Conducting a Freight Bid – Should We Do It Ourselves or Seek Outside Help?

5 months ago

As outlined in previous blogs, most companies conduct a freight bid to achieve certain objectives. These may include saving money on shipping costs, upgrading the quality of their carriers, and/or improving service. Success can be measured in terms of a reduction in freight expenses, higher on-time service, greater customer satisfaction, or other metrics. To achieve […]

Shippers Need to Prepare for Rising Freight Rates

5 months ago

Freight expenses often represent 2 to 10 percent of operating expenses. For shippers seeking to maintain stability in their freight spend, they should begin preparing their next freight bid or freight RFP project. An RFP allows shippers to negotiate multi-year agreements with a team of dependable business partners. These agreements can be solidified with annual […]

Mid Year Report on Freight Transportation

6 months ago

As we approach the mid-point in 2024, here are a few observations on the current state of the freight transportation industry in North America. The Economy The consumer and media focus on the inflationary pressures on costs has masked the positive performance of the economy. Advance estimates of U.S. retail and food services sales for […]

Freight Transportation – the Road Ahead in 2024

10 months ago

The year 2023 was a challenging one for those involved in the freight transportation industry. Here are some of the major forces shaping 2024. Supply and Demand are Moving Toward Equilibrium Many industry experts used the term Freight Recession to describe the state of the industry in 2023. There is no doubt that there was […]

Transportation Executives Must Now Consider Geopolitics in Their Planning Efforts

12 months ago

For many years, Transportation executives have had to consider a range of variables in crafting their supply chain strategies. These variables have included the economy, carrier capacity, customer demand, interest rates, inflation, climate change, technology, energy costs, Ecommerce strategy, and availability of raw materials. While geopolitical issues such as trade policies with NAFTA countries, the […]

It’s Freight Bid Season Again

12 months ago

Shippers across North America are in the process of conducting their annual or mini freight bid exercises. What is in store for shippers and carriers this year? This is a unique year. The supply/demand curve shifted during the early stages of Covid. Consumers transitioned to working from home, cut back on travel and dining out, […]

Are We Coming to the End of this Freight Recession?

1 year ago

These are crazy times. Wildfires in Canada produced dark skies over eastern Canada and the northeastern United States and some of the worst pollution on record. We are only in mid-July and the peak fire season hasn’t begun. Record high temperatures are being experienced in the southern United States on a daily basis. Severe rain, […]

Will We Escape a Recession in 2023?

2 years ago

Friday’s surprising U.S. January jobs number raised multiple questions about the status of the American and Canadian economies and the prospects for a recession in 2023. The figure of 517,000 non-farm jobs created in January was significantly higher than the market estimate of 187,000, and the job creation figures for the previous five months. Despite […]

Are We Headed for a “Pasta Bowl Recession” in 2023?

2 years ago

As 2022 comes to a close, there is much concern that world economies may experience a recession in 2023. There are a host of worrisome economic indicators that appear to be trending in this direction. Inflationary Forces The large government Covid relief payments created inflationary effects. The shift from on-site to stay-at-home workers triggered […]

Freight Rates, Inflation, and the Economy

2 years ago

The White House and the media are touting the tentative agreement reached last night between the major U.S. rails and their unions to avert a strike. The agreement, if ratified by union members, would help avert a work stoppage that would have crippled supply chains and passenger trains and would have restricted the movement of […]