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 $3.300 per gallon for the week of 6/28/2021.

Intermodal

• NS announced that 5100 chassis are being taken out of circulation due to recalls. Should expect chassis shortages through the end of the year/early next year on their network. We can expect this will continue to be an issue for the next few months.
• UP announced work on Houston Englewood Yard track with 5-8 tracks out of service per day until September.
• End of month and holiday weekend next week. Capacity is extremely tight everywhere!
• Expect transit delays coming off the July 4th holiday. There are rail closures across the map for the holiday and July 5th being deemed the holiday.

Less than Truckload

• FedEx Freight drops 1400 customers to protect service levels.

Over the Road

• Supply chain constraints, spot posts push up trucking rates:
  • Still seeing elevated rates, and continuing to climb in certain areas. “Normal times” the average cost per load in the industry, according to Truckstop’s data, falls between $1200 and $1300. The spike late in 2018 ballooned up to around $1550. As of last week, it had surpassed $1650 and continues to climb toward $1675.
• Most regular carriers are continuing to book out at least a week in advance. Lead time is critical right now, especially when trying to secure new dedicated freight. Typically only seeing a day or 2 of lead time once spot loads are awarded.