Topic: Blogs

To be clear, 1993 was a long time ago, and over that time many, many things have changed, but, as we all know the respective per-gallon tabs of 23.4 cents for diesel and 18.4 cents for gasoline is something that has not changed.

There are a lot of different things that supply chain stakeholders, on all sides, will need to pay close attention to in the coming months. These things are not optional. They all matter and play a large role in the direction of our economy going forward. Those not in the supply chain learned first-hand over the course of the pandemic exactly how vital the sector is, but now, hopefully, supply chain is simply part of the story and not the...

A sure sign that the holiday season getting closer each day are the respective announcements made by carriers, transportation and logistics services providers, and shippers alike, announcing their “help wanted” signs have been hung, as they look for seasonal workers.

The letter was drafted by county and municipal officials and public works directors and county engineers and was organized by the Coalition Against Bigger Trucks (CABT).

To get a better sense of how things are shaping up for the 2023 Peak Season, Newsroom Notes caught up with two industry experts, representing trucking and ocean cargo, respectively, to get a sense of where things currently stand.

The decrease in consumer spending, which, as we all know, drives roughly 70% (give or take) of all economic activity, was a key theme in a blog posting recently issued by National Retail Federation (NRF) Chief Economist Jack Kleinhenz, in the NRF’s Monthly Economic Review. The key thesis made by Kleinhenz was that even though U.S. consumers are buying more than they were a year ago at this time, growth in spending is slowing down, as does the economy...

While the calendar indicates that just about the first seven months of 2023 are officially in the books, this seems like as good of a time as any to take a quick look back at things on a year-to-date basis, as they relate to key supply chain, logistics, and freight transportation trends and themes.

While it has yet to be confirmed by the company itself, the future of Nashville-based Yellow Corporation, the third-largest United States less-than-truckload (LTL) carrier, with about 8% of the national market, looks bleak, according to various reports. A Wall Street Journal article published this week indicated that Yellow “is preparing to file for bankruptcy,” citing “people familiar with the matter,” adding that it increases the possibility of Yellow shutting down, “as customers abandon it amid a cash crunch and union negotiations.”

As freight transportation, logistics, and supply chain stakeholders (likely) breathed a collective sigh of relief yesterday, following the new five-year tentative agreement reached yesterday between Atlanta-based global freight transportation and logistics services provider UPS and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, there has been no shortage of opinions and views on how this agreement, assuming it is ratified by UPS Teamsters members next month, will impact shippers, especially as it relates to pricing.

ATA found that the trucking industry moved 11.46 tons of freight in 2022, topping 2021's 10.93 million tons and 2020’s pandemic-driven 10.23 tons. What's more, trucking took in $940.8 billion, for all of 2022, representing 80.7% of the United States’ total freight bill. That percentage figure in in line with 2021's 80.7% tally, while 2021 revenue came in at $875.5 billion.

At a time, when, as usual, there are many questions and concerns about the current trajectory of the economy, in terms of will there, or will there not, be a recession, there are also myriad signs, or indications, that the supply chain and logistics sectors are returning to the cadence of pre-pandemic times.

With yesterday’s news that Nashville-based Yellow Corporation, the third-largest United States less-than-truckload (LTL) carrier, has filed a lawsuit for more than $137 million against the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT), due to what Yellow called a breach of the Teamsters’ biding contract with Yellow, it leaves a lot of questions unanswered about what happens next for Yellow, whom moves roughly 8%-to-10% of the total national LTL market, and, by extension, the market itself.

Industry stakeholders have, for years, referenced the environmental impacts that railroads provide, in this statistic: rail can move one ton of freight nearly 500 miles on a single gallon of fuel. That was true years ago and remains true today, too. And it serves as a thesis, of sorts, in a new report issued by the Washington, D.C.-based Association of American Railroads, entitled “Freight Railroads & Climate Change: Reducing Emissions, Enhancing Resiliency.”

The push for a new West Coast port labor deal continues….with no end in sight? OK, that is an exaggeration, but, yes, that is what it feels like, at times., to be sure. Not all that long ago, there were clear signs of optimism, or progress, in terms of a deal being reached between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA).

Josh Taylor, Senior Director of Professional Services, for San Diego-based Shipware, an audit and parcel consulting services company, told Newsroom Notes that in looking at the FedEx pilots situation, the main risk posed to FedEx by the potential for a pilots’ strike hasn’t been the threat of the pilots walking out, but the dissatisfaction of the pilots and the uncertainty it could have created with investors.

A CAGTC survey found that two-thirds of its member respondents have received funding through the legislation, which it deemed impressive. What’s more, it added that this served as an indication that while there are challenges in the process, 100% of CAGTC member respondents said they will continue to apply for federal funding through competitive grants.

Earlier this month, the Federal Reserve raised interest rates by another quarter of a point (0.25%), in its most recent maneuver to continue to stave off the effects of still-high inflation levels on the United States economy and get inflation down to 2%. Yes, inflation is trending down, but many economists have indicated it is not occurring at a swift enough pace.

Could the possibility of a West Coast port labor deal between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) be finally inching to reality?

The U.S. industrial real estate market added 89 million square feet (MSF) of vacant supply, in the first quarter, which CBRE said represents the single largest quarter-over-quarter increase on record. What’s more, that subsequently led to the overall vacancy rate seeing an increase for the first time, going back to the second quarter of 2009, with a 50-basis point increase to 3.5% that still trails the 5.0% 10-year average.

A theme within freight transportation, supply chain, and logistics circles, which is always among the key “top of mind” themes, is the state of the economy, from various perspectives, whether it be, in our case, a freight or macroeconomic perspective.