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Inside the WHAT THE TRUCK?!? newsletter: Why trucks sales are up in a freight recession; Optimus returns; glue spills; Tesla supply chain exec jumps to Rivian

In 1975, a dredge capsized in the Miami Harbor with 3,600 barrels of oil onboard. But the fast-acting employees of the port allowed it to reopen within 11 hours and prevent what could have been an ecological disaster.

This year’s peak season could see West Coast labor disruptions coincide with Panama Canal water levels impeding cargo flows to the East Coast.

Jake Medwell sits down with Loren Smith to discuss policy items, including fleet electrification, rail safety and the debt ceiling.

A federal court in Canada sided with union members and determined that Canadian Pacific had failed to adequately limit the number of hours that train crews worked in a number of instances in 2018 and 2019.

Nussbaum Transportation’s chief administrative officer joins Taking The Hire Road to discuss how the company’s investment in its people is critical to its culture and success.

GXO is starting its multiyear German expansion plan through the use of warehouse in Dormagen.

Instead of carrying dead weight to help balance its empty freighters, Alaska Air Cargo is taking waste that will go to a recycling center.

Arrow Truck Sales is closing its branches in Dallas, Houston and San Antonio due to state regulations on dealerships.

ArcBest announced Thursday that its chief yield officer is stepping down and will be replaced internally.

Labor disruptions are slowing down ports in the Pacific Northwest as labor negotiations continue.

Nineteen states want an appellate court review of an EPA waiver that allows California’s Advanced Clean Trucks rule to proceed.

Trappers Transport announced Wednesday it has acquired Plett Trucking in a deal that combines two Winnipeg, Canada-based temperature-controlled transportation and logistics providers.

Canadian railway CN is monitoring wildfires across several provinces and is adjusting operations as needed.

Less-than-truckload carrier ABF Freight announced Wednesday that it reached a tentative labor agreement with the Teamsters.

Dockworkers who keep West Coast cargo flowing are highly paid. Their bid for even higher pay is starting to affect the cargo flow.

Prologis said the recent interest in logistics space in Mexico is just the beginning of what could be decades of demand.

The outcome of Nikola’s bid to double the number of authorized shares in the company could determine its ability to survive.

Jim Waters, Frayt’s vice president of marketing, said the company’s survey highlighted the growing need for last-mile services; 37% of respondents said 50% of their logistics operations fell into the last-mile category.

Now on demand on WHAT THE TRUCK?!? Dooner is joined by Mustafa Azizi; Chris Gonzalez; Cody Bolick; Justin Martin

Heartland executives used the UBS transportation conference to boast about the success of the company’s driver pay protection program.

The Teamsters’ 340,000 rank-and-file ready a vote to determine if strike should be authorized.

Lufthansa Cargo’s planned investment in Italy’s ITA Airways will allow the airlines to harmonize cargo operations.

A federal grand jury recently indicted two former trucking employees of MH Group, alleging the pair orchestrated an elaborate wire fraud scheme to defraud the Texas-based carrier out of $1.4 million.

Yesterday’s emerging technology is today’s table stakes for supply chain participants.

The latest federal data reveals that 64% of large-truck drivers killed in crashes were not wearing seat belts.

Less-than-truckload provider Forward Air said Tuesday that demand momentum has improved as the second quarter has progressed.

Sticking to earlier forecasts, RXO’s chief strategy officer sees the 3PL’s market share growing and increased volume year on year.

The Mexican government is offering incentives to attract investors to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec global trade hub project.

For truckers and 1970s country, the C.W. McCall hit “Convoy” shares a fun look into CB radio terminology.

Yellow and the Teamsters appear to be moving further apart on reaching a deal anytime soon.

David Bozeman may have a ways to go to get comfortable at C.H. Robinson, but he has been around the block.

Digital-oriented freight forwarder Flexport has completed its acquisition of the logistics arm of Shopify Inc., one month after it announced its plans. The deal includes Deliverr, the tech-enabled shipping services […]

Iron Senergy will use three autonomous rail cars manufactured by Intramotev on a 17-mile line between its Cumberland mine and a western Pennsylvania facility.

