SONAR Launches New Geopolitical Alert and Fuel Dashboards to Help Supply Chains Navigate Iran Conflict Volatility
SONAR introduced two platform enhancements—a Geopolitical Alert on its Executive Dashboard and a Fuel Dashboard within Truckload Insights—to give logistics professionals real‑time visibility into Iran‑related conflict risks and energy price swings. The Geopolitical Alert supplies immediate context, curated resources, and impact analysis for freight markets and supply chain flows. The Fuel Dashboard consolidates retail, rack, and wholesale diesel prices, ULSD spreads, and WTI crude spot data, allowing users to track fuel cost volatility. These tools aim to improve risk anticipation and decision speed across supply chains.
54% of Distributors Seek Demand Forecasting Overhaul in 2026, Report Finds
A new Phocas Software report shows 54% of wholesale distributors will overhaul demand forecasting in 2026, seeking more precise, data‑driven inventory control. Nearly half (45%) plan to increase data and warehouse automation, while one‑third aim to deepen product and customer...
Fleet Buying Spree Signals Trucking Down-Cycle May Be Turning
North American fleets placed 47,200 Class 8 truck orders in February, a 159% year‑over‑year jump and the strongest monthly total since September 2022. The surge, driven by both on‑highway and vocational demand, marks the third consecutive month of double‑digit YoY growth. Analysts...
Wabash Launches Cargo Assurance Solution to Help Prevent Theft Before It Occurs
Wabash unveiled a cargo‑assurance platform at Manifest 2026 that turns the trailer into a secure, connected system, leveraging its 2025 TrailerHawk.AI acquisition. The solution combines a physical lock, a mobile app digital seal, and multi‑factor driver, tractor, carrier and insurance...
Why an Obscure Rail Tax Credit Should Matter to Truckers
Railroads gathered on Capitol Hill to push a modernized 45G tax credit, which reimburses 40% of rail infrastructure spending up to $3,500 per mile. The industry cites more than $8 billion in investments and a 50% reduction in derailments since the...
Target Begins Roll Out of Next-Day Delivery to 20 More Cities
Target Corp. announced it will extend its next‑day delivery service to 20 additional metropolitan areas, pushing the total number of cities offering the option to more than 50 and covering roughly 60% of the U.S. population. The rollout is part...
Fraud First: Why ‘Broker Transparency’ Misses the Mark
The article contends that the FMCSA’s push to tighten broker transparency under 49 CFR 371.3 misses the larger problem of freight fraud, which has generated over 80,000 complaints. It traces the rule’s origins to a 1949 ICC mandate and its...
Old Dominion ‘Encouraged’ as Declines Moderate in February
Old Dominion Freight Line reported a 3.3% year‑over‑year decline in revenue per day for February, an improvement over the 6.8% drop in January. Tonnage fell 6.8% YoY and daily shipments slipped 7%, while weight per shipment rose 0.2% and yield...
DHL Express Workers Threaten Strike if No Contract by March 31
Teamsters members at DHL Express voted 96% to authorize a strike if the national master agreement isn’t renewed by March 31, 2026. The contract, covering thousands of drivers and warehouse workers across 16 states, is set to expire and the union is...
Torc Robotics Takes Autonomous Trucks Into Michigan’s Snow and Ice
Torc Robotics is extending its autonomous‑truck program to Michigan, testing the latest Freightliner Cascadia‑based chassis on snow, ice and rain‑slicked roads. The initiative marks a strategic shift from the Sun Belt corridors that dominate the industry, allowing Torc to validate...
Next Step in a Peaceful 10-Hour Truck Driver Rest Period: Lithium Batteries
Dragonfly Energy showcased its lithium‑iron‑phosphate battery‑powered auxiliary power unit (APU) at the Truckload Carriers Association meeting, targeting the 10‑hour mandatory rest period for drivers. The battery, charged by the truck’s alternator, can run the sleeper‑cab’s heating, cooling and electricity without...
Laredo Secures $58M Rail Grant to Speed up Texas Border Freight
Texas Transportation Commission awarded $160.4 million from the new Off‑System Rail Grade Separation State Fund, with Laredo receiving the largest share of $58.51 million for a CPKC grade‑separation project on Santa Maria Boulevard. The grant will eliminate at‑grade crossings in one of...
Florida’s Fields Are Hurting – What That Means for Reefer Freight Right Now
Florida experienced an unprecedented freeze from late December 2025 through early February 2026, inflicting over $3 billion in agricultural losses. Key commodities such as tomatoes, squash, and bell peppers saw up to 50% crop loss, while strawberries, blueberries, and citrus also...
Borderlands Mexico: Canada, Mexico Draw Record Foreign Investment in 2025
Canada and Mexico posted record foreign direct investment in 2025, underscoring North America’s growing role as a manufacturing hub. Canada received $96.8 billion, the strongest inflow in 18 years, while Mexico attracted a historic $40.87 billion, a 10.8% year‑over‑year rise. U.S. investors...
Why Is the Midwest the Most Volatile Region in the U.S.?
