RedStone Logistics Blog

Business Inventories Back In-Line RedStone Resource April 18, 2024 Inside This EditionTransportation Prices Mixed in March In the wake of the Yellow closure last year and tighter controls of inventory, LTL prices were the highest in the group. LTL prices were up 5.2% year-over-year and were 0.5% higher monthly. Again, historically when a major LTL…

The cargo ship Dali after it ran into and collapsed the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore on Tuesday. Tasos Katopodis / Getty Images FSK Bridge in Baltimore Impact on Supply Chain RedStone Resource April 2, 2024 Inside This EditionInvestment Firm Expects $100+ Oil by Late Summer JP Morgan analysts are forecasting a surge in…

Trucking Prices Inch Up in February RedStone Resource March 15, 2024 Inside This EditionElection Years, Consumer Spending, and Freight Volumes Research conducted by First Trust shows that only 4 times since 1928 has the S&P 500 index fallen in an election year. Unfortunately, two of those years were 2000 and 2008, and it remains fresh…

Global Supply Chain to Get Boost from Manufacturing Recovery RedStone Resource March 1, 2024 Inside This EditionStriving for Supply Chain Normalcy With 10 months left in 2024, it appears that 2024 could be a transitional year into what we hope to be “supply chain normalcy”. After a 100-year event in 2020, global supply chain crisis…

Three Key Themes Emerging from Q4 Earnings Calls: AI, Supply chain, and Labor Plans RedStone Resource February 16, 2024 Our Commitment to Cutting YOUR Costs Continues We are pleased to announce our partnership with The SALT Group® – the nation’s leading Operating Cost & Expense Reduction resource for Manufacturing and Production companies! Discover how you…

GDP Running Hot, Impact on Supply Chain RedStone Resource January 31, 2024 Inside This EditionOil Prices Inch Up on Middle East Challenges At the time of writing, oil prices were inching close to the $80 per barrel mark for WTI and Brent North Sea Crude was above $83 a barrel. Markets were anticipating a possible…

Global Supply Chain Congestion Risk Rising Again RedStone Resource January 17, 2024 Our Commitment to Cutting YOUR Costs Continues We are pleased to announce our partnership with The SALT Group® – the nation’s leading operating Cost & Expense Reduction resource for Manufacturing and Production companies! Discover how you can further reduce your monthly spend with…

Construction Spending in 2024 and Impact on Trucking RedStone Resource January 3, 2024 Inside This EditionRed Sea Diversions to Continue Through Early January More maritime carriers will continue to block transits through the Red Sea and the Suez Canal because of attacks on commercial ships in the region. Global capacity is expected to be cut…

2024 Economic Forecast RedStone Resource December 19, 2023 Inside This EditionSupply Chain Pressures Index Surges in Early December The New York Federal Reserve’s Global Supply Chain Pressures Index has surged since August at a historically fast pace. It is important to note that on a historical basis, the current reading is still showing a “balanced”…

Biden Administration Efforts on Supply Chain Resiliency RedStone Resource December 1, 2023 Inside This EditionPresidential Election Years and Business Activity It is a popular belief that Presidential election years are bad for economic activity (and therefore freight activity). There have certainly been some specific years in which there was a significant impact on the market,…

Petroleum Prices Still Weak Despite Supply Concerns RedStone Resource November 15, 2023 Inside This EditionGlobal Supply Chain Pressures Index Hits All-Time Low The New York Fed’s GSCPI fell to -1.74 in October, down from -.7 in September. This was the lowest reading in the history of the index dating to 1997. Understanding the index is…

Petroleum Price Concerns Mount on Middle East Tensions RedStone Resource October 18, 2023 Inside This EditionGlobal Supply Chain Pressures “Normalizing”? The New York Federal Reserve’s Global Supply Chain Pressures index has inched up in the past several weeks. At this point in time, the index is showing a “normal” relationship and lower than normal global…

Low Mississippi River Water Levels Impact Barge Traffic RedStone Resource October 2, 2023 Inside This EditionMaritime Sector Tightening Capacity in October Estimates suggest that a significant enough volume of capacity could be impacted that it could have a ripple effect on more than 20% of the sailings that touch the US east and west coasts.…

