Carriers

A new report recently issued by DHL eCommerce, a subsidiary of global logistics services provider, Deutsche Post DHL Group, examined how both business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce shippers are getting ready for peak season, in terms of their key objectives and priorities.

The $387 billion U.S. truckload sector is still stuck in a three-year freight recession, with soft demand, rising bankruptcies, and tariff-driven volatility continuing to weigh on carriers. Yet, amid mergers, bankruptcies, and shifting global trade, leading operators like J.B. Hunt, Knight-Swift, and Werner are adapting business models, pursuing cross-border growth, and investing in efficiencies to weather the downturn.

New tactics, rising premiums, and double brokering scams are fueling record freight losses across the U.S.

Beyond the obvious reasons for carriers and freight agents in the transportation industry to foster a safety culture – saving lives, reducing accidents and cargo damages – there is another reason to take safety seriously. A solid safety culture can strengthen customer relations.

For February, the most recent month for which data is available, the TCI reading headed up to -0.21, marking an improvement over January’s -2.56 reading.

Green Bay, Wis.-based Breakthrough, a provider of fuel and freight solutions for shippers, issued “2025 State of Transportation Report.” A key focus of this report centered around what Breakthrough called an expected freight market flip, coupled with new governmental and economic headwinds that will shape shippers’ strategies over the next 12 months.

The study, entitled, “The Logistics Professional’s Guide to KPIs” was based on feedback from 1,000 North American logistics professionals, including 500 shippers and 50 carriers, across various business types, industry verticals, geographies, and company sizes.

Company officials said that this is the seventh office Arrive has opened up over the last two years, as well as its third in the Midwest, as part of the Arrive’s focus on “positioning teams in close proximity to key customers, carriers, and top regional talent.”

Brian Work, CTO at Transportation Insight and Nolan Transportation Group, discusses their efforts to enhance end-to-end visibility and create a frictionless environment for shippers and carriers using the Beon™ Digital Logistics Platform, with a focus on leveraging artificial intelligence in 2024.

Despite 62% of carriers reporting lower freight volume in 1Q, 33% predict freight demand to increase in the next 3-6 months. Only 19% predict freight demand to decline in the same timeframe, which represents a 12-point percentage decline vs. the 4Q survey.

The analysis, entitled “Charged Logistics: The Cost of Electric Vehicle Conversion for U.S. Commercial Fleets,” takes a deep dive into the myriad challenges related to converting to EVs, including what it called evolving state and federal legal requirements focused on transitioning to zero-emissions vehicles.

The new “State of Transportation” report issued today by Green Bay, Wis.-based Breakthrough, a provider of fuel and freight solutions for shippers, addressed myriad components of freight transportation and logistics impacting shippers and carriers, including volatile weather, sustainability and emissions reduction, and over-the-road capacity, among others. 

This is the second of two columns that visits the concept of “index-based variable-rate pricing” as a way to establish more market stability for both shippers and carriers.

The new edition of the Trucking Conditions Index (TCI), which was recently issued by freight transportation consultancy FTR, saw some signs of improvement but again remaining short of growth.

Rising heavy truck insurance costs have become a byproduct of  mounting financial pressures in the trucking industry.