Truckload Freight

Load volumes and rejections improve this week

April’s 20% year-over-year declines in Cass data may mark the bottom of the COVID-19 downturn.

Truckload and transportation companies talk freight markets ahead of reopening with some calling a market bottom in April as spot rates remain below breakeven.

Titanium Transportation Group reports 13.6% increase in revenue on the strength of its growing brokerage business in the United States and steady performance from trucking.

“I hope like hell we never have to avail ourselves of it,” Challenger CEO says as the Canadian government emerges as a lender of last resort for the country’s largest businesses.

Daseke selects current flatbed head to lead operations amid a multi-year restructuring effort.

The current focus on the rate war distracts from the real issue at hand: how to build a profitable trucking business and control your own future.

Outbound tender volumes inch upward

Even as volumes slowly begin to return, carriers are still not in an advantageous position when it comes to pricing, although there is some positive momentum developing.

USA Truck continues to execute on its internal turnaround initiatives, but they have yet to bleed through and provide positive earnings results for the carrier.

Management says “tough pricing environment” muted operational efficiency initiatives.

Group wants changes to rarely invoked federal law, making it automatic.

As demand for flatbed capacity sags, Daseke sees strength in some end markets and continues to push forward with a company-wide overhaul.

FMCSA has expanded the types of crashes eligible for review under its Crash Preventability Determination Program, giving fleets and drivers more options to have non-preventable crashes removed from their record. )

Excluding several items, Daseke reported a near break-even first quarter. Demand headwinds in most of the markets it serves have ‘plateaued’ in recent weeks.

Amazon has expanded its brokerage service to 48 states, allowing shippers to easily connect with carriers on a digital platform.

FreightWaves President George Abernathy interviews President and CEO of Werner Enterprises Derek Leathers to discuss the pandemic, the economy and technology.

ArcBest managed through the first quarter largely unscathed by the coronavirus outbreak. That has all changed in April as revenue is off 20% year-over-year.

ArcBest sees “one of the best first quarters” in company history, but COVID-19-related demand headwinds took a toll on April’s results.

Green shoots for volumes but not tender rejections

Dan Cushman retiring after 11 years as the head of P.A.M. Transportation. The search is underway for a permanent replacement.

Trimble is adding an alert service to its navigation and routing apps to notify drivers when speeds are reduced up ahead due to work zones or other incidents.

Hub Group’s first quarter miss included several one-off expenses unlikely to recur. However, volume headwinds are expected to persist in the near-term.

A better than expected first quarter yields to expectations that a recovery may not occur until June. Some of Schneider’s customers are starting up again, but demand in May will likely be choppy.

While others have seen a decline in shipments, April held firm: CEO

Schneider Logistics is seeking to smooth and expedite the process for paying carrier partners by pairing TriumphPay’s payment solutions with Transflo’s document management tools.

Schneider reports TL volumes are down upper single-digit percentages in late April, but notes that some of its customers shutdown by COVID-19 are set to come back online.

Favorable customer mix to make Werner’s truckload model a little more defensive through the downturn.

Werner believes its consumer-heavy shipper base will allow the company to ‘more effectively manage through’ the downturn.

Covenant continues to reshape the company in efforts to better focus on contract logistics and improve its financial structure.

Volumes up slightly week-over-week

Declines in trucking shipments and spend, current and future, highlight the takeaways from U.S. Bank’s first-quarter Freight Payment Index report.

Landstar has seen volume declines accelerate in recent weeks and management believes that a recovery is unlikely until the automotive and building products segments resume activity.

Jason Bates will fill the vacant CFO role at Daseke after three years in the same role at USA Truck.

Perry sees slow recovery in volumes but sharp drop-off in available trucks and drivers.

Landstar System calls attention to its variable cost model as first quarter falls short of expectations. No guidance issued for second quarter.

Convoy and FourKites announced new dashboards and emissions-reduction tracking tools to help shippers identify their environmental footprint.

Knight-Swift’s better than expected quarter yields to further uncertainty as the year progresses.

Customer service (in many forms) is the key to keeping and/or expanding business during the pandemic.

Heartland Express’ better than expected result was diminished by the lack of gains on equipment sales.

Network Management Center enhancement improves connectivity and automation

Citing economic challenges tied to the coronavirus pandemic, as well as the need to focus resources toward targeted business units, Southern Refrigerated Transport (SRT), a solo-driven reefer subsidiary of  the […]

Volumes still searching for a bottom.

Company was also nominated in three other categories.

KeyBank report mostly positive after discussions with management.

Other segments at the truckload carrier had weaker performances.

Year-over-year declines in the Cass Freight Index accelerated in March, with the shipments index declining 9.2% and the expenditures index dropping 8.2% for the month.

KeepTruckin has started a petition asking congress to extend forgivable loans to cover truck lease/purchase payments and insurance costs.

P.A.M. Transportation finds success calling on its “friends in the industry” as it scrambles to replace lost automotive OEM business.

The J.B. Hunt first-quarter conference call provided a mixed bag of anecdotes. While concerns mount over economic disruption, the company has some offsets.