Small Businesses Owners Say Unlikely to Build Inventories Over Next Six Months RedStone Resource September 15, 2023 Inside This EditionDiesel Prices Quietly Surge to Nearly Third Highest Period in History US diesel prices have moved back up to $4.54 a gallon on a national average basis. Aside from the panic period in the weeks following…

Will the Peak Season Show Up Late? RedStone Resource September 1, 2023 Inside This EditionInflation Still Too Hot, but the Trend is Positive The transportation sector and the broader economy are being affected heavily by higher interest rates currently (the highest in 23 years). Tightening credit conditions are also slowing down borrowing by consumers, affecting…

Investment and Spending Continue to Surprise with Strong Growth RedStone Resource August 18, 2023 Inside This EditionSupply Chain Stall and Latest on Inventory to Sales Ratios This sluggish supply chain cycle is being driven heavily by inventory overstocks and the latest data on inventory to sales ratios across the economy show that 65% of businesses…

What Happens in LTL Now with the Yellow Closure? RedStone Resource August 1, 2023 Inside This EditionCan the Economy Continue to Surprise Higher? The current Q3 GDPNow estimate from the Atlanta Fed is showing growth of 3.5%. This could easily adjust downward throughout the quarter as new economic data is released, and Blue Chip Economist…

Amazon Prime Shopping Day Hits Record – But is This a Good Thing? RedStone Resource July 17, 2023 Inside This EditionPeak Season Inbound Estimates The National Retail Federation and Hackett and Associates are predicting that inbound containers from July through November will be down 4.5% from last year’s volumes. The estimate by the NRF shows…

Second Quarter Economic Growth Driven by Consumption RedStone Resource June 30, 2023 Inside This EditionInventories Still Elevated in Latest Data Snapshot Current data shows 65.1% of the nation’s product-moving sectors are in an overstock situation relative to the decade prior to the pandemic. Using the inventory-to-sales-ratios for specific sub-sectors in the economy, approximately 11.3% are…

Hot Durable Goods Sectors Prop Up Freight Sectors for Big-Ticket Items RedStone Resource June 15, 2023 Inside This EditionGlobal Supply Chain Pressures Index Declines Further in May The New York Federal Reserve and AMEC’s Global Supply Chain Pressures Index hit its lowest reading in the history of the series dating back to before 1998. At…

What happens now after the debt ceiling bill is passed? Special Edition RedStone Resource June 6, 2023 At the time of writing this piece, a deal on a debt ceiling increase was “close”.  The reported deal would cap spending on most items for two years, increase defense spending by 12% from 2023 to 2025, and…

Oil and Diesel Prices Continue to Ease RedStone Resource June 1, 2023 Inside This EditionOil and Diesel Prices Continue to Ease West Texas Intermediate prices have dipped below $70 a barrel (at the time of writing) on weaker global demand outlooks. Oil inventories in the United States were trending in the middle of the 5-year…

West Coast Labor Negotiations Reach Tentative Agreement RedStone Resource May 15, 2023 Inside This EditionGlobal Purchasing Activity Still Strong, But Being Driven by Services Demand The global PMI released by S&P Global showed it at 54.2 in April which was a bit higher than 53.4 in March. But still, this is incredibly strong. The problem…

Banking Situation and Impact on Supply Chain Management RedStone Resource May 5, 2023 Inside This EditionOil Prices Fall Sharply on Economic Risk, Impact on Transportation Oil prices were falling at the time of writing, falling to $68.16 a barrel (for West Texas Intermediate). This is down 15.1% year-to-date and was 23% lower than last year…

Petroleum Prices to Become More Volatile RedStone Resource April 17, 2023 Inside This EditionFederal Reserve Likely to Continue to Hike Rates, Which Could Impact Inventories The Federal Reserve is likely to hike interest rates at least one more time, analysts believe that the Fed will hike 25 basis points more in its next meeting to…

Labor Negotiations to Take Center Stage RedStone Resource March 31, 2023 Inside This EditionStill Watching Growth in the Baltic Dry Index for Signs of Global Pickup in Activity By the end of March, the BDI was up 27.7% over the past 30 days but remains 40.5% lower than it was at this time last year.…

Why are Freight Rates Remaining Elevated Despite Sluggish Demand? RedStone Resource March 16, 2023 Inside This EditionProducer Price Indexes for Transportation Modes Mixed The truckload producer price index came in down 3.3% month-over-month (M/M) and was down 2.1% year-over-year (Y/Y). One of the stories that continues to be a factor within the PPI series is…

