Less than Truckload (LTL)

Noncontract prices will climb by 5.9% for FedEx’s Express, Ground and Freight services.

“With all the difficulty with hiring, technology is an obvious answer,” said Zach Strickland.

More M&A isn’t on the immediate horizon but final-mile delivery is.

Less-than-truckload carrier Yellow reported tonnage declines worse than its peers for the first two months of the third quarter. The carrier said it currently remains focused on driving yields higher in lieu of volume growth.

ArcBest said Wednesday an August tonnage decline in its asset-based segment was done intentionally so that it could better service its core less-than-truckload customers.

Less-than-truckload carrier Old Dominion reported strong operating trends for the first two months of the third quarter. The carrier said it will continue to reinvest in its network to achieve further market share wins.

Less-than-truckload carrier Saia sees tonnage gains carry into the third quarter.

The carpeting and flooring giant plans to manufacture more domestically iin the wake of the pandemic.

Sudden end to inbound deliveries in Albany will force shippers to seek alternatives.

“Operating systems should learn from the behaviors of these shippers and LTL carrier partners, record these exceptions and apply learning from them for future automation.”

Pilot Freight Services took the unusual step of buying a trucking company to connect its e-commerce delivery services.

Yellow Corp. announced that its interim CFO, Dan Olivier, will assume the role permanently. The change comes as the company navigates a financial and operational transformation.

The company also imposes sweeping levies on former postal business that’s been brought in-house; a separate 60-cents-per-package residential fee kicks in Jan. 17 with no end date.

July data from Cass showed freight shipments remained elevated but labor and equipment shortages constrained growth. Expenditures held near all-time records.

As freight markets enter the second year of peaklike conditions, FreightWaves caught up with Amit Mehrotra, Deutsche Bank’s transportation analyst, to talk about how this freight cycle will play out.

Also on the podcast: The investment drought in oil setting the table for higher prices

Yellow says it is making progress toward its unified transport network strategy.

Carriers have held back on physical plant investments. Now with volumes and profits escalating, CapEx levers may start to be pulled.

A federal jury found former Roadrunner Transportation Systems CFO Peter R. Armbruster guilty on four counts of violating federal securities laws in a $245 million securities and accounting fraud scheme. It acquitted two former controllers of Roadrunner’s truckload division.

The company’s earnings per share tripled the prior-year results due to strong demand, favorable comparisons with 2020’s second quarter.

Can Brad Jacobs lift the conglomerate’s discount off of XPO’s back and still maintain its non-LTL businesses?

Also on this week’s podcast: A shoutout to fuel surcharges.

Forward Air posts a quarterly record for operating income and revenue in the second quarter.

Wall Street investors liked what they saw in the company’s earnings, pushing the stock up by more than 8%.

The company posts solid numbers for its transport and logistics units as the logistics business prepares for trading on Monday as a spun-off entity.

Truckload carriers’ “spillover” freight ties up LTL capacity during unprecedented times, Old Dominion executives said.

XGS hopes the merger of the two companies will strengthen its overall operational footprint.

The key profitability metric comes in 550 basis points below the company’s 2020 results.

TFI International’s hard line on unprofitable UPS Freight legacy business is helping accelerate the LTL carrier’s turnaround – and it’s just getting started

Strong second-quarter results give way to second-half volume growth concerns. An analyst calls the share sell-off “overdone.”

TFI International beats analysts in the second quarter as its U.S. LTL division left its days as UPS Freight in the dust.

Knight-Swift’s acquisition highlights the LTL industry’s sweet spot in the e-commerce supply chain, says a noted consultant.

Also on the podcast: A key agency reviews the outlook for the tight oil market.

“We will learn how our customers use the product, learn their pain points and inject those solutions into the product as we go, really changing the user experience.”

High barriers are a deterrent to starting a less-than-truckload operation. Knight-Swift’s recent acquisition sheds some light on the value in owning assets in the space.

The successor of UPS’ struggling LTL operation is set to post an operating ratio below 95%, TFI International says in an unusual preannouncement.

