Ida disrupts freight movement after making landfall as Category 4 hurricane

Rescue and relief efforts are underway, but the damage to infrastructure and impact on business could be long term. 

By Shefali Kapadia • Aug. 30, 2021

Boiling truckload market to last through 2021: Morgan Stanley

Carriers are reporting a surge in demand as Labor Day approaches, with little protest from shippers as rates rise.

By Jim Stinson • Aug. 24, 2021

Explore the Trendline➔

Peak season management

Higher peak season surcharges are one risk for shippers to manage this year.

By Supply Chain Dive staff

Retail freight proves a doorbuster for trucking

The continued inventory stock-up will keep trucking busy until consumer picking starts to wane. Shippers are trying to lock down lanes they need by contracting with dedicated fleets.

By Jim Stinson • Aug. 19, 2021

US Xpress projects tight truckload market will push up contract rates

Driver supply "remains challenging," and tight capacity will keep spot rates above contract rates through 2021, the company said.

By Jim Stinson • Aug. 12, 2021

Industry group releases contactless delivery standard to increase safety, reduce dwell

The Consumer Brands Association found contactless delivery practices, like using electronic bills of lading, reduced average dwell time from 66 minutes to 23 minutes.

By Max Garland • Aug. 10, 2021

Shippers turn to intermodal in Q2 as they race to stock-up

"The trucking rates have increased so significantly that it's giving an advantage for the intermodal shipments," said Jeff Trombly, a professor of supply chain management at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

By Max Garland • Aug. 9, 2021

From sapling to pure-play LTL: The story of XPO Logistics under Jacobs

Bradley Jacobs is a relentless numbers man and a serial entrepreneur. And he's one thing neither XPO nor GXO can replace.

By Jim Stinson • Aug. 2, 2021

Trucking M&A intensifies as carriers seek 'holistic' portfolio

Uber Freight, Knight-Swift and others are making moves toward bigger books of business by buying companies with strengths in different transport sectors.

By Jim Stinson • July 26, 2021

Freight shipping spend reaches record high as capacity constraints persist: US Bank

Challenges are playing out across all regions, but the Northeast saw the sharpest increase in spend from Q1 due to "pretty significant capacity limitations."

By Max Garland • July 22, 2021

Capacity crunch prompts JB Hunt to limit service

Detention of trailing equipment in the intermodal and truck segments led the carrier to levy accessorial charges on shippers. 

By Jim Stinson • July 21, 2021

Pandemic changed rail's product mix as e-commerce grew intermodal volumes

Large retailers and third-party logistics providers leveraged railroads to diversify their transport risk and get around labor constraints in the trucking market during the pandemic, according to a study by Northwestern University.

By Edwin Lopez • July 15, 2021

Higher contract rates pull volume from spot truck market

DAT Principal Analyst Dean Croke said this is the result of carriers securing higher contract rates, which reduces the incentive to focus on the spot market.

By Matt Leonard • July 14, 2021

Walmart will add transportation pillar to Project Gigaton

The effort will focus on suppliers' fleets to achieve the retailer's goal to avoid one billion metric tons of greenhouse gases in scope 3 emissions by 2030.

By Matt Leonard • July 13, 2021

Freight overflows push LTLs to make tough decisions

FedEx Freight admitted to "temporary targeted volume control" as shippers rush to fill inventories.

By Jim Stinson • July 13, 2021

Lower inventories offset rising transport costs in 2020: report

A lack of inventory may have caused supply chain challenges, but it also led to a 15% decrease in logistics costs in 2020, according to CSCMP's Annual State of Logistics Report.

By Edwin Lopez • July 8, 2021

Detention and demurrage were hotly debated pre-pandemic. Congestion made it worse.

The average charge more than doubled from 2020, increasing 104%, Container xChange found.

By Matt Leonard • July 8, 2021

FedEx, UPS take divergent LTL freight paths

As UPS sold off its Freight segment to TFI this year, FedEx doubled down on Freight and called its commitment to the segment "absolute."

By Jim Stinson • July 2, 2021

Flexport, Convoy integration enables automated transloading

All shippers have to do is select their origin and destination, and the Flexport platform handles the rest, the company said.

By Matt Leonard • June 30, 2021

Supply chain constraints, spot posts push up trucking rates

Strong demand resulted in rates continuing to rise MoM and YoY across van, flatbed and reefer, according to DAT.

By Matt Leonard • June 21, 2021

Patent Pending: Walmart's idea for just-in-time, FourKites' plan for predictive visibility

Supply chain innovators apply to patent what they see as important tools for the future. Sometimes they're brilliant. Sometimes they're funny.

By Matt Leonard • June 18, 2021

Dollar Tree: 'Upside down' ocean market sends import rates skyward

The company utilized spot markets more than it expected last quarter, which tripled its transportation cost assumption.

By S.L. Fuller • June 4, 2021

Averitt Express opens Dallas distribution center, as e-commerce drives fleets closer to consumers

A trend is emerging among logistics providers like Averitt Express as they plan new facilities: build closer, distribute faster. 

By Jim Stinson • June 3, 2021

How supply chains contend with severe weather and climate disasters

As the climate changes, the threat to logistics networks evolves. So must the industry.

June 1, 2021

How trucking firms prepare drivers for severe weather

Communication is crucial, as just one storm can cause nationwide havoc in freight movement.

By Jim Stinson • June 1, 2021

More frequent, severe wildfires threaten California's growing logistics network

Fires can clog and cut off freight arteries, creating choke points for inventory traveling via truck and rail.

By Deborah Abrams Kaplan • June 1, 2021