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 […]

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 […]

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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 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 […]

Freight Bids are Back in 2019

5 years ago

During the wild and woolly 2018, freight bid activity subsided as shippers searched for capacity wherever they could find it. As we have seen, 2018 was an anomaly, a one of a kind. As we pass the mid-point of 2019, the dynamics of the freight market have changed significantly from the prior year. Business […]

Conducting Freight Bids in 2018 – It’s a New Ballgame

7 years ago

The New Year has started off with a bang. With the stock market at record levels, unemployment at historic lows in Canada and the United States and a new U.S. tax bill that promises to put extra dollars in the hands of American purchasers, it is not surprising that consumer confidence is at a high. […]

Get your “House in Order” Before Conducting a Freight Bid

7 years ago

One of the most frequent complaints I hear from carriers, in person, on social media, or at conferences, is about the number and quality of freight bids that they receive. Carriers complain about the poor quality of the data, the number of carriers in the bid, and about the lack of professionalism in the […]

How do you know when it is Time to Conduct a Freight Bid?

9 years ago

Recent stock market and currency value declines in China and Canada point to a challenging year ahead for the economies of these two countries and many others around the world. While the United States has remained fairly stable amidst current world turmoil, its high valued currency may slow exports to its key trading […]