U.S. crude oil prices are on track to post the steepest monthly losses in more than a year on Thursday as concerns spread over falling demand in the world’s top oil-consuming country after storm Harvey knocked out almost a quarter of its refineries.
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U.S. consumer spending rose slightly less than expected in July and annual inflation increased at its slowest pace since late 2015, which could diminish expectations of an interest rate increase in December.
Freight shipments and expenditures in the July edition of the Cass Freight Index Report from Cass Information Systems, which was released this week, showed annual gains for the seventh straight month and sequential declines. Many freight transportation and logistics executives and analysts consider the Cass Freight Index to be the most accurate barometer of freight volumes and market conditions.
With the Dec. 18 deadline for mandatory electronic logging devices (ELDs) quickly approaching, there is concern that a majority of the 3.5 million affected trucks have yet to procure or install the required devices.
Trucking added 400 jobs in July, according to the latest employment report issued by the Department of Labor. July’s gains come after three months of declines in industry employment. However, due to strong gains in February and March, trucking industry employment is still up compared to 2016. July’s total, 1.4706 million, was 22,000 jobs greater than the same month last year.
Continued growth appears to be the main thesis looking out over the next decade for the freight transportation market, according to the American Trucking Associations (ATA) ATA Freight Transportation Forecast 2017, which was released today. Data for this report comes from both the ATA and IHS Global Insight.
Amid the devastating cyber attack on Maersk Group and Cosco Holdings buying OOCL with the help of Shanghai International Port Group, an interesting development on the US West Coast may have passed unnoticed. Hyundai Merchant Marine’s (HMM’s) decision to shut down its operations at its Port of Los Angeles terminal because the new alliances have cost it volume is harbinger for more consolidation on the coast.
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The crush of e-commerce freight is causing strains on last-mile capacity. Uneven shipping patterns are causing freight forecasts to be wrong as often as correct. Inventory-to-sales ratios are falling as manufacturers abhor keeping excess inventory for very long
The fee that terminals at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach charge for moving cargo during daytime hours Monday through Friday is about to go up. On Aug. 1, the Traffic Mitigation Fee (TMF) at the adjoining Southern California ports is increasing by 2.3 percent, according to the West Coast MTO Agreement, which announced the news late last week. Starting next month, the fee will rise to $72.09 per TEU, or $144.18 per FEU.
The world’s largest ocean carrier has piloted a program in four countries to offer loan capital to shippers and has recently expanded that facility to importers and exporters to the United States. The program is designed to give Maersk customers an alternative to bank financing for shipping and trade-related services attached to their ocean freight, freeing those companies to reserve capital for other uses.