Topic: Transportation

The November FRI was down 0.4% from October to November, falling for the seventh time in the last eight months, and it was off 4.4% annually, due largely to an intermodal slowdown in recent months, noted the report.

The United States Department of Transportation is revoking 17,000 Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) holders in California in what has become a political football between the Trump administration and California Gov. Gavin Newsom.

the Federal Reserve announced it has lowered the target rate, for the federal funds rate, which comes from its Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) for the third consecutive month, dropping it by 0.25%, to 3.5%-to-3.75%, its lowest rate level since 2022.

Representing the National Electric Manufacturers Association (NEMA) at the USTR hearing, Patrick Lozada, NEMA Senior Director of Global Policy, made the case for the USTR to move forward with what he called a swift review and renewal of the USMCA.

November U.S.-bound container import volume—at 2,183,048 TEU (Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units)—were off 5.4% compared to October and saw a 7.5% annual decline.

The company says the shift will help improve delivery speed and stabilize supply.

A new Gartner survey shows that leadership turnover, outdated development pathways, and unclear career progressions are weakening supply chain performance.

For October, the most recent month for which data is available, U.S. imports, for the ports surveyed in the report, came in at 2.07 million Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units (TEU), excluding the Port of Charleston, which marked a 1.8% sequential decline and a 7.9% annual decline.  

With a 9.3-cent decline, the national average came in at $3.665 per gallon, following a 7.3-cent decline, to $3.758, for the week of December 1, and a 3.7-cent decline, to $3.831, for the week of November 24, for a cumulative 20.3-cent decline over that span.

Hacebaga currently serves as POLB Chief Operating Officer. He has been at POLB for the last 15 years in various senior management roles, and in his current position he oversees daily operations, including commercial services, engineering, finance and administration, planning and environmental affairs, and strategic advocacy.  

With the existing contract between global e-commerce retailer Amazon and the United States Postal Service set to expire in October 2026, media reports published yesterday indicated that there could be some shifts coming in that relationship.

FTR reported that preliminary October Class 8 truck net orders, at 24,300 units, saw an 18% gain, from September to October, while falling 22% annually. ACT reported that preliminary November Class 8 net orders, at 19,700 units, fell 4.7% annually

Rail carloads, at 197,955, increased 4.3% annually, and intermodal containers and trailers, at 234,860 units, fell 6.5% annually.

The November LMI reading came in at 55.7 (a reading above 50 indicates growth is occurring), following matching 57.4 readings, for both September and October. This represents the ninth straight month the LMI has been below the all-time overall average of 61.4.

Non-asset-based third-party logistics (3PL) services providers recently received good news, with the announcement that United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has introduced a five-year pilot program, which, for the first time, includes freight brokers and warehouse-based 3PLs to be able to be part of the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (CTPAT) program.

Peak season used to feel like a mad dash, but DHL says the holidays don’t bring the same sense of chaos they once did. Thanks to years of planning, better forecasting, and rapid growth in robotics, the company is heading into the busiest stretch of the year with confidence instead of panic.

While a December 1 date for the merger application to be sent to the Surface Transportation Board (STB), regarding the historic proposed $85 billion merger between Class I railroads Union Pacific (UP) and Norfolk Southern (NS), had been widely anticipated, UP CEO Jim Vena said at the UBS Global Industrials and Transportation Conference this week that the merger’s submission will be delayed for about two weeks.

ODFL reported that November revenue per day fell 4.4% annually, related to a 10.0% decrease in LTL tons per day, which it said was partially offset by an increase in LTL revenue per hundredweight.

The November Services PMI, at 52.6 (a reading above 50 represents expansion and below 50 indicates contraction), rose 0.2% over October’s 52.4, with September flat, at 50.0, growing, at a faster rate, for the second consecutive month. Which was preceded by expansion in 13 of the previous 14 months before September.  

DOT Secretary Sean Duffy said that almost 3,000 CDL training facilities have been removed from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) Training Provider Registry (TPR), saying those CDL facilities failed to equip trainees with the White House’s “standards of readiness,” with 4,500 other CDL training facilities placed on notice because of potential noncompliance.