FreightWaves Today

Starting with tech rollouts, Trimble bets big on AI to fix trucking’s workflow bottlenecks. It debuted its new cloud-native, modular, AI-powered Transportation Management System (TMS), designed as a single intelligence center for enterprise operations. New AI agents, such as the Order Intake Agent, automate administrative tasks like data extraction from emails and PDFs, potentially eliminating man...

A Delaware bankruptcy court has cleared the path for the final liquidation of Yellow Corp.'s estate, which will distribute as much as $700 million to creditors, but the order could face an appeal from Yellow’s largest equity holder, MFN Partners. We discuss the poor third-quarter results for ocean carrier CMA CGM, which saw group net income fall 72.6% year-over-year and revenue drop 11.3%. The car...

The current intersection of federal regulation and enforcement is creating significant market risk, forcing carriers to exit and fundamentally tightening liability for both carriers and the shippers who hire them. The immediate shockwave comes from California, where the cancellation of 17,000 non-domiciled CDLs—over 9% of the state's for-hire carrier base—is expected to cause substantial capacity...

Three major companies—Mega Nice Trucking, Ryder Last Mile, and Costco Wholesale Corp—are facing what is likely the first significant enforcement action of California's AB5 regulation in the trucking industry, resulting in an $868,000 fine. The California Labor Commission cited the trio for contractor misclassification and resulting wage theft, finding that Ryder and Costco exercised both direct an...

The European Union is expected to revoke duty-free status for parcel imports through the elimination of the de minimis rule for small parcel imports, which is expected to be fully implemented by 2028. This significant policy change aims to level the playing field for European businesses and limit the influx of low-cost goods, especially considering that 91% of low-value shipments last year origina...

We analyze why Ocean rates tested by capacity conundrum despite carriers attempting General Rate Increases and blanked sailings, indicating continued overcapacity and weak demand on the trans-Pacific trade lane. Simultaneously, we explore the quick response from air cargo providers, detailing how FedEx plugs transport hole caused by MD-11 groundings by activating spare aircraft and diverting packa...

While the Port of Long Beach saw container volumes drop significantly—imports declined 17.6% and total TEUs fell 14.9% in October 2025 compared to the previous year's record-setting month—the hub remains ahead of its 2024 all-time annual cargo record pace through the first 10 months of 2025. Port officials are anticipating that American consumers will likely see price escalation on goods in the co...

Carrier sentiment is suppressed by a weak rate environment as the market waits for necessary fleet rationalization, highlighted by historic levels of Class 8 oversupply exceeding 90,000 units. The physical evidence of financial distress is staggering, demonstrated by the collapse in trailer prices—with 3-year-old 53-foot dry vans now trading for under $20,000—and the high volume of repossessions d...

The growing list of bankruptcies in trucking has caught up a significant new participant from the freight tech part of the business, as VC-backed Zuum files for chapter 11 protection with assets and liabilities listed in the range of $10 million to $50 million. The US Trade Representative officially announced the one-year suspension of port fees on Chinese ships docking at American ports. This sus...

Aifleet is cutting its fleet size from approximately 180 trucks down to about half and letting go of nearly 100 personnel, triggered by the abrupt termination of a contract with a key supplier. The air cargo market is facing its own shock following a tragic crash, resulting in the temporary grounding of MD-11 freighters by both UPS (27 planes) and FedEx (28 planes) as a precautionary measure, foll...

Aifleet is undergoing drastic cutbacks, reducing its fleet from about 180 trucks to a much smaller, undisclosed number, following the abrupt termination of a contract with a key supplier. CEO Marc El Khoury described these fleet reductions as "drastic," but necessary to allow the company a chance to survive in the freight recession, enabling them to pivot almost entirely away from the spot market...

