Surface Transportation

measure of all-inclusive LTL selling prices , has risen 6.6 % from its latest trough in April 2023 and 5.2 % since Yellow ’ s collapse . The ongoing LTL pricing gains also suggest that US shippers are concerned about securing adequate capacity ahead of stronger freight demand .

“ When freight starts coming back , we ’ ll have the cycle for all cycles in LTL in terms of volume and yield and not having enough capacity ,” XPO CEO Mario Harik told the Journal of Commerce in an Oct . 30 interview .

Waiting for a new tide

ODFL , XPO and Saia expect a gradual increase in LTL freight demand as lower interest rates generate more freight across manufacturing and retail sectors .

“ The tide is finally coming back in ,” Satterfield told Wall Street analysts .

He referred to LTL freight that had shifted to the truckload market in the past two years , where rates are considerably lower . After Yellow collapsed , “ I think people were

just trying to find a home for freight ,” Satterfield said . “ So now we ’ re seeing an influx of business coming back , and once we renormalize , we ’ d expect that we ’ ll be able to pick up quite a bit of freight ,” he said .

“ There are customers that may go find other options . And we ’ re willing to let that walk .”

ODFL ’ s daily shipment count dropped 3.4 % year over year in the third quarter to 47,967 shipments a day on average , the company said . For the first nine months of 2024 , the average daily shipment count was flat year over year at 47,781 shipments .

Average daily volume at XPO fell 3.2 % in the quarter to 51,921 shipments , while the volume count rose 1.9 % year over year in the past nine months , to 52,281 shipments .

UP pins performance slip on lack of notice from ocean carriers

UP ’ s intermodal volumes rose 19 % in Q3 , driven by a 33 % jump in international containers . Iv-olga / Shutterstock . com

By Ari Ashe

Union Pacific Railroad ( UP ) says it was caught off guard by the cargo surge that hit Southern California in recent months , blaming the slower speeds and higher idling times for its railcars in September and October on a lack of advanced notice from ocean carriers of the freight diversions to the US West Coast ahead of an early October strike by East and Gulf coast longshore workers .

“ We ’ d have had faster velocity if we could have been told that it was coming .”

In its latest financial update , UP said its intermodal volumes rose 19 % year over year in the third quarter , with international shipments jumping 33 %, growth rates reminiscent of the pandemic-induced freight surge of 2021 .

As a result , UP ’ s average intermodal train speed from mid-September through the end of October dropped 5.4 % compared with the same period last year , according to the US Surface Transportation Board ( STB ). STB data also shows that the average number of UP ’ s loaded railcars that have idled over the same period — meaning not moving for at least 48 hours — shot up 120 % from a year ago .

BNSF Railway has reported similar trends , with more of its railcars idling and slower intermodal train speeds . UP CEO Jim Vena , speaking during the railroad ’ s third-quarter earnings call Oct . 24 , indicated the surge of cargo flowing through the US West Coast could not have been anticipated .

40 Journal of Commerce | November 18 , 2024 www . joc . com