Topic: E-commerce

Quarterly revenue, at $22.2 billion, increased 3% annually, its highest annual growth rate since the pandemic, and operating income, at $1.30 billion, was up 7%. Earnings per share, at $3.83, beat Wall Street expectations, at $3.61.

The White House issued an executive order earlier this month, which it said it takes steps to modify tariff policies and also establish procedures to implement trade and security agreements with foreign partners, in regards to what it called persistent U.S. goods trade benefits that are considered a national security threat.

The company stated that FedEx package standard list rates for U.S., U.S. export, and U.S. import services will increase by an average of 5.9%. And it said that rates for FedEx Ground Economy, FedEx Ground Multiweight, FedEx International Premium, and FedEx International Priority Direct Distribution will also head up.

The plan also covers steel, textiles, and around 1,400 other products from countries without trade agreements.

Logistics Management (LM) Group News Editor Jeff Berman recently spoke with Matt Muenster, Chief Economist for Green Bay, Wisc.-based Breakthrough, an innovator in transportation management, dedicated to creating transparent and fair strategies for the world’s leading shippers. Muenster provided Berman with an overview of trade and tariffs, the industrial economy, and Peak Season, among other topics. 

The August LMI reading, at 59.3, eked out a 0.1% gain over July’s 59.2.

UPS has announced its 2025 peak demand surcharges, adding new costs for businesses shipping during the holiday rush. The surcharges will take effect September 28 and run through January 17, covering the busiest stretch of the year for e-commerce and retail deliveries.

It is hard to find a period in time in which supply chains have seen so much volatility and uncertainty, in various ways as over the last five years. That is nothing new, to be sure, but, at the same time, it does speak to the significance of the industry (whether you may be a shipper, carrier, 3PL, academic, analyst, lobbyist, or anything else along those lines).

Effective today, August 29, the de minimis exemption, which allows shipments under $800 sent to the United States to not be subject to tariffs, officially will be removed. That was the edict delivered in a White House executive order in late July.

Entitled “Eye on the Last Mile,” the report is based on feedback from more than 200 United States-based supply chain and logistics leaders.

As B2B buying behaviors evolve, many organizations plateau—not for lack of demand, but because their order and e-commerce systems still operate in siloes.

The deal promises faster returns, lower costs, better customer experiences, and improved sustainability.

July retail sales, adjusted for seasonal variation and holiday and trading day differences but not price changes, came in at $726.3 billion, up 0.5% over June’s revised $722.6 billion. And total retail sales, from May through July, posted a 3.9% annual gain compared to the same period a year ago.

A report issued this week by Dallas-based industrial real estate firm CBRE found that third-party logistics (3PL) services providers saw gains in the number of the largest industrial leases signed over the first half of 2025, with the firm citing large occupiers outsourcing more of their warehousing and supply chain operations as a key driver the growth.

Economists warn the move could raise prices and push the country toward recession.

Following a 90-day pause rolled out in May, which was set to expire today, the White House said yesterday, in an Executive Order, that tariffs on United States-bound imports from China will remain at current levels for another 90 days, through November 10.

Third quarter fiscal year 2025 earnings issued this week by the United States Postal Service (USPS) saw a steeper net loss, at $3.1 billion, than the $2.5 billion reported a year ago, for the quarter.

Waterloo, Ontario-based Descartes, a provider of logistics based on-demand, software-as-a-service offerings, announced it has acquired Los Altos, California-based Finale Inventory, a cloud-based inventory management services provider, with a focus on supporting e-commerce businesses across their lifecycle.

Mugsy, which operates primarily in direct-to-consumer (DTC) sales, struggled with inventory inaccuracies and parcel shipping delays, impacting its growth. After switching to Ryder and its acquired 3PL, Whiplash, Mugsy saw immediate improvements in operational accuracy, shipping cost management, and customer satisfaction.

Following an executive order issued in May, which ended the de minimis exemption—allowing shipments under $800 sent from China and Hong Kong to the U.S. to not be subject to tariffs, the White House this week issued a new executive order suspended the de minimis exemption for various imported goods.