Trucking News

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Noteworthy news bullets we thought you’d enjoy

• Why shippers will add more FedEx and UPS competitors to their parcel carrier mix in 2023 (source: Supply Chain Dive)
  • Even as space frees up within FedEx and UPS’ networks, shippers are poised to continue diversifying their parcel carrier mix in 2023, industry experts say.
  • The average number of last mile carriers per company account in December was 5.73, up from 4.86 the previous year.

•  January PMI falls but remains in close range to estimates, reports ISM (source: Logistics Management)
  • Manufacturing contracted for the third consecutive month, with a PMI reading of 47.4 in January, down from the 48.4 reading in December. A reading of 50 or higher represents growth.
  • New Orders, which can be a leading indicator, dropped to 42.5, down from 45.1 in December.

• Sourcing shift from China pulls U.S. import share to more than a decade low (source: The Journal of Commerce)
  • China still dominates the sourcing landscape, supplying 40.7% of US imports last year. But that market share was down from 42.4% in 2021 and was nearly as low as the 40.6% share in 2006, indicating more diversification is occurring.

• Border-Town Warehouses Are Booming as More Manufacturing Moves to Mexico (source: The Wall Street Journal)
  • Real-estate investors are betting that big changes in global supply chains will boost demand for warehouses and distribution centers in Mexico and U.S. border towns.
  • Prologis Inc., the world’s largest logistics real-estate company said that demand is surging for locations in Mexico, while investors such as Morgan Stanley are focusing on warehouses in U.S. border towns in Texas and California.

• January imports up from December, but February is looking weak (source: Freight Waves)
  • In January, U.S. containerized imports logged their highest month-on-month gain since last May, according to data from Descartes. Inbound volumes rose 7.2% versus December to 2,068,493 twenty-foot equivalent units.
  • January’s imports were almost identical to pre-pandemic January 2019 and 2020. February is looking weak, however and could be the slowest month since May of 2020.

• Class 8 Truck Sales Reach 19,932 in January (source: Transport Topics)
  • U.S. Class 8 retails sales in January rose 34.2% year over year, hitting 19,932 compared with 14,857 in 2022.

• Cass Transportation Index Report January 2023 (source: Cass Information Systems)
  • The shipments component of the Cass Freight Index fell 3.2% m/m in January, but increased 4.3% y/y (note: the Omicron wave of COVID was in full swing in January 2021).
  • There has been a considerable increase in the proportion of truckload (TL) freight over the past several months, suggesting freight is migrating to TL from other modes, likely due to the overall fall in truckload rates.

• Year-on-year decline in US imports from Asia accelerated in January (source: The Journal of Commerce)
  • US imports from Asia in January saw their first month-on-month gain since August, but were down 22% from January 2022.January retail sales data is solid to kick off 2023 (source: Logistics Management)

•  January retail sales data is solid to kick off 2023 (source: Logistics Management)
  • The U.S. Department of Commerce reported that retail trade sales rose 2.3% from December to January and were up 3.9% annually.
  • Food services and drinking places saw a 25.2% annual gain, with general merchandise stores up 4.5%. Non-store retailers, which includes ecommerce, saw a 5.7% annual gain.

• Parcel volumes to remain 20% above pre-pandemic rate this year (source: FreightWaves)
  • U.S. lightweight parcel volumes have fallen off considerably since the pandemic drew to a close, yet this year they will still remain 20% above pre-pandemic levels of 2019.
  • Top trends in 2023 include value-conscious consumers prioritizing shipping costs over speed, and the importance of real-time visibility, shipment tracking, and exception management.

• Rate hikes push 2022 US LTL revenue to record high, despite slowdown (source: The Journal of Commerce)
  • US LTL Carrier Revenue grew 15.8% to a record $58.7B in 2022. Revenue growth in 2023 is expected to slow to single digits, but not likely to stop, as the US economy weathers a slowdown and global and domestic freight seek a new balance.
  • LTL carriers have stated that with higher operating costs showing signs of permanence, there’s no return to pre-pandemic pricing and they will continue to be willing to shed lower priced freight that is less profitable, or un-profitable.

• Diesel Drops Again, Falling $0.068 to $4.376 a Gallon (source: Transport Topics)
  • A gallon of diesel now costs $0.321 more than at this time in 2022.

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