Dear All,

Here is the internal drayage update for the week of 5/17/2021, along with other notable drayage news.

Please note any volume data is only a snapshot of the total inbound volume for this week. It should not be used to indicate capacity or availability,
or for pricing purposes.

Total volume does not take into account factors such as delays caused by storms/ bad weather, or vessel/ train delays.

Please feel free to contact me here with any questions or comments.

Danny Quian,
Manager - Overland Products, De Well Group
Below is a helpful capacity map created by Universal Intermodal Services, INC.
Below are some notable drayage updates for this week.
If you would like us to dig deeper into any specific markets,
please contact me here.
"I-40 bridge over Mississippi River to remain closed indefinitely"
"Temporary repairs could take weeks to complete on span connecting Memphis to eastern Arkansas"

- Nick Austin, Director of Weather Analytics and Senior Meteorologist Follow on Twitter, Freightwaves.com

Click HERE for more from Freightwaves.com
Charleston:
  • Charleston is once again our biggest pain point.
  • We have called dozens of truckers, but none can confirm capacity. 
  • Capacity shortage is an issue, but so is the lack of yard space. All of our trucker’s yards are completely full, so they can’t even offer to pre-pull.
  • Some truckers are won’t accept DOs period. Most truckers are booked 4-6 weeks out.
  • Due to the extreme backlog, most truckers will not even quote us new business. Please keep this in mind when your customers are requesting Charleston lanes.
  • Please avoid all shipments that require tri-axles. We do not have any availability.
  • OW shipments should be avoided in general, as that further limits capacity and exposes us to demurrage risk.
  • All deliveries will be delayed. Truckers are just pre-pulling and delivering as fast as they can, but there is only so much they can do.
  • Please warn customers about all related extra charges- chassis, yard storage, possible demurrage, and per diems.
  • This week we had 5 more givebacks due to credit issues. These containers are now eating demurrage with no relief in sight. 

Savannah:
  • Big Volume coming in this week. Has been very difficult for us to cover every single shipment
  • All truckers are booked about 1 month out. Very difficult 
  • Our local trucker for Rincon, GA, and other short lanes is maxed out on capacity. They are doing their best to pull everything out before LFD. Right now they are struggling to keep up
  • The capacity for longer lanes is very tough to cover. We have had a container that was over 300 miles and we could not cover a long time. Suffered multiple days of demurrage.

Memphis:
  • Got a lot busier for us past several weeks.
  • I40 Bridge Collapse has caused issues for truckers getting in and out of UP Marion. Please note we need to charge back a $250 surcharge for every container starting now. Click HERE for more information on this from Freightwaves.
  • We had some givebacks due to being at max credit with our preferred trucker. Have suffered rail storage as a result.
  • Chassis shortage is still an issue, which does not help out the search for new capacity.
  • Has a been struggle for us to recover loads recovered last minute. Most truckers are booked 3-4 weeks out.

Chicago:
  • Capacity is still very tight. 
  • Short lanes are easier to cover. Long lanes are extremely tough to do. Most truckers avoid layover lanes (250 miles or more).
  • Chassis availability issues come in waves. This week didn’t have as many arrivals, so it was not an issue. However, that can change on any given day/week.
  • Overweight capacity is limited as we lost our trucker that had their tri-axles pool. We can’t get anyone else committed at this point. 
  • Hazmat capacity is also limited for us. Should be able to handle 1-2 boxes at a time, but definitely not more.

Minneapolis & Detroit:
  • Both areas are busy for us due to Menards business. Our truckers are maxed out on capacity.

Kansas City:
  • Usual Chassis shortage issues.
  • Capacity has been tough to source. We are relying on current truckers to do their best to get everything pulled out.
  • Rail storage cases still very possible as most truckers are not accepting new customers/ lanes.
  • Please avoid long lanes to Kansas City. Anything over 150 miles should be avoided. We had some rail storage cases.

Domestic Market:
  • Rates are skyrocketing across the country, but especially in both Southern California and Georgia. 
  • We have seen big increases in rates due to more volume and also spikes in fuel. 
  • This trend will continue. Summer months are forecasted to be even busier and more expensive. Then we will enter the holiday shipping season which traditionally is even more expensive.

***The combination of our credit issues and very tight marketplace, has made it very difficult for us to source new capacity in all regions. We have been turned down capacity due to credit reports on a daily basis. We really need to clean up our payments process asap. Our capacity options are becoming more and more limited. This is the worst problem to have in the tightest trucking market in recent history***