<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">The Soviet Union apparently completed a naval exercise in waters to the north of Japan that was amon</div>

The Soviet Union apparently completed a naval exercise in waters to the north of Japan that was amon

<div>The Soviet Union apparently completed a naval exercise in waters to the north of Japan that was among the largest conducted by the Soviet Pacific Fleet in recent years, Pentagon sources said.The officials, who requested anonymity, said the largest ships observed during the week-long exercise appeared Tuesday to be sailing for ports on the eastern Soviet coast."It appears to be winding down," said one official. "All the evidence suggests the exercise is breaking up."The maneuvers, disclosed by Pentagon officials on Aug. 12, involved more than 15 surface warships and at least 15 submarines at their height, the sources said. Among...

The Soviet Union apparently completed a naval exercise in waters to the north of Japan that was among the largest conducted by the Soviet Pacific Fleet in recent years, Pentagon sources said. The officials, who requested anonymity, said the largest ships observed during the week-long exercise appeared Tuesday to be sailing for ports on the eastern Soviet coast."It appears to be winding down," said one official. "All the evidence suggests the exercise is breaking up." The maneuvers, disclosed by Pentagon officials on Aug. 12, involved more than 15 surface warships and at least 15 submarines at their height, the sources said. Among the participating ships was the aircraft carrier Minsk, one of the largest ships in the Soviet Navy, along with the nuclear-powered cruiser Frunze. The exercise was staged primarily to the east and west of the Kuril Islands, due north of Japan. The ships initially practiced "the formation of a defensive perimeter barrier to protect sea approaches to their submarine bases in the area," one source said. That was followed by a "seapower projection" exercise in which the Frunze led a combat group through the Sea of Okhotsk and past the Kuril Islands into the northern Pacific. The Soviet maneuvers followed the recent completion of a major U.S.-led naval exercise in the Pacific dubbed RIMPAC. That exercise was conducted primarily in the waters between California and Hawaii and involved two U.S. aircraft carriers along with ships and planes from Australia, England, Canada and Japan. Adm. James A. Lyons Jr., the commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, said in a prepared statement last week the Soviets appeared to be concentrating on improving the proficiency of their Pacific Fleet after a major build-up in strength. The Soviet Pacific Fleet has grown from about 200 ships in 1960 to more than 400 ships and 130 submarines today, the Pentagon estimates. According to one Pentagon source, the Soviets have also staged naval exercises on a smaller scale in the Baltic and Black seas in recent days.

Maritime

SOVIET UNION COMPLETES PACIFIC FLEET EXERCISE

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">The IMO and IAEA are working on setting up international regulations and standards that would underpin the production and development of nuclear power in the maritime industry. </div>

The IMO and IAEA are working on setting up international regulations and standards that would underpin the production and development of nuclear power in the maritime industry.

Feature image

<div class="phx-topic">A push to establish a regulatory framework for the safe deployment of civil nuclear applications in maritime environments is gathering momentum, with two key agencies now working on a set of standards for the shipping industry. The Maritime Safety Committee of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in June agreed to start revising the "Code of Safety for Nuclear Merchant Ships.” That initiative will begin in January as part of broader discussions on decarbonization and alternative fuels, aiming to create a regulatory framework for civilian nuclear shipping. The IMO is also working with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) division known as Atlas (Atomic Technologies Licensed for Applications at Sea) to plug regulatory gaps and develop the maritime nuclear power framework. “These two agencies are taking all the security and safeguard standards that exist and making sure that they're relevant for the maritime industry,” said Mikal Bøe, founder and CEO of Core Power, a UK-based development company specializing in scalable atomic power technology. “During 2026, the agencies will come together to form a harmonized regulatory framework that will apply both to floating nuclear power and to nuclear-powered ships,” Bøe told reporters at a recent press briefing. “That is the bedrock on which maritime nuclear power will rest.” Nuclear-powered container ships have the potential to eliminate bunker costs, cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and deliver faster transit times, while maintaining safety and economic competitiveness, according to classification society Lloyd’s Register. With no international regulatory framework yet in place, Lloyd’s Register in October published Navigating Nuclear Energy in Maritime, a new guidance document providing the first roadmap for the safe and responsible use of nuclear technology in commercial shipping and offshore industries. The document discusses the roles of key bodies, including the IMO and the IAEA, highlighting the importance of harmonizing maritime and nuclear standards. “Nuclear energy has the potential to transform maritime, providing a scalable and zero-carbon energy source that can accelerate the industry’s energy transition,” Mark Tipping, a director at Lloyd’s Register, said in a statement. “However, its adoption requires clarity, collaboration and trust across regulators, operators, insurers and wider society.” In September, US President Donald Trump and UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer signed a memorandum of understanding on the “Technology Prosperity Deal.” The MOU included commitments to explore opportunities for civil maritime nuclear applications, consult on the creation of international standards, establish a maritime shipping corridor between the two nations and strengthen energy resilience for defense facilities. <h3>Setting the building blocks </h3>An international regulatory framework is one of two key building blocks that need to be in place before nuclear power in the maritime industry can be realized at scale, sitting alongside an imperative to reduce nuclear production costs through mass manufacturing. Lowering the costs of building floating nuclear power platforms (FNPPs) and nuclear-powered ships rests on the large-scale modular construction of the sort employed by existing shipyards, Bøe noted. “It is taking a project-based industry and turning it into a product-based industry where you're mass manufacturing an identical product at scale,” he said. “We do this with ships, with aircraft, with space technology. The way to get things done at a grand scale with economics that makes sense, and quality that makes sense, is through mass manufacturing.” The large-scale modular construction where systems or components are assembled separately dramatically reduces time and costs and has enabled shipyards to achieve high volume and high quality with a skilled workforce. There is growing recognition that nuclear can play a significant role in the decarbonization of shipping and enable the maritime industry to meet its ambitious emissions-cutting targets. The IMO’s 2023 GHG Strategy wants total annual emissions from international shipping to be reduced by at least 20% (striving for 30%) by 2030, at least 70% (striving for 80%) by 2040 and to achieve net-zero GHG emissions by or around 2050, all compared to 2008 levels. But Bøe said that the only way the global maritime industry would achieve its mandated 70% reduction in carbon emissions by 2040 is to offset the use of marine fuel for smaller ships and adopt nuclear power for larger vessels. He noted that of the world’s 65,000-ship fleet, just 7,000 vessels consume 50% of all marine fuel oil. "If we're cutting emissions by 50%, we need to focus on the larger ships rather than the smaller ships, because that is where we will get the most bang for our buck,” he said. “Reactors with about 100,000 horsepower is the right kind of power profile for those 7,000 ships, which will cut emissions and speed up the fleet,” Bøe added. Contact Greg Knowler at <a href="mailto:greg.knowler@spglobal.com">greg.knowler@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

