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Borderlands is a weekly rundown of developments in the world of United States-Mexico cross-border trucking and trade. This week: Exports, production of heavy-duty trucks from Mexico drop in May; Kansas City Southern de Mexico commits $120 million to new projects; Prologis building distribution warehouse in Dallas area; and Amazon opens sixth logistics warehouse in Mexico.

This week: Theresa DeSantis takes home a second SuperRigs Best of Show award, Schneider donates to LGBTQIA+ non-profit organization and Swift honors POW/MIA veterans with a newly wrapped Kenworth.

Amid soaring inflation and supply chain crunches, the United States’ key rail regulator has been mired in political antics.

The railway’s recent 2022 capital investment announcement brings the total to nearly CA$1.7 billion (US$1.32 billion) for six Canadian provinces.

The rising cost of construction materials — and lack of bidders — is weakening the power of the bipartisan infrastructure law.

After a new fraud charge was leveled against Nikola founder Trevor Milton earlier this week, his attorneys are seeking a 30-day delay to review the documents.

With the country navigating a weakening economy, companies industry wide are struggling to hire and retain drivers.

Amazon this week unveiled Proteus, its first “fully autonomous” mobile warehouse robot.

On demand on WTT: Lunar logistics with NASA; will the fuel tax holiday help trucking; DB Schenker buys USA Truck and more

FedEx Freight’s gains won’t make investors forget about FedEx Ground’s issues, but they help.

BNSF’s brief embargo aims to reduce Southern California network congestion, which the railway partly blamed on bad weather.

Dispatcher Elijah Goldberg discusses life and working in Kyiv, Ukraine, during wartime.

A midyear report showed mixed data for deal flow in the transportation and logistics sector.

Outbound tender volumes for Columbus rise, and tender rejections out of Atlanta reach above the national average.

Volume levels have restarted their decline, as have spot rates. The national rejection rate has fallen below 8%…

German logistics giant DB Schenker on Friday made a big move into the North American trucking market with a deal to acquire USA Truck.

The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that simply discouraging an employee from filing a FMLA request is enough to have violated the employee’s rights.

Using dropship vendors offers retailers many advantages, especially in current times, but managing them is another matter.

Reliance Partners’ Robert Kaferle describes simple ways fleets can derive savings.

What’s it like to have a totally antiquated supply chain management process and build a new one from the ground up? Karon Evanoff tells her story.

Google Cloud leverages IT prowess to help businesses improve supply chains, executive says.

After initially blaming an internal administrative error for the failure to pay its North American employees for nearly a month, Dallas-based logistics tech startup Slync.io stated Thursday that its “inability to timely liquidate funds” is the real reason for its ongoing payroll nightmare.

Inside the WTT newsletter: best places for truckers with dogs; imports nose-dive at Port of LA; autonomous truck gets public road approval

Roadrunner said Thursday it has completed the second phase of service enhancements in its metro-to-metro, less-than-truckload network.

Three commissioners of the Federal Maritime Commission contend a merger between Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern would result in diverting U.S.-bound intermodal traffic to Canadian ports.

Container shipping rates remain far above pre-COVID levels, yet there are more signs of prices easing.

New delivery window to be set at two to five days for “Parcel Select Ground” and “Retail Ground” shipments.

Shippers are beginning to realize that their tried and true RFP methods will no longer keep them competitive in a changing market, pushing them to consider new, data-driven options.

Driving company culture and personal growth.

Shopify believes its new B2B e-commerce platform could spark a return to peak pandemic glory.

IATA says airlines can’t succeed on sustainable fuels, 5G interference and lithium battery safety without more government involvement.

Technology solutions, like the ones offered by Trucker Tools, help shippers and carriers achieve visibility and quickly book available trucks and nearby loads with the power of real-time, early and accurate data.

Red Arts Capital makes another acquisition in the supply chain, adding contract packaging provider Coregistics to its portfolio.

The benchmark diesel price used for fuel surcharges has been delayed and won’t be released this week but will be effective June 20.

The collapse of spot rates and surge in diesel prices is pushing small truckers out of the industry. One broker called it the “Great Purge.”

The NHTSA has approved the Einride Pod autonomous vehicle for on-road operation.

Spot market rates from Atlanta to Columbus, Ohio, have increased 3.2% in the last month, and the railways struggle with labor issues.

Real estate logistics provider Prologis set a net-zero emissions target for 2040 along with other targets in its environmental, social and governance report.

With the right technology, fleets can confidently weather any storm.

With millions of truck drivers on the roads every day, it is up to carriers to ensure they uphold the values and safety-first focus of the professional trucker. And it all starts with training.

Aero Capital Solutions is a mid-tier aircraft leasing firm that has quickly gone from zero freighters to soon having 40 of them.

Stord adds flex warehouse capacity in three key markets as it continues building its first-party fulfillment network.

As CalArk grew its local delivery fleet, it realized drivers could not take advantage of a short-haul exemption from ELD rules with current technology. So it built a new system.

Schreiber Foods, one of the world’s largest dairy producers, has been named a FreightWaves Shipper of Choice in 2022.

XPO executives tell investors why they chose to downsize the company, and vow to significantly boost LTL capital spending.

Pactum uses AI and chatbots to automate contract negotiations for some of the biggest companies in the world.

The first half has been phenomenal for product tankers. How much of shipping upside is due to the war?

FMCSA is a partner in a multistate effort this summer to more aggressively enforce traffic laws on Interstates 81 and 95.

As the industry continues to grapple with the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic, dedicated options seem to be making their way back into the spotlight.

Outbound tender volumes for Green Bay are increasing 4.8% week-over-week, and costs per forty-foot container from Germany rise more than $400 since March.

