Elaine Chao is no new face to Washington circles and has a track record of rolling back regulation and a pro-business reputation. Her pro-business approach could be a big win for motor carriers that have faced a laundry list of regulations that although aimed at increasing driver safety, threaten to tighten capacity and increase shipping rates.
(This article requires registration at the Journal of Commerce. To access, please click on the above link.)
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Intermodal pricing increased 0.3 percent for the month compared with the same 2015 period, just the second year-over-year increase since December 2014, according to the latest Cass Intermodal Price Index.
Trucking conditions in the US pulled back slightly in October, ahead of expected market improvements in 2017, according to the latest FTR Trucking Conditions Index. Current readings of the index are in low positive territory, FTR reports. It expects conditions to improve next year as capacity tightens from regulations being implemented.
Pending the United States Senate confirming a “full slate” of board members appointed by President-elect Donald Trump to the United States Surface Transportation Board (STB), the Association of American Railroads (AAR) said last week that the STB should take a pause on its various planned regulatory proposals.
Based on trends from the last two years, growth in containership capacity will continue to outpace demand in the next few years despite record ship scrapping so far in 2016, according to a recent report from the Boston Consulting Group.
Many freight transportation and logistics stakeholders are saying that “flat is the new growth” when it comes to assessing the state of overall volumes.
Total intermodal volume fell in the third quarter of 2016, according to an Intermodal Association of North America quarterly report. Intermodal trailer volumes fell by 26.9% and international shipments fell 6.7%, which contributed to the 4.6% overall loss for the quarter. The domestic container business gained 3.3%, which helped to offset the losses.
FTR’s Intermodal Competitive Index rebounded in August to a reading of 2.16, easing some of the concerns of the previous month’s weak reading, according to FTR. The updated August reading was not particularly strong, but the rebound from July’s low confirmed FTR’s suspicions that the number of work days in July adversely affected the index. Most of August’s gain can be traced to slightly tighter over-the-road trucking utilization rates.
Cargo theft is up when comparing this third-quarter to the same time last year, according to CargoNet.
The cargo theft reporting company claims that in Q3, there were 447 reported incidents, which represents a 2% increase from last year’s Q3 results.
Trucking executives are ranking 2016 as one of the more disappointing years for the industry after having high hopes that bulging volumes and profits of last year would continue.