Surface Transportation
Saia increased its daily volume by 8.5 % from the yearago quarter to 37,200 shipments . The carrier raised its revenue 8.6 % to $ 841 million , a new third-quarter record for the company .
Saia , now the seventh-largest LTL carrier ranked by revenue , has grown at a rapid rate over the past year , picking up business from Yellow and purchasing 28 terminals from the bankrupt company .
Its volume growth began to slow after the anniversary of Yellow ’ s exit , but growth continues . Shipments per day at Saia are up about 4 % in October to date after rising 8.6 % year over year in September , Saia CFO Matthew Batteh said during an earnings call on Oct . 25 .
“ Freight moves around a little bit when you take the rate increase at times ,” Batteh said . “ With the macro backdrop where it is , there are customers that may go find other options . And we ’ re willing to let that walk . We ’ re not going to go chase that .”
US LTL annualized pricing gains slow further in September
US long-haul less-than-truckload ( LTL ) producer price index ( PPI )
245
240 180 235
230
225 L Jan 2023 Jul Jan 2024
Jul
LTL PPI
Source : US Bureau of Labor Statistics data , Journal of Commerce analysis © 2024 S & P Global email : bill . cassidy @ spglobal . com
www . joc . com
“ No one told us in the first or second quarter that that we were going to see a 33 % increase ( in international intermodal ), and it was an event that happened because of East Coast ports issues , the Canadian [ rail strike ] issues ,” Vena said . “ When something happens that is thrown at you , you start moving intermodal equipment , but you don ’ t get the same speed , and you don ’ t get the same velocity .”
LA-LB rail dwells spike
Dwell times for containers leaving marine terminals in the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach by rail hit a twoyear high in September , according to the Pacific Merchant Shipping Association .
US intermodal train speeds slowest since September 2022
Rolling four-week average of US Class I intermodal train speeds , in miles per hour
32
31
27.5 30
29
28
27 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Week 1 |
Week 11 |
Week 21 |
L |
Week 31 |
Week 41 |
Week 51 |
L
Source : Surface Transportation Board
2022 2023 2024
© 2024 S & P Global
L
Cargo flooded the West Coast in the summer and fall amid an early peak shipping season driven in part by importers diverting growing volumes of discretionary freight away from the East and Gulf coasts to avoid any disruption from the contentious labor talks that ultimately resulted in a three-day strike .
The Los Angeles-Long Beach port complex handled 874,730 TEUs of imports from Asia in September , besting the previous one-month record of 873,196 TEUs set in May 2022 . That came as total US imports from Asia continued to hover near a two-year high .
Vena appeared to reference ocean carriers for not communicating about the cargo surge earlier .
“ We ’ d have had faster velocity if we could have been told that it was coming and seen it a little sooner so we could place cars in the right place ,” he told analysts .
Still , Vena said UP ’ s inland rail terminals remain fluid , echoing feedback from trucking executives in Chicago , Dallas and Memphis that have spoken with the Journal of Commerce recently .
UP expects to improve train speeds and reduce rail dwells inside the West Coast ports in November and December . The railroad increased the number of railcars available in its network by 5.7 % in the six weeks ended Oct . 18 compared with the same period last year , STB data shows .
“[ We are deploying ] locomotives and cars into the LA basin , we ’ ve staged trains across the system so that we can take every car that we can into the ports , and we take every car that they can give us back ,” Eric Gehringer , UP ’ s chief operating officer , said during the call . “ We are working closely with CSX and [ Norfolk Southern ] to ensure that our interchange points remain fluid ... I expect in short order that intermodal speed will turn the other way .”
email : ari . ashe @ spglobal . com
November 18 , 2024 | Journal of Commerce 41