Wonder

Research Outline

Prepared for Greg R. | Delivered June 6, 2020

US Freight Shipping Industry

Goals

To obtain a broad understanding of the United States freight shipping industry including the total number of shippers/carriers broken down by state and/or any information about the volume of shipments from different locations, the roles played by brokers in the industry, how US manufacturers and warehouses ship goods across the country, Number of warehouse locations in the United States, U.S cities/states underserved by the industry, techniques employed by manufacturers and other shippers to obtain the lowest rates and any variation in the rates vary by location.

Early Findings

In 2018, the market size of the different sectors of the United States freight transportation industry was valued as;
Truck and private truckload: $695.1 billion 
Parcel: $79.4 billion 
Pipeline: $59.6 billion 
Rail carload: $59.6 billion 
Less-than-truck: $39.7 billion 
Water: $39.7 billion 
Rail intermodal: $19.9 billion.
The industry employs 413,489 people and has about 235,762 businesses.
Top players in the industry include;
 YRC Worldwide Inc. 
 XPO Logistics Inc. 
 Transport Services, Inc. 
FedEx Corporation 
 Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. 
Freight Brokers and their FunctionsAccording to Knichel Logistics, a freight broker is an "individual or a company that brings together a shipper who has goods to transport with an authorized motor carrier that wants to provide that service."
Brokers are known to provide important services to both the shippers and motor carriers.
Some of the major roles played by brokers in the U.S ground freight shipping industry include to;
Help carriers load their trucks.
Help "shippers find reliable motor carriers that they might not have otherwise known about."
Brokers also work in the traffic department for some companies. They help coordinate shipping and transportation activities in the company.