The following information is collected from our service division managers along with various industry resources and gives a generalized scope of what has been going on this past week in freight transportation.

The national average price of diesel fuel is $3.367 per gallon for the week of 8/2/2021.

Intermodal

• Continued congestion and delays in Chicago – that situation remains unchanged. We’re seeing delays at interchange in Chicago taking many days if moving via rubber wheel.
• Overall capacity is still incredibly tight. NS took removed most of their embargoes, but their network is still tight with regard to chassis.
• Both the UP and NS increased FAK rates.
• UP and BNSF have been dealing with track closures and infrastructure damage due to wildfires in California and Oregon.
• Kristy Knichel will be discussing capacity solutions on the intermodal side with Bill Cassidy of JOC in special virtual workshop through the Transportation and Logistics Council on 8/4/21 at 1:00 PM EST. Register for this free and informative session here.

Less than Truckload

• There has been a major NMFC change to the foodstuff NMFC that has moved the foodstuff “catch-all” NMFC of 73227 (class 60) to a density based NMFC and class. We will be requesting dims for all items that do not have their own NMFC and class going forward and use 48x40x96 as standard dims.

Over the Road

• We are seeing some positive change in both pricing and capacity in areas that were recently affected by produce season.
• The Canada border officers have voted to strike, and unless things are resolved beforehand, it could happen as early as August 6th. We will be keeping a close eye on the situation and will be in close contact with our Canadian partners handling dedicated, cross-border freight, to keep tabs on what they are hearing and how things may be affected if this comes to fruition.