On the show: Double brokering scams exposed; record-high net revocation of trucking authorities; used truck prices fall and more

Freymiller was founded by Don Freymiller in 1968 in Wisconsin. Today the company operates out of Oklahoma City providing reefer services nationwide.

In the past two days, the Canadian railway has announced approximately CA$1.5 billion (US$1.16 billion) in capital investments for four provinces.

Zipline received an FAA Part 135 air carrier certification that gives it the largest commercial drone delivery radius in the U.S.

Kellogg splitsville As I am sure you’ve seen, the big CPG news Tuesday was that Kellogg will become three separate companies. Management will focus on the snacks/international business (I’ll call […]

The trucking lobby is pushing back on Biden’s call for a gas tax holiday, advocating instead for energy independence.

ABI Research predicts the last-mile robot delivery market will grow rapidly in the years ahead, delivering more than $3 billion worth of items by 2030.

Union Pacific is seeking to extend its tests on wheel temperature detectors, but the Transportation Trades Department disagrees with the way UP wants to deploy the technology.

FedEx and FourKites are going global with a partnership that will launch a new supply chain intelligence platform, FourKites X.

Lineage Logistics will go directly to consumers as it beefs up its warehousing capabilities.

Logistics provider DB Schenker will lay off 130 employees from a distribution center in Fort Worth, Texas.

Foster Poultry Farms asked STB last week to order UP to improve rail service to two poultry processing plants in California. The board agreed to that request.

As the world continues to become increasingly digitized, especially since this shift was accelerated due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many companies have had to find a balance in the workplace in managing relationships despite being primarily online.

FreightWaves founder and CEO Craig Fuller analyzes the bullwhip effect on the current retail and trucking environments.

Outbound tender volumes for New Orleans are rising 12% week-over-week, and linehaul rates continue to drop despite the rise in fuel costs.

Two listening sessions in the next two weeks will kick off the Biden administration’s effort to create a new federal definition of independent contractor status.

The air cargo market has lost some steam from 2021 but is still going strong, according to the airline trade group IATA.

The investments will go toward network improvements as well as technology and decarbonization initiatives.

FreightWaves’ Net-Zero Carbon show dives into regenerative agriculture and how farming techniques can sequester carbon and improve soil health.

“We deliver, so you can” is more than a tagline — it’s the foundation upon which Arrive Logistics has built its business. 

FedEx has deployed 150 BrightDrop electric vans into its California delivery network.

Germany’s Wingcopter, known for using drones to deliver medical supplies, is headed for a new frontier — grocery.

“Ditat has definitely helped us increase cash flow just by making the billing cycle efficient and allowing a one-stop place for our drivers to have the ability to get their dispatch, scan their bills of lading in and then it directly goes into the TMS and we can bill it out the same day.”

Logistics spending surged across the board, led by a nearly 40% increase in demand for private fleet or dedicated contract carriage services, the State of Logistics Report says.

The drowning of over 15,000 sheep off Sudan is just the latest in a very long line of black marks for livestock shipping.

It is more important than ever for companies to hone in on their inventory management strategies.

Members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers went on strike on Saturday.

Federal regulators are deciding at what level should the U.S. allow the transportation of liquefied natural gas by rail. Some environmental groups oppose LNG by rail because of concerns about transporting highly flammable material.

Owais Khan was living in Kyiv, Ukraine, and working as a freight broker in the U.S. market when the conflict with Russia began. He recounts his experiences about when Russia invaded and how he fled.

AskWaves provides a state-by-state breakdown for the record $463 million in funds set aside in 2022 for reducing truck crashes.

Borderlands is a weekly rundown of developments in the world of United States-Mexico cross-border trucking and trade. This week: E-commerce businesses have big cross-border opportunities; Arizona restricts trucks along portions of I-10; Port Houston utilizes its first zero-emissions drayage truck; and Cargobase opens an office in Mexico.

AskWaves explains carbon insets, how they may benefit companies and what limits they may have.

Oil prices fell hard on Friday, but longer term, a key oil forecasting agency sees structural issues that are boosting diesel prices.

We’re highlighting three amazing queens of the road. We’ll also go deep on reverse logistics and round up the good news and bad news of the week

Denver’s outbound tender rejections rise to 10.9%, and Market Dashboard now has new features for better visibility.

G Squared is to provide Transfix with financing and more capital.

Qatar Airways posted record profit and strong cargo business for the fiscal year 2021-22.

Port Houston awarded $429 million to Weeks Marine and Curtin Maritime Corp. to dredge the Houston ship channel.

New York City-based Jokr is the latest casualty of the ultrafast grocery downturn, pulling out of the U.S. market.

Columbus, Indiana is the very definition of a company town. And it owes its vitality to Cummins Inc.

Volume levels have restarted their decline, as have spot rates. The national rejection rate has fallen below 9%…

Last-mile delivery facilitator AxleHire has expanded into the Atlanta area, giving it a footprint in 17 of the top 25 markets in the U.S.

On this week’s Drilling Deep podcast, host John Kingston talks with colleague Henry Byers about the data that shows a coming collapse in ocean freight movements.

Despite the debate on ocean shipping reform, the law will be signed into law by President Biden relatively soon. With his presidency increasingly defined by record-breaking inflation, it is clear his administration is focused on efforts to correct course.

Retail sales are still up double digits compared to pre-COVID. Inventory-to-sales ratios have yet to fully recover.

As the economy corrects itself, where does VC stand?

Diesel hits new highs, spot market stays under $2, tech for small carriers, going green by recycling and retrofitting trucks, owner op vs company driving

Many companies are leveraging technology to improve driver recruiting and retention.

The side of the road can be a very dangerous place to be, especially if you don’t make your presence known.

Carere will head a new centralized group focusing on digitization.