FreightCasts

Uncertainty surrounds U.S. and China trade relations as the July 9th tariff pause deadline approaches. President Donald Trump has announced an agreement for China to resume rare earth minerals trade in exchange for some U.S. tariff relief, with negotiations to be finalized after the Fourth of July holiday. The U.S. Postal Service has rolled out the second phase of its new delivery standards nationwide, aiming to improve operational efficiency and reduce transportation costs. These initiatives involve expanding reduced surface transportation schedules from regional processing centers to more distant post offices, intending to eliminate inefficient trucking trips and potentially save $36 billion over 10 years. A new LA-to-New York passenger train proposal by AmeriStarRail is set to carry long-haul trucks and their drivers. This coast-to-coast service, in partnership with Amtrak, promises to complete the journey in less than 72 hours, offering truck drivers drive-aboard service with access to Amtrak's coach, sleeper, and dining cars. The operation could potentially begin as early as May of next year. Listeners are also invited to explore new content on FreightWaves TV. Upcoming episodes include The Long Haul with Adam Wingfield and Bring It Home with JP Hamstead, offering further insights into the freight industry. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam Raviv, Global Co-Chair of Sidley's Automotive and Mobility Practice and former Chief Counsel at NHTSA, shares expert insights on autonomous vehicle regulations. He discusses the chaotic 'Wild West' of local and state rules that clash with federal standards. Raviv explains the importance of safety cases in AV development and the need for redundant safety systems. He also highlights the distinct challenges faced by autonomous trucks versus robotaxis and the heightened public scrutiny that can impact industry dynamics.

