<div>Copyright 2004, Traffic World, Inc.Frank Mulvey has a simple explanation for why Sen. Tom Daschle, D-N.D., recommended that the White House nominate him to the Surface Transportation Board:"I guess because he thought I was qualified for the position."But to shipper representatives in Washington these days, being qualified may not be enough.After consecutive rate case decisions in November and December that observers believe boosted the railroads'' market power, rail shippers are anxious for someone who will provide some counterweight on a board that some shippers believe is stacked against them.In a recent interview, Mulvey, nominated to fill one of the two...

Copyright 2004, Traffic World, Inc. Frank Mulvey has a simple explanation for why Sen. Tom Daschle, D-N.D., recommended that the White House nominate him to the Surface Transportation Board: "I guess because he thought I was qualified for the position." But to shipper representatives in Washington these days, being qualified may not be enough. After consecutive rate case decisions in November and December that observers believe boosted the railroads'' market power, rail shippers are anxious for someone who will provide some counterweight on a board that some shippers believe is stacked against them. In a recent interview, Mulvey, nominated to fill one of the two vacant positions on the three-member board that oversees the railroads, wouldn''t discuss the specifics of Duke Power vs. Norfolk Southern or Carolina Power & Light. He noted he has yet to be confirmed or even have a hearing before Congress but he held out the possibility that he might not even take part in the cases if the shippers decide to file petitions for reconsideration after he''s on the board. "These are complicated cases, and it depends on whether I would feel I have sufficient information and background (on the cases) to weigh in and help out," Mulvey said. "If I felt I didn''t, then I would pass and say I''m just not up to speed yet. So it depends." Mulvey certainly understands the plight of shippers, particularly those captive to one railroad. As minority staff director for the Railroad Subcommittee of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, Mulvey last year helped draft a rail-competition bill that would have brought relief to captive shippers and placed new service reporting requirements on railroads. And his minority status as a Democrat on the board - fellow nominee William D. Buttrey is, along with Chairman Roger Nober, a Republican - does not mean he can''t make a difference, if recent history is an indication. Wayne Burkes, who in 2000 was the lone Republican on Chairman Linda Morgan''s Board, successfully used his protest vote to scale back a moratorium on rail mergers by nine months. The purpose of the moratorium was to allow the North American rail system to get a breather from the rash of mergers of the 1990s and the service problems that inevitably ensued. Burkes reasoned at the time that a longer moratorium would have unjustly benefited competitors of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway and Canadian National Railway, who canceled their proposed merger following the announcement of the moratorium. Mulvey, 59, originally is from Astoria, New York. He has been immersed in transportation since college, when he worked part-time loading trucks for UPS. He wrote his dissertation at Washington State in 1974 on the ability of the nation''s new intercity passenger rail service, Amtrak, to survive with limited funding. He concluded it would be difficult to maintain a national service unless substantial investments were made to improve trip times and frequencies. "Amtrak has never really gotten the resources to test whether or not you can revive intercity rail passenger service," Mulvey said. "From year to year, it just struggles along." In 1974, while teaching transportation economics at Bowling Green State University, Mulvey took a consulting job for the state transportation department in Wisconsin to help develop its first state rail plan. After teaching at Northeastern University in Boston, Mulvey came to Washington, D.C., to become vice president of research for the American Bus Association. From there he went to the National Academy of Sciences'' Transportation Research Board to direct a 10-year review of the national 55 miles-per-hour speed limit requested by Congress. In 1987, he went to the General Accounting Office, the research arm of Congress, to work on transportation issues. Mulvey studied airline competition, cross-border trucking, and factors influencing on railroad competitiveness. "We looked at railroad retirement, workers compensations problems, and the fact that trucks don''t pay the whole cost of highway use." Railroads, he said, do not seem to be "as concerned about FELA issues as much as they used to be. But they still have their challenges." Mulvey knows that as part of the three-member STB, the ability to build consensus is critical to getting things done. It''s a talent that he''s had plenty of time to cultivate during the last three years on Capitol Hill. Part of that time was spent working with Nober - "a very intelligent, hardworking guy" - in 2000 while drafting railroad retirement legislation when Nober was Chief Counsel for the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. He believes Nober''s "open-door" policy at the STB that includes re-instituting public meetings is "a good idea. I have no problem with openness." Mulvey is currently working double-duty meeting with STB staff to prepare himself for the board while at the same time drafting hazardous materials reform legislation on the Hill. Mulvey says that one of the most important decisions he will make is whether to bring in his own chief of staff or use someone in-house. That is because much business at the STB is conducted through conferences between a commissioner and his staff - as well as negotiations among the staffs of the three commissioners. (Nober broke precedent with Linda Morgan when he named John Scheib, who worked with him on the Hill, as his chief of staff). But Mulvey, whose confirmation hearing is expected by late January or early February, said he has yet to make any staffing decisions. "There''s all kinds of tradeoffs you have to make in deciding who you want in that position."

