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The trucking industry faces a major disruption as PE-backed flatbed operator Montgomery Transport LLC abruptly filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy and ceased operations immediately. This sudden shutdown put approximately 1,000 employees out of work, including 600 truck drivers, highlighting the fragility of transportation companies in today’s economy. Global trade flows are shifting as U.S. maritime gateways saw container imports drop 8.4% in September, with imports from China specifically falling 22.9% year-over-year. These declines, which included dramatic drops in goods like aluminum (43.8%) and footwear (33.9%), come amid the restructuring of U.S. trade using tariffs and other economic pressures. Uzbekistan is positioning itself as the next global IT logistics hub, driven by its growing digital economy and expanding U.S. trade relationships. Government initiatives like IT Park Uzbekistan offer compelling incentives, including 0% tax rates for technology companies, and leverage a young, highly literate workforce ready to serve global markets. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Enforcement activities by ICE, targeting non-domiciled CDL holders in southern states, have triggered a capacity shock, rerouting trucks to the Midwest and East Coast and causing regional spot rates to spike despite overall soft national freight volume. Globally, the macro picture confirms a rapid cooling, with new data projecting that US import container volumes will fall below the 2 million TEU mark for the remainder of 2025 due to weakening consumer spending and early peak season frontloading. This softening demand occurs as major Chinese carriers, including Cosco and OOCL, make the surprise move of announcing they will not levy surcharges to offset escalating US port fees set to begin October 14th. Looking ahead, significant capital is flowing squarely into automation and freight tech, signaling a long-term industry focus on efficiency and driverless operations. Autonomous trucking company Kodiak AI made its public debut on NASDAQ with a $2.5 billion valuation, while IKEA acquired the logistics tech platform Locus to improve its delivery fulfillment capabilities amidst surging e-commerce sales. Furthermore, back-office automation is accelerating, exemplified by Mentium, which raised a $3.2 million seed round to deploy AI-powered digital workers specifically focused on automating accounts payable processing for freight brokerages. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ocean container rates on the eastbound Trans-Pacific are falling by double digits in a surprise move from China carriers ahead of new US port fees. The ship tax, which begins next week, charges China-owned or operated ships $80 per net tonnage for each voyage to the U.S. and could cost major players like Cosco and OOCL as much as $2.1 billion in 2026. Autonomous trucking company Kodiak AI just debuted on the NASDAQ after successfully combining with Ares Acquisition Corporation II, resulting in a $2.5 billion valuation for the newly public company. Kodiak secured more than $275 million in funding through this de-SPAC transaction, which CEO Don Burnette noted marks an inflection point for the industry as self-driving technology matures toward commercial deployment. Additionally, the Senate confirmed David Fink, a former Pan Am Railways president and fifth-generation railroader, to lead the Federal Railroad Administration. President Trump nominated Fink, stating he would "deliver the FRA into a new era of safety and technological innovation". Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dry van rates are surging nationwide, despite weak trucking volumes and low tender rejections, an inversion that points to hard supply contraction driven by behavioral reactions to immigration enforcement efforts. We also analyze the broader, longer-term metrics from the Logistics Managers’ Index, which recorded a September reading of 57.4, marking the seventh consecutive month the index has remained below its all-time average. This confirms slow, steady growth rather than a roaring expansion, and for the third straight month, a "negative freight inversion" occurred where transportation capacity grew faster than transportation pricing. In Washington, Derek Barrs was officially confirmed as the eighth administrator of the FMCSA, a move that industry groups like the American Trucking Associations and the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association had been anxious to see confirmed. Furthermore, new research links truck drivers who violate English language proficiency rules to significantly higher safety risks—with inspections involving an ELP violation having two and a half times the number of total non-ELP violations—though the study cautions this is a correlation and not direct causation. We provide a quick carrier pulse check confirming ongoing market pressures, highlighted by San Diego-based Epic Lightning Fast Service LLC permanently closing operations and laying off 116 employees by the end of October due to persistent challenging market conditions. However, there is positive news in the LTL space, as Daylight Transport was named the top overall LTL carrier for the second consecutive year and Old Dominion Freight Line was recognized as the top national carrier for the 16th straight year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Suez Canal anticipates a recovery following potential Middle East resolutions, with the waterway’s chief indicating that plans to end the conflict in Gaza should pave the way for a substantial return of global shipping traffic in 2025. Attention turns to domestic freight as the Association of American Railroads (AAR) releases its latest analysis. September rail volumes reflect the uneven pace of the US economy, prompting a guarded assessment for consistent tailwinds in rail movement.. Finally, we look at legal implications for government-backed logistics entities as the US Supreme Court is set to hear a potentially far-reaching case. The high court will consider whether the US Postal Service can be sued for allegedly deliberately withholding mail from a resident. Catch the day's lineup on FreightWaves TV, featuring new episodes of Sense Per Mile, WHAT THE TRUCK?!?, and Truck Tech. Additionally, make sure you head over to live.freightwaves.com, as we are less than two weeks away from F3: Future of Freight Festival. