Investor Conference Highlights Trucking Headwinds, Tailwinds As Economic Restart Looms
The outlook from management teams of several truckload (TL) and transportation companies participating virtually in the Bank of America Transportation and Industrials Conference this week hasn't changed dramatically from their earnings reports a couple of weeks ago. However, sentiment is improving slightly as more of the economy is poised to come back online. Thoughts on the overall market John Kuhlow, interim CFO at J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ: JBHT ), said some "uncertainty remains," but their strategy and expectations haven't changed. Through the pandemic, the company has seen higher TL volumes year-over-year due to the market's acceptance of its trailer pool service, 360box, but dedicated loads have flattened sequentially since the first quarter when they would normally see a sequential increase. The implication is that dedicated volumes will be lower year-over-year in the second quarter. Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ: WERN ) CEO Derek Leathers said the past six weeks have been "bumpy," referring to the dislocation in the supply chain caused by surges in demand from "essential" businesses while shippers in "nonessential" segments have seen a dramatic fall-off.
Investor Conference Highlights Trucking Headwinds, Tailwinds As Economic Restart Looms
The outlook from management teams of several truckload (TL) and transportation companies participating virtually in the Bank of America Transportation and Industrials Conference this week hasn't changed dramatically from their earnings reports a couple of weeks ago. However, sentiment is improving slightly as more of the economy is poised to come back online. Thoughts on the overall market John Kuhlow, interim CFO at J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ: JBHT ), said some "uncertainty remains," but their strategy and expectations haven't changed. Through the pandemic, the company has seen higher TL volumes year-over-year due to the market's acceptance of its trailer pool service, 360box, but dedicated loads have flattened sequentially since the first quarter when they would normally see a sequential increase. The implication is that dedicated volumes will be lower year-over-year in the second quarter. Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ: WERN ) CEO Derek Leathers said the past six weeks have been "bumpy," referring to the dislocation in the supply chain caused by surges in demand from "essential" businesses while shippers in "nonessential" segments have seen a dramatic fall-off.