Universal Logistics Holdings (NASDAQ:ULH) offered a glimpse of how COVID-19 is playing out at the beginning of the second quarter – a 30% drop in revenue in April. The worst of it was due to shutdowns in auto and heavy truck plants, where dedicated freight volumes fell to zero.
“We had to make some difficult decisions,” CEO Tim Phillips told analysts on Friday, May 1, after the Michigan-based transportation and logistics firm reported first-quarter financial results.
Phillips said Universal...
Scott Jordan of Peculiar, Missouri, arrived at the nation’s Capitol early Friday morning with a mission – to meet with President Donald Trump and deliver his letter in person about how some small-business truckers are days or weeks away from shuttering operations because of low freight rates amid the coronavirus outbreak.
Jordan, the owner of Powerhouse Transportation, said he went to the U.S. Secret Service gate outside of the White House to ask for a meeting with the president and deliver his...
Carriers and shippers have been playing a decades-long game of tug of war, passing pricing power amongst themselves as the transportation markets rise and fall. These pricing surges are one of the few certainties in an unpredictable market.
The global pandemic offers industry players the chance to trade competition for collaboration and disrupt the status quo. Carriers, 3PLs, and shippers alike are feeling the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, and companies in every corner of the industry are...
This is no ordinary year for American shippers and freight forwarders that are attempting to finalize their annual ocean service contracts with the container carriers.
The uncertainty of how much cargo will be available from the shippers and the amount of capacity offered by the carriers for the next contract season, which generally starts in May, remains anyone’s guess in the face of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
“The biggest obstacle we face in service contract negotiations this year is the...
https://www.freightwaves.com/news/navigating-service-contract-negotiations-during-covid-19
A convoy of around 70 small-business truckers convoyed to the nation’s Capitol around 2:30 a.m. on Friday, May 1, to protest low freight rates amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The group plans to remain parked along Constitution Avenue until May 4 in hopes of attracting the attention of President Donald Trump about the plight of small-business truckers, said Scott Jordan of Peculiar, Missouri, and owner of Powerhouse Transportation.
He has written a letter, which he hopes to deliver to Trump in person.
“...
FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) has forged an alliance with BigCommerce, a venture-backed e-commerce platform, to help small and medium-sized businesses sell their products as the inexorable march by brick and mortar retailers toward online selling accelerates during the COVID-19 pandemic.
With more than 60,000 stores and brands on its platform, BigCommerce aims to help small, medium and large businesses create “great storefront experiences,” so they can sell more with as little friction as possible,...
https://www.freightwaves.com/news/fedex-teams-with-bigcommerce-on-shipping-discounts
More than 18,000 work zone crashes a year involve tractor-trailer trucks. Many times, the reason is the sudden nature of slowing traffic as the trucks approach a work zone, leaving the truck drivers without enough room to safely slow or stop their vehicles. According to data from the National Work Zone Safety Information Clearinghouse, there were 672 fatal crashes in work zones in 2018, with 203 of them involving a truck.
Trimble, in partnership with Purdue University, is out to change these...
https://www.freightwaves.com/news/trimble-tackles-work-zone-safety-with-reduced-speed-alerts
Mark Kunar, EVP, Strategy, Transportation and Automotive, Engineering & Manufacturing, Chemical & Energy, DHL Supply Chain, North America
Shippers may feel like they are being pulled in two different directions when it comes to dedicated fleet solutions.
On one hand, they are seeing a technological revolution occurring in transportation management. More robust TMS platforms supported by business intelligence tools, tracking systems and online brokerage platforms are creating new opportunities to...
The trucking industry is among the U.S. economy’s largest sectors, valued at roughly $800 billion annually. However, fragmentation and the sheer number of small- and mid-tier fleets operating within the market has hindered the adoption of technology within the industry. Many asset-based carriers in the market today still run their processes on outdated systems, struggling with inefficiency and a general lack of visibility into operations.
Traditionally, trucking businesses have operated on slim...
https://www.freightwaves.com/news/magnus-helps-carriers-streamline-operations-increase-visibility
On its first quarter 2020 earnings call, intermodal marketing company Hub Group’s (NASDAQ: HUBG) management team said that they expect second quarter volumes to deteriorate further. April revenue is down 15% to 18% year-over-year company-wide, accelerating from the 10% decline reported during the first quarter.
The company’s intermodal and brokerage segments are expected to see the largest negative impact from the COVID-19-related demand degradation. Intermodal volumes were down 16%...
https://www.freightwaves.com/news/hub-groups-volume-declines-accelerate-in-april