Con-way launches regional truckload offering
Trucking giant focuses assets on more healthy segment of truckload market
Dave Hannon -- Purchasing, 9/14/2009 4:13:07 PM
MORE LOGISTICS INFO
Trucking carrier Con-way this week launched a regional truckload offering to the market.
The service will handle short-haul truckload shipments of less than 600 miles, including cartage service for truckload shipments of less than 100 miles. The company also plans to offer drayage services as part of Con-way Truckload Regional.
According to company officials, Con-way is launching the
service to target a slice of the truckload market that is seeing better growth
than many other sectors of the truckload market today. "About 70% of the
freight in the transportation market travels less than 550 miles, and it's a
segment that tends
to stay healthy even during challenging economic
conditions," said Herb Schmidt, president, Con-way Truckload, in a company
statement.
Con-way Truckload services 11 states and by the end of 2009, it plans to have 325 trucks dedicated to the new offering, and will add an additional 300 trucks in 2010. By 2011, the company's goal is to have 1,000 trucks dedicated to nationwide regional service.
Con-way's strategy of aiming equipment at regional markets matches up with trends highlighted by Stifel, Nicolaus & Co. analysts in a recent presentation to investors. "Many large carriers have repositioned equipment from medium- to long-haul markets into regional markets, dedicated markets, drayage markets, and temperature-controlled markets," the analysts said. "Shippers are endeavoring to reduce truckload miles by redesigning supply chains, producing more highly concentrated/more compact/more efficiently packaged products, or shifting freight to other less costly/more sustainable modes when possible."
Stifel analyst said overall truckload volumes will be down by as much as 25% this year, but tick up slowly in 2010 by as much as 7%. But with so much capacity being removed or repositioned in the truckload market, "only a partial recovery in demand is needed to dramatically tighten the supply/demand balance."
Con-way launches regional truckload offering
02/09/2010Truckload Rates to Drop
02/09/2010Con-way sells expedited business
07/26/2006
Now Playing: 
