Trucking rates

Truckload linehaul spot rate drop accelerates under pressure from surging diesel prices

Stormy weather for the trucking industry. Photo: Jim Allen (FreightWaves)

FreightWaves’ Future of Supply Chain summit is being held this week in Northwest Arkansas, the epicenter of North American supply chains. If you aren’t able to attend, you are welcome to tune into our free live stream that will carry all of the content from the main stage. The event kicks off on Monday at 9 a.m. ET.

At the event, we will be introducing several new data products, including a new national index that is assessed and published every day (NTID.USA). This is based on the FreightWaves...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/truckload-linehaul-spot-rate-drop-accelerates-under-pressure-from-surging-diesel-prices

Truckload market only in early stages of easing

Contract truckload volumes did not take a hit in March

Chart of the Week: Vn Outbound Tender Volume Index, Truckstop.com 7-day van rate per mile – USA  SONAR: VOTRI.USA, TSTOPVRPM.USA

After nearly 19 months of averaging above 20%, national rejection rates have fallen to their lowest levels since June 2020 — dry van rejection rates at 9.9% and falling as of Thursday. Spot rates have accelerated their declines over the past two weeks but have been falling for dry van and refrigerated loads since...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/truckload-market-only-in-early-stages-of-easing

What causes the booms and busts of the trucking cycle?

The boom and bust cycle of trucking. (Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves)

Trucking is a massively cyclical industry. 

How is it possible to have a “driver shortage” and a capacity glut at the same time? 

This is a common refrain that I hear when talking about a slowing freight market. The reality is that the “driver shortage” doesn’t mean what most people think it means. 

First, we need to differentiate between the freight market and trucking companies. Trucking companies participate in the freight market, but are not the “market.” 

Trucks being loaded at a dock. (Photo: Shutterstock)Trucks being loaded at a dock....

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/what-causes-the-booms-and-busts-of-the-trucking-cycle

FreightWaves Enterprise Fleet Summit hits the highway tomorrow!

Trucks waiting to move forward. (Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves)

Enterprise trucking fleets exist in an increasingly competitive landscape, but also have more opportunities than ever before. Many fleets are adopting the newest technologies, and the Summit will examine the components of a successful enterprise fleet. 

The Summit begins at 9:00 a.m. EDT tomorrow, and you can participate virtually by going here to register.

Kicking off the event as keynote speakers are two pros from USA Truck. The company’s President, CEO & Director, James Reed, is joined by his...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/freightwaves-enterprise-fleet-summit-hits-the-highway-tomorrow

Trucking is a commodity, service is not

Trucks on the road. (Photo: saferoads.org)

I have been around trucking for 42 years – literally my whole life. My grandfather and father began trucking companies. I began to learn about trucking when I was very young, because I grew up in a trucking family. Family dinners and vacations revolved around trucking. It would be unusual for my family to go through a single dinner without something about trucking coming up. 

I learned about economics from my father, but rather than talking about the broader economy, his lessons about the...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/trucking-is-a-commodity-service-is-not

Freight market needs lithium during rapid swing toward bipolar low

Inconsistency is the only consistency in transportation over the past 4 years

Chart of the Week: Van Contract Initial Report, Van Outbound Tender Reject Index, Truckstop.com Average Van Spot Rate – USA  SONAR: VCRPM1.USA, VOTRI.USA, TSTOPVRPM.USA

Trucking contract rates were still inflating as of early March, according to FreightWaves’ Van Contract Rate Index (VCRPM1), but spot and tender rejection rates are now in a free fall. The national average spot rate according to Truckstop.com has dropped...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/freight-market-needs-lithium-during-rapid-swing-toward-bipolar-low

Is truckload capacity finally normalizing?

Freight demand plummets at fastest pace since December 2020

Chart of the Week: Outbound Tender Reject Index, Outbound Tender Volume Index – USA SONAR: OTRI.USA, OTVI.USA

National truckload tender volumes have fallen nearly 9.5% since March 3 while rejection rates have accelerated their decline to hit their lowest point since June 2020. FreightWaves CEO Craig Fuller wrote about how this is the start of another “bloody” cycle for truckload carriers but not everything will be the same as it was in...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/is-truckload-capacity-finally-normalizing

DOT vulnerability report highlights truck driver pay, urges ocean shipping reform

Requiring employers to pay truck drivers overtime and supporting legislation boosting shippers’ leverage against ocean carriers are among 62 policy recommendations in a sweeping 140-page supply chain vulnerability report the Biden administration unveiled on Thursday.

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s “Supply Chain Assessment of the Transportation Industrial Base: Freight and Logistics,” culminates a yearlong assessment of the U.S. freight transportation system, as required by an executive...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/dot-vulnerability-report-highlights-truck-driver-pay-urges-ocean-shipping-reform

Old-school RFP processes are keeping shippers in the past

Historically, the RFP process has been laborious, expensive and exclusive. Shippers have aimed to work with as few carriers and brokers as possible while locking in rates on an annual basis. Over the past couple of years, market shifts and capacity constraints have illuminated the flaws in this unsustainable process. 

“For many years, if you talked to shippers, their whole goal was to limit the amount of carriers that had access to them. If a shipper could use one carrier for everything, they...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/old-school-rfp-processes-are-keeping-shippers-in-the-past

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