Latest news with #NationalMotorFreightClassification
Yahoo
15-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
LTL pricing index to hit record high in Q3
A sagging industrial economy and global trade uncertainty continue to constrain less-than-truckload demand, but carriers are still pushing through rate increases. The LTL rate-per-pound component of the TD Cowen/AFS Freight Index is expected to reach a record high during the third quarter, a quarterly report showed on Tuesday. Third-party logistics company AFS Logistics and financial services firm TD Cowen are forecasting their LTL rate index to climb to a level that is 65.9% higher than a January 2018 baseline. That would be 170 basis points above the second quarter reading and 130 bps above the prior peak set during the freight boom that concluded in 2022. If the forecast holds, the index would be up on a year-over-year comparison for a seventh straight quarter. 'The continued resilience of the rate-per-pound index shows the effect of carrier pricing discipline, and the upcoming NMFC [National Motor Freight Classification] transition to a density framework should equip carriers with another method to tightly manage freight classification and pricing,' said Aaron LaGanke, vice president of freight services at AFS, in the report. (Changes to the National Motor Freight Traffic Association's classification system will take effect on Saturday.) Cost per LTL shipment fell 2.9% y/y in the second quarter but weight per shipment was off 5.1% y/y, 'indicating that carriers are holding firm on pricing and emphasizing revenue management strategies,' the report said. Sequentially, cost per shipment was down 1.6% but weight per shipment (down 1.8% from the first quarter) and fuel surcharges (down 1.3%) were headwinds, which were offset by a 3.6% increase in length of haul. The report is in line with second-quarter updates in early June that showed LTL carriers continued to realize y/y yield increases in April and May. Truckload data from the index, however, continued to show depressed trends. The TL rate-per-mile component of the TD Cowen/AFS index is expected to decline 40 bps sequentially in the third quarter to just 5.6% above the 2018 baseline. That would mark 10 straight quarters of trough-like conditions for the pricing dataset after peaking at 25.7% in the first quarter of 2022. Truckload linehaul cost per shipment was up 1.7% sequentially in the second quarter, but the increase was driven by a 1.8% uptick in miles per shipment. 'Ongoing trade and tariff uncertainty is hampering the truckload market's recovery from the freight recession that started three years ago,' the report concluded. The LTL earnings season kicks off on July 25 when Saia (NASDAQ: SAIA) reports second-quarter results before the market opens. AFS Logistics is a non-asset-based 3PL providing audit and cost management services, managed transportation, and freight brokerage. It has visibility into more than $39 billion in annual freight spend. More FreightWaves articles by Todd Maiden: June produces mixed freight trends, recovery remains 'elusive' Carrier Logistics automates LTL shipment data entry ArcBest touts results from EV semi pilot The post LTL pricing index to hit record high in Q3 appeared first on FreightWaves.
Yahoo
09-07-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
How A. Duie Pyle prepared for the upcoming LTL classification shift
This story was originally published on Trucking Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Trucking Dive newsletter. The National Motor Freight Classification changes for LTL shipments will go live July 19, 2025 and carriers such as A. Duie Pyle have been preparing for it. The industry has had ample time to adjust to the upcoming changes from the National Motor Freight Traffic Association's overhaul, as they've been working on it for several years. The changes will focus on density, so denser shipments will become cheaper while less dense ones will become more expensive. 'I believe the carriers are ready for the change to the extent they can,' John Luciani, A. Duie Pyle COO of LTL solutions, told Trucking Dive in an interview. To prepare for the upcoming changes this month from the NMFTA, Luciani said A. Duie Pyle has been very active by participating in the association's meetings and adding more dimensioners in anticipation of the classification changes. A. Duie Pyle is using the Cubiscan 1200 model. The device hangs on the ceiling, a shipment is placed into a box and the dimensioner scans and takes a picture of the freight. The picture is able to help calculate the cube of the shipments and loads the figure onto the company's ERP system, Luciani said. The Pennsylvania-headquartered company was already using these devices in its largest service centers but they did invest more in anticipation to the NMFC changes. The carrier is adding 12 more dimensioners to 22 currently in its network, Luciani told Trucking Dive. It also added second units in its larger service centers to reduce delay and travel time in its dock operations, he noted. Although not new, the company also has a research department that will aid in the upcoming changes. 'We have experts as it relates to understanding classification, the current classification system. Whether it's an item that's class 55 that has a sub item, we have a number of freight inspectors in the company that are experts in that area,' Luciani said. The members in that department handle weights and inspections. The company weighs about 85% of every outbound shipment and does dimensions to about 50% of every outbound shipment that moves in the company on a nightly basis. The impact to the industry may vary but Luciani doesn't expect any significant hangups during the first round of changes from the NMFTA. A. Duie Pyle has advised its customers that the NMFC changes are going to be a revenue-neutral event, he said. 'I don't expect a customer to tell me, 'Hey, you know, with this change, my freight bill is going to go down $40 a shipment,'' Luciani said. Or conversely, he doesn't expect to call customers and tell them their freight bills are going up $40 a shipment. 'We're a privately held, family-owned business. We have had the same family ownership all 101 years. Our pricing strategy, it's always been to charge, provide a very super competitive service, an industry leading service,' Luciani said. 'I don't expect these changes to be to be very significant, at least initially,' he added. Recommended Reading How shipping costs will change in upcoming LTL classification shift Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Business Wire
