The rapid growth of charter rates in the container shipping market is likely to be over as ocean carriers release some ships back to the open market in order to curb the impact of weak profitability.
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What Trump Could Do With 660 Million Barrels of Oil: QuickTake
Energy circles are abuzz with talk that U.S. President Donald Trump might tap the nation’s emergency oil stockpile to stabilize pump prices. The tool at his disposal is the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, set up in the aftermath of the Arab oil embargo in the 1970s as a backup in case of subsequent supply shocks. It’s […]
Trump Says He’s ‘Ready To Go’ With $500 Billion in Tariffs on All China Imports
President Donald Trump said he’s “ready to go” with tariffs on $500 billion of Chinese imports, saying the U.S. has been taken advantage of for too long. The $500 billion figure is about the value of Chinese goods imported into the U.S. last year.
More evidence the U.S. economy is growing strongly is shown in June’s leading index
The U.S. economy sped up in June, according to an index that attempts to forecast the nation’s economic health. The leading economic index rose 0.5% after no gain in May, the Conference Board said Thursday. A measure of current conditions – or how the economy is doing right now – climbed 0.3%.
U.S. Jobless Claims Hit Lowest Level Since 1969
The number of Americans claiming new unemployment benefits fell last week to the lowest level in nearly five decades. Initial jobless claims, a proxy for layoffs across the U.S., decreased by 8,000 to a seasonally adjusted 207,000 in the week ended July 14, the Labor Department said Thursday. This marks the lowest level for claims […]
Why tight US trucking capacity isn’t going away soon
“In 23 years, I’ve never seen a situation where the supply chain is at capacity,” the shipper said. “Trust me,” the trucking executive said, “nobody is adding any capacity. Nobody is thinking of adding any capacity. And even if they were, they couldn’t find any drivers to put in the truck.” (This article requires a […]
Van, Reefer Spot Freight Rates Skyrocket
For the week of the Fourth of July, truckload freight rates hit new highs in the van and reefer segments, according to DAT Solutions’ weekly spot freight overview. National average spot van rates on the DAT Network of load boards increased 13 cents for the week ending in July 7, hitting $2.45 per mile. Refrigerated […]
Truck Platooning Could Improve Safety, Increase Savings for Semis
With the simple press of a finger, trucks fall in line behind the leader, saving fuel and making trucks safer than even the best Class 8 semi-tractors on the road today. That’s the promise of the platooning truck company Peloton Technology, based in Mountain View, Calif., according to founder and Chief Executive Josh Switkes.
Bad Experiences with Recruiters, Dispatchers May Lead to Early Turnover
With turnover at large truckload fleets at an all-time high, Stay Metrics’ latest report on driver turnover shows that a substantial portion of drivers who leave fleets do so within the first 90 days – and for reasons that may preventable. Stay Metrics’ report looked at over 62,000 drivers from 100 different trucking companies and […]
Rail Traffic for May and the Week Ending July 7, 2018
The Association of American Railroads (AAR) today reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending July 7, 2018. For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 485,193 carloads and intermodal units, up 8.6 percent compared with the same week last year. Total carloads for the week ending July 7 were 240,514 carloads, up 5.4 […]