A push to establish a regulatory framework for the safe deployment of civil nuclear applications in maritime environments is gathering momentum, with two key agencies now working on a set of standards for the shipping industry. The Maritime Safety Committee of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in June agreed to start revising the "Code of Safety for Nuclear Merchant Ships.” That initiative will begin in January as part of broader discussions on decarbonization and alternative fuels, aiming to create a regulatory framework for civilian nuclear shipping. The IMO is also working with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) division known as Atlas (Atomic Technologies Licensed for Applications at Sea) to plug regulatory gaps and develop the maritime nuclear power framework. “These two agencies are taking all the security and safeguard standards that exist and making sure that they're relevant for the maritime industry,” said Mikal Bøe, founder and CEO of Core Power, a UK-based development company specializing in scalable atomic power technology. “During 2026, the agencies will come together to form a harmonized regulatory framework that will apply both to floating nuclear power and to nuclear-powered ships,” Bøe told reporters at a recent press briefing. “That is the bedrock on which maritime nuclear power will rest.” Nuclear-powered container ships have the potential to eliminate bunker costs, cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and deliver faster transit times, while maintaining safety and economic competitiveness, according to classification society Lloyd’s Register. With no international regulatory framework yet in place, Lloyd’s Register in October published Navigating Nuclear Energy in Maritime, a new guidance document providing the first roadmap for the safe and responsible use of nuclear technology in commercial shipping and offshore industries. The document discusses the roles of key bodies, including the IMO and the IAEA, highlighting the importance of harmonizing maritime and nuclear standards. “Nuclear energy has the potential to transform maritime, providing a scalable and zero-carbon energy source that can accelerate the industry’s energy transition,” Mark Tipping, a director at Lloyd’s Register, said in a statement. “However, its adoption requires clarity, collaboration and trust across regulators, operators, insurers and wider society.” In September, US President Donald Trump and UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer signed a memorandum of understanding on the “Technology Prosperity Deal.” The MOU included commitments to explore opportunities for civil maritime nuclear applications, consult on the creation of international standards, establish a maritime shipping corridor between the two nations and strengthen energy resilience for defense facilities. Setting the building blocks An international regulatory framework is one of two key building blocks that need to be in place before nuclear power in the maritime industry can be realized at scale, sitting alongside an imperative to reduce nuclear production costs through mass manufacturing. Lowering the costs of building floating nuclear power platforms (FNPPs) and nuclear-powered ships rests on the large-scale modular construction of the sort employed by existing shipyards, Bøe noted. “It is taking a project-based industry and turning it into a product-based industry where you're mass manufacturing an identical product at scale,” he said. “We do this with ships, with aircraft, with space technology. The way to get things done at a grand scale with economics that makes sense, and quality that makes sense, is through mass manufacturing.” The large-scale modular construction where systems or components are assembled separately dramatically reduces time and costs and has enabled shipyards to achieve high volume and high quality with a skilled workforce. There is growing recognition that nuclear can play a significant role in the decarbonization of shipping and enable the maritime industry to meet its ambitious emissions-cutting targets. The IMO’s 2023 GHG Strategy wants total annual emissions from international shipping to be reduced by at least 20% (striving for 30%) by 2030, at least 70% (striving for 80%) by 2040 and to achieve net-zero GHG emissions by or around 2050, all compared to 2008 levels. But Bøe said that the only way the global maritime industry would achieve its mandated 70% reduction in carbon emissions by 2040 is to offset the use of marine fuel for smaller ships and adopt nuclear power for larger vessels. He noted that of the world’s 65,000-ship fleet, just 7,000 vessels consume 50% of all marine fuel oil. "If we're cutting emissions by 50%, we need to focus on the larger ships rather than the smaller ships, because that is where we will get the most bang for our buck,” he said. “Reactors with about 100,000 horsepower is the right kind of power profile for those 7,000 ships, which will cut emissions and speed up the fleet,” Bøe added. Contact Greg Knowler at greg.knowler@spglobal.com .

Regulatory agencies developing framework for use of maritime nuclear power

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Forwarders are bemoaning pricing changes WiseTech made this week to its CargoWise products, saying their technology costs will rise markedly because shippers will be unwilling to accept the pass-through costs. </div>

Forwarders are bemoaning pricing changes WiseTech made this week to its CargoWise products, saying their technology costs will rise markedly because shippers will be unwilling to accept the pass-through costs.

