The collapse of one of the largest U.S. trucking companies is propping up competitors in a lean freight market, the Wall Street Journal reported. XPO, ABF Freight and Saia are among the carriers reporting strong growth in pricing power, shipment volumes and other key measures during the most recent quarter in trucking’s less-than-truckload sector, a high-stakes corner of the market in which carriers combine freight from multiple customers in a single trailer. The results suggest the roughly 50,000 daily shipments once carried by Yellow, the nation’s third largest LTL carrier, have been largely absorbed by other operators and that retailers and manufacturers are paying higher rates to keep their freight moving. LTL truckers are loading up on some of Yellow’s big volumes largely by adding shipments to existing networks, keeping capacity relatively tight so they can charge higher prices than Yellow. “It shows that the LTL industry, among all the transportation segments, is healthier and in a better position for the next three years from a shareholder point of view,” said Satish Jindel, president of transportation industry consultancy SJ Consulting Group. ArcBest said average daily shipments at its LTL carrier ABF Freight jumped 20% in the third quarter from the second quarter while a key measure of pricing grew 16%. That helped ArcBest offset a decline in demand in its broader freight operations, although its overall third-quarter net profit was still down by more than half compared with the same period last year, at $34.9 million.
