FreightWaves Today

August saw an accelerated decline in freight shipments, particularly in less-than-truckload (LTL) volumes, marking the largest year-over-year drop since October 2023. Meanwhile, the Port of Los Angeles experienced record container traffic in July and August due to early holiday stocking, but anticipates a significant slowdown through the end of 2025 as economic caution grows and new ship fees are...

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Major carriers like DHL Express and FedEx Express are making significant, strategically expanded, and sustainability-focused moves. DHL recently inaugurated a new $94 million international hub at Barcelona International Airport, which boasts a seven-fold capacity increase, processing over 20,000 pieces per hour, and features a full solar array and 37 electric chargers for its vans. Similarly, FedE...

Large chunks of publicly available data on carriers have vanished from the FMCSA's website, impacting transparency for safety scrutiny efforts. Neither the FMCSA nor the Department of Transportation has yet offered an explanation for this significant data disappearance. Yellow Corp. is selling a Baltimore service center for $4.7 million, with only 11 terminals now remaining from its original 325-p...

The Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA) is sounding the alarm over broker liability. The Supreme Court is currently weighing requests to hear two cases, Total Quality Logistics v. Cox and Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II, which highlight conflicting circuit court rulings that create an "acute existential threat" for small brokers. A significant victory against cargo theft, as Californ...

CloudTrucks has expanded its "Road to Independence" program by launching FleetFirst Leasing LLC, a new lease-to-own provider aimed at making truck ownership more accessible for company drivers. This initiative stands in stark contrast to a widespread Class A CDL fraud scheme in Louisiana, where six people were indicted for selling passing grades without required tests for approximately $6,500. A f...

Container rates remained largely unchanged last week despite a drop in freight volumes on most major trade routes. Rates from Asia to the US West Coast ports held steady at $1,700 per FEU, and $2,700 per FEU to East Coast ports, as carriers grapple with demand ahead of China's Golden Week. You can read more about this in "Ocean rates unchanged even as freight volumes decline - FreightWaves". Six i...

Mexico's industrial boom, highlighted by the new $540 million Wellness Development Hub in Huamantla, is the first of 15 centers projected to attract $277 billion in investment and 300,000 jobs by 2030. Cross-border opportunities face challenges, exemplified by the U.S. labor dispute against Mexican meatpacker Alimentos Grole, resulting in a suspension of goods liquidation due to alleged worker rig...

Major parcel carriers like UPS and DHL are hiking surcharges ahead of the holiday season, with UPS adding fees for residential services, next-day air, oversized packages, and high-volume shippers starting September 8th. These increases, which follow earlier announcements from FedEx and UPS, are designed to ensure operational reliability through January 17th. In a significant legal development, a f...

Discover how Aurora and McLeod Software have partnered to integrate autonomous trucks directly with mainstream Transportation Management Systems (TMS), marking an industry first. This "plug-and-play" integration aims to streamline autonomous vehicle adoption for mid-sized fleets of 100 to 1,000 trucks, supporting vital functions like scheduling and invoicing, with a full rollout planned for 2026 t...

Discover how C.H. Robinson's aggressive adoption of AI has significantly boosted its stock price, even in a weak freight market, leading to a 52-week high. Learn about their new "Always-on Logistics Planner," an agentic AI-driven "digital teammate" within its Managed Solutions 4PL arm, which autonomously handles tasks 24/7 and has achieved 100% customer adoption among its clients. We confront the...

The official framework for the EU-U.S. trade truce has been released, aiming to halt escalating trans-Atlantic trade tensions and steady container flows. This agreement, though not yet legally enforceable, maintains existing tariffs on most European Union exports to the U.S. and on automobiles until reciprocal tariff reductions are implemented by Brussels. DHL Global Forwarding is expanding its co...

