Mexico’s economy grew less than first estimated in the fourth quarter as activity contracted in December, the first month of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s administration, data showed on Monday, clouding the outlook for 2019.
Author Archives: Jeffrey Goh
The U.S. economy might appear to be humming along in the late stages of an economic expansion, but experts don’t think it will be sustained for too many years to come.
U.S. new-home construction in December fell to the lowest since September 2016, as builders held back during a turbulent month for financial markets. Residential starts fell 11.2% to a 1.08 million annualized rate after a downwardly revised 1.21 million pace in the prior month, according to government figures Feb. 26 that missed all forecasts.
While uncertainty regarding the direction of the United States and China trade talks lingers, January volumes recently issued by the Port of Los Angeles (POLA) and the Port of Long Beach (POLB) were both very strong. Total POLA January volumes, at 852,440 TEU (Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units) marked a 5.4% annual gain and represent the busiest January output for the port in its 112 years of operation, while also marking the seventh consecutive month of POLA monthly volumes topping the 800,000 TEU mark.
Cargo throughput results for the beginning of 2019 were mixed, with certain regions performing significantly better than others. Airports in North America saw the majority of growth in cargo volumes in January, while airports in Mainland China saw modest rebounds and European airports experienced a continued decline in cargo volumes following an overall diminished 2018 peak season.
BNSF, a unit of Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A), plans to add rail capacity at its Alliance Intermodal Facility as distribution and warehousing space in the Fort Worth market is anticipated to grow substantially. As part of its previously announced capital spending plans, the largest U.S. railroad said it plans to spend $405 million in Texas this year, compared to $375 million spent in 2018. BNSF said over half of the 2019 funds will go to increasing capacity and train speeds in the state.
The Association of American Railroads (AAR) today reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending February 23, 2019. For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 522,630 carloads and intermodal units, down 1.1 percent compared with the same week last year. Total carloads for the week ending February 23 were 256,954 carloads, up 2 percent compared with the same week in 2018, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 265,676 containers and trailers, down 3.9 percent compared to 2018.
Earlier this month, UPS Freight, the less-than-truckload subsidiary of Atlanta-based transportation and logistics bellwether UPS announced general rate increases (GRI) that went into effect on February 18. The GRI, which applies to non-contractual less-than-truckload (LTL) shipments rated on the current UPS Freight 525, 560, 570 and 571 tariffs, is 5.9%.
Ray Martinez, administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, asked attendees at Omnitracs’s user conference to “please prepare” for the December transition from AOBRDs to ELDs “now, if you have not done so.” Speaking at the conference’s opening session, Martinez noted that 2019 is a critical year for ELD implementation and that putting it off does not help either the industry or the regulators .
The number of new trucks hitting the road in the United States is likely to increase in the first half of 2019, bolstering available capacity, according to an analysis of data from IHS Markit, the parent company of JOC.com. However, those numbers may level off later in the year.