Digital freight marketplace NEXT Trucking is on the prowl for either additional capital or an exit.

Less-than-truckload carrier XPO reported another modest tonnage decline in May, which was in line with trends at Saia and much better than Old Dominion’s report.

IATA forecast suggests weak airfreight demand will continue without peak-season rebound

PalletTrader’s founder discusses the success of the newest online pallet marketplace that is changing the way pallets are bought and sold.

Union Pacific and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen have reached a deal that will provide locomotive engineers with up to seven days of paid sick leave.

The Logistics Managers’ Index registered contraction for the first time ever in May as transportation-related metrics weighed heavily on the data set.

Two new Saddle Creek facilities have opened. Another will open next month, followed by a fourth in 2024.

SMC³ has the only commercially available technology tool to consider carrier-specific costs, providing enhanced flexibility and agility through its Dynamic PriceBuilder™ tool.

C.H. Robinson Worldwide Inc. on Tuesday confirmed that David Bozeman, an executive of the Ford Motor Co., will be its next CEO.

Less-than-truckload carrier Old Dominion reported no seasonal inflection in volumes during May but continued to push yields higher.

The benchmark price used for most fuel surcharges took yet another downward move Monday as markets now are faced with a surprise cut in Saudi output.

Demand remains tepid, yet shipping lines have pushed spot rates off the bottom and secured contract rates above spot levels.

The effects of marijuana impairment on truck driving is not fully understood due in part to limited research, according to a new ATRI report.

Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo has vetoed a bill that would have restricted freight train lengths to 7,500 feet. State union representatives said they will continue to press legislators on the issue.

Northeast LTL carrier A. Duie Pyle has been growing but is hewing primarily to its existing geographic base.

Norfolk Southern and yardmasters affiliated with SMART-TD have struck a tentative deal on sick leave.

STG Logistics’ acquisition of Best Dedicated Solutions will add expedited, dry van, temperature-controlled and flatbed OTR transportation to STG’s existing services.

As the transportation industry continues to adopt more vehicle and internal technologies considered hackable, the importance of penetration testing takes center stage.

Now on demand on WHAT THE TRUCK?!? Dooner is joined by Charles Gracey; Carlos Medina and Danny Ramon

The best shipping partners are those who collaborate to cut costs without service degradation.

The Federal Railroad Administration has doled out more than $570 million in funding for projects designed to reduce or eliminate highway-grade crossings.

Navistar Inc. is recalling more than 92,000 trucks and buses because an antilock brake system warning light may not work.

Driver turnover. Fleet safety scores. Insurance premiums. A lot is riding on hiring, onboarding, training, and retaining the right drivers. Ongoing training supported by advanced technology that includes a telematics device makes […]

Nearshoring and reshoring manufacturing developments bypassing Canada for the U.S. and Mexico.

The dockworkers’ union and terminal employers are still sparring over wages and benefits more than a year after contract talks began.

This week in Borderlands: Texas seaport completes a $146 million container terminal expansion; a chemical logistics provider expands its Arizona operations; Bollore Logistics opens a supply chain facility in Mexico; and border agents seize $38 million worth of meth hidden in a kale shipment.

May’s Class 8 truck orders rose, but a truer measure of manufacturing health is the industry’s still-elevated backlog-to-build number.

The jury is still out on whether truckload demand has hit the floor.

Five years after bringing dry bulk freight futures to the masses, Breakwave makes a splash in tanker investing.

Move may come as a surprise to those who thought Jim Barber was the top candidate.

Growing interest in containerization drove speed and optimization in the transport industry and overtook previous methods of shipping over time. In 1975, United States Lines resumed containerized cargo service, reducing transit time between Savannah, Georgia, and Northern Europe to just eight days.

