Firm capacity and demand on the spot truckload freight market made for stable rates during the week ending August 23, according to DAT Solutions, which operates the DAT network of load boards. The total number of posted van, refrigerated, and flatbed loads decreased 1.4 percent while the available capacity dipped 0.1 percent compared to the previous week.
For the second month in a row, Class 8 orders surprised on the high side in July, with net orders of 30,103. Classes 5 to 7 net orders also posted a gain in July, coming in at 15,834 units.
The U.S. Transportation Department’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration has proposed revising hazardous materials regulations when it comes to return shipments of certain hazardous materials by motor vehicle.
The freight logistics sector slowed in July, following a seasonal trend, with both freight shipments and freight payments down 3.9 percent from the previous month. This drop was consistent with previous summers' drops, so should not be seen as the start of a decline in freight for the second half of 2014.
Truckload freight availability remained elevated compared to previous years despite a seasonal dip, according to the DAT North American Freight Index, a measure of truckload freight demand and capacity in the United States and Canada. Same-month volume was up 32 percent compared to 2013, when freight volume was unusually robust. Spot market volume typically peaks in June; this year's seasonal contraction was 11 percent in July compared to the 10-year average decline of 19 percent.
Spot truckload load volume rose sharply and capacity tightened during the week ending August 2, according to DAT Solutions, which operates the DAT network of load boards.
It's fair to say that some mouths dropped in some quarters when word got out that the vice president of supply chain for McDonald's in the UK said he had handshakes rather than formal contracts with key suppliers. In dispensing with the written word, the fast-food chain formed long-term relationships with its partners in food, packaging and distribution, and included them in planning – even helping to set prices and volumes. Said Warren Anderson, "We don’t have contracts, but we do have our very assured supply partnerships with our food and paper suppliers," he said. "A gentleman’s handshake is just as powerful here."
June net orders of 22,000 trailers were off 1 percent month over month, but up 42 percent year over year. Year-to-date net orders of 156,000 are up 45 percent over the same period last year. This information was included in the most recent State of the Industry: U.S. Trailers published by ACT Research Co. (ACT).
Economics and driver productivity are the keys to gaining "preferred shipper" status, according to a recent Transplace survey of 75 transportation carriers.