Stay Up to Date on the LTL Industry
Less than truckload (LTL) refers to shipping services for relatively small loads of freight (typically between 150 and 15,000 pounds). One of the main benefits of the LTL industry is cost efficiency. LTL trucking allows shippers to combine several loads going to the same facility into one truck, creating economies of scale, with each shipper only paying for the space they use. On the flip side, LTL shipping can take longer to plan and organize. Shipments may also take longer since the truck has to be filled before it leaves and may have to make multiple stops or transfers on the way to a given destination .
The explosion in online shopping sparked by the pandemic has made a marked impact on the LTL industry. As online shopping grows, demand for LTL trucking has increased significantly, putting stress on an already-burdened industry. To better understand the state of the LTL industry, we teamed up with BlueGrace Logistics to survey shippers about their approaches to LTL trucking in today’s environment.
Download our report to learn more: Evolution of LTL
LTL trucker Saia set several first-quarter records in its earnings report, and it will add 10 to 15 new terminals this year.
Craig Fuller explains the impact of higher diesel prices on the U.S. economy and consumers.
TFI CEO Alain Bédard may want to set TForce Freight wages based on worker geographies instead of one uniform structure in upcoming talks with the Teamsters.
Management from ArcBest said positive yield actions are allowing it to keep reinvesting in the network, which will continue to improve service and margins.
ArcBest easily beat first-quarter expectations Friday. The positive revenue trends have carried through April.
Forward Air beat first-quarter expectations and pulled forward 2023 financial targets by a full year.
A congressional report alleges then-President Donald Trump may have pushed the Defense Department to approve a pandemic loan to help gain Teamsters support in the 2020 election.
Less-than-truckload carrier Old Dominion beat first-quarter expectations Wednesday. The company moved one step closer to doing “something that they said couldn’t be done.”
Logistics companies like Dimerco are combining air and road transport to move supplies for Mexican manufacturers from Asia.
XPO is expanding into San Bernardino County and the metro Atlanta area.
Brad Jacobs, the CEO of XPO, said he sees 3D printing as a major disruptive force looming over the horizon in the transportation sector.
Cowen analyst lowers earnings estimates for truckers as data showing a loosening market mounts.
The consolidation program is the first major initiative announced since Uber Freight acquired Transplace last summer.
FreightWaves Founder and CEO Craig Fuller explains the boom and bust cycle of the trucking industry.
David Phalen, an airline pricing veteran, shifts to an industry with similar characteristics.
With record inventories building and bottlenecks easing is deflation next?
FreightWaves Founder and CEO Craig Fuller analyzes methods to generate more revenue in a trucking downturn.
FedEx is cutting the wages of the salesforce supporting the small to midsize customer segment.
Old Dominion said Tuesday it has already added capacity at seven locations in its network. The recent expansions trend ahead of its 2022 guidance, which called for growth at eight to 10 terminals.
XPO Logistics announced it has sold its intermodal business to STG Logistics for $710 million in cash. This was a crucial first step on the path to becoming a stand-alone less-than-truckload company.
A noted consultant sees FedEx founder Fred Smith dropping the CEO role to become executive chairman; second-in-command Raj Subramaniam would take Smith’s place.
AskWaves looks at dynamic pricing and how it fits into an increasingly automated LTL complex.
Building geographic scale and expanding a book of business is not the main driver, Muessig says. Instead, it’s access to scarce assets.
EPS comes in below estimates as FedEx Ground’s operating income declines.
Less-than-truckload carrier Roadrunner announced new incentives and an increased pay package for drivers.
Less-than-truckload carrier A. Duie Pyle announced Tuesday that its Northeast and Mid-Atlantic footprint now stretches south to Virginia.
Yellow Corp. announced it has reached a settlement with the Defense Department, which claimed it was overcharged by the less-than-truckload carrier for years.
A Wednesday update from less-than-truckload carrier Yellow Corp. showed volume trends worsened in February on what was supposed to be an easy year-over-year comp.
