Transportation Intermediaries Association

Non-asset-based third-party logistics (3PL) services providers recently received good news, with the announcement that United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has introduced a five-year pilot program, which, for the first time, includes freight brokers and warehouse-based 3PLs to be able to be part of the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (CTPAT) program.

DOT Secretary Sean Duffy said that almost 3,000 CDL training facilities have been removed from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) Training Provider Registry (TPR), saying those CDL facilities failed to equip trainees with the White House’s “standards of readiness,” with 4,500 other CDL training facilities placed on notice because of potential noncompliance.

The report observed that truckload (TL) activity accounted for 72% of second quarter broker activity, followed by Miscellaneous (which includes ocean, air, warehousing, and special services), at 14%, less-than-truckload (LTL), at 11%, and intermodal, at 3%.

In this podcast, Jeff Berman, Group News Editor for Logistics Management and the Peerless Media Supply Chain Group, interviews Chris Burroughs, President & CEO of the Transportation Intermediaries Association

The legislation, entitled the “Household Goods Shipping Consumer Protection Act (S. 337) and led by Senators Deb Fischer (R-NE) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), was unanimously passed by the Senate Commerce Committee, with TIA calling it a critical bipartisan effort to strengthen federal tools to combat fraud in the freight marketplace.

Findings for the report, entitled “State of Fraud in the Industry,” are based on TIA member survey and incident data from its Watchdog platform, with TIA observing that brokers continue to deal with staggering losses, increasingly complex scams, and a lack of support from federal law enforcement agencies and regulators.

Following a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) recently issued by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) entitled “Transparency in Property Broker Transactions,” the Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA) took FMCSA to task—not for what was included in the NPRM, but for what was left out.

The report’s findings were based on feedback from 200 TIA members across various sectors, with the report focusing on things, including the most prevalent fraud types, the financial impact on businesses and the widespread nature of these incidents, according to TIA.

Total shipments, at 1,901,058, were up 5.0% sequentially, and 3.5% annually, growing for the first time in eight quarters.

A bipartisan piece of legislation introduced in the House of Representatives earlier this year, which takes a sharp focus on combatting fraud in logistics, while also enhancing transparency and also protecting the supply chain, is receiving strong support from the Alexandria, Va.-based Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA).

TIA said that this 40-page publication takes a deep dive into the latest trends in supply chain fraud, as well as help TIA members take the necessary steps to develop and implement their own policies and procedures in order to reduce potential fraud and cargo theft.

Challenging market conditions on various fronts, for freight transportation brokers and intermediaries, were the main themes of the new edition of the “3PL Market Report Fourth Quarter 2023, which was issued this week by the Alexandria, Va.-based Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA).

A key takeaway of the report highlighted how the GDP Goods Transport Sector reading saw a 6.5% increase, from the second quarter to the third quarter, which snapped a five-quarter stretch of negative or nearly negative sequential quarter growth. And TIA noted that this was in line with the U.S. third quarter advance estimate reading of 4.9%.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) late last month published a final rule titled "Broker and Freight Forwarder Financial Responsibility," which establishes procedures and requirements for the immediate suspension of broker and freight forwarder operating authority registration if the available financial security falls below $75,000.

Truckload was the only segment to see a gain for shipment volumes, up 1.9% sequentially, and down 1.4% annually. LTL was off 2.8% sequentially and 5.8% annually, with intermodal down 2.4% sequentially and 16.4% annually. Other modes were down 0.2% sequentially and 11.5% annually.