<div class="phx-topic">WiseTech Global this week unveiled a pricing model change to the forwarding industry’s most widely used software platform, triggering a sharp backlash from customers who say the move will raise their costs between 20% to 50%. The change implemented on Monday by WiseTech is stirring market debate about pricing transparency and whether technology costs incurred by third-party logistics providers (3PLs) can be passed on to shippers. The new pricing model, called Value Pack Community Pricing, is for WiseTech’s flagship CargoWise set of products. The logistics software provider said the change is meant to simplify pricing for its customers and drive broader use of its other products. WiseTech CEO Zubin Appoo told the Journal of Commerce the shift is “not a pricing change, but a totally different commercial model.” The old pricing model was based on the number of users within a customer, with additional fees charged for certain features and set fees associated with cloud hosting and other infrastructure costs. The new model rolls all those fees into a single transaction cost based on the type of activity a forwarder chooses. For instance, management of a full import container with an associated inland leg would cost $19.95; a standalone import customs entry would cost $9.95. WiseTech’s intent is to get forwarders to use more of the products the company has developed and to help forwarders defray the cost of those products by passing the cost on to shippers. <h3>Forwarders see their costs rising </h3>But a variety of forwarders say the pricing change will increase their costs significantly – by 20% on the low end and 50% or more on the high end. That would, by default, cut their margins unless they are able to pass those additional costs on to customers. Most forwarders who spoke with the Journal of Commerce were skeptical that shippers would accept a technology line item on an invoice from a forwarder, especially in a competitive market where shippers can easily shop around for better rates. There was also unease at the rollout itself, with some US forwarders bemoaning the change happening over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, and others suggesting that WiseTech should have made the shift on Jan. 1 so that accounting for the 2025 calendar year would have been more straightforward. One forwarder said the change this late in the year would affect its forecasted costs for technology made at the start of the year. The forwarder generally projects a 10% increase annually for its cost of using CargoWise, but expects the pricing change made Monday will drive its costs up between 25% and 35%. WiseTech announced to customers on Oct. 31 that the pricing change would go into effect Dec. 1, but some customers were still caught unaware. One forwarder described the rollout as “bananas.” “Everyone I know opened a ticket [with WiseTech] and got a response saying, ‘we’ll let you know when we release the new pricing,’” said another forwarder source. “Then we got the pricing information on Wednesday, and the upgrades got pushed Thursday.” Appoo, in a memo to customers Monday, said WiseTech would be pushing upgrades and patches in real-time. <h3>CEO expects gradual acceptance </h3>WiseTech’s CEO said the pass-through costs would take time to be accepted in an industry that is generally reluctant to change, but would eventually be thought of in the same vein as other costs that forwarders make on behalf of their customers and later recover. “The industry we work in operates in a disbursement model,” Appoo said. “There are customs fees, gate fees, port fees that 3PLs incur on behalf of the customer, and some are absorbed by the forwarder,” he said. “Standalone jobs (in the Value Pack pricing bundles) are $2 to $20. We’re talking a small number, a 0.1% charge added to customers and one of the smallest, if not the smallest, disbursements to the customer.” Appoo added that giving all its customers the ability to pass on technology costs to customers democratizes access to CargoWise because smaller players won’t experience the pricing “friction” of paying per seat, while larger customers will be able to scale WiseTech’s investments in artificial intelligence (AI) in a way smaller players might not. Another undercurrent at play is WiseTech’s ongoing deployment of AI to automate a range of individual processes and connected workflows within CargoWise, a development occurring amid broader use of AI across the forwarding industry. Appoo contends that AI will change the size of the workforce using CargoWise across its customers, and so the old pricing model didn’t reflect the investment the technology provider devotes annually to maintaining and upgrading its product. That includes the development of AI agents to help CargoWise users get more value from their investment in the product. “We see how rapidly AI has progressed,” Appoo said. “It will cause labor reduction over the next year. That’s the more urgent motivation.” Still, industry participants are skeptical about the changes. “You’re introducing fees to a price-sensitive market that doesn’t have a track record for paying this fee,” said Robert Petti, CEO of logistics technology provider Prompt Global and a former CargoWise service partner. “Automatically there is going to be reluctance because of that. People are looking to ship for the lowest possible price. This [cost] will likely be eaten by forwarders. The choice of using CargoWise is the forwarder’s, not the [beneficial cargo owner’s].” The CEO of another logistics technology provider who did not want to be identified said the WiseTech change is the equivalent of going “to Taco Bell and they charge me a fee for their use of SAP.” “Every dollar counts for a forwarder’s bottom line,” said a third logistics technology provider CEO. Appoo is confident the industry will adapt, and learn to appreciate, WiseTech’s new model. “We have, over time, introduced things that customers haven’t necessarily asked for, and over time they see the value,” he said. “We’re not just a software vendor, we’re the operating system that runs their supply chain, the partner that makes sure they’re compliant, and the solution that gives them levels of efficiency they wouldn’t have access to before.” Contact Eric Johnson at <a href="mailto:eric.johnson@spglobal.com">eric.johnson@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