FreightWaves experts weigh in on the ramifications of KNX’s $1.35 billion deal to acquire AAA Cooper.

Knight-Swift’s “transformational” $1.35 billion less-than-truckload acquisition marks the second big deal by a public truckload carrier in less than a week.

Knight-Swift Transportation acquires less-than-truckload carrier AAA Cooper in a deal valued at $1.35 billion.

FedEx Freight is pointing the finger at less-than-truckload competitors for denying service to customers, which it says flooded its network and forced it to cancel certain accounts.

Forward Air announced Friday that VP and Controller Rebecca Garbrick has been named the company’s new CFO, a role that had been vacant for three months.

The company reports strong fiscal 2021 fourth-quarter results, but warns that a persistent labor shortage will drive up costs and impede productivity.

High demand and tight capacity have less-than-truckload carriers testing years of investments that are designed to handle this type of environment. Many of FedEx Freight’s service woes were captured in the data leading up its cancellation announcement.

Customer backlash against FedEx Freight’s decision to terminate trucking service has forced the carrier to reconsider.

Hundreds of shippers, including ones that supply big-box retailers like Home Depot and Lowe’s, are scrambling for transportation after FedEx Freight (NYSE: FDX) on Monday abruptly stopped truck pickups at […]

TFI International quietly buys Montreal-area trucking and logistics firm Procam International to expand its network.

FedEx Freight has more business in some regions than it can manage, so it is freeing up capacity by telling hundreds of customers it won’t pick up their shipments starting Monday, June 14.

The Cass Freight Index surged again in May with continued strength recorded in freight shipments and spend. While the year-over-year comparisons become more formidable in the coming months, the current supply-demand fundamentals are expected to remain in play for some time.

The company’s investor day focuses on modest projections for domestic package-delivery margins through 2023.

XPO Logistics provided updated expectations for the second quarter and issued 2022 guidance for soon-to-be stand-alone logistics company GXO.

Keynoting a FreightWaves summit, Rob Estes, head of Estes Express Lines, says current conditions are unprecedented.

Asset-light trucking and logistics provider Forward Air’s new pay plan incentivizes operators to haul into the country’s more challenging markets.

The large year-over-year revenue increases recorded by less-than-truckload carriers in the second quarter continued with Yellow on Monday after the close. However, the carrier’s operating metrics lagged some of its competitors as it continues to execute a companywide overhaul.

Transport deregulation’s long game has left much of the asset-based carrier field with few players. Will the cycle turn to usher in a cast of competitive newbies?

Less-than-truckload carrier Old Dominion reported further acceleration in tonnage and yields in the first two months of the second quarter on Thursday.

Less-than-truckload carriers ArcBest and Saia report continued strength in demand through the first two months of the second quarter.

People are eager for face-to-face gatherings. But health and safety issues will still call the shots.

Carriers continue to push driver pay higher amid a capacity-constrained market to keep their equipment seated and on the road.

The company says it will continue to work with shareholders as it evaluates future compensation plans.

AskWaves: Forget the base rate. Shippers need to worry more about the impact of accessorials.

Less-than-truckload carrier Yellow Corp. reported a sizable first-quarter loss Wednesday as weather, increased purchased transportation expense and a lack of gains on real estate sales weighed on the period.

The first-ever deal with Apple is part of $4 billion in logistics contracts for XPO since the year began.

Less-than-truckload carrier Saia announced Tuesday it was hiring more than 500 drivers and 300 dockworkers.

ArcBest points to the current “robust demand” environment as supportive of raising equipment spending in 2022.

Logistics provider ArcBest Corp. posted first-quarter results well ahead of analysts’ expectations Tuesday.

Truckload shippers are accepting double-digit rate hikes in 2021 and further increases in 2022, Deutsche Bank’s lead transport analyst says.

The latest report from the congressional oversight commission monitoring COVID relief loans shows Yellow Corp. may not have been as “critical to maintaining national security” as once thought. The report also calls into question the company’s increased spend on lobbying efforts ahead of the loan.

Canadian trucking and logistics firm TFI International has completed its $800 million acquisition of UPS Freight, becoming one of the top less-than-truckload providers in North America.