Rail News

STB, Up To Speed

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">The deal, financial details of which were not disclosed, could possibly be the first M&amp;A domino to fall among a growing number of agent vendors catering to the logistics industry.</div>

The deal, financial details of which were not disclosed, could possibly be the first M&A domino to fall among a growing number of agent vendors catering to the logistics industry.

Feature image

<div class="phx-topic">Logistics technology provider project44 has acquired an automation company focused on building digital agents that cover dozens of pre-built use cases across international and domestic freight, the company announced Thursday. The all-cash acquisition, terms of which were not disclosed, will enable project44 to embed agents from Chicago-based LunaPath into its visibility and transportation management products. Founded in 2024, LunaPath develops logistics orchestration- and execution-focused agents that tackle discrete tasks like sourcing missing ocean freight milestones and retrieving container location at the port of discharge. The company’s agents, also known as digital workers, undertake tasks in domestic freight as well, such as finding missing equipment identifiers and resolving invalid truck telematics connections. LunaPath’s sale is the first of the dozen or so artificial intelligence-focused agent developers serving the logistics and transportation industry to have emerged in the last three years. project44 CEO Jett McCandless told the Journal of Commerce the company had been trialing a number of these providers side-by-side over the past 16 months to see which ones performed best using project44’s data. “The reality is there isn’t one that’s the best at everything,” he said. “Some are better at voice, some are better at documents. Some better on Tuesday. Some are better for one carrier than another.” But LunaPath stood out, McCandless said, especially in high-volume voice and messaging execution use cases, prompting the decision to buy the emergent company rather than just use them among a number of other automation vendors. “They outperformed in a lot of use cases,” he said. “They got answers faster and more consistently.” <h3>‘Customers want outcomes’ </h3>The speed component is key in an environment where the cost of computing capacity to power digital workers is a factor that software companies must control. “Faster means it’s taking less capital; less time and less tokens,” McCandless said. “Our customers want outcomes.” Tokens are a unit the makers of AI models use to charge for use of their product. The more tokens used, the more a software company building agents pays, and in general, the faster a task is accomplished, the fewer tokens are used. The cost to build agents is starting to become a key issue as they become more prevalent in logistics, with some arguing that building agents are a cost of doing business for software providers, who should be expected to be enhancing their products continuously. On the other hand, some argue the cost of using AI models will only rise, and software vendors shouldn’t bear those costs alone. “The cost is not a billion dollars, but it’s not free either,” McCandless said. “Every time an agent does something it has a cost.” His contention is that application programming interfaces (APIs) are sometimes a more efficient way to transfer information, with project44 an early advocate for broader use of APIs over more traditional information exchange mechanisms like electronic data interchange (EDI). ”Where an API can do the job reliably, we use it,” McCandless said. “Agents earn their place when the task requires judgment, context or real-time adaptation. We’re not religious about it. We’re focused on outcomes.” <h3>Will also use other AI agent vendors </h3>McCandless said the acquisition of LunaPath won’t preclude project44 from using other AI agent vendors, such as Vooma and HappyRobot, with which it has had longstanding partnerships. project44, which serves more than 1,000 shippers and two-thirds of the world’s biggest logistics providers, has dived headlong into AI and agent-based workflows over the past 18 months to power its data platform and a new transportation management system it unveiled in 2025. A high-profile software vendor snapping up an early-stage AI vendor could, in theory, trigger other such acquisitions, but not all of those vendors are in the same position as LunaPath. Many have raised tens of millions of dollars from venture capital investors and need a return that justifies such investment. But it’s generally recognized that not every AI logistics vendor will survive in a market that appears commoditized, especially for agents that do relatively straightforward tasks that could be built internally by prospective buyers. Indeed, McCandless said project44 has built its own agents, ones that will be combined with those of LunaPath and augmented by those provided by other partner vendors. Contact Eric Johnson at <a href="mailto:eric.johnson@spglobal.com">eric.johnson@spglobal.com.</a></div>