WiseTech Global this week unveiled a pricing model change to the forwarding industry’s most widely used software platform, triggering a sharp backlash from customers who say the move will raise their costs between 20% to 50%. The change implemented on Monday by WiseTech is stirring market debate about pricing transparency and whether technology costs incurred by third-party logistics providers (3PLs) can be passed on to shippers. The new pricing model, called Value Pack Community Pricing, is for WiseTech’s flagship CargoWise set of products. The logistics software provider said the change is meant to simplify pricing for its customers and drive broader use of its other products. WiseTech CEO Zubin Appoo told the Journal of Commerce the shift is “not a pricing change, but a totally different commercial model.” The old pricing model was based on the number of users within a customer, with additional fees charged for certain features and set fees associated with cloud hosting and other infrastructure costs. The new model rolls all those fees into a single transaction cost based on the type of activity a forwarder chooses. For instance, management of a full import container with an associated inland leg would cost $19.95; a standalone import customs entry would cost $9.95. WiseTech’s intent is to get forwarders to use more of the products the company has developed and to help forwarders defray the cost of those products by passing the cost on to shippers. Forwarders see their costs rising But a variety of forwarders say the pricing change will increase their costs significantly – by 20% on the low end and 50% or more on the high end. That would, by default, cut their margins unless they are able to pass those additional costs on to customers. Most forwarders who spoke with the Journal of Commerce were skeptical that shippers would accept a technology line item on an invoice from a forwarder, especially in a competitive market where shippers can easily shop around for better rates. There was also unease at the rollout itself, with some US forwarders bemoaning the change happening over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, and others suggesting that WiseTech should have made the shift on Jan. 1 so that accounting for the 2025 calendar year would have been more straightforward. One forwarder said the change this late in the year would affect its forecasted costs for technology made at the start of the year. The forwarder generally projects a 10% increase annually for its cost of using CargoWise, but expects the pricing change made Monday will drive its costs up between 25% and 35%. WiseTech announced to customers on Oct. 31 that the pricing change would go into effect Dec. 1, but some customers were still caught unaware. One forwarder described the rollout as “bananas.” “Everyone I know opened a ticket [with WiseTech] and got a response saying, ‘we’ll let you know when we release the new pricing,’” said another forwarder source. “Then we got the pricing information on Wednesday, and the upgrades got pushed Thursday.” Appoo, in a memo to customers Monday, said WiseTech would be pushing upgrades and patches in real-time. CEO expects gradual acceptance WiseTech’s CEO said the pass-through costs would take time to be accepted in an industry that is generally reluctant to change, but would eventually be thought of in the same vein as other costs that forwarders make on behalf of their customers and later recover. “The industry we work in operates in a disbursement model,” Appoo said. “There are customs fees, gate fees, port fees that 3PLs incur on behalf of the customer, and some are absorbed by the forwarder,” he said. “Standalone jobs (in the Value Pack pricing bundles) are $2 to $20. We’re talking a small number, a 0.1% charge added to customers and one of the smallest, if not the smallest, disbursements to the customer.” Appoo added that giving all its customers the ability to pass on technology costs to customers democratizes access to CargoWise because smaller players won’t experience the pricing “friction” of paying per seat, while larger customers will be able to scale WiseTech’s investments in artificial intelligence (AI) in a way smaller players might not. Another undercurrent at play is WiseTech’s ongoing deployment of AI to automate a range of individual processes and connected workflows within CargoWise, a development occurring amid broader use of AI across the forwarding industry. Appoo contends that AI will change the size of the workforce using CargoWise across its customers, and so the old pricing model didn’t reflect the investment the technology provider devotes annually to maintaining and upgrading its product. That includes the development of AI agents to help CargoWise users get more value from their investment in the product. “We see how rapidly AI has progressed,” Appoo said. “It will cause labor reduction over the next year. That’s the more urgent motivation.” Still, industry participants are skeptical about the changes. “You’re introducing fees to a price-sensitive market that doesn’t have a track record for paying this fee,” said Robert Petti, CEO of logistics technology provider Prompt Global and a former CargoWise service partner. “Automatically there is going to be reluctance because of that. People are looking to ship for the lowest possible price. This [cost] will likely be eaten by forwarders. The choice of using CargoWise is the forwarder’s, not the [beneficial cargo owner’s].” The CEO of another logistics technology provider who did not want to be identified said the WiseTech change is the equivalent of going “to Taco Bell and they charge me a fee for their use of SAP.” “Every dollar counts for a forwarder’s bottom line,” said a third logistics technology provider CEO. Appoo is confident the industry will adapt, and learn to appreciate, WiseTech’s new model. “We have, over time, introduced things that customers haven’t necessarily asked for, and over time they see the value,” he said. “We’re not just a software vendor, we’re the operating system that runs their supply chain, the partner that makes sure they’re compliant, and the solution that gives them levels of efficiency they wouldn’t have access to before.” Contact Eric Johnson at eric.johnson@spglobal.com .

Logistics Technology News

Supply chain

WiseTech pricing change tests shippers’ willingness to absorb tech costs

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Jim Vena blamed the delay on a contractor that must revise material that will be included in what will be a nearly 4,000-page filing to federal regulators.</div>

Jim Vena blamed the delay on a contractor that must revise material that will be included in what will be a nearly 4,000-page filing to federal regulators.

<div class="phx-topic">Union Pacific Railroad (UP) said Tuesday it will delay by two more weeks the filing of its application with the US Surface Transportation Board (STB) requesting formal approval for its proposed $85 billion acquisition of Norfolk Southern Railway (NS). UP CEO Jim Vena blamed the delay on a contractor that must revise material that will be included in what will be a nearly 4,000-page filing to federal regulators. The railroad had previously said it was targeting the first week of December to submit the formal application to the STB. “I was hoping [to file] at the end of this week [and] then we had one contractor that needed to do some re-work on some product,” Vena said at the UBS Global Industrials and Transportation Conference. “Am I happy? No ... [But] we want to make sure that the final [submission] is at a level that is exceptional.” Railroads often hire outside firms during complicated merger processes to provide economic analysis, financial modeling, and projections on questions such as how many trucks would be taken off highways. Consultants are also paid to field questions about their calculations during the application process. S&amp;P Global, the parent company of the Journal of Commerce, was among the firms hired to provide analysis during Canadian Pacific’s acquisition of Kansas City Southern Railway, which was finalized in 2023. Although the UP delay is minor, it likely eliminates any chance of a decision from the STB before the end of 2026. More realistically, a ruling is now expected in the first half of 2027. Regulators for the first time will be applying stricter rules enacted more than two decades ago to guide a deal of this size because the transaction qualifies as a “major” merger. The STB requires not only that Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern show that the deal will not reduce competition, but that it will actually enhance competition — i.e. that the combined railroad must improve the competitive landscape in the US. <h3>Competition heating up against UP </h3>Meanwhile, pressure around UP’s application is building as more companies weigh in on the proposed transaction. Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) CEO Keith Creel, speaking Tuesday at the same UBS conference as Vena, had sharp words for the deal. Creel said that while he does not “lose any sleep” over whether the deal is approved or rejected, he believes further consolidation of the industry leaves the supply chain more vulnerable. He compared the rail landscape to four airlines serving Chicago’s O’Hare and Midway airports — American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines and United Airlines. “Think about a world where there’s only two railroads or two airlines. If there was only United and Delta, do you think they’d be operating Midway and be operating O’Hare?” Creel said. “The likelihood is they go to O’Hare because that’s the workhorse. And then if O’Hare breaks, what do you do? You’ve got a nation that’s in gridlock. It’s the same for the railroad.”Creel acknowledged there is minimal overlap between CPKC and a combined UP-NS, noting that only about 5% of CPKC’s volume touches Norfolk Southern. Even so, he said CPKC will seek concessions from Union Pacific during the application process to demonstrate a pro-competition posture. Those concessions, Creel said, would include better access around Houston, which is critical for CPKC’s Mexico Midwest Express intermodal service to Chicago but depends on a stretch of track owned by Union Pacific. “What I’m going to ask for is a means to ensure that anticompetitive behavior is held at bay,” Creel said. “I know Jim [Vena]. I trust Jim, but Jim is not going to be [at Union Pacific] forever. But this decision is forever.” BNSF Railway last Friday filed a petition with the STB calling for an immediate investigation into whether Union Pacific has exhibited a pattern of anticompetitive and harmful conduct since Union Pacific and Southern Pacific merged in 1996. If the STB agreed to review the implementation of merger conditions issued nearly 30 years ago before ruling on the UP-NS merger, it would almost certainly delay the approval process. How long that might take is unclear, because there is no direct precedent. On Monday, the National Association of Waterfront Employers (NAWE) <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/ports-urge-strict-review-of-intermodal-impacts-from-up-ns-merger-6126527">sent a letter</a> to the STB expressing serious concerns about the impact of the UP-NS deal on international intermodal and on-dock rail in US ports. NAWE, whose members represent more than 90% of US marine terminal operators, warned that consolidation could reduce on-dock rail options and result in fewer choices for international intermodal flows into the US interior. Contact Ari Ashe at <a href="mailto:ari.ashe@spglobal.com">ari.ashe@spglobal.com</a>.</div>

