The Daily Dash: FedEx points finger at LTL rivals

The Daily Dash is a quick look at what’s happening in the freight ecosystem. In today’s edition, we highlight FedEx’s analysis of its recent actions, a rail battle for Upper Midwest support and more.

The High Five

1. FedEx Corp. officials said that overflow shipments from a saturated truckload market contributed to record fourth-quarter results for the less-than-truckload unit but blamed a messy service suspension for some customers on rivals’ earlier cancellations that dumped more freight into its system. Eric Kulisch with more

2. Logistics payment software RoadSync has raised $30 million in Series B funding led by Tiger Global with participation from Base10 Partners, Hyde Park Venture Partners and its new investor, Gaingels. The company has raised $38.3 million since 2015. Grace Sharkey’s story

3. Rivals CN and Canadian Pacific each are claiming they have the support of Upper Midwest grain shippers in the battle over which railway gets to merge with Kansas City Southern. The Upper Midwest has a vital voice in the merger process because 80% of the grain leaving the Upper Plains moves by rail, according to CP. Joanna Marsh’s story

4. Driver recruitment and retention remains the top priority throughout the trucking industry. However, relief may be on the way, according to software-as-a-service provider Tenstreet. A report from the company that helps carriers better recruit and onboard drivers noted a “positive driver hiring outlook on the horizon.” Todd Maiden’s story

5. Dachser Mexico has launched a weekly less-than-container-load service between Mexico and Brazil aiming to provide customers with reliable transport, with cargo typically arriving at the destination port in 22 days. The new LCL service will be between the Port of Altamira in Mexico and the Port of Santos in Brazil. Noi Mahoney’s story