AI Survives Helium Crunch; Automotive and Industrial Chips Don’t
I’ve spent my Saturday diving into the Helium supply chain. Spoiler: AI might survive this wave longer, but automotive and industrial chips? Not so much.
US‑Israeli War Triggers Asia‑wide Economic Shock
From fuel rationing in Sri Lanka to restaurant closures in India, flight cancellations in Thailand, and food and fertilizer shocks across Asia -- the ripple effects of the US-Israeli war on Iran are global. THE US-ISRAELI WAR'S COLLATERAL DAMAGE IS MASSIVE. https://t.co/jD1WHbQj6T
Post‑CNY China‑US Container Shipments Just Beginning
He has this backwards. Containers from China to the US post CNY are just getting started. https://t.co/GdRTZKb28Q
China Won’t Be the Biggest Loser if Hormuz Closes
Many commentators on Iran war have seemingly not thought any further ahead than “China is hurt most by Hormuz closing” Below is just one small example of why that view is so wrong 👇
California Clean‑Air Rule Forces New Logistics Strategies
Lisa Anderson was quoted in the Press-Enterprise on Southern California’s clean-air rule aimed at warehouses and what it is changing for logistics and supply chain decisions. https://t.co/gQskCnYPRh #SupplyChain #Logistics #Warehousing https://t.co/3jG0CxCSRS
Senator Urges Trump to Free U.S. Ships in Gulf
U.S.-Flagged Ships Stuck in Persian Gulf as Senator Demands Action for American Crews. What will Trump do? https://t.co/Wx9tOgP9OW
Ukrainian Strike Leaves Russian Tanker Adrift and Abandoned
Alleged Ukrainian attack on Russian tanker leaves it abandoned and drifting... Geopolitical Guy | Substack https://bit.ly/4lIlrnH
GLP‑1 Drugs Cut More Truckloads than UP‑NS Merger
GLP-1s will take more truckloads off the road than the proposed merger between UP and NS. Grok estimates 3m truckloads reduced as Americans consume less calories. The proposed merger is expected to take 2m truckloads out.
Preventing Crisis: Service Essential for Stranded Vessels
This is an important move: the humanitarian situation on stranded ships and tankers would turn to a crisis without this service @HFI_Research
Iran Offers Japanese Ships Access Through Hormuz Strait
IRAN SAYS READY TO LET JAPAN VESSELS USE HORMUZ — KYODO REPORTS Who knows better about surprises than Japan? https://t.co/yR2ThmWwvU
Freight X Tolerates Driver Weed, Not Broker Smoking
So far, Freight X is more open to letting truck drivers smoke weed off duty than they are about letting brokers smoke on duty https://t.co/KQcLWAWkTz
Operation Epic Fury Costs an Extra $16‑23 Billion
"We estimate the incremental cost of Operation Epic Fury, including positioning maritime and aviation assets in the Middle East starting at the end of December, is between $16.2 and $23.4 billion." https://t.co/LtRjMhx9tD https://t.co/TKCJ1JX9B2
Escorts May Favor National Flags Over Convenience Registries
One question for the shipping experts out there. Historically, a lot of the tankers globally have carried flags of convenience (Liberia etc) Given the escort debate, who will escort those? Or, will escorts only be provided to ships with traditional national flags (Japan,...
USCG Licensing Halt Highlights Need for War Department Shift
Sadly it’s not just TSA The USCG licensing office is closed and can’t issue US Merchant Marine licenses while 5 🇺🇸 ships remain in the Persian Gulf. Is it time to move USCG and USMM to the Department of War?
US Lifts Sanctions, France Cracks Down—Energy Politics Murky
The US is removing sanctions from shadow fleet ships to ease energy prices while France increases seizures. Hard to tell how much of this is politically motivated.
Limited Wars Prove Containment Can Prevent Escalation
Heard on Bloomberg podcast: “Wars spiral out of control even if they are meant to be contained. This is a historical fact.” WOW. This is the most dangerous statement I’ve seen from any media. And it’s false. Do NOT believe the media when...
Freight Forward Highlights Rising Rates and Surcharges
If you missed this week's Freight Forward, here you go. A new one goes out on Monday. Freight Forward: Rising Rates and Surcharges https://t.co/STgoACMPfw
Trucking Crisis: Unknown Drivers Threaten Safety and Economy
Jillian is an expert in transportation cybersecurity. The trucking industry is facing an unprecedented safety, security, and economic crisis because we don't know who is driving our trucks.