Union Pacific Railroad (UP) said Tuesday it will delay by two more weeks the filing of its application with the US Surface Transportation Board (STB) requesting formal approval for its proposed $85 billion acquisition of Norfolk Southern Railway (NS). UP CEO Jim Vena blamed the delay on a contractor that must revise material that will be included in what will be a nearly 4,000-page filing to federal regulators. The railroad had previously said it was targeting the first week of December to submit the formal application to the STB. “I was hoping [to file] at the end of this week [and] then we had one contractor that needed to do some re-work on some product,” Vena said at the UBS Global Industrials and Transportation Conference. “Am I happy? No ... [But] we want to make sure that the final [submission] is at a level that is exceptional.” Railroads often hire outside firms during complicated merger processes to provide economic analysis, financial modeling, and projections on questions such as how many trucks would be taken off highways. Consultants are also paid to field questions about their calculations during the application process. S&P Global, the parent company of the Journal of Commerce, was among the firms hired to provide analysis during Canadian Pacific’s acquisition of Kansas City Southern Railway, which was finalized in 2023. Although the UP delay is minor, it likely eliminates any chance of a decision from the STB before the end of 2026. More realistically, a ruling is now expected in the first half of 2027. Regulators for the first time will be applying stricter rules enacted more than two decades ago to guide a deal of this size because the transaction qualifies as a “major” merger. The STB requires not only that Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern show that the deal will not reduce competition, but that it will actually enhance competition — i.e. that the combined railroad must improve the competitive landscape in the US. Competition heating up against UP Meanwhile, pressure around UP’s application is building as more companies weigh in on the proposed transaction. Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) CEO Keith Creel, speaking Tuesday at the same UBS conference as Vena, had sharp words for the deal. Creel said that while he does not “lose any sleep” over whether the deal is approved or rejected, he believes further consolidation of the industry leaves the supply chain more vulnerable. He compared the rail landscape to four airlines serving Chicago’s O’Hare and Midway airports — American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines and United Airlines. “Think about a world where there’s only two railroads or two airlines. If there was only United and Delta, do you think they’d be operating Midway and be operating O’Hare?” Creel said. “The likelihood is they go to O’Hare because that’s the workhorse. And then if O’Hare breaks, what do you do? You’ve got a nation that’s in gridlock. It’s the same for the railroad.” Creel acknowledged there is minimal overlap between CPKC and a combined UP-NS, noting that only about 5% of CPKC’s volume touches Norfolk Southern. Even so, he said CPKC will seek concessions from Union Pacific during the application process to demonstrate a pro-competition posture. Those concessions, Creel said, would include better access around Houston, which is critical for CPKC’s Mexico Midwest Express intermodal service to Chicago but depends on a stretch of track owned by Union Pacific. “What I’m going to ask for is a means to ensure that anticompetitive behavior is held at bay,” Creel said. “I know Jim [Vena]. I trust Jim, but Jim is not going to be [at Union Pacific] forever. But this decision is forever.” BNSF Railway last Friday filed a petition with the STB calling for an immediate investigation into whether Union Pacific has exhibited a pattern of anticompetitive and harmful conduct since Union Pacific and Southern Pacific merged in 1996. If the STB agreed to review the implementation of merger conditions issued nearly 30 years ago before ruling on the UP-NS merger, it would almost certainly delay the approval process. How long that might take is unclear, because there is no direct precedent. On Monday, the National Association of Waterfront Employers (NAWE) sent a letter to the STB expressing serious concerns about the impact of the UP-NS deal on international intermodal and on-dock rail in US ports. NAWE, whose members represent more than 90% of US marine terminal operators, warned that consolidation could reduce on-dock rail options and result in fewer choices for international intermodal flows into the US interior. Contact Ari Ashe at ari.ashe@spglobal.com .

Rail News

North-American rail

UP CEO says NS merger filing with US regulators to be delayed two weeks

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Ocean Network Express said the East Coast 2 service jointly operated with HMM and Yang Ming will call Cai Mep on eastbound rotations, while dropping a call at China’s Port of Xiamen.</div>

Ocean Network Express said the East Coast 2 service jointly operated with HMM and Yang Ming will call Cai Mep on eastbound rotations, while dropping a call at China’s Port of Xiamen.