On episode 857 of WHAT THE TRUCK?!? Dooner is talking about a big draw down in driver wages and earnings. ATRI calls it, “The highest costs ever recorded by ATRI for non-fuel operating costs.” Is it going to be a summer of struggle for truckers and fleets? Shell’s Supertruck 3.0 is off to the races. Shell’s Scott Burian tells us all about the truck and its role on the race circuit pulling the Pennzoil Tech Inspection Trailer for the rest of the 2025 season. Secretary Duffy joined the show last week to break news about $275 million going towards truck parking. Truck Parking Club’s Reed Loustalot drops by the studio to talk about how it will help drivers park safely. We’ll also learn about his move to Chattanooga and how they’re putting the club in Truck Parking Club.  Catch new shows live at noon EDT Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays on FreightWaves LinkedIn, Facebook, X or YouTube, or on demand by looking up WHAT THE TRUCK?!? on your favorite podcast player and at 6 p.m. Eastern on SiriusXM’s Road Dog Trucking Channel 146. Watch on YouTube Check out the WTT merch store Visit our sponsor Subscribe to the WTT newsletter Apple Podcasts Spotify More FreightWaves Podcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One of the largest food shipper bankruptcies in recent years involves Del Monte Foods filing for Chapter 11, impacting logistics providers like Uber Freight, which is owed $9 million. While pre-bankruptcy amounts are unsecured and repayment remains uncertain, there's hope that post-filing services may be paid more promptly under tighter court oversight and credit restraints. The U.S. Postal Service has expanded new delivery standards nationwide in its second phase, aiming to boost efficiency and slash costs by an estimated $36 billion over the next decade. This revamp involves consolidating facilities, eliminating redundant trucking trips, and streamlining mail processing, adapting to a dramatic shift in mail volume. On a more alarming note, recent weeks have seen over $31 million worth of illegal drugs seized at U.S. and Canadian border ports from commercial shipments. Supply chain risk firm Overhaul also assisted in recovering stolen rail freight cargo in California and Illinois, highlighting ongoing challenges of cargo theft. Let's turn to fuel prices, where benchmark diesel prices have cooled off after a spike linked to geopolitical fears, declining by nearly 5 cents per gallon to $3.727/gallon. Interestingly, diesel is trading in backwardation, where the front-month price is higher than later months, indicating tight inventory conditions and making its prices more sensitive than crude oil. Moving to the workforce, new data reveals truck driver wage growth is slowing in 2025 after strong increases in 2021 and 2022, projected to slow further to less than 1% during early 2025. This cooling is driven by reduced demand for drivers and a broader slowdown in national wage growth, despite non-fuel operational costs for trucking hitting record highs. Finally, experts agree that constant, overlapping disruptions have reshaped the global trade environment into a new normal, termed "compound disruptions". Building resilient supply chains in this era requires foresight, agility, a digital-first mindset, and enhanced collaboration between shippers and carriers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Del Monte Foods has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, marking one of the largest food shipper bankruptcies in recent years, with over $1 billion in liabilities. This event profoundly impacts transportation and logistics companies, including Uber Freight (listed as Transplace in the filing), which is owed over $9 million, as detailed in the article "Uber Freight faces $9M hit in Del Monte Bankruptcy". A new report from the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI), indicates a continuing downward trend in driver wage growth from 2024 through the first quarter of 2025. This deceleration, attributed to reduced driver demand, saw the rate of growth drop significantly from 7.6% in 2023 to 2.4% in 2024, and only 0.9% in the first two months of 2025, as further explained in "Truck driver wages downshifting in 2025". There is growing speculation around the next Class One railroad merger in the United States, fueled by a surge of investor interest from a UK investor. While major mergers were once considered a thing of the past due to strict regulatory oversight, the industry's desire for structural changes and improvements could drive new east-west merger possibilities, a topic explored in "UK investor sees not one, but two, pathways to rail mergers". Finally, tune in to FreightWaves TV for What The Truck?!? live at noon. Also, mark your calendars for the Enterprise Fleet Summit on July 23rd and the Supply Chain AI Symposium in Washington D.C. at the end of this month. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In today’s episode, Rudy Nemeth, VP of Sales at Velocitor Solutions joins us to talk about fleet telematics and how fleets are using the technology to improve their operations. We’ll dive into video systems, fleet data and driver scorecards. ⁠Follow the Loaded and Rolling Podcast⁠ ⁠Other FreightWaves Shows⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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In this episode, we dive into the world of appointment scheduling. Our guests, Prasad Gollapalli, CEO of Qued and Tom Curee, president of Qued break down how appointments can be automated and how KPIs impact an entire business instead of some arbitrary number to hit. For more information, subscribe to ⁠Check Call the newsletter⁠ or the podcast. ⁠Follow the Check Call Podcast⁠ ⁠Other FreightWaves Shows⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

US maritime chief Sola steps down US maritime chief ‘not a big fan’ of ocean carriers’ ‘approach’ as agency reviews antitrust immunity In rare jump, New York-New Jersey leads US port volumes Drewry: No “lasting impact” from tariff break as ocean rates fall again Container rates from key US trade partner plummet 39% Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of the FreightWaves Morning Minute, we delve into the impact of stricter English language proficiency requirements on the U.S.-Mexico cross-border freight market, an initiative from the Trump administration. The enforcement, which began on Wednesday, July 1st, 2025, is already causing significant operational changes for the trucking industry and leading to an increase in rates on northbound trucking lanes. The episode also covers the dramatic decline in trans-Pacific container rates from the Far East to the U.S. West Coast, with market average spot rates plummeting 39% since June 1st to $3,317 per forty-foot equivalent unit. While rates to the U.S. East Coast also declined by 9% since June 1st, they still stand at $5,990 per FEU, maintaining a significant $2,673 spread between the coasts, the highest in 10 months. The first legal steps have taken to challenge the Clean Truck Partnership (CTP), a 2023 agreement between California and engine manufacturers. The Western States Trucking Association (WSTA) has petitioned the California Office of Administrative Law to determine if the CTP was properly reached under California law, labeling it an "unholy alliance". Don't forget to tune into FreightWaves TV for Check Call and Loaded and Rolling. Also, mark your calendars for the Enterprise Fleet Summit on July 23rd and the AI Supply Chain Symposium on July 30th in Washington D.C.. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices