Topic: Transportation

Reverse logistics processes will be looked to more than ever for retail shippers, with industrial real estate firm CBRE calculating that the total value of returned goods purchased online during the 2016 holiday season will be between $14 billion to almost $29 billion (out of total holiday e-commerce sales of $95 billion). That was a key takeaway from the firm’s recently report, entitled: “Holiday Stress: E-commerce and the Rapidly Rising Rate of Return.”

While shipments were down, the report noted that it does not create a major cause for concern, with some degree of normal seasonality at work, coupled with Donald Broughton, the report’s author and transportation analyst at Avondale Partners, noting that on an industry and anecdotal basis market sentiment indicates there are daily reports of stronger shipment volume in almost all modes of freight transportation.

A Business Insider report said Amazon is at work on an app expected to be released in the summer of 2017, which was billed in the report as “Uber for trucking, that matches truck drivers with shippers looking to move freight, while also removing “the need for a third-party broker, which typically charges a commission of about 15% for doing the middleman work.”

10月,最近几个月的数据is available, the ICI headed up to 5.26 from 4.95 in September. FTR said this increase points to what it called continued moderately favorable conditions affecting the intermodal segment, adding that while the pace of intermodal growth is down annually, signs of mild improvement are intact.

Total November POLA volume at 877,564 TEU (Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units) posted a new all-time monthly record for the port, topping October’s 814,574 TEU, with November up 23.6 percent on an annual basis. POLB November volumes fell 13.8 percent annually to 534,308 TEU, with port officials citing shifting alliance routes and the Hanjin bankruptcy still impacting volumes.

While many stories focused on the holiday season with a logistics slant tend to focus on things like delivery methods and the e-commerce supply chain, a recent collaboration between third-party logistics and freight transportation services provider XPO logistics and arts and crafts retail chain Michaels Stores has a bit of a different approach.

联盟协议的最终批准。S. Federal Maritime Commission, FMC Commissioner William P. Doyle explains why he voted to take no further action and allow THE Alliance Agreement to take effect on December 19th.

A report in the Wall Street Journal suggests that the uptick in e-commerce may be taking its toll to a degree, with the companies “straining to keep up with holiday shipping volumes that have blown past expectations, delaying the delivery of some of the millions of online orders shoppers have placed since Thanksgiving.”

While the trucking sector appears to be regaining its footing to an extent, the most recent edition of the Trucking Conditions Index (TCI) from freight transportation consultancy FTR shows that it is happening at a somewhat lower rate in advance of a potential expected capacity reduction next year.

November volume was estimated at 1.53 million TEU for a 3.6 percent annual increase, with December pegged at 1.48 million TEU for a 3.2 percent increase. And for all of 2016, the report is calling for volume to be up 1.6 percent annually at 18.6 million TEU compared to 2015’s 18.2 million TEU, which was up 5.4 percent over 2014. The first half of 2016 saw a 1.6 percent annual increase at 9 million TEU. The 1.6 percent estimate is lower than last month’s 2.2 percent prediction.

For the month of November, the AAR reported that U.S. carloads were up 0.4 percent, or 5,406 carloads, at 1,319,008 for its first monthly annual increase in 22 months, going back to January 2015. This is a longer stretch of declines than a 19-month run of downward volumes that occurred during the Great Recession, the AAR said, adding that one factor behind the November increase was easier annual comparisons, coupled with how carloads did not see as much of an October to November decline...

American Trucking Associations President and CEO Chris Spear praised the inclusion of a permanent hours-of-service restart fix in Congress’ bipartisan Continuing Resolution (CR) regarding budget funding in a House Appropriations Committee action to keep the federal government funded through April 17, 2017.

It stands to reason that with the election of Donald Trump as the next President of the United States, effective next month, interesting times are certainly heading our way.

A final rule was issued last week by the Surface Transportation Board, which will require all Class I railroads, as well as the Chicago Transportation Coordination Office, through its Class I members, to report certain service performance metrics to the STB on a weekly, semiannual, and occasional basis.

Total third quarter invoice revenue for all TIA member study participants—at around $2.19 billion—was down 11 percent annually, and total shipments—at 1,272,945—decreased 4.3 percent. The average invoice per shipment of $1,722 fell 7.4 percent, with profit margin percentage up 90 basis points to 15.8 percent.

Both legacy and modern technology leaders agree that leveraging API connectivity is critical in keeping up with the pace of a world that demands not only speed and agility, but also a deep level of visibility. During this session a panel of technology and industry experts discuss impact APIs can have on annual net income and market capitalization.

What the most recent edition of the North American Freight Index clearly spells out is that the truckload spot market is heading on a growth path, showing sequential gains from July through November for the first time in five years, DAT observes that this is interesting on multiple levels, including how the Index typically peaks in June and then subsequently sees declines through the remainder of the calendar year, coupled with ramifications for 2017 shipper-carrier contract rates.

Carloads were off 0.4 percent annually at 229,866, and intermodal container and trailer volumes rose 1.6 percent to 222,893.