The Midwest has become the most volatile U.S. trucking region over the past six months, with tender rejection rates consistently 4‑5 percentage points higher than any other area. A disproportionate share of refrigerated shipments—30% to 35% of all outbound reefer—tightens...
FMCSA Spotlights Trucking’s Multi-Million Dollar Insurance Gap
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s 2026 report warns that the trucking industry faces a massive insurance gap. While the number of active interstate carriers fell to 456,227, the median "nuclear" verdict for crashes jumped to $51 million, far exceeding the...
Matson Q4 Ocean Profit Stable
Matson reported marginally weaker fourth‑quarter results as container volumes slipped 2.3% year‑over‑year, driven by a 7.2% drop in China shipments amid ongoing trade‑war pressures. Ocean operating income dipped to $136 million on revenue of $704.2 million, but the company was partially offset...
Maersk Pulls U.S., Other Sailings From Red Sea
Maersk announced it will reroute several U.S. and other services from the Red Sea to the Cape of Good Hope, citing unforeseen security constraints in the region. The changes affect both ME11 and MECL routes, with one westbound and two...
Feds Renew Wilson Logistics Waiver, Launch Training Data Inquiry
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has renewed Wilson Logistics' exemption allowing commercial learner’s permit (CLP) holders to serve as team drivers without a front‑seat trainer, extending the waiver through February 2031. The renewal adds a 30‑day limit on...
Project44 Launches AI Agent to Automate Freight Procurement
Project44 has introduced an AI Freight Procurement Agent within its Intelligent Transportation Management System to automate carrier selection, rate benchmarking, and negotiations across multiple modes. The agent replaces periodic bid cycles with continuous, AI‑driven sourcing using live market data, and...
Cass, Caspian Partner to Tackle Tariff Costs
Cass Information Systems announced a partnership with AI‑enabled tariff specialist Caspian to embed advanced customs audit and refund capabilities into its freight‑payment platform. The integration adds AI‑driven HTS modeling, detailed audit functions, and support for post‑summary corrections, protests, and duty‑drawback...
Samsara Releases Latest-Generation Asset Tag and New Asset Tag XS
Samsara unveiled a next‑generation Bluetooth asset tag and a smaller Asset Tag XS, expanding its IoT tracking portfolio for fleet equipment managers. The tags run on an enhanced Samsara Network that now incorporates Hubble’s 90 million‑device consumer smartphone mesh, boosting indoor...
From Sharpies to Vinyl: The Professionalization of Truck Identity in Cargo Theft
Cargo thieves are moving from hand‑written signs to quickly produced vinyl decals that give trucks a convincing, temporary identity. These disposable decals can be applied and removed within hours, allowing fraudsters to look legitimate long enough to steal freight and...
Cold Storage Market Working Off Oversupply
Lineage reported flat Q4 revenue of $1.34 billion and a modest $6 million net profit as the cold‑storage market works through a 10% oversupply. New refrigerated space expanded 14.5% from 2021‑2025, while demand rose only 5%, creating a capacity gap that is...
After 2019 Flood, Arkansas Port Gets $8M for Rebuild
The Arkansas River port, devastated by the 2019 flood, secured an $8.1 million federal grant to modernize its facilities and expand rail capacity. Operator Five Rivers Distribution will construct three 30,000‑square‑foot warehouses to handle freight arriving by rail. The city’s port...
BMO’s Quarterly Earnings Suggest Truck Credit Might Be Improving
BMO’s first‑quarter 2026 earnings show a modest reversal in trucking‑related credit stress, with gross impaired loans falling to C$563 million and provisions dropping to $39 million. At the same time, allowances for credit losses rose to $77 million and the net transportation loan...
Tariff Volatility Pushes Global Supply Chains Into Regional Reset in 2026
Genpact’s supply‑chain chief warns that escalating tariff volatility is driving firms to diversify suppliers and shift toward regionalized networks by 2026. Pandemic‑era investments in control towers and risk‑monitoring tools have equipped shippers to react quickly without external advisory projects. Companies...
Bot Auto, Ryan Transportation Partner on Driverless Freight Between Houston and Dallas
Bot Auto announced a strategic partnership with Ryan Transportation to launch driverless freight operations on a 200‑mile overnight corridor between Houston and Dallas, slated to begin this spring. The route, traditionally hard to service due to tight delivery windows and...
Legislation to Kill Double Brokering Hits Senate Floor
The Senate has placed the Household Goods Shipping Consumer Protection Act on its calendar, restoring the FMCSA’s authority to levy civil penalties for unauthorized brokerage activities after a 2019 court decision stripped that power. The bill mandates a physical business...
Florida Carrier with 57 Drivers Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy
Standard Freight Logistics Inc., a St. Augustine‑based over‑the‑road carrier with 57 drivers and 49 power units, filed a voluntary Chapter 11 petition in the Middle District of Florida. Court records list assets between $100,000 and $500,000 and liabilities from $500,000...
