J.B. Hunt Transport Services’ profit and revenue fell in the first quarter as demand for its domestic intermodal service softened more than expected and trucking volumes fell in a weak U.S. freight market.
Spot truckload rates continued to slide in March as demand for trucking services moved toward typical seasonal levels, reported DAT Freight & Analytics, which operates the DAT One online freight marketplace and DAT iQ data analytics service.
A push by retailers and manufacturers to cut shipping costs is sending trucking industry hopes of an earnings rebound into a skid.
Stubbornly weak freight market conditions have been placing financial strain on third-party logistics companies for the past couple of years with an oversupply of truck capacity driving down rates and squeezing brokers’ margins.
The “worst” of the two-year freight downturn appears to be over, but not all sectors of trucking are recovering at the same speed, analysts said during a Journal of Commerce webcast.
The spot market is struggling to rebalance as the rate of carriers exiting has slowed despite sluggish demand.
With the wreckage of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore behind him, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore made the rounds on CNN, MSNBC and Fox News to discuss the disaster.
Capacity has continued to decline at a slow and steady pace, according to ACT Research.
A snapshot of additions of freight firms finally outweighed a longstanding trend of exits.
DAT Chief of Analytics Ken Adamo on Thursday shared a look at what he called the "Big Rip Quadrant" for March, or the load transactions last month with the highest recorded broker margins, in the interest of broker transparency.