Tallies, totals and other trend data in the freight transportation realm
10/24/2022
-0.25
FTR’s Trucking Conditions Index improved slightly in August to -0.25 from the previous -0.7 reading in July. The slight improvement was due primarily to falling diesel prices, FTR officials announced on Oct. 21. “Although truck freight dynamics are softening broadly, smaller carriers likely will see a disproportionate negative impact in overall financial conditions due to sharp increases in financing costs and great volatility in diesel prices,” FTR Vice President of Trucking Avery Vise said. “Because small carriers are less likely to have reliable fuel surcharges in place, they typically feel the effects of changing diesel prices more profoundly than larger carriers do.”
0.5
American Trucking Associations’ advanced seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index rose 0.5% in September after increasing 2.1% in August. “The latest gain put tonnage at the highest level since August 2019 and the third highest level on record,” said ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello. “This is another example of how the contract freight market remains strong despite weakness in the spot market this year.”
1
Fuel prices are the No. 1 trucking industry concern, according to the American Transportation Research Institute’s (ATRI) 18th annual Top Industry Issues report, issued Oct. 22. Fuel prices replaced the driver shortage, which had been the top issue for five years in a row. The driver shortage was the second-ranked issue, followed by the lack of available truck parking, driver compensation and the economy, according to ATRI. More than 4,200 trucking industry stakeholders participated in this year’s survey, including motor carriers, truck drivers, industry suppliers, driver trainers and law enforcement.
2.9
“U.S. freight volumes continued to exceed low expectations in September with more buoyant demand than feared in the start of peak shipping season.” Cass Transportation Systems Inc. officials said on Oct. 13 in release the firm’s September indexes. For example, the shipments component of the Cass Freight Index® fell 2.9% month over month in September, “reversing much of the 5.5% rise in August,” they said.
7.4
New business volume in the equipment finance industry increased 7.4% in 2021 compared with 2020’s volume, the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (ELFA) officials reported on Oct. 13. “This is a significant improvement from a 7% decrease in 2020,” they added. Also in the 2021 report: Overall, transportation equipment represented 22.4% of equipment financing new business volume reported by ELFA member companies, unchanged from 2020. And railroad equipment represented 1.1% of equipment financing new business volume reported by ELFA member companies, down from 1.2% in 2020.
7.9
“Women made up 7.9% of the nation’s truck drivers — an all-time high — [in 2021] and minorities account for 46.1% of truck drivers.” — American Trucking Associations on Oct. 19 in announcing the release of its “American Trucking Trends 2022” report
9.4
The railway cybersecurity market was estimated to be $6.2 billion in 2021 and projected to increase at a compound annual growth rate of 9.4% and reach $6.2 billion by 2027, according to a report issued Oct. 21 by MarketsandMarkets. “A number of countries and OEMs are “investing significantly in railway cybersecurity infrastructure,” MarketsandMarkets officials said. “Countries are adopting various technologies in their transportation infrastructure and are focusing on R&D and innovations in rail infrastructure technology to address future mobility challenges.” Onboard solutions will hold a higher market share during the forecast period, they added.
10
“Union Pacific might now wish that it had left Leadoff to CSX, even though they beat Street estimates, and was up a little less than 10% YOY (adjusted). Most of the focus, naturally was shorter term as they adjusted 2022 Guidance, and didn’t fully discuss 2023 (seen as a ‘normal operating railroad in an inflationary environment with volume a question mark,’” wrote Tony Hatch, independent transportation analyst, in an Oct. 20 message to his clients regarding Union Pacific Corp.'s Q3 earnings teleconference. First on Hatch’s “Top 10 quick takeaways”: “Softening near term (Q4!) demand reduced (2022!) Guidance; 300bps in OR was inflation/service issues although UP grew volumes across the board versus soft comparisons — and likely not, as claimed, best-in-class (look Northward, friends).”
17 & 19
3PL UWL has contracted into 2024 with Swire Shipping for the Sun Chief express ocean service, a direct service between Vietnam and Seattle, Washington, UWL announced on Oct. 18. Since its April 2022, Sun Chief “has consistently delivered the fastest transit time for a direct sailing” — 19 days from Ho Chi Minh and 17 days from Haiphong, Vietnam, to Seattle, Washington, UWL officials said.
29
Preliminary trailer orders in September rose 29% month over month to 21,500 units, FTR officials reported on Oct. 19. September trailer orders were down 24% from September 2021 levels, and totaled 280,000 units for the past 12 months. “In the retail market, dealerships still can't keep enough stock to meet demand,” FTR commercial vehicle analyst Charles Roth said. “At the same time, large carriers haven't been able to keep up with replacement cycles, which has driven the level of pent-up demand for new replacement units to above-average levels. While net orders have historically followed a seasonal pattern, the past two years have fundamentally changed how OEMs manage their build slots.”
45
At 45, the October 2022 Monthly Confidence Index for the Equipment Finance Industry represented a decline of 7.6% compared with September’s index of 48.7, the Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation announced on Oct. 20. When asked to assess their business conditions over the next four months, none of the executives responding said they believe business conditions will improve over the next four months, a decrease from 3.6% in September; 62.5% believe business conditions will remain the same over the next four months, down from 75% the previous month; and 37.5% believe business conditions will worsen, an increase from 21.4% in September.
565
“The hiring pipeline in the quarter averaged over 565 trainees with 730 currently in training, and CSX is on track to achieve its ~7K active T&E headcount target by year-end (current active T&E headcount 6,819). Sequential improvement should more than offset any attrition (~8%-10% annually, still provides staffing flexibility if the demand backdrop deteriorates).” — Baird Equity Research’s Garrett Holland in an Oct. 20 report titled “Baird/CSX/Holland: Q322 Review: Service Recovering, Executing Better than Most”
100 million
San Francisco-based tech firm Swift Navigation completed a $100 million financing round, the firm announced on Oct. 18. The Series D Round was led by SK Inc. and Potentum Partners with support from a range of investors. Swift provides global navigation satellite system and positioning technology for automotive advanced driver-assistance systems and autonomy, industrial machine control, commercial transportation, mobile and emerging mass-market applications. Customers include automotive OEMs and Tier 1s, last-mile delivery providers, mobile handset and application providers and those building rail, industrial machine control and IoT platforms for mass-market applications. To date, the company has raised over $200 million in funding.
3,579.7 billion
The global rail logistics market accrued revenue of $1,995 billion in 2021 and will reach $3,579.7 billion by 2031, registering a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.1% from 2022 to 2031, according to a report issued Oct. 20 by Allied Market Research. The intermodal segment contributed the largest market share in 2021, accounting for nearly half of the overall share of the global rail logistics market, according to the report. “However, the Freight Cars segment is slated to register the highest CAGR of nearly 6.9% from 2022 to 2031,” Allied Market Research officials said.