Forward Air provided some clarity on longer-term margin expectations during a Friday conference call with analysts. The company beat first-quarter expectations and its new guidance came in much better than expected.

Forward Air reported first-quarter earnings results and issued second-quarter guidance that were both ahead of expectations.

Hunker down once more; things appear to be heating up for LTL demand heading into the summer months.

Forward Air announced it has entered an agreement to acquire expedited transportation and less-than-truckload provider J&P Hall Express.

Less-than-truckload carrier Saia reported first-quarter earnings ahead of expectations and guided for second-quarter results to outpace normal seasonality.

Less-than-truckload carrier Saia reports a big year-over-year increase in earnings during the first quarter even as weather negatively impacted one-third of its network.

Less-than-truckload carrier Yellow announced it is taking delivery of the next wave of equipment, which has been facilitated by the CARES Act loan it received in 2020.

Old Dominion Freight Line set a first-quarter record even with adverse weather conditions. The second quarter is shaping up to produce a new all-time company record.

Old Dominion Freight Line announced its best first-quarter result in company history on Thursday. Improved density and yields led to a 76.1% operating ratio, 530 basis points better year-over-year.

The Defense Department lawsuit from 2018 is continuing even as the federal government has taken a stake in the LTL carrier.

Less-than-truckload carrier Yellow Corp. announces the departure of its COO and chief network officer. The company announced that its strategic initiatives head, Darrel Harris, will take over as president.

Forward Air’s growth plans net 11 new final-mile terminal locations in the first quarter. While recent activist shareholder interests called into question the company’s capital allocation strategy, it appears the final-mile segment remains part of the plan.

Global logistics provider Pilot Freight Services has acquired DSI Logistics, a last-mile heavy goods specialty provider.

The latest increase raises the question: Are we nearing the end of the cycle of increases or just kicking off yet another one?

CIO named for soon-to-be-spun-off company

Forward Air announces its “largest-ever” rate increase to capacity providers.

Roadrunner announced it has raised $50 million in equity through a private placement led by GlobalTranz and Emerge founder Andrew Leto. The company continues to advance its focus on the less-than-truckload market following a major restructuring.

ArcBest’s Danny Loe, head of asset-light logistics and chief yield officer, joins George Abernathy, president of FreightWaves, to chat about the new normal for procuring capacity during the 3PL Summit.

Electronic payments provider Relay Payments announces Old Dominion Freight Line is the latest carrier to join its platform.

Carol Tomé has blown through UPS like a whirlwind. Will there be long-term blowback?

Less-than-truckload carrier Saia announces the addition of its 20th facility in the Northeast in just the last four years. The LTL market continues to garner incremental investment dollars as demand rises.

The LTL brokerage business is much smaller than that of truckload, but its profitability increased during the quarter.

Two bullish equity research reports this week on transportation stocks both highlight expectations around consumer spending and what that means for freight demand.

The company moves to broaden its footprint and introduce services as it posts stellar fiscal 2021 third-quarter results.

Smith sees no let-up in the demand for the company’s services.

February freight data from Cass shows a deceleration in the growth rates of shipments and expenditures. Recent weather events have only “coiled the spring” for a continuation of high demand and rising rates.

While the less-than-truckload market is experiencing a boom, it’s not without growing pains, according to Recon Logistics’ pricing and analytics expert Curtis Garrett.

Activist investor Ancora Advisors gains two seats on Forward Air’s board and endorses three others. The company’s former CFO has been brought on in a consulting role.

Federal stimulus checks will be heading by direct deposit and mail to millions of Americans, who will quickly turn to their computers to place online orders that flood parcel networks.

Less-than-truckload carrier Yellow Corp., like other LTLs, reports a weather-related falloff in February trends. However, industrial data continues to suggest this LTL freight recovery has legs.

Senate-approved emergency pension relief covering Yellow, ABF Freight employees could hit President’s desk this week.

Old Dominion Freight Line said Thursday it would add 800 drivers and more than 400 dockworkers and clerical personnel to meet “robust freight demand.”