<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">The FMCSA published 10 decisions rejecting petitions for ELD exemptions Friday, a sign the agency has drawn a sharp line when it comes to pleas for relief from the year-old rule. Instead, expect more focus on the hours of service rules themselves.</div>

The FMCSA published 10 decisions rejecting petitions for ELD exemptions Friday, a sign the agency has drawn a sharp line when it comes to pleas for relief from the year-old rule. Instead, expect more focus on the hours of service rules themselves.

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<div>US regulators may be willing to revise truck driver <a>hours of service</a> (HOS) rules, they may be willing to give truck drivers <a>some flexibility</a> in how they use <a>electronic logging devices</a> (ELDs), but they’re not surrendering much ground when it comes to the ELD mandate itself.Nearly a year after the mandate took effect, making it illegal for truck drivers to use paper logbooks to record their work and rest time, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration announced its rejection of 10 petitions from a groups seeking exemptions from the rule.Those groups included the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, one of the...

US regulators may be willing to revise truck driver hours of service (HOS) rules, they may be willing to give truck drivers some flexibility in how they use electronic logging devices (ELDs), but they’re not surrendering much ground when it comes to the ELD mandate itself. Nearly a year after the mandate took effect, making it illegal for truck drivers to use paper logbooks to record their work and rest time, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration announced its rejection of 10 petitions from a groups seeking exemptions from the rule. Those groups included the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, one of the leading opponents of the mandate, and groups including the Power and Construction Association, the Association of Energy Services Companies, and the National Electrical Contractors Association. US trucking sector adjusts to ELD The publication of the FMCSA decisions comes as the trucking industry and its shipper customers increasingly demonstrate they have come to grips with the disruption caused by the ELD mandate in the first half of 2018. “The market got a bit more efficient, trucking companies learned how to work within the constraints of the ELD,” said Doug Waggoner, CEO of Echo Global Logistics. “Carriers got more selective on lanes. Shippers adjusted expectations.” By the end of 2019, the older generation of automatic onboard recording devices “grandfathered” for two years under the ELD mandate will have been replaced — or should be. There may be hiccups along the road but the ELD is becoming deeply entrenched in trucking. The 10 petitions were denied in June and July, but the FMCSA’s decisions were not made public until their publication en masse in the Federal Register Dec. 7. The rejection of OOIDA’s petition, which called for a sweeping small-business exemption, was announced at the time . In almost every case, the FMCSA stated the petitioners had not explained how they would “achieve the equivalent level of safety” that would be achieved by the use of ELDs. “FMCSA has reviewed these applications carefully and the comments received and has concluded that each application lacks sufficient merit to justify the exemptions sought,” the Department of Transportation agency said on Friday in the Dec. 7 Federal Register . A petition from the Small Business in Transportation Coalition still awaits action, and the group said it plans to meet with the FMCSA next week “to inquire when a decision will be rendered.” But the odds of any petition seeking to undo the ELD mandate are infinitesimally slim. The FMCSA did approve a small number of ELD exemptions and short-term waivers sought by certain groups early in the year. Exemptions or partial exemptions were granted to the Truck Leasing and Rental Association, UPS, and Motion Picture Association of America. In May, the truck safety agency released guidance clarifying when and how drivers can use the personal conveyance provision of the HOS rules, which allows them to find overnight parking, and how the 150 air-mile HOS agricultural commodity exemption works in the ELD era. Up ahead: focus on hours of service In 2019, the agency’s focus will shift to a rulemaking that would tweak the HOS rules. Several bills were introduced in Congress this year that would revise HOS, and the FMCSA issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking looking at four potential HOS reforms in August. The FMCSA heard “from the regulated community in particular that we needed to take a look at hours of service with the idea that they needed more flexibility, flexibility, flexibility, not necessarily that they wanted to work longer,” FMCSA Administrator Raymond Martinez said at an Oct. 10 HOS listening session with trucking executives and officials in Washington, DC. Martinez directly linked HOS reform to the implementation of the ELD mandate. “Compliance with the ELD rule has reached nearly 99 percent” of the drivers “who are required to use them,” he said. Less than 1 percent of truck drivers in more than 1.4 million roadside inspections between April and October were cited for failing to have an ELD when required, he said. According to the latest FMCSA roadside inspection data, as of Oct. 26, 1.61 percent of drivers inspected were cited for not having an ELD. Of those 12,906 truck drivers, 12,012 were put out of service. That’s far fewer than the 29,775 truckers suspended for not having a license. “Additionally, HOS violations have decreased by 48 percent over the last year,” Martinez said. “This is a good sign. But it also allows us to take a look at the hours of service, which really have not had a serious review in over 15 years.” The last major HOS revision occured in 2004. Contact William B. Cassidy at bill.cassidy@ihsmarkit.com and follow him on Twitter: @willbcassidy

Trucking labor

Transport, Trade and Regulation News

US regulators reject ELD pleas, put focus on trucker hours

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">But the window to lock in those savings over long-haul trucking will shrink because railroads eventually will increase their spot and contract pricing, too.</div>

But the window to lock in those savings over long-haul trucking will shrink because railroads eventually will increase their spot and contract pricing, too.

