Trucking

In a mid-quarter update of the Coyote Curve by Coyote Logistics, a subsidiary of freight transportation and logistics services bellwether UPS, provided a wide-ranging overview of the freight market conditions, from three different perspectives: a look back at the second quarter; expectations for the third quarter; and a 2020-2023 forecast.

FTR reported that preliminary North American Class 8 orders—at 20,000 units—was up 28% compared to June’s 14,400, and doubled its output compared to July 2019. And over the last 12 months, FTR said Class 8 orders came in at 168,000 units. And ACT Research reported that preliminary July North American Class 8 net orders—at 20,300 units—were up 27% compared to June and up 98% annually, against what it called “a very easy year-ago comparison.”

Settle, if possible. Don’t take shortcuts on safety. Obviously, avoid truck accidents involving children by any means. And hope that somehow, some way, sensible tort reform is on its way into American courtrooms. Those are some of the suggestions from the American Transportation Research Institute’s (ATRI) new research that confirms that large verdicts against trucking fleets—so-called “nuclear verdicts”—are increasing dramatically, both in number and in size of awards.

YRC Worldwide (YRCW) said that its subsidiary, YRC Freight, the fourth largest less-than-truckload (LTL) carrier, has expanded its Regional Next-Day Service to the mid-South region and also into Waco, Texas. The company said that offering up more two-day lanes between the mid-South and Texas serves as the most recent example of YRC’s enterprise network optimization strategy.

YRC lost $37.1 million in the second quarter on revenue of $1.015 billion, compared with a $23.6 million loss on $1.273 billion in the year-ago second quarter. Operating loss was $4.6 million, which included a $6 million net gain on property disposals. By comparison, operating revenue in the second quarter of 2019 was $1.273 billion and operating income was $14.3 million, which included a $6.2 million net gain on property disposals.

In this podcast, Jeff Berman, Group News Editor for Logistics Management and the Peerless Media Supply Chain Group, interviews Avery Vise, Vice President of Trucking, for Bloomington, Ind.-based freight transportation consultancy FTR Transportation Intelligence.

In this podcast, Jeff Berman, Group News Editor for Logistics Management and the Peerless Media Supply Chain Group, interviews Avery Vise, Vice President of Trucking, for Bloomington, Ind.-based freight transportation consultancy FTR Transportation Intelligence.

Total second quarter volume—at 4,016,899 units—fell 11.9% annually. Domestic containers—at 1,742,968—slipped 7.0%, with trailers—at 259,752—falling 14.0%All domestic equipment—at 2,002,720—was off 8.0%. ISO, or international, containers, were down 15.4%, to 2,014,179.

On an annual basis, June SA tonnage dipped 1.3%, marking the third straight annual SA decline, which, while down, marked an improvement over May’s 9.6% annual decline, which represented the largest annual decline going back to 2009 during the Great Recession of 2008-2009, with the caveat that SA tonnage is not falling at the same rate as it was during that period.

Company officials said that these service upgrades are part of an effort to meet the growing customer needs for transporting critical shipments during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, through the usage of what it called a faster LCL service by leveraging expedited trucking, coupled with faster sailings on some trade lanes that will subsequently offer up faster shipper customer transit times. For example, the company said that this offering has enabled it to send urgent medical shipments from China to the...

The June edition of the DAT Truckload Volume Index, which was issued this week by DAT Freight & Analytics, picked up where May left off, as spot market rates and volumes, for the equipment types tracked by the firm, showing a return to typical seasonal trends, due to signs of improving economic demand.

The May TCI (the most recent month for which data is available) reading was -5.19, which, while still negative, is well ahead of April’s -28.66, which topped the previous low of -16.08 recorded in September 2008.

Uber Freight describes the shipper platform as a simple intuitive dashboard geared towards helping small businesses manage logistics tasks via a singular interface. These tasks include: finding reliable capacity, budgeting for shipping costs, tracking and ensuring their goods are delivered on-time and with care.

With an eye on establishing the safest carrier network possible for its shipper customers, Seattle-based digital freight network Convoy said today it has introduced a new predictive crash model that takes a multi-tiered approach through machine learning and automation, in an effort to qualify safe drivers.

FMCSA officials said that the agency is continuing the extension, due to the fact that the national emergency declaration remains in place, adding that a continued exemption is needed to support direct emergency assistance for some supply chains.