He couldn’t pull off the impossible, but he has made shareholders significantly richer in the process.
The company will become a stand-alone LTL carrier in North America.
Brian Thompson shares how SMC3 gets employees ready to take on the market.
ArcBest reported Friday that the favorable revenue trends logged in the fourth quarter have continued through the first two months of the first quarter.
First-quarter updates from Old Dominion and Saia show LTL carriers are off to another strong start.
Less-than-truckload carrier Dayton Freight Lines announced plans to acquire Valley Companies’ cartage operations.
Modern Shipper spoke with Daniel Sokolovsky, founder and former CEO of AxleHire, about his newest delivery venture, Warp.
AskWaves looks into the growing amount of shipment detail needed when submitting an RFP.
Truckload rates have plateaued and may head down in the second half, Miller says. There is more runway for LTL increases, however.
Forward Air head Tom Schmitt was bullish about the company’s prospects on a call with analysts Thursday. Forward is already on track to achieve recently issued 2023 targets ahead of schedule.
The LTL segment remains a work in progress, but analysts are confident that Jacobs & Co. can turn it around.
Less-than-truckload carrier Yellow Corp. adds two driver academies as part of a plan to train 1,000 drivers in 2022.
XPO Logistics has issued 2022 guidance and vows to fully right the LTL segment’s operating ratio by midyear.
TForce Freight pickup and delivery drivers will be driving less and taking on more freight as TFI International pushes efficiency in its U.S. LTL operation, says TFI’s CEO.
The LTL carrier has ambitious plans for growing its footprint over the next two years.
Less-than-truckload carrier Yellow Corp. reported better-than-expected adjusted fourth-quarter results Wednesday after the market closed.
Less-than-truckload carrier Old Dominion raised its long-term margin target when it released better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings Wednesday.
Saia’s operating ratio was up more than 500 basis points in Q4 2021 compared to the final quarter of 2020.
ArcBest raised long-term expectations Tuesday in conjunction with its fourth-quarter results, which were better than expected. The company now eyes doubling its size by 2025.
ArcBest on Tuesday reported fourth-quarter results, which once again outpaced analysts’ expectations.
Difficulty in getting land zoned for trucking is an impediment to terminal expansion, Gantt says.
Knight-Swift Transportation reported another big quarterly result Wednesday. However, it appears the stretch of rapid growth will moderate as the comps have stiffened.
Less-than-truckload carrier Saia announced a 7.5% general rate increase Tuesday. The carrier was the latest to announce rate hikes greater than the normal mid-single-digit increases.
XPO adds two terminals and 50 dock doors to its North American network.
A confluence of critical events will determine if the company can deliver on its margin improvement pledge.
The omicron variant is depleting aircrews at FedEx just as it has among passenger airlines, resulting in customer delays for both industries.
AskWaves looks at the impact general rate increases have on less-than-truckload rates.
The venerable carrier’s shutdown underscores the risk in failing to properly manage costs.
The LTL carrier’s debt at the end of the third quarter was higher than a year earlier, but Moody’s is optimistic in making its upgrade.
Several asset-based carriers changed their course through M&A in 2021.
TForce Freight has rolled back the speed reductions for some trucks based in Houston after drivers complained about running out of hours.
Many LTL carriers have lowered caps from 16 linear feet to 12 linear feet, either denying freight that exceeds those limits or instituting punitive pricing measures that make moving it unaffordable.
RLS Logistics continues to roll up the cold storage market, adding one family operator at a time.
FedEx’s Express and LTL units delivered solid performances, while the bottom may have been hit at its Ground unit.
Volume and yield gains powered the Express and LTL units, while staffing shortages and operating inefficiencies continued to hurt the Ground unit.
In its third pay hike of 2021, Forward Air rolls out its biggest pay package for independent contractors ever.