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Several critical developments are pointing toward a rising cost of uncertainty across the logistics landscape. Analysts are trimming expectations for the back half of the year, with Morgan Stanley significantly cutting earnings per share estimates for most truckload and less-than-truckload carriers due to high shipper uncertainty and continuing industrial contraction.. A major regulatory shift occurred when the U.S. Court of Appeals overturned a key Federal Maritime Commission rule regarding detention and demurrage fees, a ruling analyzed in Demurrage dilemma: court overturns FMC's trucking rule. Specifically, the court found the FMC rule that categorically blocked demurrage charges against motor carriers to be "arbitrary and capricious," potentially opening the door for drayage carriers, who often lack leverage, to be billed for these terminal fees once again. Equipment costs are set to rise after President Trump announced a new 25% tariff on imported medium- and heavy-duty trucks starting November 1st, as reported in Trump to impose 25% tariff on trucks starting Nov. 1. Since the U.S. imports the majority of these trucks from Mexico, the tariff could significantly raise the total cost of ownership for U.S. fleets, potentially slowing down equipment replacement cycles, even if vehicles nominally fall under the USMCA agreement. North of the border, Canada Post is facing a severe labor crisis linked to its deep financial struggles, having incurred losses of $2.7 billion since 2018, leading to a crucial update in Canada Post reduces contract offer to striking workers, warns of job cuts. The postal operator rescinded a $500 to $1,000 signing bonus and is proposing to eliminate lifetime job security for urban employees while aiming to downsize the workforce through attrition, buyouts, and early retirement to facilitate needed modernization. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Donald Trump’s expansion of tariffs, which includes a new 25% duty on imported medium and heavy-duty trucks is set to begin November 1st. This decision follows a federal probe under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act and is aimed at protecting U.S. manufacturers like Peterbilt and Kenworth. The broadcast also covers the escalating labor situation at Canada Post, which has presented a scaled-back offer to 50,000 striking mail carriers that increases the likelihood of job cuts. The company's proposed collective bargaining agreement no longer includes a signing bonus due to its deteriorating financial position and plans to eliminate lifetime job security provisions for urban unit employees. Furthermore, the U.S. Department of Transportation has issued an emergency federal order leading to California and Oregon suspending the issuance of non-domiciled CDLs. This crackdown follows an FMCSA audit that found widespread non-compliance, including that more than 25% of California's non-domiciled CDLs were improperly issued. Don't miss the upcoming FreightWaves TV programming, including Loaded and Rolling and Check Call. You can also join the leaders shaping the future of freight at the F3: Future of Freight Festival in Chattanooga, Tennessee, which is just two weeks away. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The U.S. Department of Transportation issued an emergency order on September 26th mandating that states immediately stop issuing or renewing non-domiciled commercial learner’s permits and CDLs, targeting licenses often held long after their legal authorization to be in the U.S. had expired. This crackdown follows a nationwide Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration audit that linked at least five fatal crashes this year to improperly issued licenses. Industry analysis predicts a significant surge in bankruptcies especially among small and mid-size carriers who built their business models on skirting the law by using non-compliant labor willing to run severe hours-of-service violations. Capacity issues are also global, as ongoing geopolitical uncertainty keeps ocean carriers away from the critical Suez Canal choke point. Maersk’s CEO, Vincent Clerc, stated that shipping firms are unlikely to return until security is “reliably restored” due to unacceptably high risks to crews and vessels. This continued rerouting around the Cape of Good Hope has caused container revenue for the Suez Canal Authority to plummet by as much as 60%, locking in elevated costs and longer transit times across the entire global supply chain. Connecting these domestic compliance costs and global operational headwinds, Werner CEO Derek Leathers recently characterized freight rates as "stably horrible" for years in the address, noting that potential tariffs on Class 8 trucks made in Mexico could further inflate equipment costs and cap future capacity. Ultimately, this market reset is being structurally guaranteed not by a sudden demand boom, but by the simultaneous removal of illegal low-cost capacity domestically and persistent geopolitical risk that maintains a high operational cost ceiling globally. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The core issue involves whether the safety exception of the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act (F4A) shields brokers, like C.H. Robinson, from negligent hiring claims, a question that has caused conflicting decisions across federal circuits. Brokers view this as fundamental to their business model and urgently need the Supreme Court to provide clarity on where the lines are drawn for their legal protection. Turning to infrastructure, the Port of Los Angeles, the busiest U.S. import gateway, has announced plans for a massive new container terminal called the Pier 500 project. This undertaking includes two berths and 3,000 feet of wharf across 200 acres, intended to accommodate ultra-large container ships such as the MSC Irina, which can carry over 24,000 TEUs. This expansion, which is expected to take about 10 years to complete, highlights the significant time required for major port infrastructure to keep pace with the increasing size of global shipping vessels. In the financial sector, we examine Moody’s affirmation of Echo Global Logistics’ corporate family debt rating at B3, which is considered deep into non-investment grade territory. Despite the persistently challenging freight trucking environment, Moody’s held the company's outlook at stable, anticipating that cost saving actions will help offset margin pressure tied to soft freight rates. While leverage remains high, expected to be slightly below 7X debt/EBITDA this year, Echo maintains steady earnings and adequate liquidity. A surprising tech hurdle impacting EV adoption is revealed in a new report showing that nearly one-third of charging attempts fail, leaving the actual First-Time Charge Success Rate (FTCSR) stuck at 71%, despite high charger uptime statistics. This issue stems primarily from fragmentation in the multiple software systems—including the vehicle, charger, and payment network—that must perform a perfect digital handshake to initiate a charge. Furthermore, success rates drop significantly after about three years because older charging stations often cannot be updated to support newer charging protocols.  Finally, the podcast addresses accelerating investment in e-commerce fulfillment, driven by consumers still ordering large items online. Walmart recently announced plans to build a $300 million fulfillment center in Kings Mountain, North Carolina, specifically designed to handle bulky online orders like furniture. This massive 1.2 million square-foot facility is expected to open in 2027, underscoring the ongoing need for specialized infrastructure in the supply chain. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices