Oil spikes to $120 on Iran news before settling near $106. Plus: another influencer shipment gets stolen, Wyoming can now pull your truck, 24 states sue over tariffs, and more.
The Supreme Court just heard arguments in the broker liability case we’ve been tracking. Plus: oil shipping costs explode, trucking insurance is stuck in 1980, regulators brace for a carrier crackdown, and more.
Optimize freight broker operations by fixing payment workflows in Q1. Streamline carrier pay before capacity shifts compress your margins.
Plus, we're taking a look at how the freight market has performed in the first three months of 2024.
Good Monday morning. We hope you didn't receive any phishing emails over the weekend. This is a reminder to always be suspicious of emails claiming that a new review has been posted on your DAT account and asking you to click to see more. Besides that, we have more quarter-one reports from the largest transportation players in our industry. Our deep dive takes a closer look at the U.S. Bank Freight Payment Index report.
If you enjoyed today's newsletter, share it with a co-worker. If you have any feedback for us, please let us know by replying to this email.
🤔 Question of the Day: In Q1 of 2024, shipment volumes dropped by __% from Q4 2023 and saw a 21.6% decline compared to Q1 2023. Find the answer in our main story.
TOP LANE MOVERS POWERED BY GREENSCREENS.AI
*Greenscreens.ai, forecasts real-time truckload buy prices that are suited to each freight brokerage's purchasing power using AI and machine learning. Its engine takes into account over 130 attributes and data points in each rate forecast.
🐔 WHAT’S COOKIN’ IN FREIGHT
❌ Do Not Click on These DAT Phishing Scams. We've received a screenshot of a DAT phishing email where a DAT user received what looked like an email from DAT stating that a negative review had been posted on their DAT Company page. In the email, you can click on the "Go to review" link. Once you click on that link, it redirects you to a page that looks like a DAT login page, but in reality, it is just a website set up to phish your login credentials. These types of email phishing scams designed to steal your DAT credentials aren't new. However, scammers are becoming increasingly sophisticated, which means DAT users need to be more careful. Scammers from various parts of the world are looking to log into your DAT account, post scam loads under your company name, sell them to an unsuspecting carrier, and then never pay them.
➕ Surviving the Freight Recession. Elite Commodity Express, a 12-truck fleet in Surprise, Nebraska, proves the little guys can still hang tough. CEO Ted Johnson breaks down his costs with $0.26/mile for maintenance, $0.75/mile for fuel, $0.15/mile for insurance, and $0.62/mile for wages. With a relentless focus on the bottom line, Elite managed to stay profitable in January and April, despite losses in February and March. The result? A 3.7% profit margin and Elite keeps moving. Still, Uber Freight's Senior Economist, Mazen Danaf, says, "Unfortunately, this won't end well for many carriers."
📏 Q1 Growth from Key Companies. As Q1 2024 reports have rolled in, a few companies have stood out with strong numbers despite the soft freight market. XPO saw a remarkable 294% jump in net income to $67 million, beating Wall Street expectations with higher yield and tonnage in its LTL segment. Trimble posted a 33% growth in transportation and logistics revenue, bolstered by its Transporeon acquisition. Despite a soft freight market, these companies are leveraging their strengths to push through challenges. Meanwhile, Saia reported a 14.3% revenue increase, higher shipment counts, and an improved operating ratio.
TOGETHER WITH LEVITY
Levity helps fast-moving 3PLs and freight brokers to do more with less by automating the most time-consuming and repetitive email tasks.
Whether it's spot quoting, load building, or answering track-and-trace requests, Levity connects to your inbox, TMS and other tools like rating engines, extracting the right information no matter the language or format. It performs tasks on your behalf automatically in the background so you can save time and focus on building shipper relationships instead of data entry. Learn more on Levity.ai today.
Interested in sponsoring a FreightCaviar newsletter? Send us an email at info@freightcaviar.com.
