United States rail carload and intermodal volumes, for the week ending May 3, saw annual gains, according to data issued this week by the Association of American Railroads (AAR). Rail carloads, at 225,641, increased 5.6% annually, trailing the week ending April 26, at 233,411, and topping the week ending April 19, at 224,436. AAR reported … Read more

The American Logistics Aid Network (ALAN) has opened nominations for its ninth annual Humanitarian Logistics Awards, and it’s asking for your help in identifying some of this year’s most deserving honorees. “Humanitarian relief wouldn’t happen without the facilitation and support of the supply chain community,” said ALAN Executive Director Kathy Fulton. “These awards were created … Read more

Services sector growth continued in April, rising for the 10th consecutive month, according to the new edition of the Services ISM Report on Business, which was released today by the Institute for Supply Management (ISM). The April Services PMI, at 51.6 (a reading of 50 or higher signals growth) increased 0.8% over March, growing, at … Read more

Late last week, the American Trucking Associations (ATA) applauded action taken by the United States Department of Labor (DoL), in which the department issued a notice that directs agency administrators to not apply the independent contractor rule, which was issued by the Biden administration in enforcement matters.   ATA said that this helps to bring … Read more

Preliminary March Class 8 truck net orders saw declines, according to data respectively issued this week by FTR and ACT Research. FTR reported that preliminary March Class 8 truck net orders, at 15,700 units, fell 14% sequentially and 22% annually, coming in well below the seven-year March average, at 24,760 net orders and also what … Read more

The first quarter 2025 edition of the U.S. Bank Freight Payment Index, which was released today, showed sequential declines in freight volume and spending, to varying degrees.   This report, which was initially launched in the third quarter of 2017, is comprised of data on freight shipping volumes and spend on both a national and … Read more

A report recently issued by ShipMatrix, a subsidiary of Warrendale, Pa.-based SJ Consulting, points to an increasing shift in the parcel marketplace that is having an impact on the parcel duopoly of FedEx and UPS. That shift relates to how the private fleets of major retailers, “are collectively delivering billions of parcels to consumers that … Read more

The national average price per gallon of diesel gasoline fell for the fourth consecutive week, according to data issued today by the Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration (EIA). With a 2.0-cent decline, the national average came in at $3.514, following a 4.5-cent decline, to $3.534, for the week of April 21, a 6.0-cent decline, … Read more

Logistics Management Group News Editor Jeff Berman recently spoke with Doug Waggoner, CEO of Chicago-based Echo Global Logistics about various topics, including: the state of the freight economy, tariffs and the trade war, trucking capacity, and AI, among others. Their conversation follows below.  LM: How do you view the ongoing situation regarding tariffs and global trade, in terms … Read more

Spot truckload volumes and rates were mixed in March, according to the new edition of the DAT Truckload Index, which was issued today by DAT Freight and Analytics. The DAT Truckload Volume Index reflects the change in the number of loads with a pickup date during that month, with the actual index number normalized each month … Read more