Despite the many peaks and valleys freight flows saw in 2015, one mode that collectively saw more of the former was intermodal. That was especially clear in December and full-year 2015 volumes from the Intermodal Association of North America (IANA).
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Spot truckload freight activity increased sharply during the first full week of 2016, as rates also improved or held steady – while a separate report shows December was better than the month before.
According to the freight matching service provider DAT Solutions, which operates the DAT network of load boards, despite a 2-cent decline in the average fuel surcharge, national average rates rose for vans and reefers last week while flatbed rates were unchanged.
Trade and transport analysts see a negative market outlook worsen, though some contend that this trend could be reversed later in the year. Meanwhile, logistics managers should brace for a volatile period of rate fluctuation.
Wal-Mart is closing 269 stores, more than half of them in the U.S. and another big chunk in its challenging Brazilian market. The stores being shuttered account for a fraction of the company’s 11,000 stores worldwide and less than 1 percent of its global revenue.
Diesel fuel prices dropping nearly 6 cents a gallon in the Rocky Mountain states last week, and with smaller declines seen in all of the other regions of the nation, plenty of smiles could be seen on truck drivers’ faces at truck stops throughout the U.S.
The average per-gallon price for a gallon of diesel fuel dropped 3.4 cents to $2.177, a figure that is more than 87 cents per gallon less expensive than a year ago last week.
GE has delivered more than 500 Evolution Series Tier 4 compliant locomotives to North American customers along with its auto-pilot controls system for railroads called Trip Optimizer. The technology being developed by GE Transportation helps the rail industry optimize networks, minimize downtime and reduce operating costs, the company says.
SEATTLE — The Department of Transportation this past weekend introduced a National Freight Strategic Plan that showed a number of challenges in the coming years including 70 million more people in the next 30 years; a 40 percent increase in freight volume by 2040; increasingly larger vessels and more containers at our ports; a tripling of air freight and a doubling of multimodal shipments and volumes of imports/exports.
There will be a shortage of nearly 50,000 truckers in the United States by the end of this year, according a new report by the American Trucking Associations (ATA). That’s up from a shortage of 30,000 drivers just two years ago, and 20,000 drivers a decade ago.
A recovering U.S. economy is driving record demand for trucking. But many smaller operators, who make up the vast majority of the roughly 470,000 for-hire fleets on the road today, say they’re missing out on the boom. (This article requires a subscription with The Wall Street Journal. To access, please click on the above link.)
A new trucking advocacy group is trying to buff up and modernize the image of the 7 million Americans involving in the domestic trucking industry.