The Daily Dash: Freight volumes remain strong as driver safety week starts

The Daily Dash: Freight volumes remain strong as Safe Driver Week starts (Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves

The Daily Dash is a quick look at what is happening today in the state of freight.

Freight volumes remain strong 

There is little evidence that suggests freight volumes will not continue to remain strong past the fourth of July holiday peak. The outbound tender volume index (OTVI) has declined less after the holiday peak than it did last year falling more in line with freight volumes from 2018. Plus, capacity remains tight as tender rejections stay above 15%. 

Seth Holm has more in his weekly freight market wrap-up: Volumes fall post-July Fourth (as expected) but remain strong

Don’t forget: CVSA’s Safe Driver Week starts Sunday

Higher speeds and less braking has been the norm during the COVID-19 lockdowns across the U.S. As traffic increases on the highways though, drivers need to be extra careful with safe driving, especially starting Sunday as Safe Driver Week starts. 

Clarissa Hawes has more on the enforcement details and Samsara’s study of speeds and braking, Don’t forget: CVSA’s Safe Driver Week starts Sunday.

Tesla’s stock continues its run

Tesla overtook Toyota as the most valuable automaker on July 1, and its stock is still ripping higher closing on Friday at $1,544.65. This gives Tesla a market capitalization of just over $286 billion. In another round of good news for the company, a school district outside of Austin approved $46 million in property tax breaks to build Tesla’s new $1 billion factory within its district.  

Alan Adler has more on Tesla’s stock gains, Tesla shares crack $1,500 as stunning run continues and Noi Mahoney details Tesla’s factory updates, Tesla gets tax break for proposed $1 billion factory in Austin, Texas.

Stories we think you’ll like:

Daimler Trucks recalling nearly 183,000 Freightliner Cascadias

Port of Long Beach posts 11.1% container decline

United Airlines to cut 4,700 employees in Houston, Dallas

China logjam, stubborn storage buoy tanker rates

Did you miss this?

Everyone in the industry has been discussing which trucking and logistics companies took loans from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). Dr. Jason Miller from Michigan State University analyzed which manufacturing sectors and regions were the most active with PPP loans. 

You can learn more about Dr. Miller’s findings here, Paycheck Protection Program loans in manufacturing.

Hammer down, everyone.

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Kevin Hill

Kevin Hill is the executive publisher at FreightWaves, where he formerly served as director of editorial and research. Kevin is also the host of Put That Coffee Down, the popular freight sales podcast, a former freight broker and the founder of CarrierLists. Kevin holds an MBA from the University of Oklahoma.