WNYUZ
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Politics
  • Opinion
  • Business
  • World
  • Health
  • Entertainment
  • Tech
  • Home
  • Politics
  • Opinion
  • Business
  • World
  • Health
  • Entertainment
  • Tech
No Result
View All Result
WNYUZ
No Result
View All Result
Home News

Trump trade war is wrecking hope for 2025 US trucking rebound

April 24, 2025
in News
Trump trade war is wrecking hope for 2025 US trucking rebound
491
SHARES
1.4k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

By Lisa Baertlein

NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) -U.S. truckers are moving record volumes of auto parts, appliances and sneakers after their customers stocked up ahead of President Donald Trump’s tariffs, but an industry slowdown looms as those new duties start choking economic activity.

The $906 billion U.S. trucking industry was clawing back from a nearly three-year freight recession before Trump took office on January 20. Now that Trump’s import duties are in force, the bounce-back that the industry hoped for is at risk.

Truckers this month are moving more volume than they did during the pandemic peak in 2021, fueled by tariff avoidance, Dean Croke, principal analyst at Roper Technologies’ DAT Freight and Analytics, told Reuters.

That volume is masking deteriorating demand from key sectors – particularly domestic manufacturing, which drives more than 60% of big rig ton miles, and ocean imports.

“Things have turned south in a hurry with this trade war that’s emerging,” Croke said of the outlook for U.S. trucking.

“None of the signals are good when it comes to truckload demand.”

As of Monday, the spot rate for a semi trailer of goods, known as a dry van, was $1.60 per mile excluding fuel, up slightly from $1.54 a year earlier, said Croke. He expects year-over-year volume to be flat again in 2025 with small, if any, rate increases.

“Talks of tariffs and the fluid trade policy spurred a more cautious tone among shippers that brought a pause to the momentum to the market,” Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings CEO Adam Miller said on the company’s earnings call on Wednesday.

And while Knight-Swift is winning rate increases in some new contracts, that trend is at risk if volumes and competing spot rates are weak, he said.

BUMPY ROAD AHEAD

The fortunes of U.S. truckers matter because they touch virtually every sector of the U.S. economy and are among the first to register changes in business activity.

The American Trucking Associations in January forecast 2025 industry volume growth of 1.6%. The ATA did not respond to requests for comment.

Meanwhile, the vital U.S. manufacturing sector contracted in March after growing for two straight months.

U.S. home building is at risk of a downturn, following unexpected weakness in single-family permits and starts through March.

Beyond that, U.S. firms that import from China have been pausing orders after Trump hit that country with tariffs of 145%. China retaliated with 125% tariffs on U.S. goods, including beef and other exports that could move by truck.

China accounted for nearly one-third of U.S. seaborne import volume in March and helped drive near-record U.S. ocean imports so far this year.

Forecasters and some port executives said they expect that trend to reverse, starting as early as May.

Likewise, transport stocks are suffering trade war-related pain, having been among the biggest winners following Trump’s re-election.

At the close of trading on Wednesday, the Dow Jones Transportation Average Index was down 15.4% year-to-date versus an 8.9% drop in the S&P 500.

Many U.S. trucking firms already are running slim to non-existent margins, said Shelley Simpson, CEO of J.B. Hunt, which counts retail giant Walmart as a customer. Intense competition means rate increases are failing to keep up with escalating operating costs.

“I’ve never seen a (freight) recession last three years,” Simpson said on the company’s earnings call last week.

“Everyone’s holding on.”

(Reporting by Lisa Baertlein in Los Angeles. Editing by Mark Potter)

The post Trump trade war is wrecking hope for 2025 US trucking rebound appeared first on Reuters.

Tags: Donald Trumpindustry slowdownrate increasesReutersYahooYahoo Finance
Share196Tweet123Share
Ripple-backed Evernorth set to raise over $1 billion in US listing to hoard XRP token
News

Ripple-backed Evernorth set to raise over $1 billion in US listing to hoard XRP token

October 20, 2025

By Ateev Bhandari and Arasu Kannagi Basil (Reuters) -Evernorth, a new crypto venture backed by digital asset firm Ripple, said ...

Read more
News

Tons of silver from US, China ease London spot market squeeze

October 20, 2025
News

Fall in China’s exports of rare earth magnets stokes supply chain fears

October 20, 2025
News

China imports no US soybeans in September for first time in seven years

October 20, 2025
News

Warren Buffett plowed more than $1 billion into three stocks, and it says a lot about where he sees consumer priorities are right now: Houses, beer, and gas

October 19, 2025
Here’s how Trump can hit China’s economy where it really hurts as analysts say Beijing’s rare earths gamble could backfire

Here’s how Trump can hit China’s economy where it really hurts as analysts say Beijing’s rare earths gamble could backfire

October 19, 2025
Nexperia China unit asserts its independence as tensions with the Netherlands run high

Nexperia China unit asserts its independence as tensions with the Netherlands run high

October 18, 2025
Goldman Sachs says the demand for gold is not just hype, and predicts the U.S. could still see a repeat of a Nixon-era spike

Goldman Sachs says the demand for gold is not just hype, and predicts the U.S. could still see a repeat of a Nixon-era spike

October 18, 2025

© 2025 WNyuz.com

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Politics
  • Opinion
  • Business
  • World
  • Health
  • Entertainment
  • Tech

© 2025 WNyuz.com