With the majority of Q1 earnings reports released, we're taking a look at how the freight market has performed in the first three months of 2024. With the release of the Q1 2024 U.S. Bank Freight Payment Index, we're seeing notable drops in shipment volumes and spending. Here are some of the key takeaways:
Regional Impacts: Every region except the Southwest experienced declines in shipment volume and spend, thanks to the growth of cross-border freight from Mexico.
The Northeast was hit the hardest, with shipment volumes dropping by 17.5% and spend falling by 23.8%. Severe winter storms were one of several factors for the
Overcapacity and Market Downturn: The market is dealing with too much capacity, low retail sales, and supply chain issues. Diesel prices have steadied, which cut fuel surcharges and affected freight spending.
"Many sectors of the economy generate truck freight, but household consumption of goods was one major factor in freight volumes contracting during the first quarter. While retail sales grew modestly, they were far too low to generate significant additional truck freight." – U.S. Bank Analysts
Bobby Holland, Director of Freight Business Analytics at U.S. Bank, noted that challenges have continued even though there was hope for a turnaround. This is the eighth consecutive quarter of year-over-year declines in volume, and spending fell more than shipment volume, putting pressure on freight rates.
Florida’s Freight Spike
Despite the bleak picture, there are pockets of strength, particularly in Florida.
Reefer rejection rates, which indicate the number of loads rejected by carriers, have reached their highest levels in two years due to rising demand for produce shipments.
Spot rates for hauling produce from Florida to places like Chicago and Boston have gone up, showing how seasonal trends can still create opportunities.
TOGETHER WITH ISO
Carrier reliability is central to everything you do. Are you measuring it?
Booking unreliable carriers leads to higher operational costs: more bounces, more reschedules and more headaches. With ISO, you can source carriers for every lane based on service data. More reliable carriers mean happier customers, higher volumes and lower cost per load. Learn more at iso.io.
AROUND THE FREIGHT WEB
🌊 Texas Flood Leads to Dramatic 18-Wheeler Rescue. A truck driver in Texas narrowly escaped after his 18-wheeler was swept away by severe floodwaters.
🌐 Cargado Secures $6.8M for US-Mexico Logistics Tech. FreightTech startup Cargado raised $6.8 million in seed funding to enhance cross-border logistics operations between the U.S. and Mexico.
🚨 LA Sheriff's Task Force Recovers Stolen Goods. LA County Sheriff's detectives seized a large amount of stolen merchandise in a raid targeting organized retail crime.
🔻 Manufacturing Demand Declines in April. Manufacturing orders decreased in April due to continued economic uncertainty and high input costs.
🚛 Walmart Introduces Tesla Semi. Walmart's new Tesla Semi was seen on a California highway, suggesting the retailer has begun receiving deliveries, expanding on Tesla's pilot programs.
📉 Transportation Jobs. Truck transportation jobs dipped by 300 jobs in April, marking a break from six months of growth, while warehouse employment saw a rise of 7,600 jobs.
FREIGHT MEME OF THE DAY
Also, check out:
Oil spikes to $120 on Iran news before settling near $106. Plus: another influencer shipment gets stolen, Wyoming can now pull your truck, 24 states sue over tariffs, and more.
The Supreme Court just heard arguments in the broker liability case we’ve been tracking. Plus: oil shipping costs explode, trucking insurance is stuck in 1980, regulators brace for a carrier crackdown, and more.
Tucker Carlson’s nicotine brand loses 378,000 tins in a cargo theft. Plus: produce rates reset, diesel climbs, and a bill that could pull hundreds of thousands of drivers off the road.
The Middle East crisis is already hitting carriers. Plus: Florida lost $3B in crops, flatbed rates posted a fifth straight weekly increase, a $5B brokerage was just acquired, and more.
Join over 14K+ subscribers to get the latest freight news and entertainment directly in your inbox for free. Subscribe & be sure to check your inbox to confirm (and your spam folder just in case).