Something is Happening: Baltic Dry Index Rebounds Sharply in February RedStone Resource March 1, 2023 Inside This EditionCDL Driver Drug Failures Continue to Rise Among those in prohibited status, 24% never go into the return to duty status and only 38% successfully move out of prohibited status and return to work. Fifty-seven percent of the…

Home Builder Sentiment Also Unexpectedly Improves in Early February RedStone Resource February 16, 2023 Inside This EditionCass Freight Indexes Mixed in January The shipments index was down 3.2% between December and January. But it was stronger year-over-year by 4.3%. On a real basis, the shipments index was comparable to the ten year average prior to…

Personal Incomes Inch Up – Consumer Demand Remains Steady RedStone Resource February 1, 2023 Inside This EditionIndustrial Production Slips in December, But Remains Higher Year-over-Year When stripping out all but manufacturing, industrial production for manufacturing was down 1.3% M/M and was 0.5% lower year-over-year. Within manufacturing, durable goods were down 1.1% M/M but were 0.8%…

Oil Prices Rebound on China Reopening Optimism RedStone Resource January 18, 2023 Inside This EditionUS Dollar Continues to Soften There continues to be much global volatility as different regions of the world deal with different disruptive issues. From the War in Ukraine impacting markets throughout Europe to Covid impacts in China and Fed actions in…

2023 Outlook: What to Expect in the Supply Chain RedStone Resource January 4, 2023 Inside This EditionBusiness Investment Still Growing Despite surveys which show an anticipated decrease in business investment and spending, the current national data shows that there is no deceleration yet in total spending. The Census Bureau showed that business investment came in…

Twenty Countries with PMIs in Contraction – Good for US Manufacturing? RedStone Resource December 16, 2022 Inside This EditionFederal Reserve Does Not Ease Market Tension The Federal Reserve hiked interest rates by 50 basis points as expected, the Federal Funds Effective Rate is now at 4.28% and is likely to continue to increase until the…

Rail Strike Likely Averted, Hurdles Remain RedStone Resource December 2, 2022 Inside This EditionChina Easing Zero Covid Restrictions – Mixed News for the Global Supply Chain The Chinese government has said that it will begin to ease restrictions in its zero-Covid policy. Protests across the country likely weighed heavily on the decision to publicly start…

Consumer Spending Continues to Surprise Despite Inflation Headwinds RedStone Resource November 21, 2022 Inside This EditionInflation Remains High Despite Some Softening in October The Consumer Price Index for October came in 7.8% higher year-over-year, this was down from an 8.2% inflation rate in September and this reversal of trend changed sentiment in the stock market.…

Q3 GDP Comes in at 2.6%, Higher Than Expected But There is a Catch RedStone Resource November 1, 2022 Inside This EditionGlobal Supply Chain Pressures Index Still High, But Decelerating The current index came in at 1.05 (that is, 1.05 points higher than the historic average). This is well off the peak hit in December…

Could US Q3 GDP Surprise to the Upside? RedStone Resource October 19, 2022 Inside This EditionUS Dollar Continues to Build Strength The US dollar index is at its highest levels since 2002. A combination of the US Federal Reserve hiking interest rates and global flight to safety has pushed the dollar higher. The impacts can…

Hurricane Ian Could Have Damaged More Than a Million Homes RedStone Resource September 30, 2022 Inside This EditionChina’s Yuan Hits Lowest Levels Against the Dollar Since 2008 Currencies around the world are generally falling against the dollar as the US Federal Reserve hikes interest rates. The Chinese yuan has lost 10.7% against the dollar since…

US Consumer Continues to Spend RedStone Resource September 16, 2022 Inside This EditionFalling Maritime Rates as Global Supply Chain Faces Continuing Hurdles Maritime rates around the world continued their deceleration trend as China and Europe both start to face industrial production challenges. The global supply chain situation is getting more complex by the week as…

China’s Drought Intensifies, Rekindles Global Supply Chain Uncertainty RedStone Resource September 2, 2022 Inside This EditionCass Freight Shipments Index Shows Mixed Conditions in July The Cass Freight Shipments Index showed some mild deceleration in July, slipping by 1.7% month-over-month. However, it was still trending just slightly higher on a year-over-year basis rising by 0.4% Drug…

