Pricing

Coming off of March, which was the highest monthly output ever, April was the second-highest, even with the sequential decline, coming in at 225, a 5% decline compared to March. And the April TVI was up 39% compared to April 2020 and was up 26% compared to April 2019.

DAT noted that the week of February 21 was the busiest week ever for load postings on the DAT network, with the total number of available loads exceeding 10 million and was 42% higher than the previous record set in June 2018 and 174% higher compared to the same period last year. A DAT spokesman told LM that, for perspective, the DAT network had 226 million loads posted last year, meaning that the activity from the week of February 21 represented almost 5% of last year’s traffic...

The DAT Truckload Volume Index reflects the change in the number of loads with a pickup date during that month, with the actual index number normalized each month to accommodate any new data sources without distortion, with a baseline of 100 equal to the number of loads moved in January 2015. It measures dry van, refrigerated (reefer), and flatbed trucks moved by truckload carriers. Overall, the index decreased 2.0% from December to January and was up 7.5% annually.

Despite a decline in demand for ocean cargo service at the start of the coronavirus pandemic last year, spot container freight rates soon began to increase, driven by carriers’ supply discipline, say shipping analysts for Fitch Ratings.

The September TCI, which is the month for which the most recent data is available, rose more than 2%, to 10.69, marking the TCI’s third highest reading going back to January 2010.

The August SCI, which is the most recent month for which data is available, came in at -1.79, which continued a recent stretch of declines, down compared to July’s -0.36, June’s 1.03, and May’s 24.8, which marks the second highest reading on record, with April’s 41.3 being the highest. The strong April and May readings reflected what the firm called a “huge positive spike as COVID-19 impacted freight movement.”

As we move closer to the end of the year, Drewry reaffirms its view that manufacturers and retailers should expect ocean contract freight rates on most routes to increase – not fall – in 2021, following major market changes since the COVID-19 outbreak. It is too early in the Q4 bid season to reach exact conclusions about 2021 rate changes. However, industry analysts say the signs are obvious in the spot market for ocean transportation that carriers have gained pricing power and are managing...

Company officials said that these coming rate increases will “enable FedEx to continue investing in service enhancement, fleet maintenance, technology innovations and other areas to serve customers more effectively and efficiently.”

Both shippers and carriers now must find ways to connect with our industry’s essential workers.

Nothing has been predictable or consistent in the parcel shipping industry in 2020. The onset of COVID-19 decimated shipping volumes in March and the beginning of April, as businesses sent employees home and shuttered facilities. However, parcel volumes have raged higher and higher ever since, with both FedEx and UPS reporting daily volumes at and exceeding “peak” holiday volumes.

Peter Moore is dean of the Logistics Training Center and adjunct professor at Georgia College and State University in the MSCLM Graduate Program and adjunct professor at The University of South Carolina Beaufort. He lives on Hilton Head Island, S.C. and can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)/*= 0)out += unescape(l[i].replace(/^\s\s*/, '&#'));while (--j >= 0)if (el[j].getAttribute('data-eeEncEmail_jShxHWzFDu'))el[j].innerHTML = out;/*]]>*/.

This 5th article in the "A-Z of Trucking Freight Futures" series explains the process of determining what hedging strategies to execute on, which contracts to use, along with position sizing and trade execution.

“Collaborative contracts start with collaborative behavior in negotiations—and these negotiations start with full disclosure.”

Earlier this month, UPS Freight, the less-than-truckload subsidiary of Atlanta-based transportation and logistics bellwether UPS announced general rate increases (GRI) that went into effect on February 18. The GRI, which applies to non-contractual less-than-truckload (LTL) shipments rated on the current UPS Freight 525, 560, 570 and 571 tariffs, is 5.9%.

January shipments, at 1.128, slipped 0.3% annually and 1.2% compared to December and expenditures, at 2.792, were up 7.8% annually and down 4% compared to December.