<div class="phx-topic">The Premier Alliance is adding port calls in Vietnam and Halifax to its mainline service between China and the US East Coast, part of the reshuffling of vessel services stemming from new trade flows out of Asia. Ocean Network Express (ONE) said Monday that <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/premier-alliance-enhances-network-ahead-of-february-launch-5751123">the East Coast 2 (EC2) service jointly operated with HMM and Yang Ming</a> will call the Port of Cai Mep in Vietnam on eastbound rotations, dropping a call at China’s Port of Xiamen. The first call at Cai Mep will be the Dec. 22 departure of the 13,154-TEU HMM Victory. The EC2 will also start routing via the Cape of Good Hope in southern Africa instead of returning to Asia via the Panama Canal. Its outbound rotation will now make its last North American call at Halifax in eastern Canada, with a call to Singapore also added to the return voyage. The new rotation takes effect with the Dec. 10 departure of the 10,055-TEU Hyundai Pluto from Halifax. To accommodate the new rotation, the Premier Alliance will adjust westbound voyages of the EC1 service to include calls at Manzanillo in Mexico and South Korea’s Busan that were dropped from the EC2. Premier Alliance’s EC3 service out of Southeast Asia will also drop a second call at Halifax as part of its North American rotation. Along with the EC3’s existing service from Cai Mep, the additional call reflects the growing trade between Vietnam and the US. Through August, Vietnamese exports to the US this year totaled $122.6 billion, according to the US Census Bureau, a 43% increase from the year-earlier period. Containerized exports to the US from Cai Mep, part of the broader Vung Tau port system in southern Vietnam, reached 35,400 TEUs in the third quarter of 2025, according to PIERS, a sister product of the Journal of Commerce within S&amp;P Global, a 20% increase from 2024. Containerized exports from Xiamen to the US reached 194,895 TEUs in the third quarter, according to PIERS. While that is a rebound from the second quarter’s 158,916 TEUs, it is 15% lower than the third quarter of 2024. Contact Michael Angell at <a href="mailto:michael.angell@spglobal.com">michael.angell@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

The Premier Alliance is adding port calls in Vietnam and Halifax to its mainline service between China and the US East Coast, part of the reshuffling of vessel services stemming from new trade flows out of Asia. Ocean Network Express (ONE) said Monday that the East Coast 2 (EC2) service jointly operated with HMM and Yang Ming will call the Port of Cai Mep in Vietnam on eastbound rotations, dropping a call at China’s Port of Xiamen. The first call at Cai Mep will be the Dec. 22 departure of the 13,154-TEU HMM Victory. The EC2 will also start routing via the Cape of Good Hope in southern Africa instead of returning to Asia via the Panama Canal. Its outbound rotation will now make its last North American call at Halifax in eastern Canada, with a call to Singapore also added to the return voyage. The new rotation takes effect with the Dec. 10 departure of the 10,055-TEU Hyundai Pluto from Halifax. To accommodate the new rotation, the Premier Alliance will adjust westbound voyages of the EC1 service to include calls at Manzanillo in Mexico and South Korea’s Busan that were dropped from the EC2. Premier Alliance’s EC3 service out of Southeast Asia will also drop a second call at Halifax as part of its North American rotation. Along with the EC3’s existing service from Cai Mep, the additional call reflects the growing trade between Vietnam and the US. Through August, Vietnamese exports to the US this year totaled $122.6 billion, according to the US Census Bureau, a 43% increase from the year-earlier period. Containerized exports to the US from Cai Mep, part of the broader Vung Tau port system in southern Vietnam, reached 35,400 TEUs in the third quarter of 2025, according to PIERS, a sister product of the Journal of Commerce within S&P Global, a 20% increase from 2024. Containerized exports from Xiamen to the US reached 194,895 TEUs in the third quarter, according to PIERS. While that is a rebound from the second quarter’s 158,916 TEUs, it is 15% lower than the third quarter of 2024. Contact Michael Angell at michael.angell@spglobal.com .

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Premier Alliance adds Cai Mep call amid US import surge from Vietnam

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">As key global manufacturers of high and heavy cargo, Caterpillar and Deere are considered performance indicators for the roll-on/roll-off breakbulk shipping segment. </div>

As key global manufacturers of high and heavy cargo, Caterpillar and Deere are considered performance indicators for the roll-on/roll-off breakbulk shipping segment.

<div class="phx-topic">Caterpillar and Deere are bracing for another hit from US import tariffs in 2026, but the two heavy equipment makers are also looking to the data center boom and other large-scale construction projects as opportunities to drive up business. As key global manufacturers of high and heavy cargo, Caterpillar and Deere are considered performance indicators for the roll-on/roll-off (ro/ro) breakbulk shipping segment. Both US-based companies rely on imported materials and parts, even though they produce and source much of their equipment domestically. Illinois-based Deere &amp; Company, which produces heavy equipment for farming and construction, is forecasting further declines in income for 2026 after tariffs and a challenging agriculture market took a toll on performance this year. Deere anticipates a direct tariff expense of $1.2 billion for 2026 — approximately doubling the $600 million in tariff costs the company took on in 2025, according to its full-year earnings report issued Nov. 26. Deere’s tariff costs have amounted to about $300 million each quarter, and that rate is expected to continue in 2026, Investor Relations Director Josh Beal said during the company’s earnings call. “If you look at our price-cost expectation for 2026, inclusive of tariffs in that number, we expect to be price-cost positive.” he said. “We’ll start to capture back.” Deere lowered its 2026 income projections to a range of $4 billion to $4.8 billion after net income for the 2025 fiscal year fell $29% to $5 billion. Fourth-quarter net income dropped 14% to $1.1 billion compared with a year ago. “Looking ahead, we believe 2026 will mark the bottom of the large ag cycle,” CEO John May said in the company’s earnings statement. Deere executives pointed to indications of market stabilization, as well as optimism in other segments and geographies. “While ongoing margin pressures from tariffs and persistent challenges in the large ag sector remain, our commitment to inventory management and cost control — coupled with expected growth in small agriculture and turf and construction and forestry — positions us to effectively manage the business and seize emerging opportunities as market conditions begin to recover,” May said. Deere came out ahead of its revenue projections for the year, with annual revenues up 11% to $12.4 billion, above the company’s previous estimate of $9.8 billion. Higher shipment volumes drove up year-over-year sales in Deere’s construction and forestry equipment segment in the fourth quarter, up 27% to $3.4 billion. Chris Seibert, investor communications manager for Deere, said US government infrastructure spending continues to bolster the industry. “Additionally, declining interest rates, increasing investments in rental fleets and surging datacenter construction starts are also providing support,” Seibert said in the earnings call. <h3>Caterpillar sizes up power gen </h3>Caterpillar expects to close out 2025 with “modestly higher” sales than last year resulting from rising equipment demands for AI data centers, even as the company anticipates higher tariff expenses than previously projected, according to Caterpillar’s third-quarter earnings results. “We expect strong growth in full-year sales for power generation compared to last year,” Caterpillar COO Joseph Creed said during the company’s third-quarter earnings call. “Demand remains robust, driven by data center growth related to cloud computing and generative AI.” The company’s order backlog reached a record $39.8 billion, while sales and revenue grew 10% to $17.6 billion in the most recent quarter. The biggest gains came from the company’s power generation segment, with a 33% increase driven primarily by demand for reciprocating engines for data centers. Caterpillar is planning a $725 million expansion of its large-engine facility in Lafayette, Indiana, to increase production of power generators. Tariffs took a toll across all business segments for Caterpillar, which produces construction and mining equipment, as well as diesel- and gas-powered turbines and engines. Caterpillar raised its tariff impact estimates to a range of $1.6 billion to $1.75 billion for 2025, up from previous projections of $1.3 billion to $1.5 billion. “Our team is continuously evaluating options to further reduce the impact of tariffs going forward, and we fully intend to implement longer-term actions once there’s sufficient certainty,” Creed said. Contact Autumn Cafiero Giusti at <a href="mailto:autumn@autumngiusti.com">autumn@autumngiusti.com</a>. </div>

