As the famous adage goes, never doubt the American consumer. Throughout the pandemic, the American consumer has shown a willingness to spend but was also able to pay off tremendous … Read More
Research Corner: Brokers are concerned about retaining top customers
For freight brokers who are moving contract freight, it’s been a pretty good year so far. The good times won’t last forever, so cheers to you and enjoy the ride … Read More
On the Spot: Where does the market go from here?
The freight market has been easing since March, but recent developments show that the contract market is finally starting to roll over. Contract rates currently sit at levels not experienced … Read More
Research Corner: What do carriers think of AB5?
A FreightWaves survey of carriers suggests most believe California’s AB5 independent contractor law will affect their business.
Research Corner: Optimism in the warehousing and LTL markets
The warehousing real estate market, led by Prologis, continues to show strength as retailers combat elevated inventory levels, as signaled by pre-announcements by companies like Target, Best Buy and Walmart. … Read More
On the Spot: Pareto’s law in the Top 50 freight markets
We’re reaching back into the old treasure chest of research reports this morning to dig out a classic from October 2020. The core of the report was based on how volumes … Read More
Research Corner: Brokerage margins expanded in Q2, why?
The second quarter was relatively strong for freight brokerages, both pure plays like C.H. Robinson and those within larger transportation companies like J.B. Hunt’s Integrated Capacity Solutions (ICS). As the … Read More
Winter Weather Causes Problems/Freight Rates Rise (w/ video)
Heavy snow and icy conditions across large parts of the United States over the past two weeks have caused problems in many freight markets. And while the nasty winter weather … Read More
Using Freight Data to Build Relationships (w/ video)
On this episode of #WithSONAR, current SONAR subscriber Greg Morrow, the Director of Operations for ARL Logistics, discusses the importance of using data to grow and strengthen carrier and customer relationships with … Read More
6 Tips in Selecting a Market Freight Rate Data Tool
The world of freight management continues to evolve, but the systems that help individual companies prioritize needs and keep freight spend under control may quickly become outdated. At the same … Read More
Freight Rates: 3 reasons shippers who predict rates reduce costs, find capacity
Maintaining control over freight rates has never been easy for shippers. There is an ongoing shift in each of the 135 major U.S. markets – either shippers or carriers have … Read More
How to use SONAR to monitor freight markets
Freight volumes SONAR’s outbound tender volume index (OTVI) measures electronically tendered truckload volumes across the U.S. Overall OTVI is indexed to 10,000 (March 1, 2018) and is the aggregated volume … Read More
How do tender reject rates predict the freight economy?
Tender rejections occur when a contracted carrier rejects an electronic load request from a shipper customer. FreightWaves SONAR measures the former via the outbound tender reject index (OTRI). Carriers really … Read More
FreightWaves SONAR adds Lane Signal app
FreightWaves SONAR now provides analytics down to the lane level. SONAR subscribers can see and use data on a freight lane at the granular level. FreightWaves launched SONAR two years … Read More
Why destination matters for freight rates
While origin matters for transportation rate forecasting, the destination is often times more important. The transportation rates for a backhaul destination are naturally higher than transportation rates for a headhaul market. This holds for all freight moved by truck, rail/intermodal, ocean or air.
How to develop freight forecasts using SONAR
Forecasting trucking rates is one of the most important roles for all freight forecasters. Load volumes and truck capacity for individual markets are the primary drivers in developing freight forecasts. Each individual freight market has its own unique load demand and truck capacity cycles. These cycles are most often linked to seasonal demand patterns and the ratio of outbound to inbound freight volumes in each market.
How is freight priced? A dive into freight rates by mode of transit
Understanding freight cost per unit across different transportation modes is a key to determining what mode is the most cost-effective and timely to ship goods from point A to point … Read More
Good news: The freight market is about to turn up
Freight market forecasting is a tricky game these days. Historical freight market data models provide good reference points, but because of the unprecedented nature of COVID-19 (a classic example of … Read More
Why historical spot rates alone are not the best predictor of future spot rates
History tends to repeat itself, or does it? A common thought in the trucking industry is that looking at historical spot rates are good indicators of what to expect each … Read More