FedEx announces rate increase
12/8/2003
Purchasing.com
Following the lead of rival UPS, shipping giant FedEx announced it has discontinued its fuel surcharge for all ground shipments effective Jan. 5. Surcharges will remain in place for express shipments. In addition, FedEx said its express shipment rates will increase an average of 2.5% in 2004, while ground rates will jump 1.9%. UPS last month increased its rates 2.9% for express and 1.9% for ground and also eliminated its fuel surcharge. FedEx also made several other changes to its rate structure for 2004 including offering Saturday delivery for its Express Freight to select U.S. destinations for an additional charge of $100 per shipment.
Key Metrics and Supply Alert
Staff
Purchasing
December 11, 2003
Trucking rates will rise in the next 90 days, say 41% of the buyers surveyed by purchasingdata.com. Pushing tags higher will be the improving economy, restricted capacity and new rules that limit the number of hours truckers can work. Mavens project rates will rise 4-7%, with half of the hike coming from federal "hours of service" rules that take effect Jan. 1. During each 24-hour work period, drivers must set aside a minimum of 10 hours to rest. That's up from eight. In the meantime, there are fewer trucks to haul freight. An estimated 11,700 trucking companies went out of business in the past three years. There are close to 600,000 interstate trucking companies in the U.S. Most are small.
Industrial leadtimes are skyrocketing
12/19/2003
Purchasing.com
Delivery speeds for industrial products shot higher in December, reflecting growing strength in the economy, lean inventories and reduced manufacturing capability in America.
Purchasing magazine’s Leadtime Index (1992=100) leapt nearly 36 points between November and December-one of the largest jumps ever. The increase was widespread, reflecting gains across nearly 90% of the commodity categories tracked monthly by purchasingdata.com. “The trend bodes well for industrial production as manufacturers should start ramping up output to meet rising demand for goods,” comments Anne Millen Porter, managing editor of Purchasing.
On a percentage basis, some of the biggest leadtime gains came in hydrocarbon-based chemicals: styrene, phenol, ethylene and benzene. Many electronic components- memory devices in particular-also saw substantial leadtime stretching in December. Still, most of the month-to-month leadtime increases reflect spot shortages affecting very small numbers of buyers rather than a general tightening of supply across entire markets.
Purchasing has been tracking industrial leadtimes since 1977 and is the only source of the data, which tracks the time from placement of a purchase order to actual delivery. |