Caterpillar and Deere are bracing for another hit from US import tariffs in 2026, but the two heavy equipment makers are also looking to the data center boom and other large-scale construction projects as opportunities to drive up business. As key global manufacturers of high and heavy cargo, Caterpillar and Deere are considered performance indicators for the roll-on/roll-off (ro/ro) breakbulk shipping segment. Both US-based companies rely on imported materials and parts, even though they produce and source much of their equipment domestically. Illinois-based Deere & Company, which produces heavy equipment for farming and construction, is forecasting further declines in income for 2026 after tariffs and a challenging agriculture market took a toll on performance this year. Deere anticipates a direct tariff expense of $1.2 billion for 2026 — approximately doubling the $600 million in tariff costs the company took on in 2025, according to its full-year earnings report issued Nov. 26. Deere’s tariff costs have amounted to about $300 million each quarter, and that rate is expected to continue in 2026, Investor Relations Director Josh Beal said during the company’s earnings call. “If you look at our price-cost expectation for 2026, inclusive of tariffs in that number, we expect to be price-cost positive.” he said. “We’ll start to capture back.” Deere lowered its 2026 income projections to a range of $4 billion to $4.8 billion after net income for the 2025 fiscal year fell $29% to $5 billion. Fourth-quarter net income dropped 14% to $1.1 billion compared with a year ago. “Looking ahead, we believe 2026 will mark the bottom of the large ag cycle,” CEO John May said in the company’s earnings statement. Deere executives pointed to indications of market stabilization, as well as optimism in other segments and geographies. “While ongoing margin pressures from tariffs and persistent challenges in the large ag sector remain, our commitment to inventory management and cost control — coupled with expected growth in small agriculture and turf and construction and forestry — positions us to effectively manage the business and seize emerging opportunities as market conditions begin to recover,” May said. Deere came out ahead of its revenue projections for the year, with annual revenues up 11% to $12.4 billion, above the company’s previous estimate of $9.8 billion. Higher shipment volumes drove up year-over-year sales in Deere’s construction and forestry equipment segment in the fourth quarter, up 27% to $3.4 billion. Chris Seibert, investor communications manager for Deere, said US government infrastructure spending continues to bolster the industry. “Additionally, declining interest rates, increasing investments in rental fleets and surging datacenter construction starts are also providing support,” Seibert said in the earnings call. Caterpillar sizes up power gen Caterpillar expects to close out 2025 with “modestly higher” sales than last year resulting from rising equipment demands for AI data centers, even as the company anticipates higher tariff expenses than previously projected, according to Caterpillar’s third-quarter earnings results. “We expect strong growth in full-year sales for power generation compared to last year,” Caterpillar COO Joseph Creed said during the company’s third-quarter earnings call. “Demand remains robust, driven by data center growth related to cloud computing and generative AI.” The company’s order backlog reached a record $39.8 billion, while sales and revenue grew 10% to $17.6 billion in the most recent quarter. The biggest gains came from the company’s power generation segment, with a 33% increase driven primarily by demand for reciprocating engines for data centers. Caterpillar is planning a $725 million expansion of its large-engine facility in Lafayette, Indiana, to increase production of power generators. Tariffs took a toll across all business segments for Caterpillar, which produces construction and mining equipment, as well as diesel- and gas-powered turbines and engines. Caterpillar raised its tariff impact estimates to a range of $1.6 billion to $1.75 billion for 2025, up from previous projections of $1.3 billion to $1.5 billion. “Our team is continuously evaluating options to further reduce the impact of tariffs going forward, and we fully intend to implement longer-term actions once there’s sufficient certainty,” Creed said. Contact Autumn Cafiero Giusti at autumn@autumngiusti.com .

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Tariff costs, data center demand create mixed outlook for ro/ro shippers in 2026

