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 […]

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, […]

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 […]

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The First Big Transportation Deal of the Year: TFII’s purchase of UPS Freight

4 years ago

The new year has started with a bang with TFII’s planned purchase of the LTL Freight division of UPS. TFII is a large Canadian freight transportation conglomerate and it’s deal is unique in some ways but not in others. The challenge for many Canadian LTL carriers has been to establish a solid arrangement with a […]

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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 […]

Understanding the YRCW Bailout

4 years ago

On July 1, 2020 the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced that it was providing YRC Worldwide with a two-tranche loan that would allow it to make delinquent health and welfare and pension payments as well as fund capital expenditures for its tractors and trailers. As part of the deal, YRC is required to issue […]

Economic Recovery and the Future of the Freight Transportation Industry – Part 2

4 years ago

In my previous blog (https://www.dantranscon.com/index.php/blog/entry/economic-recovery-and-the-future-of-the-freight-transportation-industry-part-1), I suggested that the economic recovery during the balance of this year will likely have a number of peaks and valleys that reflect the spread of Covid-19. In this blog I will explore some of Covid-19’s impacts on freight transportation. The latest economic data “most closely resembles a horror movie […]

Economic Recovery and the Future of the Freight Transportation Industry – Part 1

4 years ago

The recovery of the North American transportation industry is contingent upon the revival of the economies of the United States and Canada. The movement of auto parts, housing supplies, manufactured goods, food stuffs. and a host of other products drive the economy. If there are any impediments to the smooth operation of North American supply […]

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 […]