Iran War Spares Global Container Volumes; CNY Hits China, Vietnam
Despite the headlines, global container trade volumes are largely unaffected by the Iran War (CNY is the reason that China and Vietnam are down MoM). https://t.co/YplrKgSLTc
Trucking Spot Rates Surge Nationwide, Blue Dominates Map
This map tracks trucking spot rate momentum by market over the past 4 days. It tracks the percentage of lanes out of a market that are experiencing rate increases vs. decreases. If more than 50% have increases, the market will...
West Coast Container Surge Fuels Trucking Volume Rally
Trucking volume rally continues to firm. With west coast container volumes finally showing up, market volumes should sharply increase in coming weeks. https://t.co/8OE3jShFEz
USPS Urged to Chase Heavier, Profitable Shipments
Postmaster General David Steiner said during a U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee hearing last Tuesday that USPS must pursue heavier, more profitable shipments in order to better compete with FedEx and UPS. https://t.co/byidPtNYaz
LA Rejection Spike Signals Imminent Capacity Shortage
Rejection levels out of LA nearly double over the past week, shooting above 7% overnight. The role of Southern California in the psychology of shippers can not be understated. This "overnight flip" of LA will signal to shippers to...
Designing Operations for Robots Drives Million‑Robot Growth
In 2012, Amazon acquired Kiva. One year later, it had around 1,000 robots. Today, that number exceeds 1 million. This kind of growth didn’t happen by simply adding more machines. Amazon reorganized its warehouses around automation. Robots handle movement, positioning, and flow of goods,...
Explosion at Baogang Sparks Rare Earth Supply Concerns
Explosion hits Chinese rare earth producer Baogang, raising uncertainty over safety checks and rare earth supply. https://www.metalnomist.com/2026/03/explosion-hits-chinese-rare-earth.html
Huge Supply Shock Triggers Market Overreaction, Says BlackRock
Rick Rieder of BlackRock told Unhedged. 👉 “This is one of the largest supply shocks we’ve seen in a generation, 👉markets have had to react quickly, 💥 when markets move quickly, they overreact.” https://t.co/RRf6LgSI91
We Left Critical Minerals Opportunity on Table, Not China
In the case of critical minerals, China did not take our lunch – we left it on the table #energysky -- via Renew Economy: https://t.co/uaCC7MtyTC https://t.co/EiINT5rfwB
Nvidia Should Drop Super Micro to Avoid Reputation Risk
I think it would behoove Jensen & Nvidia to quickly and publicly cut Super Micro from its supply of chips. What’s the upside from keeping them as a customer? There’s plenty of others who’d take the allocation, without the security and...
US Attacks Iran yet Approves Its Oil Sales
So, just to be clear. 1️⃣US & Iran sever ties 2️⃣US sanctions Iranian oil 3️⃣US attacks Iran 4️⃣Iran attacks shipping cutting off the flow of oil 5️⃣The US approves the sale of Iranian oil in the US https://t.co/USz8VfvQGc
US Persian Gulf Oil Imports Drop to Just 3%
In 2025, the US imported 246,895,000 barrels of oil from the Persian Gulf, which is about 3%. https://t.co/myiJiErvdR
Trump Warns Hormuz Users Will Shoulder Security Responsibility
Monumental Friday news dump Trump Signals Endgame in Iran, Says Hormuz Security Will Fall on 'Nations Who Use It' https://t.co/VWow7wkOmP
Dalilah’s Law Threatens 200k Drivers, Sparks
The Compliance Crackdown has eliminated approximately 12k drivers from trucking over the past year. Rates and tender rejections have recovered to the same levels they were before the Great Freight Recession. Dalilah’s law could eliminate 200k+ drivers and deliver the biggest capacity...
Barrier Removal Fuels Unsafe Carriers, Hurts Lawful Shippers
Non-compliant motor carriers have thrived, while compliant motor carriers have suffered untold economic hardship. This is the travesty caused by eliminating the barriers to entry.
