4.8
“Intermodal was down 4.8% in September, its seventh straight decline and 14th decline in the past 15 months. So far this year, only January had lower intermodal volumes than September. That’s unusual. On average, September is the third highest intermodal month of the year (behind October and August). Intermodal volumes are being constrained by a shift in consumer spending away from goods and towards services, as well as by high inflation …” — from the Oct. 7 edition of Rail Time Indicators, issued by the Association of American Railroads Policy & Economics Department
11
“Excluding 2020, September is traditionally the month when peak season container import volume begins to decline; however, imports into the U.S. last month dipped significantly below the year-on-year level. September 2022 TEU volume retreated 11% versus September 2021 to 2,215,731, though volume was still up 9% from pre-pandemic September 2019. September volume was also down significantly versus August 2022 with a 12.4% decline.” — Descartes Insights October 22. Descartes Systems Group provides cloud-based logistics and supply chain solutions.
15.5
From January 2020 to August 2022, “long-distance truckload trucking prices rose 44.4%. Warehousing and storage rose 16.4%. By comparison, the [Producer Price Index (PPI)] for line-haul freight railroads rose 15.5% over the same period. The bottom line is that PPI and [Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals] data don’t support the claim that rail price increases have been a dominant factor in supply chain or overall inflation over the past two years.” — from the Oct. 7 edition of Rail Time Indicators, issued by the Association of American Railroads Policy & Economics Department
21
“Year after year, truck drivers have indicated that the parking shortage is one of the top three challenges they face, rising to number one in 2021. With the volume of freight moved by trucks expected to increase by more than 21% over the next decade, this problem is only going to get worse.” — a letter issued Oct. 11 from the American Trucking Associations’ Law Enforcement Advisory Board to all 50 U.S. governors and state departments of transportation urging them to apply for federal funds to expand truck parking capacity
169 & 102
Preliminary North American Class 8 net orders for September rose to 56,500 units, the most ever for a single month, FTR reported on Oct. 5. September order activity was up 169% month over month and 102% year over year, with Class 8 orders now totaling 254,000 units for the last 12 months. “September order activity is further testimony that there remains a tremendous level of pent-up demand,” FTR officials said. “While September’s spike in orders is a positive sign for the industry, build rates continue to be impacted by component shortages as suppliers continue to face supply chain bottlenecks and labor shortages.”
1,473 & 940
“As shippers started favoring the U.S. East Coast ports for importing cargo to the US, the [pick-up] PU charges from China to these ports fell dramatically. For cargo-worthy containers (20 ft., 40 ft., and 40 ft. high cube containers), the PU charges fell from $1,473 in August to $940 in September for the Port of New York. At the same time, for the Port of Savannah, the drop was from $1,211 to $874. … The PU charges from China to the ports on U.S. West Coast were running high in the beginning of the year, nearing $3,000. As the logjams in these ports began clearing up, the PU charges too started falling slowly. For cargo-worthy containers … from China to Los Angeles, the PU charges fell from $1,664 in August to $1,361 in September. The drop was from $1,514 to $1,156 for the port of Oakland.” — “October Forecaster” issued Oct. 12 by Container xChange, a technology marketplace/operating platform for container logistics firms
226,807
South Carolina Ports handled a record number of containers in September — 226,807 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) at Wando Welch Terminal, North Charleston Terminal and Leatherman Terminal — up nearly 11% year-over-year, port officials announced on Oct. 11. SC Ports moved 124,963 pier containers — accounting for containers of any size — in September, up 10% year-over-year. SC Ports handled 367,846 pier containers fiscal-year-to-date.
300,000
World Distribution Services (WDS) recently opened a 300,000-square-foot Tacoma, Washington, distribution facility. In addition to providing warehouse capacity to the Seattle/Tacoma region, the new facility will offer cross-docking and inland distribution service. The facility will support WDS’s freight forwarding sister company, UWL, which has contracted with Swire Shipping to launch Sun Chief express service from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, to Seattle.
16.5 million
On Oct. 3, Stellar Pizza announced a $16.5 million Series A financing round for its SpaceX-designed robotic pizza truck, led by Marcy Venture Partners, according to numerous published reports. Marcy Venture Partners was co-founded this summer by Jay-Z. Stellar landed $9 million in previous fundraising rounds. The first automated pizza truck is slated to launch sometime this fall at the University of Southern California campus, according to reports.
81.5 million
On Oct. 3, Werner Enterprises Inc. announced it signed a definitive agreement and closed on the acquisition of FAB9 Inc., doing business as Baylor Trucking Inc. Baylor, which operates 200 trucks and 980 trailers in the east central and south central United States, recorded revenue of $81.5 million for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31.
1.16 trillion
The size of the equipment finance industry rose to an all-time high of $1.16 trillion in 2021, as nearly 80% of firms that acquired equipment or software used at least one form of financing to do so, according to a survey of 617 private-sector equipment and software end-users released Oct. 10 by the Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation. Commissioned by the foundation and prepared by Keybridge, the study estimates that 57% of total public and private-sector equipment and software investment was procured via secured loan, lease or line of credit.
