SONAR introduces improved market-level pricing methodology
FreightWaves SONAR recently unveiled an update designed to give users new ways to analyze data — especially pricing data.
Shifting freight patterns poised to drive up rates
Domestic transportation demand patterns continue to trek eastward, shaking up entrenched freight flows and positioning the market for future rate hikes.
High-frequency data points to ongoing demand surge
Up until this point, 2023 market shifts have more or less aligned with historic seasonal norms. A late-summer demand spike, however, is altogether unexpected.
Supply chain resilience and responsiveness go hand in hand
Supply chain optimization is often presented as a choice between resilience and responsiveness — between being able to withstand and operate normally under conditions of disruption and stress and being able to quickly flex capacity and throughput up or down opportunistically. “Resilience” can sound like redundancy, contingency planning, higher operating costs and underutilized capacity waiting […]
SONAR recognized for superior customer satisfaction, strong market presence
A full 95% of SONAR users rated the freight market solution with high marks, leading to an overall rating of 4.5 stars.
How leading supply chain teams invest in technology
The best supply chain teams invest in technology as part of their continuous holistic operational improvements, not simply in reaction to temporary crises. Investing in technology to improve the capabilities of your supply chain team as part of a strategic initiative yields better results throughout all phases of the freight market cycle. Retailers, manufacturers and […]
Brokers cannot afford to go without high-frequency data, expert insights
Brokers are faced with a wide range of challenges every day. Many of these tough situations arise from a lack of market visibility, including uncertainty surrounding the bidding process, inability to analyze trucking capacity and a general lack of advanced technology to manage daily workflows. When
High-quality freight data is vital for supply chain automation
Third-party supply chain and freight market data has become an important tool for retailers, manufacturers and suppliers who want to redesign their networks, improve strategic planning, benchmark their transportation spend and the service they’re getting in return, and measure the efficiency of their facilities. Leading supply chain organizations are using data on freight rates, volumes, […]
Resources to help deepen your understanding of the freight market
In order to make a real difference, a motivation to better the industry must be coupled with a deep knowledge of the freight market.
Understanding spot rate trends is like having a crystal ball
The best way for people to gain the level of insight they crave is through high-frequency data, particularly insights into spot rate trends.
What does the next freight cycle look like?
The rest of the year could be characterized by relatively low rates and volatility Like it or not, freight market volatility is here to stay. The post-recession environment that filled our expectations with the concept of “normal” is in the distant past. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic era, the U.S. transportation sector was experiencing an […]
Introducing Index-Linked Contracts
Freight procurement has serious problems. It’s “broken” in the sense that when the market shifts, shippers don’t get the service they’ve agreed to pay for and volumes awarded to carriers are withheld and withdrawn. Contracts don’t hold up. The lack of a mechanism to tie contracts to prevailing market conditions creates enormous inefficiencies in freight […]
SONAR Container Atlas allows shippers to predict the future with confidence
Container Atlas makes it possible for the index to take transit times and port delays into consideration, providing the most reliable gauge of future activity available on the market.
Beat your transportation budget this year without sacrificing service
Retailers, manufacturers and suppliers have saved a lot of money on transportation costs in 2023 compared to the years before, but other parts of their organizations are facing persistent inflationary pressures on everything from energy and labor to cattle futures and the cost of money itself. Margins remain challenged in many industries, and strategic finance […]
Leverage freight data for confident demand planning
Medium-term demand planning has always been a tough nut to crack for retailers, suppliers and manufacturers. Lack of data, lack of conviction and lack of organizational agility all conspire to keep companies from recognizing medium-term opportunities and challenges and responding decisively. In this blog post, we’ll walk through some of the obstacles to medium-term demand […]
Making strategic investments in digital supply chain in a downcycle
At its annual Investment Community Meeting in April in Tampa, Florida, Walmart’s management team took the opportunity to lay out an ambitious transformation of its supply chain. Walmart U.S. CEO and President John Furner explained how the retailer was digitally combining its ambient, perishable and e-commerce supply chains, which were built separately and in parallel […]
Maritime Market Madness
You’ve heard of “March Madness.” Well, the maritime market is in the middle of its own “August madness.” The maritime market madness has caused some retailers to wonder if Christmas is going to be canceled. While it may be premature to say Christmas is canceled, any company having to purchase capacity on the ocean is […]
Rising input and freight costs impacting paper and packaging companies’ bottom line
Last year, FreightWaves estimated that the top five paper and packaging companies in the U.S. spent a whopping $7 billion and $9 billion on transportation in 2019. Despite revenue declines across the industry in 2020, we estimate that freight spend was as high as pre-pandemic levels due to growth in packaging demand and elevated freight […]
Using SCI to evaluate the efficacy of transportation spend
Find out how CPG companies can apply SONAR Supply Chain Intelligence (SCI) Platform to their business. SONAR SCI is an expansion of the SONAR platform, the only freight forecasting platform. SONAR SCI subscribers have access to $80 billion of shipper-to-carrier freight spend. These invoices are submitted every evening and include what shippers actually pay carriers, […]
Freight cost management: 5 tips to get the biggest bang for your buck
Freight costs and budget adherence are among the most important and often overlooked aspects of transportation management. As the industry struggles to recover from the unprecedented global events of 2020, recognizing budget limitations is essential for industry growth and success. The costs of logistics as a ratio of total expenses are too significant to ignore. […]
