In this episode of Freight Nation: A Trucking Podcast, host Brent Hutto is joined by Lee Klaskow, Senior Analyst of Freight Transportation and Logistics at Bloomberg Intelligence and Host of Talking Transports. 

Since 2010, Lee has been working as Sector Head and Senior Analyst of Freight Transportation and Logistics at Bloomberg Intelligence. There, he researches and analyzes all things freight. Since late 2023, he has also been the Host of Bloomberg’s Talking Transports podcast.

[06:18] Lee’s career began on Wall Street, but he was looking to do something different, so he started a research job in property and casualty insurance. After working in the role for around a year, his boss said he was due a promotion and suggested he start covering transport. Wanting to be a casino analyst, Lee wasn’t convinced it was the right move, but his senior convinced him, and that’s how he started on the transportation side. Now, he’s been covering freight transportation and logistics as an analyst for nearly 19 years. 

[20:07] As well as covering trucking, Lee’s work looks at railroads and marine shipping. At the moment, you can’t really pay attention to the news without hearing about the Red Sea crisis, and that’s been one of the biggest changes heading into 2024 for the markets. Rates are going up by up to 300%, depending on the lane, due to ships having to avoid the Red Sea and Suez Canal, instead going to the southern tip of Africa, around Europe, and to the east coast of the USA, adding around twelve days to every journey. Couple this with the issues in the Panama Canal and the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and everything’s complicated. There will likely be increased congestion at ports, with some shippers choosing to go to the west coast of the USA instead, which would be good for the trucking side of things. Ultimately, the global markets are in flux and will stay that way until the Red Sea conflict comes to a close. 

[38:36] In his two decades in the industry, the biggest change Lee has seen is how technology has created more efficient networks, allowing people to make better decisions. With a smartphone, owner-operators can now make very informed decisions about whether to take a load, allowing them to improve their ROI. To Lee, this benefits them and the big players like FedEx and CSX. While he doesn’t deem AI likely to be driving our trucks one day, its additive benefits will be, and already are, transformative in terms of our productivity. He’s also seen a distinct shift in portfolio management, with some companies diversifying into other businesses and others taking a U-turn and focusing more on their core strengths. 

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