News

FreightWaves CEO Fuller talks Convoy collapse and why things aren’t improving for carriers.

Third-quarter earnings reports show how Yellow Corp.’s market share was redistributed across the less-than-truckload industry.

Tough freight market hits Echo’s debt ratings, down a notch at S&P.

XPO said Monday it plans to increase capital spending to respond to a tightening capacity dynamic following Yellow’s closure.

Now that port labor unrest is over, West Coast container terminals are starting to claw back some of their lost volumes.

A source wonders if UPS’ new offering is a reconstituted version of an earlier stab at quick delivery.

Now on demand on WHAT THE TRUCK?!? Dooner is joined by Sal Mercogliano; Reed Loustalot; Charles Gracey; Rust Belt Kid; Justin Martin

Car hauler Jack Cooper Transport has been rumored to be behind a bid for Yellow Corp. just four years removed from its own bankruptcy.

XPO reported a third-quarter-earnings beat on Monday as fallout from a competitor’s closure overshadowed a soft macroeconomic environment.

Hawaiian Airlines is finally on its way to positive cash flow from its new Amazon Air contract after spending money to launch freighter operations.

Natural gas has long been a bit player in a diesel-driven engine world. That may change with Cummins’ beefier 15-liter offering.

This week in Borderlands: The U.S. mulls terminating a tomato trade agreement with Mexico; Walmart opens a fulfillment center near Dallas; Saddle Creek Logistics is opening a distribution center in Arizona; and layoffs hit GulfMark Energy’s operations in Texas.

The return of intermodal shipping could accelerate truckload capacity’s exodus.

ArcBest’s less-than-truckload operation saw a meaningful step up in profitability in the third quarter as it remains selective on market share opportunities.

American Shipper magazine has an extensive history of monthly printed issues, each with interesting cover designs. We’ve compiled a gallery of our favorite covers from the 1980s.

A threat to Mack Trucks’ primary business exists as long as brinksmanship with the striking UAW continues.

A bankruptcy judge said Friday that Yellow Corp. can move forward with a plan to use liquidators to dispose of rolling stock.

Saia posted across-the-board gains but its operating ratio worsened as it absorbed higher-than-expected costs.

Universal Logistics Holdings released its third-quarter financial results on Friday, reporting year-over-year decreases in its trucking, intermodal and brokerage segments.

Now on demand on WHAT THE TRUCK?!? Dooner is joined by Brian Berry; Tyson Lawrence; Haley Fazio

In a conversation with American Shipper, CarGurus’ director of industry insights and analytics shows that some model inventories will be impacted by the strike and some will be fine.

Echo Global Logistics leverages a variety of intelligence capabilities to provide shippers and carriers with solutions that meet them where they are in their technology adoption journeys.

The upcoming months are littered with major holidays during which carriers can leverage seasonal constraints on capacity for higher spot rates.

After 12 years at the helm of the freight brokerages he founded and bootstrapped in 2011 — SEL Supply Chain Solutions (SELSCS) of Fort Worth, Texas — CEO Dennis Martin says he is winding down operations.

A slowdown will be the pause that refreshes the industrial development segment.

Flexport would hire a small team of Convoy employees and take on its technology stack. That could keep the trucking startup’s app functioning for customers.

A review of the state of SPAC-sponsored and other electrification startup shows a less-than-pretty picture.

Augmenting a carrier staff with state and federal regulatory experts can help an organization exceed the minimum recordkeeping requirements, which can reduce the risk of a negligent hiring claim.

The Greenbrier Companies, GATX and Wabtec all reported quarterly earnings this week. Among the themes expressed during earnings calls was pervading market uncertainty domestically but an abundance of international opportunities.

Norfolk Southern is asking the Surface Transportation Board to compel Canadian Pacific Kansas City and CSX to consolidate their applications on plans to create a Mexico-Southeast U.S. corridor. Doing so would provide greater insight on freight and passenger rail impacts, NS argues.

Because of the freight boom in recent years, many smaller carriers, especially those that were new entrants to the industry, fell into unsafe practices.