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<div class="phx-topic">US shippers saved a record 30.6% on spot market freight and 26.2% on contract loads in the first quarter by using domestic intermodal instead of long-haul trucking amid a rise in truckload spot rates, according to <a href="https://www.joc.com/resources/special-reports/intermodal-savings-index">the latest Journal of Commerce Intermodal Savings Index</a> (ISI).       For the second consecutive quarter, the spot market index was higher than the contract index. The window to lock in these record savings, however, will shrink as railroads eventually will increase their spot and contract pricing, too. Similar to motor carriers, railroads and intermodal providers have been unable to recover cost inflation in their intermodal operations for three years. Railroads and intermodal marketing companies (IMCs) have begun the repricing process, which typically lags full truckload by three to six months. Major asset-based IMCs are rejecting tenders, shedding low-margin freight, or taking other measures to limit their exposure to the shipments that they accepted in recent years to keep their containers full. As shippers face the prospect of losing guaranteed capacity, there are many who will agree to rate increases to keep product moving. The higher rates will also show up in annual contracts being negotiated in the second and third quarters. “In terms of pricing, the over-the-road market dropped much further than intermodal did, so, in terms of the degree of change, I am not sure we will see the same degree in Intermodal as over the road,” said Jim Filter, executive vice president of Schneider National, on an April 30 earnings call. “In terms of timing, typically we say about two quarters [lag], and from what we can see, we stay pretty consistent with that.” <div class="wrapper-narrow"><dynamic-object type="jocchartid" resource-id="9f0dff14-0731-4ad3-859c-d093757d1ed4"></dynamic-object></div>Domestic intermodal volume in March jumped 9.5% year over year, according to the Intermodal Association of North America (IANA). North American railroads hauled 2.19 million domestic containers in the first quarter, up 4% compared with a year ago, according to IANA. The results were slightly higher than the Journal of Commerce mid-range forecast of volume growth between 1% and 3%, due mostly to the unanticipated surge in March. “We are seeing increased demand in how [shippers] are thinking about intermodal and what they can allocate to intermodal,” Filter said. “Current fuel cost is making a difference, as well as [shippers’] anticipation of what capacity will look like later this year ... While there is plenty of box capacity, the real constraint in this industry is always dray capacity.” <h3>Rates on the way up </h3>The Spot ISI averaged 130.6 in the first quarter, up from 118.4 a year ago. The Contract ISI rose to 126.3 from 124.9 a year ago.     Index values above 100 indicate intermodal is the more cost-effective mode; the higher the index number, the greater the savings. A Spot ISI of 130.6 translates to a 30.6% savings on intermodal versus truckload, while a Contract ISI of 126.3 implies a 26.3% savings.     All calculations assume local drayage at origin and destination, so shippers with distribution centers more than 30 miles from the terminal may save significantly less than the index values.   Spot truckload rates in the first quarter jumped 19 cents sequentially to $2.34 per mile, including fuel, while spot intermodal rates rose 10 cents to $1.64 per mile on the same routes. Contract truckload rates surged 27 cents to $2.25 per mile, including fuel, while contract intermodal prices climbed 15 cents to $1.65 per mile on the same routes. Contract truckload rates, excluding fuel spikes, rose 4.6% year over year in the first quarter, while contract intermodal rates climbed 2.5% year over year on the same lanes. In terms of raw dollars, intermodal shippers saved an average of $1,025 per container on the spot market in the first quarter compared with truckload, and $900 per box on the contract market. In the first quarter of 2025, the average spot intermodal load saved $675 per container, with the contract load saving $830.   <h3>Service will be put to the test </h3>The coming months will be the first major stress test for the railroads and the drayage networks of the IMCs since the service meltdowns during the pandemic-related freight surge. Multiple shippers have told the Journal of Commerce that on-time pickups and deliveries slipped in March, with their intermodal partners citing dray capacity as a root cause. The pressure isn’t likely to dissipate anytime soon. The  Journal of Commerce forecasts that domestic intermodal volume will grow between 3% and 4.5% year over year in the second quarter. Using advanced statistical analysis, the Journal of Commerce forecasts a 98% probability that volumes will exceed the 2.12 million loads hauled in the second quarter of 2025. The average intermodal train speed among US railroads was 2.7% faster year to date through the end of April compared with the same period a year ago, according to the US Surface Transportation Board. That came as the number of rail cars carrying containers that idled for more than 48 hours through the first four months of the year declined 14% compared with a year ago. Both data points show that, for now, intermodal trains are moving quickly through their service networks, and the handoffs between railroads and trucks remain fluid at most US rail hubs. Contact Ari Ashe at <a href="mailto:ari.ashe@spglobal.com">ari.ashe@spglobal.com</a>.       The data behind the Contract ISI and Spot ISI is available to Journal of Commerce subscribers with a Gold-tier subscription. </div>

