inventory levels

Why are shippers increasing lead times?

Chart of the Week: Outbound Tender Lead Time – USA SONAR: OTLT.USA

Tender lead times last week hit their highest value since SONAR released tender data in 2018, averaging 3.76 days between tender and requested pickup. The previous high of 3.68 was set last year at the same time. Is this a longer-running trend or just a seasonal glitch?

Christmas is typically the seasonal peak of the Outbound Tender Lead Time (OTLT) index. Lead times increase leading into major national holidays as transportation...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/why-are-shippers-increasing-lead-times

Unexpectedly strong import wave keeps rolling through peak season

Chart of the Week: US Customs Maritime TEUs, Import Ocean Bookings TEUs Index – USA SONAR: CSTEU.USA, IOTI.USA

Container volumes arriving from overseas at U.S. ports are averaging double-digit percentage growth since mid-July. Import bookings, which measure container volumes based on departure dates from the ports of origin, are signaling that growth will probably sustain through August. What are the takeaways from a strong maritime shipping peak season?

Economically speaking

One of the biggest...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/unexpectedly-strong-import-wave-keeps-rolling-through-peak-season

RXO sees ‘too much capacity’ in trucking heading into 2024

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The pace of the capacity shakeout in trucking needs to increase before the industry can begin seeing...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/rxo-sees-too-much-capacity-in-trucking-heading-into-2024

Will FOMO and YOLO lead to No Mo’?

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Retail data paints mixed picture on consumer health

Economic bulls point not only to the still-strong job market but also the latest retail sales data, which show increases from last year. Mastercard SpendingPulse reports that Black Friday sales increased 2.5% from a year earlier, broken down to a 1% increase in-store and an impressive 8%...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/will-fomo-and-yolo-lead-to-no-mo

Wait for airfreight recovery could extend deep into 2024

Air logistics companies are grudgingly writing off the traditional peak season as weak macroeconomic conditions drag out the freight downturn longer than expected. Low rates will carry over into next year, even if demand eventually picks up, because many businesses are negotiating contracts to lock in low prices instead of shopping for one-time quotes when ready to ship, analysts say.

Airfreight remains mired at the bottom of a 16-month downturn and, by some measures, is worsening on the cusp of...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/wait-for-airfreight-recovery-could-extend-deep-into-2024

Loaded and Rolling: The plight of the owner-operator

The plight of the owner-operator

(Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves)

The freight recession’s impact on small fleets and owner-operators gained mainstream media attention on Monday with an article by Shannon Pettypiece, a senior policy reporter for NBC News. The article related the story of Arnesha Barron, a 39-year-old driver who in 2021 became an owner-operator after working at a trucking company for six years. Barron’s journey from COVID boom to bust highlights the plight of many drivers who were...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/loaded-and-rolling-the-plight-of-the-owner-operator

Optimism fades for airfreight recovery on slow-healing inventories

Since late last year, air logistics executives have engaged in wishful thinking that the protracted downturn in shipping demand would start to recover after the first quarter and build through the year once retailers cleared out excess inventories. That rosy scenario is fading.

Worsening indicators suggest the international freight recession hasn’t hit bottom and that the best outcome air cargo providers can hope for until October — typically the peak season for goods movement — is halting the...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/optimism-fades-for-airfreight-recovery-on-slow-healing-inventories

The supply chain bullwhip is doing the Fed’s job on inflation

Containers at the Port of Los Angeles. (Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves)

The only thing surprising about the freight market slowdown is the speed at which it’s unfolding. The supply chain “bullwhip effect” is both predictable and expected. The surge of inventories and declining freight costs/capacity imbalances will be deflationary.

The bullwhip effect is something every supply chain 101 student learns about – the idea that upstream providers overproduce in reaction to a one-time demand shock.

What is the bullwhip effect? 

According to the Chartered Institute of...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/the-supply-chain-bullwhip-is-doing-the-feds-job-on-inflation

Is supply chain deflation next?

Infinity Logistics aquires Glencore's metals warehousing business

The only thing surprising about the freight market slowdown is the speed at which it’s unfolding. The supply chain “bullwhip effect” is both predictable and expected. The surge of inventories and declining freight costs/capacity imbalances will be deflationary.

The trucking market has slowed. Demand for trucks usually surges during the Spring, but this year, demand for truckload freight has broken out of this typical seasonal pattern.

Outbound Tender Volume Index (OTVI) is an index which...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/is-supply-chain-deflation-next

Inventory growth hits all-time high as warehouse prices soar in latest LMI

Chart of the Week: Logistics Managers’ Index – Inventory Levels, Inventory Costs, SONAR: LMI.INVL, LMI.INVC

The February Logistics Managers’ Index (LMI), which measures directional changes in transportation and warehousing activity, showed inventories growing at the fastest pace since the index was created in 2016 with a monthly value of 80.16. With companies finally making significant headway in restocking, orders may begin to slow, which may allow for supply chains to stabilize.  

Companies...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/inventory-growth-hits-all-time-high-as-warehouse-prices-soar-in-latest-lmi

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