XPO story on JOC

@Mike2633 turned me on to JOC in one of his posts. You can trade them a junk email address for 5 free articles a month, likely more than that if you can use multiple browsers. I think they have relevant and current content, if I was working I'd subscribe.

Here's a quote from a recent article on XPO... my italics.

And that’s an area, he said, where shippers can make a difference, by feeding shipment information to XPO more quickly and accurately, Wagers said. “If we can get that information earlier, we can plan with more precision, and that feeds a more timely run network.”
XPO’s LTL network is running well in the time- and fulfillment-focused Amazon era of shipping. LTL revenue in North America increased 4.5 percent in the first quarter, as the number of palletized shipments per day handled by XPO dropped 6.3 percent year over year.
But the operating unit’s profit increased 7.7 percent from a year ago to $137.6 million on $976.5 million in total revenue. Its adjusted operating ratio of 84.3 percent is the LTL carrier’s best operating ratio in 30 years, whether as XPO or Con-way Freight (acquired by XPO in 2015).
The LTL unit’s operating ratio has dropped more than 1,200 basis points from the fourth quarter of 2015, its first full quarter as an XPO subsidiary, when it was 96.9 percent.
Chairman and CEO Bradley S. Jacobs sees opportunity to reach a full-year operating ratio in the low 80s over the next few years. XPO’s contract renewal LTL pricing increased 6.4 percent on average in the quarter, compared with 5.9 percent the previous quarter.
Making more money hauling less LTL freight

Like many of its competitors this year, XPO is making more money hauling less LTL freight, an indicator that the freight it is hauling is more profitable freight better suited to its network. XPO also is hauling heavier freight, as shippers deconsolidate and shift truckloads to LTL.
The average weight per LTL shipment at XPO increased 6.1 percent from a year ago in the second quarter, compared with 4.3 percent in the first quarter, and 3.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2017. That’s a sign shippers are pushing truckload freight to LTL when they can.
“Our customers are talking to our sales team about mode-shifting to see if their freight is compatible with LTL,” Wagers said. “That works extremely well for us, and it’s a win for our customer if they move freight for a little better rate and the speed that we have.”
LTL typically carries a price premium over full truckload, so the fact that shippers can get a “little better rate” by splitting up full-truckload shipments into separate LTL shipments says plenty about current truckload pricing, especially on the spot market, and the pressure on truck capacity.
Even in LTL, “it’s a tight market,” said Wagers. “It’s down to each carrier and their infrastructure. Our network is set up in such a way that we have some [additional] capacity, but it’s in pockets. The idea is to understand where it exists and take advantage of the spot market a little bit.”​

 

Another reason to read JOC, here's a real opportunity to cash in because CSX is mostly comprised of unoriginal clueless followers. This dunderheaded move not only affects those markets but anyone who depended on an interchange with UP through the Global yards in Chicago. Great time to have a reliable extra cab or two and charge what the market will bear. Don't depend on it lasting, CSX is fickle and directionless, but as a short-term profit-maker for an extra cab, it's perfect.

CSX shifts destination terminals and interchanges

Shippers in four markets will have to send trucks to new terminals while Southeast US traffic will interchange in a new location.
Cargo ending up near Baltimore will now be routed to Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. Philadelphia cargo will now end up in Kearny, New Jersey. Ohio freight destined for Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Columbus will go to North Baltimore, Ohio. Massachusetts cargo destined for Springfield and Boston will go to Worcester. Consolidating intermodal terminals will cause truckers to travel farther to deliver boxes.
“They are banking on reaching all of Ohio via their Northwest Ohio terminal and Pennsylvania and Maryland via Chambersburg. Both are grossly unrealistic as dray capacity in each destination market is horrendous and unable to absorb an influx of traffic, especially long-haul drays. We don't even price Chambersburg-based freight because of the severe dray deficit,” the Southeast-based intermodal director told JOC.com. There is also consternation over the Philadelphia volume being sent to northern New Jersey.
The Ohio routing is the latest effort of CSX to scrap low-volume lanes into Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, and Detroit, re-routing freight into one location in north Baltimore.
Shippers based in Tennessee, Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas will now have their interchanges moved to Memphis. CSX told shippers that this would alleviate congestion in Chicago while also providing a “more direct and reliable service” with significantly fewer miles from the existing route.​

 

Yep, so much for the promise of "taking trucks off the road" whenever they go to the government for a handout to build stuff on their private property because they are such a valuable asset.

If I had the capital right now, I'd be buying every decent cab I could find in those markets, think of how many trailers are on a train.

Although there's another problem looming, which is that the tariffs are going to affect frame availability here very shortly. That'll be another biz to get into, frame restoration and refurb.