US shippers saved a record 30.6% on spot market freight and 26.2% on contract loads in the first quarter by using domestic intermodal instead of long-haul trucking amid a rise in truckload spot rates, according to the latest Journal of Commerce Intermodal Savings Index  (ISI).       For the second consecutive quarter, the spot market index was higher than the contract index. The window to lock in these record savings, however, will shrink as railroads eventually will increase their spot and contract pricing, too. Similar to motor carriers, railroads and intermodal providers have been unable to recover cost inflation in their intermodal operations for three years. Railroads and intermodal marketing companies (IMCs) have begun the repricing process, which typically lags full truckload by three to six months. Major asset-based IMCs are rejecting tenders, shedding low-margin freight, or taking other measures to limit their exposure to the shipments that they accepted in recent years to keep their containers full. As shippers face the prospect of losing guaranteed capacity, there are many who will agree to rate increases to keep product moving. The higher rates will also show up in annual contracts being negotiated in the second and third quarters. “In terms of pricing, the over-the-road market dropped much further than intermodal did, so, in terms of the degree of change, I am not sure we will see the same degree in Intermodal as over the road,” said Jim Filter, executive vice president of Schneider National, on an April 30 earnings call. “In terms of timing, typically we say about two quarters [lag], and from what we can see, we stay pretty consistent with that.” Domestic intermodal volume in March jumped 9.5% year over year, according to the Intermodal Association of North America (IANA). North American railroads hauled 2.19 million domestic containers in the first quarter, up 4% compared with a year ago, according to IANA. The results were slightly higher than the Journal of Commerce mid-range forecast of volume growth between 1% and 3%, due mostly to the unanticipated surge in March. “We are seeing increased demand in how [shippers] are thinking about intermodal and what they can allocate to intermodal,” Filter said. “Current fuel cost is making a difference, as well as [shippers’] anticipation of what capacity will look like later this year ... While there is plenty of box capacity, the real constraint in this industry is always dray capacity.” Rates on the way up The Spot ISI averaged 130.6 in the first quarter, up from 118.4 a year ago. The Contract ISI rose to 126.3 from 124.9 a year ago.     Index values above 100 indicate intermodal is the more cost-effective mode; the higher the index number, the greater the savings. A Spot ISI of 130.6 translates to a 30.6% savings on intermodal versus truckload, while a Contract ISI of 126.3 implies a 26.3% savings.     All calculations assume local drayage at origin and destination, so shippers with distribution centers more than 30 miles from the terminal may save significantly less than the index values.   Spot truckload rates in the first quarter jumped 19 cents sequentially to $2.34 per mile, including fuel, while spot intermodal rates rose 10 cents to $1.64 per mile on the same routes. Contract truckload rates surged 27 cents to $2.25 per mile, including fuel, while contract intermodal prices climbed 15 cents to $1.65 per mile on the same routes. Contract truckload rates, excluding fuel spikes, rose 4.6% year over year in the first quarter, while contract intermodal rates climbed 2.5% year over year on the same lanes. In terms of raw dollars, intermodal shippers saved an average of $1,025 per container on the spot market in the first quarter compared with truckload, and $900 per box on the contract market. In the first quarter of 2025, the average spot intermodal load saved $675 per container, with the contract load saving $830.   Service will be put to the test The coming months will be the first major stress test for the railroads and the drayage networks of the IMCs since the service meltdowns during the pandemic-related freight surge. Multiple shippers have told the Journal of Commerce that on-time pickups and deliveries slipped in March, with their intermodal partners citing dray capacity as a root cause. The pressure isn’t likely to dissipate anytime soon. The  Journal of Commerce forecasts that domestic intermodal volume will grow between 3% and 4.5% year over year in the second quarter. Using advanced statistical analysis, the Journal of Commerce forecasts a 98% probability that volumes will exceed the 2.12 million loads hauled in the second quarter of 2025. The average intermodal train speed among US railroads was 2.7% faster year to date through the end of April compared with the same period a year ago, according to the US Surface Transportation Board. That came as the number of rail cars carrying containers that idled for more than 48 hours through the first four months of the year declined 14% compared with a year ago. Both data points show that, for now, intermodal trains are moving quickly through their service networks, and the handoffs between railroads and trucks remain fluid at most US rail hubs. Contact Ari Ashe at ari.ashe@spglobal.com .       The data behind the Contract ISI and Spot ISI is available to Journal of Commerce subscribers with a Gold-tier subscription.

