After losses widened in Q1, U.S. Xpress has cut its corporate staff for the third time in the past year as the trucking giant prepares to merge with the larger Knight-Swift Transportation.

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — U.S. Xpress Enterprises is hitting the brakes on its spending, cutting its nondriving staff by another 5% this month and looking for ways to dispose of extra real estate and trim other expenses to offset rising costs amid signs of a shipping slowdown in some industries.

After reporting a first-quarter loss of more than $8.9 million May 5, U.S. Xpress Enterprises confirmed May 12 it laid off about 70 of its corporate and information technology staff in response to less-than-anticipated growth in the company’s trucking business.

In today’s digitally connected world, the status and location of most freight shipments can be immediately determined by GPS trackers, phone apps or simply making a cellphone call to the trucker hauling the package for delivery.

Kenco Logistics, North America’s biggest privately owned third-party logistics provider, has opened another warehouse to serve the Los Angeles market in Perris, Calif.

Freight brokerage company Arrive Logistics announced June 18 that it has raised an additional $25 million for expansion.

Western Express, a Nashville-based freight company, announced May 1 it will spend $88 million and add 225 jobs as it adds new technology, business services and back-office support at its headquarters and expands its truck fleet nationwide.

Avenger Logistics, a freight brokerage and logistics company created in 2015 by former Gold Bond Inc. owner Don Godsey, is likely to be a top local contender on the 2019 Inc. list after growing from $9 million in sales in 2016 to more than $60 million this year. The company expects to top $100 million in sales next year.

Grupo Sesé, a major Spanish trucking and logistics company that handles the freight of many major European companies including Volkswagen, came to Chattanooga, Tenn., in late 2012 to serve VW’s U.S. assembly plant.

A three-year turnaround in the operations and culture at U.S. Xpress Enterprises helped the Chattanooga, Tenn., trucking firm raise more than $250 million in an initial stock offering in June and deliver its best operating ratio in two decades this spring.