The US economy avoided a much-rumored recession in 2023 and expanded more than expected as inflation subsided. The freight economy took longer to begin to recover than expected after bottoming out last year. The outlook as we draw closer to 2025 remains as uncertain as ever. External events and the presidential election cloud the overall picture. This panel will discuss:
• The outlook for the US economy and freight demand.
• Trends in manufacturing and retail markets and inventories.
• The likely impact on transportation modes, capacity and pricing.
• Detailed forecasts for trucking and for intermodal rail.
Freight volumes at inland ports have exploded in recent years, and port authorities are engaged in expansion and planning for more. From the Southeast to the West Coast, potential sites are being explored and developed, and that’s shifting how goods move in North America. The Southwest plays a role, too, as more freight moves north from Mexico, and as border crossings such as Laredo become increasingly crowded. This session will address the following questions and more:
• Which inland ports are hottest in terms of freight volume and demand?
• Where are new facilities being built, and how tight is capacity?
• How is the growth of new distribution hotspots changing freight flows?
• What regions will see the most investment in 2025 and beyond?
The past several freight cycles have seen changes in how shippers and their truckload carrier partners approach the market, with transactional and strategic perspectives rising and falling as pricing cycles spin. The past few years have seen mini bids rise and fall, more tactical approaches to RFPs and contract talks, and changing spot market purchasing patterns. Everyone wants long-term partners, but are shippers and carriers really “walking the walk” together, or are “partners of choice” more talk than walk? In this panel, both sides will discuss how contracting is changing and what to expect in 2025.
The collapse of Yellow in July 2023 reshaped the less-than-truckload sector, almost immediately pulling the surviving LTL carriers out of a freight recession and increasing LTL costs — especially for former customers of Yellow, then the third-largest LTL provider. Today the LTL sector is seeking out capacity in an unprecedented land rush, not only restoring former Yellow terminals but also building new facilities as carriers plan for more freight. A combination of new technology, changing customer demands and the need for growth are pulling LTL trucking companies in new directions, often deeper into customer supply chains and toward non-traditional markets and services, such as warehousing and transloading ocean freight. This session will examine:
• The new lineup of top LTL carriers.
• How shipper demands are changing the sector.
• How and where LTL carriers are adding capacity.
• Regional and national growth.
• The role of third parties within LTL.
• Why LTL and FTL are on different routes.
• Top shipper concerns with LTL carriers.
Advances in technology have made the flow of goods through supply chains more visible to shippers and their customers, but also to thieves. Logistics managers are in a technology “arms race” with criminals' intent on plunder and extortion. This panel of experts will look at how shippers and their partners can use technology to prevent fraud, cybercrime and theft and protect themselves, their partners and customers. We’ll cover the gamut from carrier (and shipper) identity theft to cyberattacks and security breaches.
Cross-border truck traffic between Mexico and the US is rising as nearshoring plans progress, and that’s putting pressure on border crossings as well as shippers, trucking companies and logistics providers on both sides of the border. This panel will examine how cross-border trucking is evolving under that pressure, when major crossing points can quickly become chokepoints. We’ll learn about challenges shippers face at major border crossings, how supply chains and services are changing to meet rising demand, and how shippers can better manage the flow of cross-border freight heading north and south.
As we come to the end of Inland24, we summarize what we’ve learned and pull the challenges we face in the near-term future into tighter focus. And there will be plenty of challenges, including an uncertain economy, a national election, and further down the road challenges related to sustainability and electrification. Speakers in this final on-stage discussion will review findings from the past three days and draw attention to what they see as prime upcoming challenges for shippers and their supply chain partners. We’ll leave this session better prepared for those challenges, whenever they will arise.