Rail News

North-American rail

Surface

Shippers banked record discounts via intermodal in Q1: ISI

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">The Midwest outperformed other US regions in the latest U.S. Bank Freight Index, with freight volumes up 9.5% year over year and shipper spending jumping 26.7%. </div>

The Midwest outperformed other US regions in the latest U.S. Bank Freight Index, with freight volumes up 9.5% year over year and shipper spending jumping 26.7%.

<div class="phx-topic">Freight costs and shipper expenditures are rising across the US, but most rapidly in the Midwest. Shipper spending on freight in the US industrial heartland rose 19.6% sequentially from the fourth quarter to the first quarter and 26.7% year over year, according to the latest U.S. Bank Freight Payment Index, released Tuesday. The Midwest outperformed other US regions in both shipment volume and shipper spending, U.S. Bank data showed. Nationally, shipper spending was up 12.9% from the previous quarter and 21.8% year over year, while shipment volume fell 0.3% quarter over quarter and was down 0.6% compared with the 2025 first quarter. Tighter truckload capacity was the main reason for the jump in shipper spending, followed by <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/rising-fuel-costs-forcing-us-truck-shippers-to-shift-freight-6214133">the rapid increase in the price of diesel</a> in March, U.S. Bank said. The US average retail diesel price leapt from $3.47 at the start of the quarter to $5.40 at the end, a 55% gain. That included the global oil gains in March driven by the war in the Middle East and closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Crackdowns on <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/impact-of-non-domiciled-cdl-enforcement-splits-us-trucking-sector-6135184">non-domiciled commercial drivers</a> and stricter English-language enforcement are constraining truckload capacity after a four-year freight recession. The U.S. Bank data aligns with modest increases in manufacturing reported for the Midwest in the US Federal Reserve Board’s Beige Book <a href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/beigebook202604.htm">economic report released in April</a>. Data center development remains a “primary demand driver” for many industries, according to the Federal Reserve report, along with aerospace and automotive production. “Auto production provided a tailwind for Midwest freight early in the quarter,” U.S. Bank said in its report. Automotive output in January and February increased 3.3% from the fourth-quarter average and 3% from a year earlier.” Heavy-duty truck production was also a positive for freight in the region as motor carriers replace aging fleets,” U.S. Bank said. <h3>Shipper spending outpaces volume growth </h3>FTR Transportation Intelligence on Tuesday reported preliminary North American Class 8 tractor net orders rose 199% year over year last month from a low base in April 2025. Orders declined 34% from an “elevated level” in March but were still up 110% year over year in the first four months of 2026, the transportation research firm said. However, shipper spending far outpaced shipment volume growth. In the Midwest, shipments rose 5.7% from the fourth quarter and were up 9.5% year over year, the U.S. Bank Freight Index showed. Truckload rate increases and higher fuel surcharges in March helped push shipper spending higher despite tepid volume gains, U.S. Bank said. The Midwest’s sequential first-quarter increase in shipper spend far outpaced other regions, with the Southwest showing the second-highest quarter-over-quarter growth rate at 11.5%, according to U.S. Bank. By contrast, the Northeast, Southeast and West all saw shipper freight spending rise by high single-digit percentages from the fourth quarter. In terms of volume, Western states saw Q1 shipments climb 1.9% from the previous quarter, U.S. Bank reported, but shipments dropped everywhere else sequentially, falling 2.7%, 3% and 9.6% in the Northeast, Southeast and Southwest, respectively. But all regions saw double-digit growth year over year in the quarter. Contact William B. Cassidy at <a href="mailto:bill.cassidy@spglobal.com">bill.cassidy@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

