking rates continued to surge, however, driven by another large gain in long-distance trucking rates.

The TCA Profitability Program, or TPP, is an exclusive performance benchmarking initiative. The program’s aim is to help member carriers improve performance and profitability.

The market for lumber slowed considerably in the second half of 2018 as the Chinese economy lost momentum and trade disputes with the U.S. persisted.

Toyota’s Concept-i Ride vehicle is designed to help people navigate life, especially those that may have mobility issues.

The SureFly is just one of the products that Workhorse is working on. Additional projects include electric delivery vans and electric pickups.

Evergreen has added a second and third ultra-large container ship to its China, Europe and Mediterranean service, adding around 6,000 TEU of capacity to the service per week.

The Quadrobot is a modular design autonomous delivery vehicle, launching this year in both China and the U.S.

Ford will build vans and midsize pickups under an alliance formed with Volkswagen, while tapping into VW’s autonomous and electric expertise.

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer indicated in a letter that ongoing trade talks will play a role in whether the Trump administration eventually will establish an exclusion process.

The carrier will use the Belgium-based service to approve the triangulation of containers in the United States and Canada.

Port of Houston faces choice as to which ships to prioritize; U.K. Parliament turmoil leaves Brexit deal in doubt.

The Port of Rotterdam, which ranks 10th worldwide in terms of total throughput, can transport goods to a consumer base of about 40 million people.

The Volvo XC40 is part of a subscription-based car service the company offers, hoping to attract new customers not interested in a long-term lease or purchase option.

Plus: AVs shrouded in secrecy; Puget Sound congestion relief

“Excepted personnel will ensure USTR continues to conduct operations, including trade negotiations and enforcement.”