Category: Shippers

While the calendar says it’s technically spring, winter weather caused some freight frustration this week – and will continue to do so throughout the weekend. A heavy snowstorm and high wind advisory is expected to hit the Donner Pass in California through the end of the week. All operating motor vehicles will be required to…

Thanks to all who attended FreightWaves’ March Monthly webinar sponsored by Convoy. Below, we summarize the webinar for the demand and supply sides of the freight market, and add insights from Convoy too. Demand – Manufacturing Dragging the Economy Overall, manufacturing has slowed, with ISM manufacturing dropping to its lowest levels in the past two…

Spring continues to thaw the national freight network, as volumes have slowly increased with the addition of some produce, a small uptick in port activity, and few flatbed loads in the Southeast. However, with all the new trucks purchased in 2018 – 490,100 units, according to ACT Research – payments need to be made, and…

Spring is less than a week away, and that means a shift in the freight market as well. Produce is about to be the big story around the U.S. We saw early signs of the season last week, and we saw markets in the South Central and Southeast continue to show signs of ramping for…

Compared to last week, freight volume decreased about 2.5% across the country. Tender rejection rates have remained stable (hanging around 7%). The upcoming lettuce harvest in the Southeast indicates the first sign of spring. Harvest appears to have begun in some parts of Florida, and reefer prices from southern and central Florida have increased. On…

After a frozen February, the freight market is thawing. Volume spiked this week across the country, reaching levels not seen since the pre-holiday rush. Most of this volume was driven by the West Coast ports coming back online after the Lunar New Year pause — but green shoots are appearing across the market. The West…

Shippers hire brokers for a number of reasons, most commonly to access capacity. Much of the “capacity” in the U.S. is anecdotally attributed to national asset carriers. However, in the for-hire truck market, the largest carriers (those with 100+ trucks in their fleets) only account for about 40% of trucks available. The remaining 60% of…

When we look at the freight market as a whole, it’s been quiet this President’s Day week. Overall Lower Rates in Outbound Tender Rejection Index The National Volume Index has continued to be mostly flat, with tender rejection finally breaking 8%. While this is still a low rejection rate, it’s worth calling out as the…

Thank you to everyone who attended the FreightWaves February webinar, sponsored by Convoy. During the webinar, we covered how supply is no longer a bottleneck — except in frozen parts of the country. Plentiful supply stems from reduced demand as businesses react to slower growth and tariff changes. Below, we summarize the webinar for the demand…

Punxsutawney Phil, the groundhog who predicts spring, did not see his shadow last week — which supposedly means an early spring is on the way. Regardless of the groundhog’s shadow, analysts are keeping a keen eye on spring shipping, which will kick off within the next three to six weeks. Goods needed for home improvement,…

All eyes have been on the Midwest this week as cold weather chaos on the highways brought the freight network in the some Midwest markets to a standstill. Freezing temperatures caused tightening capacity due to traffic pile-ups, gelled fuel and general hazards of being outside in such extremes. Trucks failed to start, while others ended…

Thanks to all who attended FreightWaves’ January Monthly Freight Market Update webinar sponsored by Convoy. We discussed how economic growth is slowing and is being accented by low demand, which is typical in the first quarter of the year. This is resulting in excess capacity of carriers and spot rates falling off a cliff. The…