TRANSPORTATION TRENDS: 3-6-23

Winter storms in the Western part of the country tightens capacity as end-of-month shipping occurs. LTL demand softens, but rates remain higher. 

Truckload:

Last week, a winter storm had truckers stranded on I-80 last week as the road closed forcing delays in the entire industry. The closure in March can remind us that winter storms can still happen in the spring and to always be proactively monitoring weather reports.

Nationally, capacity tightened a bit across all modes of transportation due to end of month volumes and winter storms in the West. Load posts were up 23.3% while spot truck posts were down 3.2%. Even with tighter capacity, rates at a national average were not affected too much. (Dry van: +0.2% w/w; Flatbed: +0.9% w/w; Reefer: -0.3% w/w) 

Less-Than-Truckload:

Demand has softened in the LTL networks, but pricing remains higher as LTL carriers pass through cost inflations to shippers. Research by the Cleveland Research Center expects 4-6% higher LTL pricing this year as carriers are choosing to reduce capacity rather than lowering price to grow market share.

As winter storms occur, please be advised that LTL networks can be majorly impacted by winter storms. Even if the terminal is not directly affected by the storm, capacity may be tighter as shipments may not be able to move to affected terminals and cause backlog in the network. 

TLI is actively monitoring situations in the industry, such as acquisitions, embargos, and other industry disruptions. If a TLI client is directly affected by any of these events, your TLI representatives will reach out to discuss what this means for your account.

TLI highly suggests that on all shipments you provide our team with the “Must Arrive by Date” (MABD) as to when you need the product delivered. This will help us select the proper transit time / equipment type at the best current freight rate.

Please contact your Translogistics team at 610-280-3210 for any further questions. 

*article written by Mitchell Kinek, Sales/Marketing Executive, Translogistics. Any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out!