High velocity in a supply chain means reduced lead times, lower cycle times, better inventory and flexibility. This could be the key to answering quick changes in demand.

ArcBest reports a third-quarter earnings beat when adjusting for several one-off items.

Find out who the unsung FreightTech disrupters are and how they provide unique tools to help shippers.

Hub Group reported $1 billion in revenue and earnings per share of 97 cents during the third quarter.

Link Logistics added 24 million square feet of space during the third quarter while holding occupancy level.

Amazon’s EPS handily beat estimates, while operating and net income posted four- and three-bagger gains.

A new federal labor standard opens up trucking companies to a wider range of costly employee liabilities, according to a legal expert.

Twelve people died and 42 were injured in 1990 after a sudden fog enveloped a section of Interstate 75 in Tennessee.

Heartland Express books a third-quarter net loss and makes changes to cull unprofitable accounts.

Truckload carrier Covenant Logistics Group said the freight market is bottoming out, and the company is eyeing only a “modest decline” in earnings next quarter.

While indications of a freight market shift are heartening for carriers, their strongest impacts will not be seen until well after the conclusion of the next bid season.

Shooting spree in Maine has drivers in the area on edge

On Wednesday the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) released its latest Cost of Congestion study showing U.S. highway traffic congestion added $94.6 billion in costs to the trucking industry.

Shippers and logistics service providers want and need to proactively manage their customers’ shipments, ensuring they keep cadence in line with delivery expectations. When something goes wrong in transit, this demands quick, timely notification from carriers so they can proactively reset expectations or enact contingency plans.

UPS’ third-quarter results reflect struggles with macro weakness, volume diversions and higher labor costs.

Forward Air may decide to terminate its merger agreement with Omni Logistics even though a Tennessee court said it won’t stand in its way.

North American manufacturing and retailers have been focused on moving their operations out of China — and closer to home — over the past few years.

Members of the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen who work on CSX’s L&N property have ratified their sick leave agreement, CSX said.

Uncertainties over consumer demand and inflation rates are causing Canadian Pacific Kansas City to adopt a more cautious stance as 2024 approaches.

Freight broker and carrier agents at PFQ Companies — carriers Pioneer Transport, Falcon Transport, Quaker Transport and brokerage Quaker Transportation — are thriving, having built businesses able to withstand market highs and lows.

A former senior executive at Polar Air Cargo pleaded guilty to corporate corruption and agreed to pay restitution of $9.3 million in addition to serving a potential jail sentence.

The ultra-buzzy trucking startup Convoy could have fixed trucking. Instead, it shut down suddenly to the shock of industry insiders.

Chattanooga, Tennessee-based Covenant Logistics Group’s third-quarter revenue declined 7% year over year to $288.7 million.

Inflation, higher cargo volumes and diesel prices fueled a spike in congestion costs for trucking companies, according to new data from ATRI.

Freight broker Landstar System told analysts on a Thursday call that it expects the current freight downturn to last eight quarters, not six as previously hoped.

CPKC reported a 12% decline in net profit in the third quarter despite higher combined revenues.

UPS said it hopes to scale service to as many locations as possible by year’s end.

Rush Enterprises experienced softer Class 8 aftermarket revenue at its dealership network, but it had other business to replace it in Q3.

DHL Supply Chain’s North America chief says warehouse labor markets have stabilized.

An article from the archives of American Shipper in 1979 details the climax of a long-awaited signature from President Jimmy Carter to help tamp down rampant rebating in the maritime shipping industry, which was vehemently condemned by the FMC.

Truck leasing giant Ryder posted total revenue of $2.9 billion and earnings per share of $3.58 during the third quarter.

This is CargoX’s second sizable partnership aimed at bringing more efficient import and export practices to global markets.

Now on demand on WHAT THE TRUCK?!? Dooner is joined by Rachel Premack; Alan Adler; Andrew Haun; Justin Martin

Old Dominion sees a 6% uptick in shipments following Yellow’s closure but says the industry’s freight reshuffle hasn’t been permanently settled.

