Transportation & Logistics Weekly Fast Track: Highlights from JoC Conference, Intermodal Replacement Rates Accelerate

This weekly publication highlights current transports and logistics trends across a wide range of truckload, intermodal, LTL, ocean, and airfreight market metrics. Key topics of the week: Inland Distribution Conference. This week we attended the Inland Distribution Conference hosted by the Journal of Commerce in Chicago. We came away from the event with a confirmation that contract intermodal rates are generally expected to increase high-single digits in the next bid cycle, although shippers were more concerned with upside risk from fuel costs rather than rates given the relatively flat demand backdrop. The Montgomery decision dominated discussion and presentations at the event as shippers are starting to grapple with implications for their procurement process and risk exposure. FMCSA's Deputy Administrator spoke at the event but was unable to provide any clarity on a reasonable care standard or recent court challenges to the non-domiciled CDL rulemaking and enforcement actions. On wee