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Noteworthy news bullets we thought you’d enjoy
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- Manufacturing output declines for fifth consecutive month in March, reports ISM (source: Logistics Management)
- March’s PMI reading came in at 46.3 (a reading of 50 or higher indicates growth), down 1.4% from February. This is the 5th month in a row of overall contraction.
- New Orders, commonly referred to as the engine that drives manufacturing, decreased 2.7% to 44.3, contracting for the 7th straight month.
- Despite sequential decline, March Services PMI points to growth, reports ISM (source: Logistics Management)
- The Services PMI for March came in at 51.2 (a reading of 50 or higher indicates growth), down 3.9% from February – but it’s still growth.
- The services sector has seen growth in 33 of the last 34 months, with December 2022 being the one month with a decline.
- Logistics industry growth slowed in March (source: DC Velocity)
- The March Logistics Managers’ Index (LMI) reached an all-time low of 51.1 (50 or higher indicates growth). NOTE: The index has been around for 6.5 years.
- Things have clearly been slowing down, but the macro economy has not yet come to a halt.
- Georgia ports are seeing record growth (source: Supply Chain Dive)
- The Port of Savannah handled record cargo volumes of 3.8 million TEUs in the 2022 fiscal year, with February 2023 being its “busiest February ever,” according to a press release.
- In comparison, volumes dropped 43% YoY at the Port of Los Angeles in February.
- US trucking firms adding jobs ahead of expected freight demand (source: The Journal of Commerce)
- US trucking companies are preparing for higher demand this spring by adding to their payrolls. Trucking employment climbed by 3,600 jobs in March, a 0.2% gain from February and 3% increase year over year.
- The monthly gain was the first increase in trucking jobs since October.
- Warehouse Jobs Drop to Lowest Level in 15 Months (The Wall Street Journal)
- Employers cut 11,800 warehouse and storage jobs from February to March. Warehouse companies have reduced employment by nearly 50,000 jobs since June 2022.
- Employment at U.S. warehouses surged by nearly 700,000 jobs from April 2020 to June 2022, so jobs are still well above pre-pandemic levels.
- Laredo Regains Status as No. 1 US Port for February (source: Transport Topics)
- The Port of Loredo, Texas just went from the No. 1 inland port in the U.S. to the country’s No. 1 international trade port overall in February, the first time it’s ranked No.1 since February of 2020.
- Chicago O’Hare International Airport ranked No. 2, reporting $22.8B in trade while the Port of Los Angeles ranked No. 3 with $17.2B in trade.
- Cass Transportation Index Report March 2023 (source: Cass Transportation Systems)
- The expenditures component of the Cass Freight Index, which measures the total amount spent on freight, fell 1.5% m/m in March, and fell 12.0% y/y after a 9.7% y/y decline in February.
- With shipments down 1.0% m/m in March, Cass infers rates were down 0.4% m/m.
- Truck Tonnage Falls 5% in March, when taking into account seasonality (source: Transport Topics)
- “After increasing 2.6% during the three previous months, March’s sequential decline was the largest monthly drop since April 2020”, per ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello.
- The non-seasonal adjusted # was an increase of 9.3% from February, but that did not fare well against a 17.2% increase in March of 2022 and 17.4% in March of 2021.
- Falling home construction, decreasing factory output and soft retail sales all hurt contract freight tonnage.
- Diesel sheds $0.039 to $4.077 per gallon (source: Transport Topics)
- A gallon of trucking’s main fuel now costs $1.083 less than it did at this time in 2022.
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