Logistics technology provider project44 has acquired an automation company focused on building digital agents that cover dozens of pre-built use cases across international and domestic freight, the company announced Thursday. The all-cash acquisition, terms of which were not disclosed, will enable project44 to embed agents from Chicago-based LunaPath into its visibility and transportation management products. Founded in 2024, LunaPath develops logistics orchestration- and execution-focused agents that tackle discrete tasks like sourcing missing ocean freight milestones and retrieving container location at the port of discharge. The company’s agents, also known as digital workers, undertake tasks in domestic freight as well, such as finding missing equipment identifiers and resolving invalid truck telematics connections. LunaPath’s sale is the first of the dozen or so artificial intelligence-focused agent developers serving the logistics and transportation industry to have emerged in the last three years. project44 CEO Jett McCandless told the Journal of Commerce the company had been trialing a number of these providers side-by-side over the past 16 months to see which ones performed best using project44’s data. “The reality is there isn’t one that’s the best at everything,” he said. “Some are better at voice, some are better at documents. Some better on Tuesday. Some are better for one carrier than another.” But LunaPath stood out, McCandless said, especially in high-volume voice and messaging execution use cases, prompting the decision to buy the emergent company rather than just use them among a number of other automation vendors. “They outperformed in a lot of use cases,” he said. “They got answers faster and more consistently.” ‘Customers want outcomes’ The speed component is key in an environment where the cost of computing capacity to power digital workers is a factor that software companies must control. “Faster means it’s taking less capital; less time and less tokens,” McCandless said. “Our customers want outcomes.” Tokens are a unit the makers of AI models use to charge for use of their product. The more tokens used, the more a software company building agents pays, and in general, the faster a task is accomplished, the fewer tokens are used. The cost to build agents is starting to become a key issue as they become more prevalent in logistics, with some arguing that building agents are a cost of doing business for software providers, who should be expected to be enhancing their products continuously. On the other hand, some argue the cost of using AI models will only rise, and software vendors shouldn’t bear those costs alone. “The cost is not a billion dollars, but it’s not free either,” McCandless said. “Every time an agent does something it has a cost.” His contention is that application programming interfaces (APIs) are sometimes a more efficient way to transfer information, with project44 an early advocate for broader use of APIs over more traditional information exchange mechanisms like electronic data interchange (EDI). ”Where an API can do the job reliably, we use it,” McCandless said. “Agents earn their place when the task requires judgment, context or real-time adaptation. We’re not religious about it. We’re focused on outcomes.” Will also use other AI agent vendors McCandless said the acquisition of LunaPath won’t preclude project44 from using other AI agent vendors, such as Vooma and HappyRobot, with which it has had longstanding partnerships. project44, which serves more than 1,000 shippers and two-thirds of the world’s biggest logistics providers, has dived headlong into AI and agent-based workflows over the past 18 months to power its data platform and a new transportation management system it unveiled in 2025. A high-profile software vendor snapping up an early-stage AI vendor could, in theory, trigger other such acquisitions, but not all of those vendors are in the same position as LunaPath. Many have raised tens of millions of dollars from venture capital investors and need a return that justifies such investment. But it’s generally recognized that not every AI logistics vendor will survive in a market that appears commoditized, especially for agents that do relatively straightforward tasks that could be built internally by prospective buyers. Indeed, McCandless said project44 has built its own agents, ones that will be combined with those of LunaPath and augmented by those provided by other partner vendors. Contact Eric Johnson at eric.johnson@spglobal.com.

Logistics Technology News

Supply chain

project44 acquires agent developer to expand AI use cases

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">The Jacksonville Port Authority said Wednesday the Ocean Alliance will include the port on its Chesapeake Bay Express (CBX) service rotation as of this June. </div>

The Jacksonville Port Authority said Wednesday the Ocean Alliance will include the port on its Chesapeake Bay Express (CBX) service rotation as of this June.

