LTL

Saia, the nation’s eighth-largest less-than-truckload (LTL) carrier, enjoyed a blowout fourth quarter with earnings exceeding Wall Street analysts’ expectations in one of the first indications of a post-Yellow freight boom in the LTL sector.

Quarterly revenue, at $1.94 billion, was up 6% annually, and adjusted earnings per share fell 21.4% annually, to $0.77.

A change at the top is coming for Greeneville, Tenn.-based asset-light freight and logistics services provider Forward Air, with the company announcing today that company Chief Executive Officer and President Tom Schmitt has left the company. The company added that Schmitt is also no longer a member of the company’s Board.

It’s hardly much consolation to its 30,000 or so former workers—or shippers left without Yellow’s reliable capacity for 49,000 less-than-truckload (LTL) shipments a day—but Yellow says it has repaid in full a $700 million loan approved for the struggling trucker in the final days of the Trump administration.

The state of the freight economy was a key theme at the SMC3 JumpStart 2024 conference held in Atlanta late last month. Avery Vise, vice president of trucking, for freight transportation consultancy FTR, offered up his views on the freight economy, at the moment, and where things could be headed.

The company’s expansion in Nashville is part of an ongoing effort to invest in its facility infrastructure and demonstrate its commitment to its customers, its associates and its future, adding that Averitt wants to be on the leading edge when it comes to technology, equipment and facilities.

Taking steps to expand its national network, Downers Grove, Ill.-based Roadrunner, a national less-than-truckload (LTL) services provider, with a focus on long-haul metro-to-metro shipping, said today it has rolled out new LTL service offerings into Portland, Ore., as well as service into Toronto and Montreal via Detroit.

Bozeman discussed his acclimation to C.H. Robinson, coming over from Amazon, where he served as Vice President of Amazon Transportation Services, and leadership roles at Caterpillar Inc., Harley-Davidson, and Ford Motor Company prior to that. Other topics covered in this wide-ranging interview included: the freight econonomy; various initiatives C.H. Robinson has focused on in recent months, and the increasing role of the supply chain, among others. Their conversation follows below.

The company added that over the past year, 17,240 of its customers have leveraged the eBOL, with the expectation that the tally will increase in 2024.

The new edition of the TD Cowen/AFS Freight Index, which was recently released by New York-based investment firm TD Cowen Inc. and Shreveport, La.-based 3PL and freight audit and payment company AFS Logistics LLC, highlighted the impact of muted demand for truckload, less-than-truckload (LTL), and parcel activity, from the third quarter to the fourth quarter.

This new Bangor facility will extend access to Pyle’s LTL, warehouse and distribution and dedicated freight capabilities, in turn providing the company with the ability to serve more customers in the Bangor area. In tandem with its Portland, Maine-based LTL service center, the addition of this facility enables A. Duie Pyle to provide more comprehensive, full-service center coverage throughout Maine, the company said.

This SMC3 blog outlines the logistics industries talent problem. A study from Alcott Global identifies the problems outlined. SMC3’s solution to these problems is teaming with the Logistics Training Center to provide coursework geared toward mastery of LTL transportation concepts.

The company explained that prior to this announcement, standard shipping to New England from its terminals in Cumberland, Maryland, Baltimore, Maryland, and the Greater Philadelphia area could take upwards of three days, whereas through these recently-announced next-day lanes, PITT OHIO’S shipper customers will now see their freight arrive in 24 hours. Which the company said significantly reduces wait times, as well as top expectations.

The reshuffling of assets and capacity within the $58 billion less-than-truckload (LTL) sector has begun. The bankruptcy of Yellow Corp has made one thing clear: shippers ought to be prepared to pay higher rates, perhaps 6-to-8% higher in contractual renewals.

ODFL reported that revenue per day fell 0.9% compared to November 2022, which it said was mainly driven by a 2.3% decrease in LTL tons per day that was partially offset by an increase in LTL revenue per hundredweight. And it added that the change in LTL tons per day was attributed to a 2.9% decrease in LTL weight per shipment that was partially offset by a 0.6% increase in daily LTL shipments.