J.B. Hunt’s first quarter results, while slightly below consensus, were likely not as bad as feared. The company’s outlook provided on its earnings call will be the takeaway.

Cass data plummets further, erasing any chance of second-quarter year-over-year growth in shipments and freight costs, according to report.

After peaking at up 30% year-over-year, volumes are now down.

While transportation industry participants have an abundance of questions loaded for management teams this earnings season, answers on the future will be tough to provide.

In these trying times, regulatory compliance can’t be an afterthought. Failure to follow the rules – and the number of exemptions currently being issued makes that even more challenging – jeopardizes the fleet’s viability.

Sharp Transportation Systems keeps Americans and Canadians supplied with essential medicines and vaccines as tensions mount over cross-border medical supply chains.

Record volumes cool considerably

Many states have now issued exemptions for carriers hauling critical supplies to exceed 80,000-pound weight limit

Bob Costello expects many trucking companies to go out of business before the economy recovers from the recession caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

What might a post COVID-19 world look like for financially viable carriers that have managed through the uncertainty? Nobody knows for sure, but here are some possibilities.

Tyson Foods plans to pay drivers and essential personnel $60 million in “thank you” bonuses for service during the pandemic.

Chris Henry writes about the true costs of “unseated” trucks and what carriers can do to keep their number of unseated trucks as close to zero as possible.

After a surge in freight over the past few weeks, UBS transportation analyst Tom Wadewitz is predicting a rough two months.

Roadrunner Transportation Systems announces the sale of another business unit, this time unloading Stagecoach Cartage and Distribution.

The Department of Labor has issued new guidance on the Families First Coronavirus Response Act that may not require companies to offer paid leave in certain situations.

ArcBest battens the hatches on coronavirus concerns. The company draws down available credit and implements business continuity plan.

Record high volumes cool

Attorney R. Eddie Wayland answers many of the questions that have arisen from the passage of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, including whether all companies need to comply.

Clear benefits in its truckload and dedicated divisions, but challenges in brokerage.

P.A.M. Transportation says it has temporarily laid off approximately 75 employees as auto plant closures increase.

J.B. Hunt announces $500 one-time bonus for drivers and field staff serving during COVID-19 pandemic.

But attorney Gaines notes that there are some parts of the rules that might be confusing to some.

Morgan Stanley upgrades its freight transportation industry view from “cautious” to “in-line.” The firm lowered its earnings expectations for the group.

Leverage shifting carriers’ way

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the ports of entry remain watchful of fraudulent imports that take advantage of Americans during the COVID-19 crisis.

Stifel Financial sees an OK first quarter, but the picture gets less clear after that, with risks to second-quarter earnings estimates.

FreightWaves’ OTRI is now higher than it was a year ago

The waiver will run through April 12 or the end of the emergency, whichever is first

New all-time high for volumes

ATA says it expects a waiver. States are already granting them.

As experts predict price increases and late deliveries from coronavirus, some industry insiders say the threat is overblown.

Virus-related demand headwinds bring fresh declines in February Cass data. Visibility into a potential trucking recovery is further clouded.

Most companies are right near the 25% decline in the market since February 1.

Shippers combat coronavirus with new procedures, questions for drivers; carriers advise proper hygiene, while Amazon requires sanitization of workstations, vehicles

Deliveries of contracted freight with actual trucks will be the focus of the three-year partnership.

Daseke expects weakness in the industrial markets and oil and gas sectors to persist. Management said the environment was sequentially weaker in the first quarter.

Steel giant working to restore normal operations “as quickly as possible” as trucking companies report disruptions in freight from Canadian facility.

Volumes show signs of life.

Trucking company says the shutdown of the Saskatchewan facility from purported ransomware attack will have a “significant impact” on operations.

Profitability is the key to any business staying in business. In trucking it is harder than in many other businesses. Chris Henry explores the “trucking profitability paradox.”

A panel of experts on the issue offers suggestions — but no easy fixes.

Jim Blaze writes about the outlook for intermodal rail in 2020.

In this week’s “Drilling Deep” podcast, host John Kingston sits down with Dave Heller of the Truckload Carriers Association at the TCA’s annual meeting in the Orlando, Florida, area. Dave […]

FreightWaves SONAR clients will have access to Truckstop.com rates

At TCA meeting, agency administrator says FMCSA will need help acting on reports of cheating.

Customers and society are demanding more environmentally friendly vehicles, including electric, and manufacturers are trying to meet those demands with smart business decisions that meet the key imperative of any commercial vehicle: to make money.

‘Strong sales’ in February are expected to continue through Easter. Disruptions to the company’s supply chain continue to be monitored.

Final-mile acquisitions continue. CRST adds to its service offering by acquiring NAL Group.

StayMetrics’ Hindes talks about retention and management of a truckload company’s human assets.

“We’re a highly resilient industry even in the face of a potential pandemic,” Washington Trucking Associations official says even as intermodal carriers take hit from disruption of Chinese shipping to West Coast ports.