Old Dominion Freight Line was the latest less-than-truckload carrier to implement a general rate increase ahead of schedule. The 4.9% adjustment is in line with the rate hike it announced earlier in the year.
It has been a wild ride for GlobalTranz, with ownership shifting multiple times in just a few years.
FreightWaves’ Kevin Hill chats about changes in the ways less-than-truckload carriers do business since the onset of the pandemic with Old Dominion’s process and innovation leader Barry Craver.
Analysts, industry insiders and some of Central Freight Lines’ executives and drivers liken the LTL carrier’s demise to a “five-year death spiral” after the company lost a major customer, then acquired two failing companies.
Central Freight Lines says rival LTL carrier Estes Express, based out of Richmond, Virginia, is interested in scooping up some of the Waco, Texas-based 2,100 drivers and employees, after FreightWaves broke the news Saturday that the LTL carrier was ceasing operations.
A source familiar with the 96-year-old company said he is unsure whether CFL will file Chapter 7 or “liquidate outside of bankruptcy,” but that the LTL carrier has no plans to reorganize.
Less-than-truckload carrier Yellow Corp reports the weakest revenue trends out of the public carriers providing fourth-quarter updates.
Forward Air’s initiative to upgrade its freight mix to a heavier class of premium cargo was evident in November results.
A manager’s comments regarding possible closure of the facility if the Teamsters won is cited by an NLRB administrator as a reason for a new vote.
Less-than-truckload carrier Old Dominion said share-taking efforts led to revenue growth ahead of its peers during November.
Knight-Swift adds to its less-than-truckload offering with the acquisition of Midwest Motor Express. Investors continue to see the value in owning LTL assets.
Also on the podcast: OPEC+ surprises with more oil in January.
Intraquarter updates from less-than-truckload carriers show record third-quarter operating conditions have continued through the first two months of the fourth quarter.
General rate increases for less-than-truckload shipments not under contract are rolling in ahead of schedule and are a little higher than normal.
One notable number in the report: intermodal brokerage had a tough quarter.
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.
Yellow Corp. President Darrel Harris has filled the company’s vacant chief operating officer role.
A decisive lead in the east and victories in the central and southern regions set the table for a landslide victory.
The election still needs to be certified by the NLRB.
Electronic bill of lading capabilities in less-than-truckload shipping are growing in favor, according to shipping management platform MyCarrier.
Less-than-truckload carriers report strong October results. But one analyst questions if the stocks have run too far ahead of results.
A rule requiring vaccines for employees, or weekly testing for workers declining vaccination, at companies with staff of 100 or more gets emergency stay.
Yellow Corp. rode a hot freight market and an internal overhaul to positive net income for the first time in several quarters.
The company’s first reporting quarter post-spinoff could have gone better.
Forward Air announced the acquisition of two Minnesota-based intermodal transportation outfits on Wednesday.
Company plans to double LTL trailer capacity and add 900 dock doors.
ArcBest reported record quarterly results on Tuesday, and management sees the possibility of incremental improvement moving forward.
Cowen’s survey, released to the public for the first time, shows a mixed reaction on the question of whether a vaccine mandate will affect carrier business operations.
ArcBest posted record quarterly results for the third time this year on Tuesday. Each of its segments reported double-digit top-line growth.
ArcBest announced Monday that it has closed on the previously announced acquisition of Chicago-based truckload brokerage MoLo Solutions.
A shipper-carrier pledge is needed to restore trust on both sides.
TFI International plans to shut down four terminals at the former UPS Freight operation and the CEO signals more to come as the company targets costs.
TFI International fails to replicate early herculean improvement at ex-UPS Freight as operating ratio weakens slightly in record third-quarter financial results.
Forward Air took an aggressive step Thursday, issuing sizable earnings growth guidance through 2023. Upgrading the freight mix has management confident in the extended outlook.
The CEO of North America’s largest privately held LTL carrier makes a passive investment in the digital freight-matching firm.
The LTL carrier plans on opening 10 to 15 terminals in 2022.
