The Association of American Railroads (AAR) today reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending February 9, 2019. For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 519,779 carloads and intermodal units, up 0.1 percent compared with the same week last year. Total carloads for the week ending February 9 were 242,266 carloads, down 3.3 […]
Author Archive
Challenges to US urban supply chains mount
“Relentless competition” and widespread urbanization are two of the top trends that will reshape trucking and logistics in the US and elsewhere as e-commerce expectations set by Amazon and its customers challenge traditional delivery strategies and processes, speakers at the SMC3Jumpstart 2019 Conference in Atlanta said Jan. 28-30. (This article requires a subscription to the Journal […]
Washington update 2019: What will a new and divided Congress mean for rail?
Passing a permanent extension of the 45G short-line tax credit. Maintaining existing truck size and weight restrictions. Introducing a comprehensive infrastructure package that includes funding priority for freight and passenger rail. Shoring up the federal Highway Trust Fund. Continuing existing “balanced” regulations for freight railroads.
Class I’s continue to gain traffic boost from logistics units
Class I’s grew their carloads and intermodal loads in 2018 on a year-over-year basis. Their traffic-building efforts helped U.S. intermodal volume set an annual record for the fifth time in the past six years. The large roads marked a key volume assist from their logistics services, which run the gamut from transloading to warehousing to […]
IATA reports passenger and freight growth in 2018
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced global passenger traffic results for 2018 showing that demand (revenue passenger kilometres or RPKs) rose by a healthy 6.5%, whilst air freight grew by 3.5% (both compared to full-year 2017).
Ocean Carrier Trends: Containing capacity while remaining poised for growth
Coinciding with the upswing in the world economy two years ago, global seaborne trade is doing well, note analysts for the Geneva-based United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). They also observe that containerized shipping expanded by 4% in 2018-the fastest growth in five years.
Want To Forecast The U.S. Economy In 2019? Watch These Three Indicators
The turbulence in the stock market during the last month of the year has led many to forget that the overall state of the economy was positive in 2018, as it performed well by most measures, including year-over-year growth and a strong labor market.
NRF says ‘state of the economy is sound’ and forecasts retail sales will grow between 3.8 and 4.4 percent
The National Retail Federation today forecast that retail sales during 2019 will increase between 3.8 percent and 4.4 percent to more than $3.8 trillion despite threats from an ongoing trade war, the volatile stock market and the effects of the government shutdown.
How is the Growth of E-Commerce Affecting Trucking?
Some of the issues of most concern to the industry, such as the driver shortage, hours of service, and truck parking, are affected by the growth of e-commerce and omni-channel marketing. The American Transportation Research Institute released an analysis of these impacts, including the challenges and opportunities posed by more regionalized retail supply chains and […]
State of Global Logistics: Time for a reality check
A combination of rising global interest rates and ongoing trade protectionism will continue to create unexpected turbulence for logistics managers over the course of 2019, say analysts. Meanwhile emerging markets will provide opportunities for faster growth-yet each faces its own set of operational challenges.