East Coast rail shippers stymied by the lack of double stack rail container option on a 125-year-old tunnel underneath Baltimore may be seeing light at the end of the tunnel. A $125 million federal grant issued by the Transportation Department under its Infrastructure of Rebuilding America Grant Program (INFRA) has reopened shippers’ long-held dream of allowing double stack service on a major rail line operated by CSX Transportation. johnschulz@peerlessmedia.com

July shipments, at 1,120,131, posted a 1.5% annual gain, and on a year-to-date basis, shipments through July–at 7,112,696 ––are up 0.1% compared to the same period in 2018. johnschulz@peerlessmedia.com

July shipments, at 1.171, were off 5.9% compared to a very strong July 2018 and down 0.8% compared to June. On the expenditures, side, the report noted that July came in at 2.861, which represented a 1.4% annual decline and a 2% decline compared to June. johnschulz@peerlessmedia.com

Rail carloads, at 261,194, were off 3.9% annually, and intermodal units, at 271,996, slipped 4.6%. johnschulz@peerlessmedia.com

For June, the most recent month for which data is available, the TCI was -0.82, an improvement over May’s -2.3 and April’s -1.18. johnschulz@peerlessmedia.com

This article provides a snapshot of the trucking freight futures market, starting with a summary of the basics about derivatives-futures and then diving into the specifics of trucking freight futures and their application for the key trucking market participants – trucking carriers, shippers, 3PLs and opportunistic traders/investors. johnschulz@peerlessmedia.com

Commerce reported the July retail sales­­, at $523.5 billion, were up 0.7% over June and up 3.4% annually, and NRF reported that July retail sales increased 0.9% on a seasonally adjusted basis and 5.6% on an unadjusted annual basis. johnschulz@peerlessmedia.com

How will your shipping team win during peak season? johnschulz@peerlessmedia.com