Global Supply Chain Pressures Index Remains High for Shippers RedStone Resource August 17, 2022 Inside This EditionGlobal Supply Chain Pressures Index Remains High for Shippers The New York Federal Reserve released its latest Global Supply Chain Pressures Index and it came in at 1.84, which is still historically high when compared to data stretching back…

Global Maritime Shipping Rates Easing, But Remain Historically High RedStone Resource August 3, 2022 Inside This EditionGlobal Maritime Shipping Rates Easing, But Remain Historically High There are many sources showing a year-over-year chart of containerized shipping rates between Asia and the US and those charts show the rate plummeting. But this, and many metrics across…

Cass Freight Index Shows Shipments Remain Steady RedStone Resource July 19, 2022 Inside This EditionChina’s Yuan Hits Lowest Levels Against the Dollar Since 2008 The June Supply Chain Pressures Index produced by the New York Federal Reserve still came in hot for June, despite some slight deceleration from May levels. The reopening of China in…

Despite China COVID Lockdowns Earlier, Container Volumes Still Near Record Levels RedStone Resource July 1, 2022 Inside This EditionContainer Freight Rates Dropping, Still Historically Elevated There are many questions about the drop in freight rates to ship containers between key ports around the world. Obviously, economic slowing is partly at play here. But the other…

Federal Reserve Hikes Rates 75 Basis Points RedStone Resource June 17, 2022 Inside This EditionInventory to Sales Ratios Remain Balanced The latest data on the inventory to sales ratio for most sectors of the freight economy came in slightly higher than prior, but they remain historically lower. For instance, the national inventory to sales ratio…

Manufacturing Remains Stable in May RedStone Resource June 2, 2022 Inside This EditionConsumer Confidence Softens Slightly in May There are several different consumer confidence measures in the industry, but the one from the Conference Board is a good representation of a stable measure that has been reactive to various economic conditions over the years. The…

Could Diesel Shortages Be the Next Crisis? RedStone Resource May 18, 2022 Inside This EditionChina Says Could Ease Restrictions in Coming Days Promises have been made in the past by elements of the Chinese Government to start easing COVID restrictions, but there are some real signs that this could be the case. China has moved…

Rail Firms Face Pressure as Capacity is Overwhelmed by Demand RedStone Resource May 5, 2022 Inside This EditionRail Firms Face Pressure as Demand Overwhelms Capacity Like all industries, the rail sector is struggling to get workers back on the job after the pandemic. The supply chain and warehousing sector has 1.8 million jobs open in…

Texas Eases Cross-Border Manual Inspection Mandates RedStone Resource April 20, 2022 Inside This EditionUS Business Inventories Remain Too Low Across Most Sectors The US inventory-to-sales-ratios (ITSR) were updated recently and most of them remain “too low” compared to historic levels. Total business ITSRs were still sitting at lows that would keep the global supply chain…

China’s Manufacturing Sector Slips Back into Contraction RedStone Resource April 6, 2022 Inside This EditionChina’s Manufacturing Sector Slips Back into Contraction China’s manufacturing sector serves as a leading indicator of global economic activity, and it just turned in a poor monthly report on activity. The manufacturing sector PMI came in at 48.1 in March, down…

US Reshoring and Nearshoring Trends to Accelerate? RedStone Resource May 24, 2022 Inside This EditionRaw Material Shortages Having Bigger Impact Than Expected Global metal supplies have been falling for months. Metals prices used in manufacturing and construction have surged with nickel leading the way after an investor was forced to meet a margin call, nickel prices…

Impact of War in Ukraine on Global Supply Chain RedStone Resource March 10, 2022 Inside This EditionChina’s Manufacturing Sector Jumps Back to Life After nearly 45 days of disruptions from the Lunar New Year and hosting the Olympics, Chinese manufacturing and supply chain activity has restarted. The manufacturing PMI for the country came in at…

WTO: Supply Chain Congestion Will Ease Soon RedStone Resource February 24, 2022 Inside This EditionCyber Attacks Increasing in 2022 Many popular news reports point to the Russia/Ukraine conflict as pushing the risk of cyber attacks higher, and that could very well be the case. But since the beginning of the year, cyber security experts say…