The Top Logistics News that Shaped 2023

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, this list is comprised of the articles that collectively tell the stories related to key trends and themes that developed over the course of 2023. “As is always the case, this list could have really been a ‘Top 25’ instead of a Top 10.’’

1.New contract between UPS and the Teamsters finally comes to fruition

As expected, following the July 25 tentative agreement made between Atlanta-based global freight transportation and logistics services provider UPS and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, and the August 1 nearly-unanimous 161-1 vote in favor of endorsing the tentative agreement and recommend its passage by full membership, for the 340,000 full- and part-time UPS Teamsters members, the Teamsters announced on August 22 that the deal was formally ratified by UPS Teamsters members. Read more.

2. End of an era: Yellow Corp. enters Chapter 11 bankruptcy with 'profound disappointment' in sad day for freight

National LTL carrier Yellow Corp. didn’t need a Teamsters’ strike to enter bankruptcy. In its 100^th year, Yellow did it completely on its own. Yellow formally declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in early August. Yellow, which had $5.24 million revenue in the $58 billion less-than-truckload (LTL) market, is closing following decades of losses that exceeded $1.5 billion. Read more.

3. New six-year contract between PMA and ILWU is formally approved

After coming to terms on an agreement on a six-year tentative deal in mid-June, the International Longshore Warehouse Union (ILWU) and the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) approved a new deal. ILWU said that 75% of its membership voted in favor of approving the new contract. And it added that this new agreement protects good-paying jobs in 29 West Coast port communities, maintains health benefits, and improves wages, pensions, and safety protections. Read more.

4. Ongoing Panama Canal drought continues to impact throughput and transit times

The ongoing drought conditions at the Panama Canal continues to significantly hamper operational throughput on various fronts. Panama Canal officials said that October was the its driest month in more than 70 years, adding that the drought caused by the El Niño phenomenon continues to impact the Panama Canal's reservoir system and, as a result, water availability has been reduced. Read more

5. U.S. National Blueprint for Transportation Decarbonization issued by four key government agencies

 Leadership at various United States government agencies—the Departments of Energy, Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and the Environmental Protection Agency—issued the U.S. National Blueprint for Transportation Decarbonization, an interagency framework of strategies and actions to remove all emissions from the transportation sector by 2050, providing a “whole-of-government approach” to address the climate crisis and also meet the White House’s goal of having a 100% clean electrical grid by 2035 and net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. Read more.
 

6. FedEx signals intent to consolidate its operating companies into one organization

FedEx announcing today that, effective June 2024, it will consolidate all of its operating companies into a single organization. FedEx described this consolidation 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. Read more.

7. STB decision officially signs off on Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger

The long-awaited decision regarding the acquisition of Kansas City Railway Company by Canadian Pacific (CP) reached its expected outcome today, with the Surface Transportation approving the $31 billion deal, which went into effect on April 14. This deal establishes the first freight railway connecting the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Read more.

8. Letter to employees signals Convoy closing its doors on core business operations

Seattle-based digital freight broker Convoy officially closed down its current core business operations, according to a company letter sent to Convoy employees from Convoy CEO and Co-Founder Dan Lewis. This development came at a time of lower demand for freight transportation and logistics services, which have weighed heavily on providers of these services, resulting in a freight recession that has been intact for more than a year. Read more.

9.Shippers back in control as logistics market swings back, new State of Logistics report says

Total U.S. logistics costs soared to $2.3 trillion last year, growing 19.6% from 2021 and now representing 9.1% of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), according to the newest State of Logistics report. Entitled “The Great Reset,” the report paints a rapidly changing logistics environment in sharp contrast with the pandemic-affected years 2021-2022. Last year’s report found that supply chains were largely still “out of sync” from the effects of the pandemic. But those days are over. Read more.

10. Biden faces uphill struggle in his vision for heavy truck EV push by 2032

The Biden administration is likely facing an uphill battle in the courts and Congress in its vision of turning America into an electric vehicle haven. The Environmental Protection Agency’s contentious proposal runs 515 pages. It is designed to force manufacturers by 2032 to sell one-fourth of new heavy trucks as electric vehicles – and two-thirds of all new passenger vehicles – is expected to be tested in the courts provided it gets through Congress first. Read more.