Now on demand on WHAT THE TRUCK?!? Dooner is joined by FinPark’s Anthony Petitte; Courier Network’s Thomas Funkhauser and Eight Twenty-Eight’s Casey Jenkins

One last round of bad news to cap this week: China and the U.S. both posted dismal data from their respective industrial economies.

Technology might not be the only thing causing the freight rail industry to pivot. The industry’s relationships with its workforce and its customers might also be transitioning, suggested some speakers at the North American Rail Shippers conference.

Class 5 electric trucks have a broad customer base and a lot of manufacturers chasing the space where regulation comes soon.

Truck transportation jobs may have risen between April and May, but the more significant number is the trend since January, which has been down.

Less-than-truckload carrier Saia reported second-quarter volume metrics on Friday that imply a high-single-digit sequential increase in tonnage from the first quarter.

Freight brokers can “increase their capacity by managing their own dedicated pool of leased trailers,” said Graham Gonzales, vice president of strategic accounts at Reliance Partners. Reliance is America’s fastest growing and most diverse insurance brokerage with a sole focus on the transportation space, specializing in annual and usage-based solutions.

Regulators explain the rationale behind an upcoming rulemaking for third-party CDL knowledge testers versus issuing a permanent waiver.

Older ships are being kept in service longer in pursuit of profits, heightening the risk of accidents and spills.

FedEx flight reductions reflect a significant drop in parcel traffic, throwing a wrench into management’s earnings expectations in the just-completed fourth quarter.

An ambitious train robbery goes off virtually without a hitch. But one little mistake leads to the downfall of this daring gang.

Like many FreightTech companies that have laid off workers in recent months, CloudTrucks blames the declining freight market for the job cuts.

Further downside risks to the U.S. economy are increasing the odds of a further decline in containerized import volumes.

Centerline Drivers VP John Trahan debunks the misconceptions surrounding staffing companies and stresses the importance of investing in all drivers.

How industry stakeholders are responding to efforts to legislate rail safety reforms was one of the themes percolating at the recent North American Rail Shippers annual conference.

RIST Transport acquired less-than-truckload peer AMA Transportation in a deal that creates a major regional player in the Northeast, according to an industry insider.

Ikea announced it has acquired cloud-based supply chain and warehouse management software provider Made4net.

Federal safety regulators have opened a preliminary evaluation of automatic emergency braking in Freightliner Cascadias.

The capacity at Amazon’s Atlanta facility has doubled to 2.4 million disaster relief items ready for shipment.

Freight Ninja is positioning itself as an industry leader in combating the truck parking shortage across the United States.

There may be plenty of hand-wringing about California’s Clean Fleets rule, but fleets are advised to start getting ready for it.

Shippers will be able to place lots of freight on widebody jets British Airways will start flying to Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport from London.

Supply chain visibility provider Descartes beat first-quarter estimates, and management said they are optimistic about recent trends.

The Pacific Railway Act of 1862 brought about the first transcontinental railroad. Check out the photographs and illustrations that depict what it was like to work on the railroad at the time.

The California State Assembly voted 54-3 to ban autonomous trucks without safety drivers from the state’s roadways.

A project sponsored by West Coast states is seeking the entire first round of federal funding set aside for zero-emission charging and fueling networks.

Two regulations proposed by the Federal Railroad Administration call for freight railroads to create programs to certify train dispatchers and signal employees.

Gartner’s Magic Quadrant stands out as one of the clearest – and most trusted – ways to evaluate the most popular real-time visibility options.

Alterna Equity Partners announced Wednesday the acquisition of waste and industrial materials carriers Attaway Hauling and Choice Bulk Carriers.

Union Pacific’s expanded service allows ocean carriers and BCOs to utilize on-dock rail at the Barbours Cut Container Terminal at Port Houston.

Despite a slow Memorial Day start, summer demand is expected to hike tanker rates in the months ahead.

On demand on WHAT THE TRUCK?!? Dooner is joined by Eugen Tissen; Keagan Russo; Ashlie Summer; Crackerbox Jimmy; Toby Bogard and Justin Martin