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

7 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 […]

Freight Transportation – the Road Ahead in 2024

11 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 […]

Uber Freight’s Purchase of Transplace Creates a Potentially Unique Logistics Operation

3 years ago

This has clearly been the year of the large M & A deal in the freight industry with TFII’s purchase of UPS’ LTL business (https://www.dantranscon.com/index.php/blog/entry/the-first-big-transportation-deal-of-the-year-tfii-s-purchase-of-ups-freight ) followed by Knight Swift’s acquisition of LTL operator AAA Cooper Transportation (https://www.dantranscon.com/index.php/blog/entry/why-are-large-ltl-trucking-companies-such-attractive-m-a-targets ). The Uber Freight purchase of Transplace for $2.25 billion is different from the other two acquisitions. […]

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Shippers, will your Freight Bid Secure the Capacity you need to Move your Shipments?

4 years ago

Freight volumes are at record levels on many lanes this fall. Load rejections, freight embargoes and rate increases are now becoming the norm. Even driver shortages, which started to dwindle in the early stages of the pandemic, are once again a factor in securing capacity to move freight. Motor carriers have leverage as to the […]

Shipper Strategies to Address a Tight Capacity Freight Market this Winter

4 years ago

Truck capacity remains tight during this peak season and this is expected to continue into 2021 as inventories are replenished. We are seeing all-time highs in the number of loads in the spot market. Despite the impact of Covid-19, capacity has been reduced by a decrease in the truck driver workforce that occurred during the […]

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The Future of Transportation

4 years ago

A couple of weeks ago I received a copy of a fascinating new book entitled The Future of Buildings, Transportation and Power, written by Roger Duncan and Michael E. Webber and published by DW Books. I was particularly struck by the chapters on the Future of the Freight Transportation Industry. They identify “three major areas […]

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Freightera, the Award-Winning Digital Freight Matching Leader, Introduces Value-Added Membership Plans for Shippers

4 years ago

On July 7, 2020, Freightera (https://www.freightera.com/), North America’s rapidly growing online freight marketplace, announced the enhancement of its popular free platform with value-added paid memberships and a rewards program. Freightera’s customers can now subscribe to a range of Membership Plans that provide enhanced freight transportation services, tailored to their unique requirements. Freightera is one […]

As Some Businesses Return to Work, how will this Impact the Freight Transportation Industry?

5 years ago

As of May 2, 32 U.S. states and 5 Canadian provinces (https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/reopening-canada-provinces-ontario-quebec-saskatchewan-alberta) have announced plans to reopen businesses on a phased basis. Each state and province has developed back to work guidelines to manage the process. These actions are being taken even though Covid-19 is a very contagious virus with 1.1 million reported cases and […]

We Need to Lead and Innovate our Way to a Business Recovery

5 years ago

As we watch the Covid-19 pandemic unfold, in real time, on our television and computer screens, we are observing major weaknesses in many of our essential institutions. Despite the warning from China at the beginning of this year, North Americans were unprepared for this pandemic. Before it even began, pandemic readiness work triggered by HIV […]

Shipper Strategies for 2020

5 years ago

In my previous blog (https://www.dantranscon.com/index.php/blog/entry/where-is-the-freight-transportation-industry-headed-in-2020), I outlined some of the forces shaping the freight transportation industry in 2020. This will likely be another year of upheaval. In brief, the current “manufacturing recession” is restraining freight volumes. There will likely be a removal of a glut of fleet equipment. This coupled with the ELD compliance requirements […]