Archive for October, 2016

SEPTEMBER PROVIDES UPLIFT FOR RETAIL SALES

Retail sales saw a slight increase of 0.2 percent in September compared with August, and grew a strong 3.5 percent year-over-year, according to numbers released today by the National Retail Federation. The calculations exclude automobiles, gasoline stations and restaurants.

Post-Hurricane Floods Boost Rates in Southeast for Vans, Not Flatbeds

Freight started moving into Florida again last week, due to pent-up demand following Hurricane Matthew. Van load volume and rates rose higher throughout the Southeast, especially on lanes heading into areas in the Carolinas that were affected by flooding and road closures.

West Coast Ports Evaluating Truck Congestion Alternatives

The marine terminals at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach held a workshop with industry stakeholders over the weekend to evaluate potential alternatives to the current extended gates model used at the ports under the OffPeak Program.

FTR’s Intermodal Competitive Index Rebounds in August

FTR’s Intermodal Competitive Index (ICI) rebounded from July to a reading of 2.16 in August. The updated August reading – while certainly not particularly strong – does ease some of the concerns that the weak July reading created and, in some measure, confirms suspicions that the number of work days in July impacted the index […]

Shippers look deeper than carrier losses to avoid next Hanjin

When shippers awoke on Aug. 31, they faced q new reality: Hanjin Shipping, along with many of its retail, manufacturing and other shipper customers, assumed the company’s main creditor, the Korean Development Bank, would blink and grudgingly accept the container line’s plan to tackle its $5 billion debt. They were wrong. The bank had had […]