Kamala Would Flood Trucks, Driving Rates to Near‑zero
🤣 We’d have a bottomless pit of capacity and trucking spot rates would be trending towards a dollar
US‑Flagged Service Links Savannah to Jebel Ali, Boosting Exports
This is the US Flagged UMX/MUS/MECL service that calls the port of Jebel Ali. The service originates in Savannah before going to Norfolk, New York, and then across. It is a very popular service for US Exports as well as USGOV...
US‑flagged Vessels Stranded in Gulf, No Escort Updates
We don't use it? Five ships: APL Eagle, Alliance Fairfax, CS Anthem, Stena Imperative and Maersk Yorktown with 100+ American mariners are stuck in the Persian Gulf right now. No communication with the military or navy about escorts or when...
Freight Broker Sued for Ignoring Verification, Enabling Cargo Theft
FREIGHT BROKER SUED OVER CARGO THEFT: "Zurich American Insurance Company filed suit on March 18, 2026, in the US District Court for the Central District of California, targeting TForce Worldwide, Inc., a licensed freight forwarder it accuses of ignoring its...
Dalilah Bill Split Could Spark Trucking Super Cycle
Two versions of the Dalilah's bill are in Congress: House - Out of committee and up for a vote. Non-dom CDLs expire within 12 months. Senate - Still in committee. Non-dom CDLs expire within 6 months. TD Cowen estimates that...
Iran Could Outproduce Its Own Drone Attacks Daily
if iran retains one-third of its reported 10,000 per month production it would produce more drones per day than it is currently firing.
Great Factories Align Technology, Operations, and People
The best factories don’t rely on just tech—they align tech, operations, and people. #DigitalManufacturing #TechOps #SmartFactory #Industry40 #ManufacturingLeadership #DigitalTransformation https://t.co/JZqZ0xHGN6
Spring Reset: Refresh Supply Chain Assumptions and Data
First day of spring/equinox = a supply chain reset: refresh assumptions, clean data, align priorities. Want more predictability? Contact LMA. #SupplyChain #SIOP https://t.co/T9DVT39eRQ
China Gains First Benefit as Iran War Cuts Oil Imports
CHINA ALREADY GOT ITS FIRST WIN FROM THE WAR IN IRAN In today's newsletter, I wrote about how the long term trend of countries reducing their oil imports by substituting them with Chinese tech is already accelerating since the start of...
Shipping Blind Spots Drive Sticky Inflation and Price Shocks
What if I told you inflation is sticky because nobody is watching the ships? What if I told you nobody can predict the effect of Hormuz on energy price shocks because nobody understands shipping? What if I told them, they could...
Panic Buying Leaves over 100 NSW Diesel Stations Empty
"At least 107 fuel stations across the state of New South Wales (NSW) in Australia have run out of diesel as panic buying has outstripped supply, premier Chris Minns said today." https://t.co/zXWc5xVLPK
Low Stock Levels Threaten US Reserve Capacity Integrity
Here is something I had not realized. Functionally, the US' strategic petroleum reserve may have less capacity than the stated figures. Should stocks fall below a certain threshold, it could damage the structural integrity of the actual storage facility. https://t.co/AIeGeWdXWV...
Class 8 Truck Orders Surge 157% Year‑over‑Year
Fleets are starting to feel a little feisty... Class 8 truck sales coming in STRONG (157%+ YoY)
Trim Inventory, Adopt JIT to Boost Sale Value
“If you plan to sell in the next few years... identify excess inventory and use it up. Go to a just-in-time system if possible. Remember, we want to maximize profits while minimizing the required capital. This makes your business look...
AI and Geopolitics Reshape Global Supply Chain
Above the Fold: Supply Chain Logistics News (March 20, 2026) - https://t.co/6N5W6UvR9N @FedEx @amazon @DescartesSG #AI #supplychain #logistics #transportation #IranWar #Trumptariffs #trucking
Carriers Back Truckstop Consolidation to Boost Fuel Margins
Little secret: The large truckload carriers love a consolidated truckstop industry. When Pilot and Flying J were contemplating a merger, the DOJ reached out to the largest carriers and asked their opinion. They were generally supportive. They wanted consolidation in retail fuel. Why? Less...
Section 301 Probe Relies on Flawed Economics to Push New Tariffs
Good summary of how the new US Section 301 investigation of "structural excess capacity" is based on shoddy economics and clearly just rigged to get to new tariffs: https://t.co/vW75C0H5Y9 https://t.co/vLsCLihqxd