The FAA has mandated flight reductions—ramping up toward a 10% cut at 40 of the busiest domestic hubs due to air traffic controller shortages—which severely restricts domestic "belly cargo" capacity for high-value shipments but largely spares all-cargo carriers like FedEx and UPS. The ground market is defined by a financial squeeze hitting 3PLs like RXO, who are struggling as locked-in, lower cont...

A federal appeals court has reinstated Yellow Corp.'s $137 million lawsuit against the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, overturning a previous dismissal by a lower court. The former LTL carrier can now amend its complaint against the union, which it claims deliberately blocked the "Yellow One" restructuring plan necessary for the company’s survival. The latest U.S. Bank Freight Payment Inde...

We begin with the tragic UPS cargo jet crash near Worldport in Louisville, UPS's critical global hub, which resulted in at least nine confirmed fatalities and exposed the fragility of single-point logistics assets. This immediate physical disruption led UPS to cancel initial express and deferred operations and suspend the money-back guarantee for all US packages, even as the NTSB worked quickly to...

The episode opens with the volatile reaction on Wall Street to 3PL RXO's third-quarter earnings, which saw the stock plummet over 14.8% in pre-market trading after the 6:30 a.m. The logistics provider reported performance that was largely stagnant year-over-year, including a decline in adjusted net income to $2 million and a GAAP net loss of 8 cents per share, prompting the CEO to emphasize strate...

The October Logistics Managers' Index data, detailed in the article October LMI shows price increases outpacing capacity growth, shows transportation utilization (57.3) and pricing (61.7) surged, reversing the prior negative freight inversion. This tight market prediction is worsened by the immediate air cargo capacity shock stemming from the UPS MD-11 crash on November 5th, a tragedy covered in L...

Details emerge on the devastating UPS MD-11 freighter crash that occurred during takeoff from Louisville, Kentucky, while the widebody cargo jet was bound for Honolulu. The death toll has tragically risen to seven individuals, with 11 injuries reported, leading to the indefinite closure of the Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport and the halt of package sorting operations at Worldport. Th...

For-hire trucking capacity is contracting significantly due to a 32% reduction in tractor builds (taking equipment below replacement levels) and stricter FMCSA English Language Proficiency enforcement, which could affect up to 10% of the driver pool. Despite shrinking capacity, freight rates are only seeing marginal spot market improvements of 1-2%, failing to keep pace with 3% inflation, due to v...

A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction stopping the California Air Resources Board from enforcing the Clean Truck Partnership against truck manufacturers. This block occurred because a state court lawsuit filed by CARB seeking OEM compliance was viewed by the federal court as an attempt to enforce potentially preempted zero emissions standards, particularly since Congress withdrew the EPA...

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The Department of Transportation is escalating its battle against "CDL mills" accused of certifying unqualified drivers, promising to eliminate unsafe operators and investigate fleets that hire them. This heightened regulatory enforcement is already leading to a significant capacity shakeout in the truckload market, which could potentially overshadow Schneider’s tough Q3 earnings report. DOT Secre...

Transportation Secretary Shawn Duffy announced a major new initiative this week, ramping up efforts to crack down on fraudulent CDL mills and unsafe drivers after increased roadside inspections led to over 7,000 service violations. The Department of Transportation is now focusing on the integrity of the certification process and plans to investigate both driver training programs and trucking compa...

The Great Freight Recession continues its relentless purge in the carrier sector, claiming Illinois-based VIB Trans, a 29-truck carrier, as the latest casualty to file for Chapter 11 amid deeply depressed spot rates and relentlessly high operating costs. This pain is accelerating due to an 18% drop in freight volumes coupled with immense overcapacity, driven by 310,000 new trucks and 200,000 new C...

VIB Trans, an Illinois-based carrier with 29 trucks, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy amidst the long-running "Great Freight Recession" . Brokerage giant C.H. Robinson showed robust profitability for the third quarter, which sent its shares soaring 20% right after the earnings release . The company saw income from operations jump 22.6% and adjusted gross profit for its core North American Surfa...