While the calendar says it’s technically spring, winter weather caused some freight frustration this week – and will continue to do so throughout the weekend. A heavy snowstorm and high wind advisory is expected to hit the Donner Pass in California through the end of the week. All operating motor vehicles will be required to…
Category: Shippers
FreightWaves: March Market Trends Update
Thanks to all who attended FreightWaves’ March Monthly webinar sponsored by Convoy. Below, we summarize the webinar for the demand and supply sides of the freight market, and add insights from Convoy too. Demand – Manufacturing Dragging the Economy Overall, manufacturing has slowed, with ISM manufacturing dropping to its lowest levels in the past two…
5 Strategies to Use When You Can’t Find a Carrier to Take Your Shipment
A truck broke down; a driver had to be diverted and isn’t going to be able to pick up your shipment on time; or, you’ve gone through your routing guide and haven’t heard back about your bid – now you’re scrambling to cover your load. Regardless of the cause, any of these scenarios can send…
Weekly Freight Market Update: Quarter End Scramble
Spring continues to thaw the national freight network, as volumes have slowly increased with the addition of some produce, a small uptick in port activity, and few flatbed loads in the Southeast. However, with all the new trucks purchased in 2018 – 490,100 units, according to ACT Research – payments need to be made, and…
5 Questions Every Shipper Should Ask Before Adding A New Lane To Your Transportation Network
Evaluating a new shipping lane comes with a lot of thought and planning. Here are five questions to ask yourself before you add a shipping lane to an existing transportation network. Can it put us closer to our customers? Bridging the geographic divide between fulfillment centers and customers is top of mind for everyone right…
Case Study: How Waiakea Transformed its Supply Chain and Reduced Shipping Costs by 50 Percent
Waiakea Hawaiian Volcanic Water is a fast growing start-up with an environmental mission: to build a green supply chain and minimize its carbon footprint. To keep up with rising demand for its product, the company needed to optimize its supply chain so it could scale and stay true to its mission — all as s…
Weekly Freight Market Update: Say Peak Cheese
Spring is less than a week away, and that means a shift in the freight market as well. Produce is about to be the big story around the U.S. We saw early signs of the season last week, and we saw markets in the South Central and Southeast continue to show signs of ramping for…
What Makes CHEP USA a Shipper of Choice?
If you’ve ever shipped your products on pallets, you’ve probably come across CHEP. With their recognizable blue color, the company’s pallets move all sorts of goods – consumer, retail, fresh, bulk liquid and dry, automotive and industrial – throughout 54 countries. CHEP USA is the arm of the company that transports pallets around the US.…
Weekly Freight Market Update: Signs of Spring
Compared to last week, freight volume decreased about 2.5% across the country. Tender rejection rates have remained stable (hanging around 7%). The upcoming lettuce harvest in the Southeast indicates the first sign of spring. Harvest appears to have begun in some parts of Florida, and reefer prices from southern and central Florida have increased. On…
3 Takeaways for Food and Beverage Shippers from the Food Shippers of America Conference
This week, the Convoy team attended the Food Shippers of America conference, an educational and inspiring two days of talking to and learning from some of the industry’s best and brightest. Three themes stood out as the most important takeaways for food and beverage shippers this year. 1. Collaboration is the way forward In a…
Weekly Freight Market Update: Green Shoots and Green Beer
After a frozen February, the freight market is thawing. Volume spiked this week across the country, reaching levels not seen since the pre-holiday rush. Most of this volume was driven by the West Coast ports coming back online after the Lunar New Year pause — but green shoots are appearing across the market. The West…
3 Compliance Risks for Shippers and Why They Matter
Shippers hire brokers for a number of reasons, most commonly to access capacity. Much of the “capacity” in the U.S. is anecdotally attributed to national asset carriers. However, in the for-hire truck market, the largest carriers (those with 100+ trucks in their fleets) only account for about 40% of trucks available. The remaining 60% of…
Weekly Freight Market Update: 3 Local Surprises
When we look at the freight market as a whole, it’s been quiet this President’s Day week. Overall Lower Rates in Outbound Tender Rejection Index The National Volume Index has continued to be mostly flat, with tender rejection finally breaking 8%. While this is still a low rejection rate, it’s worth calling out as the…
FreightWaves: February Market Trends Update
Thank you to everyone who attended the FreightWaves February webinar, sponsored by Convoy. During the webinar, we covered how supply is no longer a bottleneck — except in frozen parts of the country. Plentiful supply stems from reduced demand as businesses react to slower growth and tariff changes. Below, we summarize the webinar for the demand…
Weekly Freight Market Update: Are We at the Bottom?
Much of the country is still reeling from the latest hammering of winter storms. From Seattle to New York, Mother Nature has caused the only source of volatility in freight markets this week. February volumes so far have outpaced both 2017 and 2018. DAT reports volume this year is higher, but rejections are much lower.…
Weekly Freight Market Update: Capacity Moves to Warmer Markets
Punxsutawney Phil, the groundhog who predicts spring, did not see his shadow last week — which supposedly means an early spring is on the way. Regardless of the groundhog’s shadow, analysts are keeping a keen eye on spring shipping, which will kick off within the next three to six weeks. Goods needed for home improvement,…
Case Study: Convoy’s Shipper Platform Helps Southwest Traders Beat the Capacity Crunch
Over the last 40 years, Southwest Traders, Inc. has grown from a one-van operation to a food distributor and restaurant supply chain with operations in five states, including four facilities and a satellite location in Texas. As the logistics coordinator, Tina Sterling is responsible for the backhauls in California, Texas, Arizona, and Colorado. To keep…
Weekly Freight Roundup: Subzero Temps Take Their Toll
All eyes have been on the Midwest this week as cold weather chaos on the highways brought the freight network in the some Midwest markets to a standstill. Freezing temperatures caused tightening capacity due to traffic pile-ups, gelled fuel and general hazards of being outside in such extremes. Trucks failed to start, while others ended…
FreightWaves: January Market Trends Update
Thanks to all who attended FreightWaves’ January Monthly Freight Market Update webinar sponsored by Convoy. We discussed how economic growth is slowing and is being accented by low demand, which is typical in the first quarter of the year. This is resulting in excess capacity of carriers and spot rates falling off a cliff. The…
Case Study: Using Digital Freight to Reduce Emissions
Learn how Anheuser-Busch optimizes its transportation network, gains new levels of visibility, and improves the driver experience through Convoy. Anheuser-Busch operates 12 major breweries and 11 craft breweries across the country, making it the nation’s leading brewer. In order to get all that beer to market, the company relies on a transportation network that runs…