b'2American Journal of Transportation ajot.comSMC3 technology platformTOP 50 LTL CARRIERS 2021assists LTL through change By Matt Miller, AJOTOne year back, less-than- volume changes up or down.truckload (LTL) freight trans- Publiclytradedtruck portationwasinatailspin.transportcompanieshelp The pandemic had triggered atellthestoryofarenewal lockdown. The economy wasoffortune.OldDominion cratering.Ordersweresum- Freight,forexample,isone marilycancelled.Shippers,of the largest LTL carriers in wholesalersandmerchantsthe US. Its first quarter 2021 were desperately trying to sur- financialresultsareillustra-vive, and carriers were caughttive. LTL revenue grew that up in the downward spiral. quarterabout14%to$1.1 And now? With the econ- billion. Net income, or profit, omyinrecoverymodeandhowever, jumped almost 50% deliverypatternsshiftingtoashadeunder$200mil-awayfromfulltruckloads,lion. This came after a down manyLTLfreightcarriersyear in 2020, where revenues enjoy booming business anddropped by 2.3%.haverecentlyraisedprices.Anotherpubliclytraded Theirbiggestproblemiscompany is SAIA. In a first tryingtofigureouthowtoquarterearningscall,CEO moveallthefreightbeing(ASSISTScontinued on thrown their way.page 4) Self-driving truck startup, Plus, agreed to merge with SPAC, Hennessy Capital Investment Corp. V.F amine toF eastEverybodyisawinner national,regional,final mile. Theyre all in a position of strong pricing power due to thecapacitysituation,said Brian Thompson, chief com-mercial officer at the technol-ogyproviderSMC3.They went from famine to feast. SMC3 specializes in assist-ing LTL shippers and carriers withefficiency-relatedsoft- SMC 3LTL ONLINE EDUCATIONware and technology tools that help optimize the entire LTL-related supply chain. Its in a unique position to observe the marketplace. More than 5,000 shippers,carriers,logistics service providers and freight-paymentcompaniesuseits services.While some of these gains100% ONLINEmay be temporary, LTL-related business has changed in two fundamentalways.Forone, LTL carriers have been forced toengagemoreinlast-mileINTERACTIVEdelivery. Second, a heightened numberoflogisticscarriers have turned to LTL carriers to provide necessary services. Both developments shouldENGAGINGhave staying power. JustlikeLTLcarriers thathavepulledintoFinal Mile,whethertheylikeit ornot,logisticsproviders andfreightbrokershaveCAREER-FOCUSEDbeen pulled into LTL to ser-vicetheircustomers,said Thompson in a Zoom call. LTLbusinessaccounts forabout12-14%oftotal trucking freight in the US byThe first of its kind in the industry, SMC online education provides a value,accordingtovariousflexible learning experience with both professional certification and estimates. Almost by defini-tion, LTL is a lot more com- non-certification paths for the transportation professional on the go. plicated than line-haul or full truckload, as each truck car-riesmultipleorderstomul-tiple destinations. It involves morehandling,morestops and generally more planning. That all translates into moreLearn more about LTL online education money spent in investments.LTLisacapitalinten- and certification at www.smc3.com.sivemodeoftransportation with a high amount of over-head,said Thompson.So,Produced in partnership with LogisticsTrainingCenter.comtheyrereallysensitiveto'