Rates

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, was somewhat mixed, with less-than-truckload (LTL) and truckload rates steady, and parcel rates being impacted by fuel surcharge increases and various accessorial charges amid lower demand.

Challenging market conditions on various fronts, for freight transportation brokers and intermediaries, were the main themes of the new edition of the “3PL Market Report Fourth Quarter 2023, which was issued this week by the Alexandria, Va.-based Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA).

Total estimated 2023 global 3PL market revenue was off 18.5% annually, coming in at $1.2 trillion. But even with that decline, the firm observed that this tally still represented a 25.3% increase, when compared to pre-pandemic 2019.

The new edition of the DAT Truckload Volume Index (TVI), which was recently issued by DAT Freight & Analytics, noted that spot freight volumes rose to all-time highs, for the month of January, driven by what it described as a weather-related bump in demand for truckload capacity.

January’s shipment reading, at 1.039, fell 7.6% annually, and January expenditures, at 3.102, fell 24.3% annually.

In this podcast, Jeff Berman, Group News Editor for Logistics Management and the Peerless Media Supply Chain Group, interviews Ken Adamo, Chief of Analytics for DAT Freight & Analytics.

Minneapolis, Minn.-based global third-party logistics (3PL) services provider and freight forwarder C.H. Robinson said today it has rolled out a new technology offering focused on touchless appointments, which it said “creates a major efficiency in freight shipping.”

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.

For November, the most recent month for which data is available, the TCI reading, at -1.35, marked an improvement compared to November and October’s respective -6.07 and -8.97 readings.

Global shipping rates are skyrocketing as Houthi attacks in the Red Sea continue. Carriers avoiding the area are suffering from longer transit times around Africa, leading not only to higher costs but delayed deliveries and disruption throughout the global supply chain.  

For October, the most recent month for which data is available, the SCI reading came in at 4.3.

Alternate routes are adding cost, time to global trade

Our annual gathering of freight transportation industry analysts reveals that the cycle of rate and capacity fluctuations continue their age-old volatility, but in a more muted fashion. Here’s a look at the elements that have ushered in this current malaise.

Shippers are the main beneficiaries of new freight audit and payment data. They’re now tapping into more auxiliary services such as freight bidding, modal analysis and international services—and the most savvy operations are benefiting by realizing lower, better-managed freight bills with analysis thrown in for good measure

Out of all of our annual surveys and features that we do in Logistics Management (LM), by far my favorite continues to be our Annual Rate Outlook