Electric vehicle manufacturing efforts have been marching south. In fact, EV manufacturing investments in the Southeast alone reached $54.6 billion in 2022 –– a 128% year-over-year increase, according to the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy.

Wabash’s reorganization is continuing to pay off as service revenue rises as trailer sales fall amid improved profits.

Short-term pain will lead to long-term gain for Norfolk Southern, the railway’s CEO said when asked about his company’s higher margins amid plans to continue improvements to rail service.

UPS has set holiday shipping deadlines for deliveries on Dec. 23 or earlier.

Consistent with its rivals, Traton sees orders slowing but strong deliveries across its brands including Navistar.

Convoy Inc. has found a buyer for its tech stack, which would include the digital freight company’s driver app and automated freight matching and pricing engines.

A company can “go through all your tests, due diligence, cyber resilience and everything, but if you don’t know what to do when something happens, then all bets are off,” IT exec Steve Hankel said during the Digital Solutions Conference.

NS’ third-quarter net income fell 50% amid a $163 million incident charge related to the East Palestine, Ohio, train derailment in February.

Old Dominion Freight Line reported better-than-expected third-quarter results as Yellow’s departure provided a tailwind.

Israel won’t be able to produce as many goods for its economy because of the war it is waging. Some logistics providers are increasing their capability to deliver imports to the country by air and ocean.

Partnerships with other Class I railroads will help the freight rail industry gain market share, CN executives said during the Canadian railway’s third-quarter 2023 earnings call Tuesday.

President and COO Webb Estes reviews restored functions, praises customers that stuck around.

Cargo volumes showed mixed results for Gulf Coast ports in September, with Houston reporting container declines, New Orleans seeing gains and Corpus Christi getting a boost from crude oil shipments.

“The table is set to scale up as demand increases,” said Port of LA Executive Director Gene Seroka.

Less-than-truckload carrier Saia will implement a 7.5% general rate increase in early December.

TFI’s overall third-quarter results reflect a weak macro environment.

Nikola Corp. has won $165 million in arbitration from convicted founder Trevor Milton, but it wants to recover attorney fees, too.

Edge continues to win new business on the back of a regional carrier strategy.

“When you see fleets double in size in a very short period of time, typically they haven’t grown on the inside as well as the outside, and that’s a very dangerous combination,” Reliance Partners’ Brian Runnels said.

Yard management needs a technology overhaul, with more automation to drive efficiency. Right now, manual processes slow down operations.

Companies are evaluating their warehouse footprint, assessing consolidation and not ruling out relocation, WarehouseQuote executive says.

Paccar Inc. posted record third-quarter net income and continued to build on a streak of beating analyst estimates.

Experts say Mexico must take big steps to capitalize on nearshoring by improving road security and freight infrastructure, while stabilizing the peso.

While logistics visibility platform provider Slync had hoped that new management and a $24 million cash infusion in February would be enough to save the FreightTech company after its former CEO was indicted on fraud charges, the company is proceeding with an alternative option to a traditional bankruptcy and plans to wind down operations and sell off its technology.

Coming on the heels of the hack against LTL carrier Estes, an industry meeting maps out ways to battle cyberattacks.

The decision to prioritize technology in a business so reliant on people to cover loads and deal with exceptions is poignant in the wake of the past week’s events. 

The semiconductor industry is a new vertical that logistics provider Kuehne+Nagel has identified as a growth area. Toward that end, it is using two large freighters it controls to transport shipments from Taiwan to Europe.

Now on demand on WHAT THE TRUCK?!? Dooner is joined by Matt McLelland; Evan Shelley; Phil Hyland; Estifanos Estifanos; Frederic Kauffmann

Ryder System Inc. is acquiring contract manufacturing and packing company Impact Fulfillment Services in a deal involving operations in 15 states.

Averitt Express received the highest overall ranking, with Old Dominion Freight Line voted top national less-than-truckload carrier in a value and loyalty survey.