19-06-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
C.H. Robinson Launches an AI Agent to Help Shippers Adapt to the New National System for Classifying LTL Freight
EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--With the national classifications for less-than-truckload freight changing in July, global logistics provider C.H. Robinson has created a new AI agent that automates the process of determining how freight should be classified. C.H. Robinson moves more LTL freight than any other 3PL in North America, and this proprietary tech will help shippers smoothly transition to the new national system. It also represents a new frontier for the company's innovation with generative artificial intelligence. 'We have a fleet of over 30 AI agents performing tasks that had defied automation for decades,' said Arun Rajan, Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer. 'Now we're building AI agents that help our AI agents.' Because LTL shipping involves freight sharing a truck, the National Motor Freight Classification (NMFC) system provides thousands of classes and codes that help LTL carriers know how much space and weight to plan for each individual shipment – depending on whether it's bulky auto parts or a pallet of retail goods like socks. LTL carriers charge based on the NMFC classifications, and those will change starting July 19. 'Many LTL shippers are unaware or uncertain of the classification for their freight,' said Greg West, Vice President for LTL. 'So when they email us a tender, the freight class and code might be missing or incorrect. This is bound to increase with the massive overhaul of the national LTL freight classification system. So we built an AI agent that determines the correct class and code for a shipment and assists another of our AI agents in turning that tender into an accurate order in our system.' The new AI agent helps shippers avoid the delays that can come with misclassified freight being held by the carrier for inspection, reinvoicing and potentially higher charges. It has already helped significantly increase LTL automation at C.H. Robinson, resulting in enhanced service and greater speed-to-market for LTL customers. 'Before generative AI, half of our LTL orders were automated by way of customers using our global shipper platform or direct connectivity between our tech and their tech. We have the freight classifications for those shippers baked into our system,' West said. 'Where this new AI agent is particularly useful is assisting with orders for our small-to-medium business customers, who are heavy users of both LTL shipping and email. Now that this agent is helping with shipping requests that come in by email, over 75% of all our LTL orders are automated.' In the AI agent's first few months, it has been determining the freight class and code for about 2,000 orders a day. 'Manually looking up or confirming the freight class and code for every emailed LTL tender can easily take a person 10 minutes or more per shipment,' Rajan said. 'For shipments the AI agent is reasoning through for the first time, it can choose a freight classification in about 10 seconds. After getting more training on that type of freight from our LTL experts, it takes only three seconds. Unlike a person, the AI agent can also handle hundreds of LTL shipments at once and determine the freight classification for all of them simultaneously. So far, that's saving over 300 hours a day. Our customers' freight gets on the road faster, and our people can devote more time to helping customers manage disruptions and operate their supply chains more strategically.' The day the new freight classification system goes into effect, the AI agent will be able to apply the new classes and codes. Customers who tender LTL freight by email or any other method are advised to prepare by making sure they know the accurate weight and dimensions for their freight. Both are essential for applying the correct NMFC classification. Dimensioner technology can help, and C.H. Robinson has collaborated with dimensioner vendors to provide discounts for its customers. 'C.H. Robinson's track record of LTL innovation sets the standard for our industry,' said Michael Castagnetto, President of North American Surface Transportation. 'We were first to adopt the new electronic bill of lading. We're using AI-powered tech to help customers predict and save on their accessorial charges. Now with generative AI, the agents we've built are giving our customers an advantage by responding to LTL quote requests and processing LTL orders in numbers that are growing every day.' ABOUT C.H. ROBINSON C.H. Robinson delivers logistics like no one else™. Companies around the world look to us to reimagine supply chains, advance freight technology and solve logistics challenges—from the simple to the most complex. 83,000 customers and 450,000 contract carriers in our network trust us to manage 37 million shipments and $23 billion in freight annually. Through our unmatched expertise, unrivaled scale and tailored solutions, we ensure the seamless delivery of goods across industries and continents via truckload, less-than-truckload, ocean, air and beyond. As a responsible global citizen, we make supply chains more sustainable and proudly contribute millions to the causes that matter most to our employees. For more information, go to (Nasdaq: CHRW)