Freight costs and shipper expenditures are rising across the US, but most rapidly in the Midwest. Shipper spending on freight in the US industrial heartland rose 19.6% sequentially from the fourth quarter to the first quarter and 26.7% year over year, according to the latest U.S. Bank Freight Payment Index, released Tuesday. The Midwest outperformed other US regions in both shipment volume and shipper spending, U.S. Bank data showed. Nationally, shipper spending was up 12.9% from the previous quarter and 21.8% year over year, while shipment volume fell 0.3% quarter over quarter and was down 0.6% compared with the 2025 first quarter. Tighter truckload capacity was the main reason for the jump in shipper spending, followed by the rapid increase in the price of diesel in March, U.S. Bank said. The US average retail diesel price leapt from $3.47 at the start of the quarter to $5.40 at the end, a 55% gain. That included the global oil gains in March driven by the war in the Middle East and closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Crackdowns on non-domiciled commercial drivers and stricter English-language enforcement are constraining truckload capacity after a four-year freight recession. The U.S. Bank data aligns with modest increases in manufacturing reported for the Midwest in the US Federal Reserve Board’s Beige Book economic report released in April . Data center development remains a “primary demand driver” for many industries, according to the Federal Reserve report, along with aerospace and automotive production. “Auto production provided a tailwind for Midwest freight early in the quarter,” U.S. Bank said in its report. Automotive output in January and February increased 3.3% from the fourth-quarter average and 3% from a year earlier.” Heavy-duty truck production was also a positive for freight in the region as motor carriers replace aging fleets,” U.S. Bank said. Shipper spending outpaces volume growth FTR Transportation Intelligence on Tuesday reported preliminary North American Class 8 tractor net orders rose 199% year over year last month from a low base in April 2025. Orders declined 34% from an “elevated level” in March but were still up 110% year over year in the first four months of 2026, the transportation research firm said. However, shipper spending far outpaced shipment volume growth. In the Midwest, shipments rose 5.7% from the fourth quarter and were up 9.5% year over year, the U.S. Bank Freight Index showed. Truckload rate increases and higher fuel surcharges in March helped push shipper spending higher despite tepid volume gains, U.S. Bank said. The Midwest’s sequential first-quarter increase in shipper spend far outpaced other regions, with the Southwest showing the second-highest quarter-over-quarter growth rate at 11.5%, according to U.S. Bank. By contrast, the Northeast, Southeast and West all saw shipper freight spending rise by high single-digit percentages from the fourth quarter. In terms of volume, Western states saw Q1 shipments climb 1.9% from the previous quarter, U.S. Bank reported, but shipments dropped everywhere else sequentially, falling 2.7%, 3% and 9.6% in the Northeast, Southeast and Southwest, respectively. But all regions saw double-digit growth year over year in the quarter. Contact William B. Cassidy at bill.cassidy@spglobal.com .

Trucking News

Truckload

Autos, data centers boosting US Midwest freight: U.S. Bank

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">The acquisition of German logistics software company Logward continues a trend of visibility vendors extending beyond data provision to areas such as transportation management, booking and allocation.</div>

The acquisition of German logistics software company Logward continues a trend of visibility vendors extending beyond data provision to areas such as transportation management, booking and allocation.

<div class="phx-topic">Transportation visibility software provider Shippeo has acquired logistics technology provider Logward in a move that marries data with execution tools for international logistics teams. Terms were not disclosed. The acquisition, announced Monday, pairs two Europe-based technology providers with distinct sets of shipper customer bases. It also furthers a trend where visibility providers are seeking to <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/fourkites-exit-from-gartner-visibility-assessment-highlights-evolving-market-5958243">connect transportation data across modes to actions</a> such as planning, booking, and allocation with carrier and third-party logistics partners. The deal follows moves over the past year by market leaders project44 and FourKites to extend into <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/project44-wades-into-tms-market-to-fill-modal-geographic-gaps-6065764">transportation management</a> and <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/visibility-vendors-move-to-extend-reach-and-relevancy-in-rebalancing-market-5923178">control tower</a> tools, respectively. Shippeo CEO Lucien Besse said in a LinkedIn post the Logward deal connects “trusted visibility with operational solutions.” Founded in 2018 as a technology spinoff of the German forwarder Leschaco, Logward has predominantly catered to European shippers looking for software to manage international logistics internally. Although the company found that shippers often still wanted help using the software, it developed low- and no-code solutions designed to help its customers be more self-reliant. “Together with Shippeo’s trusted visibility, we can help customers identify what matters sooner, coordinate the right response more effectively, and drive stronger operational and business outcomes,” Jonas Krumland, Logward’s founder and CEO, said in a statement. Logward’s platform includes tools for managing international transportation workflows, with a specialty on managing booking and optimizing container allocations. The company more recently expanded into order management and customs tools. For Paris-based Shippeo, the acquisition allows its existing customers to migrate insights from their visibility platforms directly into decision-making on planning, routing and carrier relationship management. Shippeo, founded in 2014, tracks more than 100 million shipments annually across all transport modes and is integrated with more than 228,000 carriers and 1,100 transportation management, telematics and electronic logging device systems. Its customers include AkzoNobel, Carrefour, Decathlon, Renault Group, Moët Hennessy, and Yamaha. The deal will see Logward’s 80 employees in Hamburg and Bangalore, including Krumland and chief technology and product officer Hari Krishna, join Shippeo, which will now have 300 employees. Contact Eric Johnson at <a href="mailto:eric.johnson@spglobal.com">eric.johnson@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

