Topic: Transportation

Falling 7.3 cents, the national average, for the week of December 1, came in at $3.758 per gallon, which followed a 3.7-cent decline, to $3.831, for the week of November 24.

Stay informed and ready for what’s next with the November Edge Report from C.H. Robinson.

When a major automotive manufacturer faced delays and high costs managing freight from more than 30 vendors in Mexico, Averitt delivered a streamlined cross-border solution.

Are manual processes in freight procurement costing you time and money? It's time to bridge the gap and embrace a modern, AI-powered approach.

The letter added that USMCA ensures U.S. manufacturers, farmers, and service providers can continue to access the Canadian and Mexican markets, while also noting that it guarantees that virtually all U.S. exports enter these markets tariff-free, while also helping American companies and their employees compete in the country’s top two export markets.

Four considerations for your supply chain strategy

Total loadings, at 4,757,324, increased 2.8% annually, hitting its highest level since the second quarter 2021.

2025 delivered a near repeat of 2024's volatility, with tariffs, uneven demand, political uncertainty, and shifting trade dynamics leaving logistics managers stuck in a constant state of reaction. Across every mode—trucking, intermodal, rail, ocean, parcel, and shipper operations—experts point to the same themes: excess capacity, fragile confidence, tariff-driven distortion, and a growing reliance on technology as the industry waits for clarity that never quite arrives.

The report’s benchmark reading, the PMI, registered a reading of 48.2 (a reading higher than 50 indicates growth), down 0.5% compared to October, contracting, at a faster rate, for the ninth consecutive month, with the overall economy growing, at a slower rate, for the 67th consecutive month.

The logistics industry enters 2026 feeling a strong sense of déjà vu, as shifting tariffs, uneven freight markets, and persistent uncertainty left many managers reliving the same disruptions throughout 2025. Yet amid the volatility, technology—especially AI—offers a path forward, and those willing to adapt, rethink partnerships, and invest in smarter tools will be best positioned to navigate the chaos ahead.

Companies worldwide are accelerating their adoption of advanced logistics technologies—from cloud platforms and control towers to generative and agentic AI—as they push toward higher levels of automation, autonomy, and real-time decision-making. Yet with markets, industries, and regulatory environments maturing at different speeds, success hinges on strong data foundations, selective tech investment, and a phased roadmap that builds from analytics and automation toward predictive and fully autonomous logistics capabilities.

Six months into the latest tariff wave, the US faces a widening gap between policy-driven optimism and the real-world challenges of restoring competitive, resilient domestic manufacturing.

In a speech at last week’s RailTrends conference in New York, Union Pacific Railroad CEO Jim Vena made the case for Union Pacific’s historic proposed $85 billion merger with Norfolk Southern, in advance of the company submitting its merger application to the Surface Transportation Board.

With an expected December 1 date for the application regarding the historic $85 billion proposed merger between Class I railroad carriers Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern, there was no shortage of opinions regarding the deal at the RailTrends conference.

With a 3.1-cent gain, the national average came in at $3.868, for the week of November 17.

The state of the North American intermodal market could be described as somewhat bifurcated, based on a presentation at last week’s RailTrends conference in New York by noted intermodal expert Larry Gross, president of Gross Transportation Consulting.

In a wide-ranging presentation at the RailTrends conference in New York last week, Adriene Bailey, partner and head of the North American Rail Team at Oliver Wyman, offered up detailed insight and analysis on various topics impacting the North American freight railroad market.

Logistics Management Group News Editor Jeff Berman recently interviewed Ali Faghri Chief Strategy Officer at Greenwich, Conn.-based national less-than-truckload (LTL) carrier XPO. Faghri provided Berman with a detailed overview of the LTL market, economic conditions, and how XPO is leveraging AI, among other topics, in the interview below.

High-value cargo and volatile trade conditions are reshaping freight management, demanding a shift from reactive tracking to proactive, data-driven control.

Companies are responding by diversifying sourcing and looking for new trade routes.