The Logistics and Supply Chain News that Shaped 2024

In an annual tradition, LM group news editor Jeff Berman has conducted a thorough review of the expansive number of logistics- and supply chain-related news articles reported, written, and posted by the Logistics Management editorial staff over the course of the calendar year in order to create this list of the top news articles over that period.

This list is not based on page view analytics to forge a “most popular” list. Instead, Berman explains that this list is comprised of the articles that collectively tell the stories related to key trends and themes that developed over the course of 2024. “As is always the case, this list could have really been a ‘Top 25’ instead of a Top 10.’’

1. Re-Election of Trump signals changes for global trade, supply chains, and U.S. trucking industry

With former President Donald J. Trump winning back the White House, it’s clear that the supply chain and freight logistics markets are in for some changes on various fronts.

2. ILA and USMX Master Contract hit a snag, as major sticking points remain on technology and automation

While the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) and the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) resumed Master Contract discussions earlier this month in advance of a January 15, 2025, deadline for a new deal, respective statements issued earlier today by both parties indicated that much more progress needs to be made for a new deal to come to fruition.

3. Baltimore port, key East Coast maritime lane, is set to reopen following bridge collapse

Less than three months after the main spans of the Francis Scott Key Bridge became a mangled wreck in the Patapsco River, they are now almost entirely gone. The 700-foot wide full shipping channel is scheduled to reopen June 10 outside Baltimore.

4. FedEx gears up for Network 2.0 transition

FedEx describes this as a phased transition that will subsequently bring nearly all of its operating companies—FedEx Express, FedEx Ground, FedEx Services, as well as other FedEx operating companies—into Federal Express Corporation, and transition into what it called ‘a single company operating a unified, fully integrated air-ground network.’

5. Tariffs are top of mind for supply chain stakeholders following Trump’s re-election

President-elect Trump said repeatedly on the campaign trail that he plans to increase the percentage of tariffs levied on companies importing into the United States, from where they have remained since they were implemented in 2018 during his first term in office. 

6. Amazon heralds the formal launch of Amazon Air Cargo

Global e-commerce giant Amazon recently announced that is has officially entered the for-hire air cargo market, offering space on its large fleet of cargo jets to freight forwarders and businesses. This move expands Amazon’s air logistics operations beyond its parcel delivery service and positions it to challenge airfreight giants like FedEx and UPS.

7. Ongoing Red Sea situation is expected to last at least into second half of 2024

The ongoing series of attacks on the Red Sea shipping lane by the Yemeni Houthi pirates in response to the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict continues to resonate within the global supply chain and economy by extension, to be sure. It has elicited no shortage of takeaways and opinions about various related factors, including: its potential duration; impact on rates; and supply chain strategies and contingency plans, among other things.

8. UPS is set to take over USPS air cargo contract from FedEx

UPS has been awarded what it labeled a “significant air cargo contract” by the United States Postal Service (USPS). UPS officials said that this contract takes effect immediately while also expanding the existing relationship between UPS and USPS. And the company added that after a transition period, UPS will be the primary air cargo provider for USPS, moving the majority of USPS’s United States air cargo.

9. Millions of dollars’ worth of ex-Yellow tractors, trailers up for auction

The bankruptcy estate of Yellow is expected to reap hundreds of millions of dollars for sale of some surprisingly new tractors and trailers.

10. Federal Railroad Administration issues final rule on train crew size safety requirements

The United States Department of Transportation’s Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) issued a final rule which it said establishes minimum safety requirements for train crew sizes, with the new rule requiring a second crew member on all trains.