Transportation visibility software provider Shippeo has acquired logistics technology provider Logward in a move that marries data with execution tools for international logistics teams. Terms were not disclosed. The acquisition, announced Monday, pairs two Europe-based technology providers with distinct sets of shipper customer bases. It also furthers a trend where visibility providers are seeking to connect transportation data across modes to actions such as planning, booking, and allocation with carrier and third-party logistics partners. The deal follows moves over the past year by market leaders project44 and FourKites to extend into transportation management and control tower tools, respectively. Shippeo CEO Lucien Besse said in a LinkedIn post the Logward deal connects “trusted visibility with operational solutions.” Founded in 2018 as a technology spinoff of the German forwarder Leschaco, Logward has predominantly catered to European shippers looking for software to manage international logistics internally. Although the company found that shippers often still wanted help using the software, it developed low- and no-code solutions designed to help its customers be more self-reliant. “Together with Shippeo’s trusted visibility, we can help customers identify what matters sooner, coordinate the right response more effectively, and drive stronger operational and business outcomes,” Jonas Krumland, Logward’s founder and CEO, said in a statement. Logward’s platform includes tools for managing international transportation workflows, with a specialty on managing booking and optimizing container allocations. The company more recently expanded into order management and customs tools. For Paris-based Shippeo, the acquisition allows its existing customers to migrate insights from their visibility platforms directly into decision-making on planning, routing and carrier relationship management. Shippeo, founded in 2014, tracks more than 100 million shipments annually across all transport modes and is integrated with more than 228,000 carriers and 1,100 transportation management, telematics and electronic logging device systems. Its customers include AkzoNobel, Carrefour, Decathlon, Renault Group, Moët Hennessy, and Yamaha. The deal will see Logward’s 80 employees in Hamburg and Bangalore, including Krumland and chief technology and product officer Hari Krishna, join Shippeo, which will now have 300 employees. Contact Eric Johnson at eric.johnson@spglobal.com .

Logistics Technology News

Supply chain

Shippeo acquires software provider to link data to decision-making

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Cosco’s transaction is a charter deal with New York-listed, Greece-based Costamare Inc. for 16 container ships — a dozen 9,300-TEU vessels and four 3,100-TEU ships. </div>

Cosco’s transaction is a charter deal with New York-listed, Greece-based Costamare Inc. for 16 container ships — a dozen 9,300-TEU vessels and four 3,100-TEU ships.

<div class="phx-topic">Chinese container ship operators Cosco Shipping and China United Lines (CU Lines) are expanding their fleets with separate deals for 20 new vessels to be delivered between 2027 and 2030. Cosco’s transaction is a charter deal with New York-listed, Greece-based Costamare Inc. for 16 container ships — a dozen 9,300-TEU vessels and four 3,100-TEU ships. The deal adds to the 30 ships worth almost $5 billion <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/cosco-inks-almost-27-billion-in-deals-for-18-newbuild-container-ships-6152035">that Cosco</a> and its <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/oocl-orders-its-first-lng-fueled-ships-with-2-billion-deal-for-12-vessels-6212244">Hong Kong subsidiary OOCL</a> have ordered since the beginning of this year. The 9,200-TEU ships will be delivered to Cosco between the third quarter of 2028 and the second quarter of 2030, when they will be deployed on 15-year charters. They will likely sail on Asia-US West Coast or Asia-Latin America services based on the current deployment of similarly-sized vessels. Cosco has made the Latin America trade one of its key growth sectors. Construction of the ships falls under a $1.3 billion order Costamare placed with Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Co. (DSIC), part of state-owned shipyard giant China CSSC Holdings. The smaller ships will be chartered to Cosco for eight years upon delivery between the fourth quarter of 2027 and the fourth quarter of 2028. They will likely operate on intra-Asia trades including longer-haul routes to India. No details were provided about the shipyard contracted to build the smaller ships. Neither Costamare nor Cosco said whether the ships will be dual-fuel or conventionally powered, although Cosco and OOCL have favored dual-fuel LNG vessels in their deals this year. Separately, Shanghai-headquartered carrier CU Lines said it has ordered four 6,400-TEU container ships from China’s CSSC Huangpu Wenchong Shipbuilding at a total cost of $300 million. Two of the conventionally fueled ships will be delivered in 2029 and two in 2030. No details of their likely deployment have been released, although given that the ships will have 1,150-TEU reefer plugs, they would be suited to the perishables trade on the carrier’s Asia-India and Middle East services. Contact Keith Wallis at <a href="mailto:keithwallis@hotmail.com">keithwallis@hotmail.com</a>. </div>