BMO’s transportation unit is a bellwether for credit and lending conditions in trucking. The bank’s loan book dipped to $13.67 billion in Q3, the lowest since early 2023, and while write-offs are down, provisions for potential credit losses and gross impaired loans remain significantly higher than pre-downturn levels. Canada Post has significant labor issues, which led to its largest-ever pre-tax...

U.S. businesses are increasingly claiming USMCA exemptions as rising tariffs on steel, aluminum, and other goods push import costs higher. This has led to a sharp increase in USMCA compliance for goods from Canada, reaching 81% in June, and from Mexico, now at 77%. Massachusetts state troopers sentenced after involvement in a CDL fraud scheme. Calvin Butner received three months in jail and Perry...

The benchmark diesel price, which has now declined for a fifth consecutive week, reaching $3.708/gallon for a total drop of 10.4 cents since late July. This downward trend is linked to relative oil price stability, even as Midwest refinery issues impact gasoline prices without significantly affecting diesel. Korean Air has made a significant order for eight Boeing 777-8 freighter aircraft, part of...

Berkshire Hathaway Chairman Warren Buffett announced his company will not bid for CSX or Norfolk Southern, opting instead for BNSF Railway to form closer alliances for growth synergies. This decision came after Union Pacific's $85 billion deal to acquire Norfolk Southern, despite Wall Street expectations for a competitive bid. The American Trucking Association (ATA) is facing a lawsuit from three...

A decade-long misclassification lawsuit involving NFI drivers is being settled for over $5 million. This landmark case could see individual payouts ranging from $30,000 to more than $50,000 for eligible drivers, as detailed in this comprehensive report: NFI driver misclassification case in New Jersey could reach individual payouts of $50k. We also cover global postal operators suspending parcel se...

The Trump administration has placed an  immediate pause on new commercial truck driver work visas. This decision, stemming from safety concerns and a desire to protect American truckers' livelihoods, impacts both H-2B temporary and EB-3 permanent visas, foreshadowing a potential capacity crunch. Next, we dive into the contentious debate over truck vehicle weight limits, where retailers are pushing...

Trump’s administration has placed an immediate pause on new commercial truck driver work visas. Secretary of State Marco Rubio cited concerns that the increasing number of foreign drivers endangers American lives and undercuts American truckers' livelihoods, a decision that followed a fatal semi-truck crash in Florida and is supported by the ATA. A framework agreement was announced on Thursday to...

FedEx is undergoing a massive strategic overhaul, aiming to cut another $1 billion in costs this fiscal year, with a primary focus on its European operations. They are leveraging U.S. expertise, consolidating facilities, and heavily investing in AI and machine learning through their Dataworks team to boost efficiency and monetize data from millions of customers and packages daily. Next, we tackle...

On this Thursday, August 21st, hear about the strategic merger between Workhorse Group and Motiv Electric Trucks, which aims to create one of North America's largest medium-duty electric truck original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) by combining their strengths in last-mile delivery and medium-duty vehicles. This all-stock transaction, valued at $5 million to approximately $105 million and expecte...

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A significant leadership transition at Marten Transport, as CEO Tim Kohl retires at the end of September. Executive Chairman Randy Martin will step back into the CEO role on October 1st, following the refrigerated carrier's recent strategic moves to lower its tractor count and sell its intermodal unit.  The Port of New Orleans reported continued gains in cargo volume and trade activity through the...

Air Canada flight attendant strike caused significant disruption to cargo transport. A tentative agreement was reached, allowing operations to gradually resume after a three-day stoppage. Air Canada's six Boeing 767 freighters maintained a modified schedule during the strike, providing vital continuity for cargo. The US imposed new reciprocal tariffs on over 90 trading partners, including a new 20...

New research from Noël Perry and Truck Parking Club suggests that truck parking problems are more about operational inefficiencies and a lack of awareness rather than an actual shortage of spaces. Although the U.S. has approximately 23.4 million truck parking spaces, only about 3% of this supply is open for public use, pointing to a vast amount of underutilized capacity. Bipartisan legislation, th...