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LTL carriers are cutting transit times as new opportunities to improve service emerge . PUMPZA / Shutterstock . com

US LTL carriers expanding next-day services in post-Yellow reset

By William B . Cassidy new next-day service in lanes linking Columbus , Cincinnati and Toledo in Ohio with Buffalo , NY . The new nextday lanes are designed to speed service from Ohio to points in the Northeast .

“ We ’ ve tripled our business into New York state in the past two years ,” since acquiring the assets of New York carrier Teal ’ s , Geoff Muessig , executive vice president and chief marketing officer of Pitt Ohio , told the Journal of Commerce July 16 .

Regional next-day service is Pitt Ohio ’ s core business , Muessig said , with 85 % of its shipments moving in nextday lanes . “ We found we have enough freight volumes to offer next-day ” in the longer Ohio – New York lanes , he said .

Pitt Ohio also acquired seven terminals from Yellow during the initial terminal auction round last December , including a facility in Buffalo . The Yellow terminal sale was a “ once-in-a-lifetime ” chance to bolster capacity and services where needed , Muessig said .

“ These carriers are catering for the needs of shippers who have increasing numbers of distribution centers .”

The US less-than-truckload ( LTL ) market is getting faster in the wake of a major network realignment following the collapse last year of Yellow , once a leading LTL provider .

LTL companies are cutting transit times , shortening two-day lanes to next-day lanes as new opportunities to improve service emerge during network realignments .

They ’ re also working to make their services more competitive as LTL pricing stays elevated compared with 2023 rates , sources told the Journal of Commerce .

“ These carriers are catering for the needs of shippers who have increasing numbers of distribution centers and need to make deliveries overnight ,” said Satish Jindel , president of SJ Consulting Group . “ If they can run direct , it ’ s less expensive for them , too .”

Some LTL carriers have announced transit time reductions , while others are quietly adjusting lanes as they absorb terminals acquired from Yellow in the past year .

Multiregional carrier Pitt Ohio on July 15 announced

“ We brought these terminals online , and we had the demand to fill them ,” he said . “ Being able to bring larger facilities online allows us to drive more volume into those buildings and increase velocity .”

Making more connections

LTL operators have been tightening transit times for years . The trend went into abeyance during the COVID-19 pandemic , but it has resumed in the aftermath , pushed by consumer demand and changing distribution needs of industrial manufacturers .

Freight is being shipped shorter distances , and more frequently , and that ’ s creating more demand for LTL or LTL-like service , trucking executives and analysts say .

The Yellow shutdown , which cut US LTL capacity by about 10 %, left holes in the LTL network that are now being filled by carriers redrawing their lane maps and tightening transit times as freight once hauled by Yellow continues to shift among carriers .

The speeding of LTL freight also tracks what ’ s happening in the parcel arena , Jindel said , noting , “ UPS and FedEx are converting three-day lanes into two-day and two-day lanes into next day .”

As global events continue to disrupt freight flows , more emphasis will be placed on faster deliveries within North America , and higher costs are changing freight balances .

“ We may be seeing more packages being consolidated into LTL shipments as parcel costs rise , just as some LTL shipments are consolidated into truckloads ,” Jindel said .

email : bill . cassidy @ spglobal . com

34 Journal of Commerce | July 29 , 2024 www . joc . com