Chinese container ship operators Cosco Shipping and China United Lines (CU Lines) are expanding their fleets with separate deals for 20 new vessels to be delivered between 2027 and 2030. Cosco’s transaction is a charter deal with New York-listed, Greece-based Costamare Inc. for 16 container ships — a dozen 9,300-TEU vessels and four 3,100-TEU ships. The deal adds to the 30 ships worth almost $5 billion that Cosco and its Hong Kong subsidiary OOCL have ordered since the beginning of this year. The 9,200-TEU ships will be delivered to Cosco between the third quarter of 2028 and the second quarter of 2030, when they will be deployed on 15-year charters. They will likely sail on Asia-US West Coast or Asia-Latin America services based on the current deployment of similarly-sized vessels. Cosco has made the Latin America trade one of its key growth sectors. Construction of the ships falls under a $1.3 billion order Costamare placed with Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Co. (DSIC), part of state-owned shipyard giant China CSSC Holdings. The smaller ships will be chartered to Cosco for eight years upon delivery between the fourth quarter of 2027 and the fourth quarter of 2028. They will likely operate on intra-Asia trades including longer-haul routes to India. No details were provided about the shipyard contracted to build the smaller ships. Neither Costamare nor Cosco said whether the ships will be dual-fuel or conventionally powered, although Cosco and OOCL have favored dual-fuel LNG vessels in their deals this year. Separately, Shanghai-headquartered carrier CU Lines said it has ordered four 6,400-TEU container ships from China’s CSSC Huangpu Wenchong Shipbuilding at a total cost of $300 million. Two of the conventionally fueled ships will be delivered in 2029 and two in 2030. No details of their likely deployment have been released, although given that the ships will have 1,150-TEU reefer plugs, they would be suited to the perishables trade on the carrier’s Asia-India and Middle East services. Contact Keith Wallis at keithwallis@hotmail.com .

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Cosco Shipping, CU Lines expand fleets with 20 new container ships

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Global cargo capacity has largely recovered to pre-shock levels, while international routes have yet to be seriously affected by jet fuel shortages, according to Xeneta.</div>

Global cargo capacity has largely recovered to pre-shock levels, while international routes have yet to be seriously affected by jet fuel shortages, according to Xeneta.

<div class="phx-topic">Air cargo markets are adjusting to the disruption caused by the war in the Middle East as capacity returns and supply-demand fundamentals are driven by seasonality and early May holidays rather than conflict-related factors, analysts say. Flower exports from countries such as Colombia and Ecuador shipped to the US and Canada ahead of Mother’s Day on May 10 saw tonnage from Central and South America rising 19% in the last week of April compared with the previous week, according to the latest weekly figures from air freight analyst WorldACD Market Data. Asia-Pacific tonnage in the last week of April rose 3% sequentially, boosted by shipments ahead of May 1 Labor Day holidays in China that extend across several days. “The worst may be behind us,” Niall van de Wouw, chief air freight officer at rate benchmarking platform Xeneta, said of the war-related disruption as rate increases showed signs of easing, even on corridors most impacted by the Middle East conflict. “This is all logical because the spike in air freight rates was driven by a supply issue from the start,” van de Wouw said in an April market update this week. “Now capacity is coming back, [and] rates will come down, but not as quickly as they went up. “The big question is what will be left in terms of demand after all the inflationary pressure, all the uncertainty, and all the tremendous increases in fuel and production costs ease?,” he added. “What will it mean for Q3 and Q4 because everything that has happened in the last few weeks was against a backdrop of a not-too-rosy outlook for 2026?” For now, the Middle East war continues to drive pricing. Global air cargo spot rates surged 30% year over year in April to $3.34 per kilogram, the highest level since October 2022, according to Xeneta. <div class="wrapper-narrow"><dynamic-object type="jocchartid" resource-id="1f8878b6-9e77-46fc-bdf5-c1982da8007e"></dynamic-object></div>Data from the last week of April by WorldACD showed significant year-over-year rate increases on several trade lanes. Routes out of the Middle East and South Asia saw average rates up 65% compared with the same week last year at $4.65 per kilogram. Rates out of North America rose 60% to $2.65/kg, and jumped 41% out of Asia-Pacific at $5.11/kg. Meanwhile, rates were up 40% out of Africa at $2.86/kg and up 32% out of Europe at $2.87/kg. Freightos pegged China to Europe rates at $5.30/kg as of May 3, up 4.5% on the week and 52% higher year over year. While WorldACD also noted that rates were rising at a slower pace than in the initial weeks after the Feb. 28 start of the war in the Middle East, “the closure again of the Strait of Hormuz, further increases in fuel prices, and no end in sight to the confrontation mean we may expect continuing high air cargo spot rates and further increases in the coming weeks linked to the costs and availability of jet fuel.” <h3>Carriers can’t absorb fuel cost burden </h3>Jet fuel prices surged through March and April, hitting their highest point in 23 years, with reduced petroleum shipments through the Strait of Hormuz and refinery constraints tightening global aviation fuel availability, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA). “All eyes are on fuel supply and price, which are expected to test the industry’s resilience in the coming months,” Willie Walsh, IATA’s director-general, said in the association’s April market update. Van de Wouw said the margins between crude oil and refined jet fuel have now exceeded the peaks recorded during the pandemic, adding a cost burden that carriers cannot easily absorb or ignore. Still, the stabilizing of air freight markets as capacity returns will be welcomed by shippers that have been postponing third-quarter and fourth-quarter tenders with freight forwarders while waiting for the market to normalize, van de Wouw said. “Global cargo capacity has largely recovered to pre-shock levels, and the jet fuel shortage, though reportedly spreading, has yet to grip long-haul intercontinental routes at scale,” he said. “If those conditions hold, spot rates should ease in the weeks ahead and deliver some reprieve for shippers who have grown accustomed to unwelcome surprises.” Also cautiously optimistic was IATA’s Walsh. “The underlying demand trends, at this point, appear strong, and the recent World Trade Organization and International Monetary Fund revisions to trade and GDP projections continue to see growth in 2026,” he said. “Importantly, air cargo networks are providing the flexibility needed to support global supply chains as they adjust to geopolitical, tariff and operational strains,” Walsh added. Contact Greg Knowler at <a href="mailto:greg.knowler@spglobal.com">greg.knowler@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