RXO: TL Market Seeing ‘Biggest Structural Change’ Since Deregulation
Freight broker RXO reports truckload spot rates outpacing contract rates as capacity tightens, marking the most significant structural shift in the U.S. carrier market since the 1980 deregulation. Its proprietary spot‑rate index rose 5.2% year‑over‑year in Q4 and is up...
CSX CEO: Flat Industrial Results Holding Back Railroad Freight Growth
CSX Chief Executive Steve Angel told investors that flat industrial production worldwide is the primary reason railroad freight volumes have stagnated. He noted that China’s growth engine has faded, Europe never delivered growth, and emerging markets lack the scale to...
Expeditors Numbers Reflect Difficult Ocean Freight Market in 4Q
Expeditors International reported a weak fourth quarter 2025, with ocean freight tonnage down 6% year‑over‑year and revenue slipping 3% to $2.86 billion. Operating income fell 17% to $250.9 million and net income dropped to $200.7 million, while salaries and other expenses rose 6%....
SONAR Launches 30-Day Free Trial of Blue to Blue iOS App for First-Time Users
SONAR, a leading freight market intelligence platform, announced a limited‑time promotion that gives first‑time users a 30‑day free trial of its Blue to Blue iOS app. The trial runs through March 31 2026 and provides full access to lane‑level spot rates, custom...
The Used Truck Market Signals a Turn
The used‑truck market, long viewed as a real‑time barometer for freight health, is showing signs of recovery as large fleets begin to replace aging equipment. Spot rates have risen and diesel prices have fallen, easing the scarcity that has constrained...
Blizzard Shuts Down Container Terminals at Northeast Ports
A historic nor'easter dumped up to 13 inches of snow in the New York metropolitan area, prompting seven states to declare emergencies and forcing the shutdown of the region's busiest maritime gateway, Port Newark. All gates at APM Terminals, Maher...
Cartel Boss Killing Jolts US-Mexico Freight Corridors
The confirmed killing of Jalisco New Generation Cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as El Mencho, sparked immediate cartel retaliation across western Mexico. Road blockades, vehicle burnings and armed clashes disrupted key highways and temporarily halted operations at the Port of...
Borderlands Mexico: Violent Cargo Theft Grips Mexican Truckers, Overhaul Report Finds
Overhaul’s 2025 Annual Cargo Theft Report shows that 82% of cargo theft incidents targeting Mexican truckers involved violence, with armed interceptions and driver assaults commonplace. While the central region remains the hotspot, the West’s share of thefts rose 7% in...
Judge Gives UPS Green Light for $150,000 Buyouts to Drivers
A federal judge in Massachusetts rejected the Teamsters’ request for an injunction, allowing UPS to move forward with its $150,000 voluntary driver buyout program. The "Driver Choice" offer targets frontline parcel‑delivery employees, promising a lump‑sum payment and a permanent waiver...
Feds to Axe Multi-Language Testing for Truckers
The U.S. Department of Transportation announced a rulemaking that will require all commercial driver knowledge and skills tests to be administered exclusively in English, ending the current multi‑language options available in states like California. The change is part of a...
Court Says Small Trucking Company Must Negotiate with Union Defeated in a Vote
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed an NLRB Gissel bargaining order requiring Garten Trucking to negotiate with the Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers, even though the union lost the representation vote 65‑30. The union...
Averitt Announces Expansion Plans to Terminal Network
Averitt, a leading less‑than‑truckload carrier, announced a multiyear expansion that will add nearly 900,000 square feet of warehouse space, 379 dock doors, and about 2,000 truck‑parking spots by 2027. The plan includes new or expanded terminals in Ocala, FL; Oklahoma...
FedEx ‘Highly Confident’ Grounded MD-11s Will Return to Service
FedEx announced it remains "highly confident" that its fleet of 28 MD‑11 freighters will be cleared to fly by the end of May, despite an FAA grounding triggered by fatigue cracks discovered after UPS Flight 2976. The airline has already...
Hapag-Lloyd, WiseTech Global in Container Visibility Initiative
WiseTech Global and Hapag-Lloyd have launched a trial that equips the carrier’s more than two million containers with IoT smart devices, delivering real‑time location updates to WiseTech’s CargoWise platforms. The pilot processes millions of data points daily and introduces a...
Autotech Ventures Bets Big on Hard-to-Copy Logistics Startups
Autotech Ventures, a $600 million industrial‑focused VC, is targeting logistics startups that are hard to replicate, leveraging its deep network of global manufacturers and carriers. The firm highlighted investments in GenLogs, a data‑rich freight intelligence platform, and Augment, an end‑to‑end AI...
J.B. Hunt ‘a Little Bit More Positive’
J.B. Hunt’s CFO said demand is slightly stronger than early‑January expectations as truck capacity tightens, reflected in rising tender rejections and spot rates. Regulatory pressures on the driver pool and recent winter storms have limited supply, creating a modest but...
US Manufacturing Pipeline Grows, Firms Plan $1B in New Factories
A wave of new manufacturing projects across the United States is driving roughly $1 billion in capital spending, spanning heavy equipment, advanced electronics, automation and industrial components. Companies such as John Deere, Rockwell Automation, and Applied Optoelectronics are breaking ground on...