Trucking News

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Noteworthy news bullets we thought you’d enjoy

• December manufacturing output declines to finish 2022, reports ISM (source: Logistics Management)
  • December manufacturing fell below the baseline for growth for the second consecutive month.
  • The PMI reading came in at 48.4 (50 or higher indicates growth). The New Order reading came in at 45.2, which was 2 points lower than the 47.2 measured in November.

• ‘Pricing discipline’ to temper US LTL rate relief in 2023 (source: The Journal of Commerce)
  • The flattening of the LTL PPI early in the fourth quarter of 2022 is a sign that carriers will continue to practice the “pricing discipline” that helped LTL operators reap record-setting revenue gains during the pandemic.

• What the latest warehouse data is signaling about inflation and the economy (source: CNBC)
  • “Rates remain at these levels as a result of warehouse inventories not coming down significantly in November and December,” said Jordan Brunk, chief marketing officer of WarehouseQuote.
  • Warehouse pricing and inventory data are indicators of consumer strength. Even as supply chain inflation slows, warehouse rates are high because there is a lot of inventory, which leaves less available space. When the consumer is buying, there is more demand, and retailers take out more inventory from warehouses, with extra space putting pressure on warehouse rates.

• Cass Freight Index update (source: Cass Information Systems)
  • The shipments component of the Cass Freight Index fell 3.9% y/y in December, and 3.3% m/m.
  • Normal seasonality from here would have shipments back in positive territory y/y in 1H’23, but sharpening declines in imports, into the West Coast in particular suggest near-term trends may soften further.

• December Class 8 Sales Reach All-Time High (source: Transport Topics)
  • U.S. Class 8 retail sales in December reached an all-time monthly high.
  • Sales rose 18% to 29,172 compared with 24,716 a year earlier, and higher than the previous peak for the year, 23,851 in August.

• Retail Sales fall 1.1% in December as Inflation takes a toll (source: Associated Press)
  • Americans cut back on spending in December, the second consecutive month they’ve done so.
  • Retail sales fell 1.0% in November, leaving December as the biggest monthly decline of 2022.

• East Coast container imports still far above pre-pandemic levels (source: Freight Waves)
  • The Port of Los Angeles reported that it handled 352,046 twenty-foot equivalent units of loaded imports in December, which is down 9% year over year, and down 6rom December 2019.
  • On a positive note, it’s up 15% from November, and the highest monthly total since August.

• Diesel Reverses Course, Rises 8 cents to $4.604 a Gallon (source: Transport Topics)
  • The average price for a gallon of diesel had dropped in nine of the last ten weeks, totaling $0.833.
  • A gallon of diesel now costs $0.824 more than it did at this time in 2022.

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