Air cargo markets are adjusting to the disruption caused by the war in the Middle East as capacity returns and supply-demand fundamentals are driven by seasonality and early May holidays rather than conflict-related factors, analysts say. Flower exports from countries such as Colombia and Ecuador shipped to the US and Canada ahead of Mother’s Day on May 10 saw tonnage from Central and South America rising 19% in the last week of April compared with the previous week, according to the latest weekly figures from air freight analyst WorldACD Market Data. Asia-Pacific tonnage in the last week of April rose 3% sequentially, boosted by shipments ahead of May 1 Labor Day holidays in China that extend across several days. “The worst may be behind us,” Niall van de Wouw, chief air freight officer at rate benchmarking platform Xeneta, said of the war-related disruption as rate increases showed signs of easing, even on corridors most impacted by the Middle East conflict. “This is all logical because the spike in air freight rates was driven by a supply issue from the start,” van de Wouw said in an April market update this week. “Now capacity is coming back, [and] rates will come down, but not as quickly as they went up. “The big question is what will be left in terms of demand after all the inflationary pressure, all the uncertainty, and all the tremendous increases in fuel and production costs ease?,” he added. “What will it mean for Q3 and Q4 because everything that has happened in the last few weeks was against a backdrop of a not-too-rosy outlook for 2026?” For now, the Middle East war continues to drive pricing. Global air cargo spot rates surged 30% year over year in April to $3.34 per kilogram, the highest level since October 2022, according to Xeneta. Data from the last week of April by WorldACD showed significant year-over-year rate increases on several trade lanes. Routes out of the Middle East and South Asia saw average rates up 65% compared with the same week last year at $4.65 per kilogram. Rates out of North America rose 60% to $2.65/kg, and jumped 41% out of Asia-Pacific at $5.11/kg. Meanwhile, rates were up 40% out of Africa at $2.86/kg and up 32% out of Europe at $2.87/kg. Freightos pegged China to Europe rates at $5.30/kg as of May 3, up 4.5% on the week and 52% higher year over year. While WorldACD also noted that rates were rising at a slower pace than in the initial weeks after the Feb. 28 start of the war in the Middle East, “the closure again of the Strait of Hormuz, further increases in fuel prices, and no end in sight to the confrontation mean we may expect continuing high air cargo spot rates and further increases in the coming weeks linked to the costs and availability of jet fuel.” Carriers can’t absorb fuel cost burden Jet fuel prices surged through March and April, hitting their highest point in 23 years, with reduced petroleum shipments through the Strait of Hormuz and refinery constraints tightening global aviation fuel availability, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA). “All eyes are on fuel supply and price, which are expected to test the industry’s resilience in the coming months,” Willie Walsh, IATA’s director-general, said in the association’s April market update. Van de Wouw said the margins between crude oil and refined jet fuel have now exceeded the peaks recorded during the pandemic, adding a cost burden that carriers cannot easily absorb or ignore. Still, the stabilizing of air freight markets as capacity returns will be welcomed by shippers that have been postponing third-quarter and fourth-quarter tenders with freight forwarders while waiting for the market to normalize, van de Wouw said. “Global cargo capacity has largely recovered to pre-shock levels, and the jet fuel shortage, though reportedly spreading, has yet to grip long-haul intercontinental routes at scale,” he said. “If those conditions hold, spot rates should ease in the weeks ahead and deliver some reprieve for shippers who have grown accustomed to unwelcome surprises.” Also cautiously optimistic was IATA’s Walsh. “The underlying demand trends, at this point, appear strong, and the recent World Trade Organization and International Monetary Fund revisions to trade and GDP projections continue to see growth in 2026,” he said. “Importantly, air cargo networks are providing the flexibility needed to support global supply chains as they adjust to geopolitical, tariff and operational strains,” Walsh added. Contact Greg Knowler at greg.knowler@spglobal.com .

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Air freight supply-demand factors adjust to war-disrupted market

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