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The world of LTL is slow to embrace change. Business anachronisms permeate current supply chain processes. These vestiges of the way things used to work define the LTL freight transportation procurement process of many modern shippers.David Knuth, logistics specialist at IEWC, a global supplier of cable and wire based in Wisconsin, is happy to have modernized the RFP process, automating the entire LTL bidding procedure with Bid$ense, SMC³’s automated truckload and LTL freight transportation sourcing solution. But when prompted, he can still recall what once was.In his previous job, a large part of his duties were consumed by creating an intermodal bid package for carriers. In a spreadsheet, Knuth detailed the company’s volumes lane by lane, taking care to delete any errant keystrokes or misleading data. He would then email out the information to each carrier, taking time to respond to detailed technical questions about the spreadsheet data. Finally, he had to compile all the results, create an algorithm that would compare the carriers on each lane, and award the business.“It was a huge undertaking. It took about four months to do,” Knuth said of the old process. “It was almost a full-time job for that part of the year, every year.”In his new job at IEWC, he sat down with Bid$ense on day one and was amazed at the capabilities. Knuth had never before used a bid tool. SMC³’s latest versions of Bid$ense automate the process even further, taking truckload and LTL RFPs entirely online. The tool draws on RFP best-practices protocols to streamline the bidding communication process, enabling bidding carriers to respond accurately and promptly to shipper requests. The solution also does all the distribution work automatically, electronically submitting shipper bid data to carriers based on their actual service capabilities and performance records. Carriers are alerted with timely prompts for RFP deliverables, so shippers aren’t waiting by the phone for responses.Another benefit of automating the process is the data-cleansing assistance. When Knuth sent spreadsheets to carriers, data errors might cloud the bidding process; he might have to resend data or simply accept a price that did not truly reflect the costs of doing business. Data cleansing is incredibly beneficial, he said.The spreadsheet technique also made bidding analysis an onerous task. Since Bid$ense automates and streamlines the entire RFP process, intensive examination is now simple. SMC³ knows that each bid has more than one best outcome. With uniform responses from each carrier, shippers can quickly rank results and create an unlimited quantity of what-if scenarios to make the optimal procurement decision.Jesse Burnett of Central Garden &amp; Pet experiences many of the same benefits. Founded in 1980, Central Garden &amp; Pet has spent the last three decades growing from a small garden supply company to a provider of a range of products from dog chews and bird seed to soil supplements and natural insecticides. For much of its life, the company shipped these disparate goods via LTL and truckload carriers to retailers throughout the country, relying on each business unit to negotiate directly with their freight transportation providers. This arrangement worked fairly well for a small company, but as Central Garden &amp; Pet expanded, leadership decided to consolidate decision making.Burnett helped centralize the transportation decision making in 2015 with SMC³’s Bid$ense. Before Bid$ense, every business unit operated independently as far as negotiating with carriers.“There were a lot of different things just floating around,” he said. “We didn’t have master agreements in place; no national pricing at all. The pricing from carriers was just all over the place, depending on where you were.”The transformations he saw with Bid$ense were immediate. Burnett has been using the tool about every other year since its implementation at the company. Central Garden and Pet’s $19.6 million 2019 LTL bid saved the company just more than 9 percent when compared to its historical average. For Burnett, though, bid automation extends far beyond savings.“We knew that we weren’t getting the best pricing offer from our carriers just because nothing was centralized,” he continued. “We knew that if we combined everything from all these business units and paired it with one corporate offering, then it would drive some cost benefit with it.”When the company initially decided to centralize bid procurement, executives researched a number of different methodologies and technologies. In the end, though, Burnett found that Bid$ense was both widespread and well known, and that his carrier partners already knew how to use the application. Burnett also highlighted the data-cleansing process as a major benefit, saying the rigorous process ensures that carriers always return the best price.“It definitely has helped drive savings,” he said. “Any time you go out there and you drive that competitiveness with the carriers and they know they’re in a bid environment, it seems to sharpen their pencils.”Transportation procurement is an integral part of the modern supply chain. With Bid$ense, shippers can develop a strategic implementation plan that saves them time and money, but also helps them create strong relationships with their carrier partners. These carriers appreciate the solution’s data-cleansing process; when carriers receive a complete shipment history and future volume forecast, they don’t have to guess on pricing. Carriers that receive more data from shippers get a complete picture of that shipper’s freight, allowing them to accurately plan instead of simply preparing for the worst-case scenario. Clean data presented through an automated system can lead to both bigger shipment savings and a lasting partnership between carrier and customer.Whether customers are looking to streamline over-the-road transportation bidding by automating the RFP process or create an entirely new, centralized sourcing process, Bid$ense has the analytical horsepower to get the job done.SMC³ 2020 Customer Case Study

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Shippers save money, time with automated transportation bidding tools

If there’s one immutable truth in the world of logistics, it’s this: LTL is an inherently complex form of transportation. Tariffs, rates, DIM weights, transit times — it’s enough to confuse even seasoned logistics professionals. The solution to this knowledge gap has historically been on-the-job training or university supply chain education, but for a variety of reasons there is now a pressing need for third-party, remote LTL training that prepares logistics workers for transportation success. Global Scope Can Overlook Local Intricacies In the past, professionals looking to move into a supply chain career learned about the basics of supply chain from universities. However, many of these college supply chain programs are now global in scope, focusing on worldwide supply chain management instead of the intricacies of specialized domestic transportation. And even these programs, which used to be widespread, are becoming less common. LTL is not an industry of broad-brush strokes; supply chain professionals really need a pointillistic understanding of the logistics of LTL in order to excel in the industry. Accelerating Need for Dedicated LTL Education This lack of specified training put the onus on employers to prepare new hires with the LTL knowledge needed to do their jobs. Dedicated LTL study is a necessity, not a luxury. At the same time, changes in LTL and the broader supply chain world are accelerating. The reliance on e-commerce has ballooned since the start of the pandemic, and last-mile LTL shipments and related e-commerce strains on the supply chain won’t diminish once social distancing abates. That genie isn’t going back into the bottle. So supply chain employers need logistics workers that are fully versed in all aspects of the industry, ready to solve unique shipping and delivery problems based on their extensive supply chain knowledge But why care about LTL? It’s been reported that some shippers in today’s world are no longer concerned with what mode is used to ship their goods. A Multimodal Approach Ensures On-Time Delivery This mode agnosticism means supply chain stakeholders have to be well versed in all modes of transportation. As unforeseen weather events and other disruptions, such as protests, become more common, savvy logistics employees will need to be armed with familiarity of all modes, not just the most popular, to ensure that freight is delivered on time, without damage, and in the most financially expedient way possible. Offerings like SMC³’s LTL online education courses cover a wide range of topics from LTL basics and operations to more advanced concepts like pricing analytics and transportation law. The company also has plans to continually refresh content, adding new expert presenters and taking the feedback of students to make the courses even better as time goes on. Learn more about&nbsp;<a href="https://logisticstrainingcenter.com/smc3-courses/" rel="noreferrer" class="joc_admin__link">SMC³’s LTL Online Education program</a>&nbsp;and view the 2021 hybrid schedule, featuring live industry experts,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.smc3.com/onlinelearning2021/" rel="noreferrer" class="joc_admin__link">here.</a>

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Filling the Supply Chain Education Gap with LTL Education Courses

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