<div class="phx-topic">CMA CGM will add the Port of Jacksonville to its trans-Pacific express service, adding to the port’s roster of direct Asia services and tapping the recent modernization of Jaxport’s main marine terminal. The Jacksonville Port Authority said in a statement Wednesday the Ocean Alliance will include the port on its Chesapeake Bay Express (CBX) service rotation as of this June. The CBX, operated exclusively by CMA CGM, calls Vietnam, China and South Korea before its eastbound rotation that includes US calls at Norfolk, Charleston and Savannah before Jacksonville. The CBX had previously called Miami, which is no longer on its rotation, according to its schedule. Ocean Alliance had previously been planning to <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/ocean-alliance-adding-vietnam-calls-to-north-america-for-2026-6155909">add Jacksonville to one of its Gulf Coast services</a> but instead settled on including it on the CBX. Jaxport will see the first CBX call with the June 27 expected arrival of the 7,327-TEU CMA CGM Passion. Jaxport Chief Executive Eric Green said in the statement the introduction of the CBX “expands routing flexibility between the Southeast United States and key Asian markets.” Jaxport added that its position on the CBX rotation will mean “opportunities for equipment repositioning and expedited transit for US export cargoes.” <h3>Two other direct Far East services </h3>The addition of the CBX marks the third Far East Asia service now calling Jacksonville directly. Premier Alliance’s EC3 service, which made Jacksonville the first US Southeast port of call for that service last July, now dominates the port’s Asian trade volumes. During the past 12 months, Premier Alliance partner Ocean Network Express (ONE) has made 61 port calls to Jacksonville with ships of 14,000-TEU average capacity, according to Sea-web, a sister product of the Journal of Commerce within S&amp;P Global. ONE’s standalone West India North America service also calls the port. Jacksonville also has a jointly-operated trans-Pacific service from Mediterranean Shipping Co. and Zim Integrated Shipping Services. The two accounted for 21 of the post-Panamax ship calls to Jacksonville over the past 12 months. The CBX will be able to tap an expansion and modernization of Jacksonville’s Blount Island container terminal, which was completed last fall. The three-year project included adding six outbound truck lanes, additional staging areas, and newly paved asphalt to allow for higher container stacks. Blount, <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/jaxport-receives-30-million-in-state-funds-for-new-cranes-at-blount-island-5201528">which has six post-Panamax cranes</a>, will have capacity to handle 500,000 TEUs per year. The port is currently undertaking a project to raise power lines that span the St. John’s River and <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/jaxport-secures-funding-to-raise-power-lines-for-blount-island-big-ship-calls-5220798">increase the air clearance for larger vessels</a> to call its Dames Point Container Terminal. Jacksonville’s containerized imports from Asia and the Indian subcontinent slipped to 137,941 TEUs in 2025, according to PIERS, a sister company of the Journal of Commerce, a 1.1% drop from a year earlier. Contact Michael Angell at <a href="mailto:michael.angell@spglobal.com">michael.angell@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

CMA CGM will add the Port of Jacksonville to its trans-Pacific express service, adding to the port’s roster of direct Asia services and tapping the recent modernization of Jaxport’s main marine terminal. The Jacksonville Port Authority said in a statement Wednesday the Ocean Alliance will include the port on its Chesapeake Bay Express (CBX) service rotation as of this June. The CBX, operated exclusively by CMA CGM, calls Vietnam, China and South Korea before its eastbound rotation that includes US calls at Norfolk, Charleston and Savannah before Jacksonville. The CBX had previously called Miami, which is no longer on its rotation, according to its schedule. Ocean Alliance had previously been planning to add Jacksonville to one of its Gulf Coast services but instead settled on including it on the CBX. Jaxport will see the first CBX call with the June 27 expected arrival of the 7,327-TEU CMA CGM Passion. Jaxport Chief Executive Eric Green said in the statement the introduction of the CBX “expands routing flexibility between the Southeast United States and key Asian markets.” Jaxport added that its position on the CBX rotation will mean “opportunities for equipment repositioning and expedited transit for US export cargoes.” Two other direct Far East services The addition of the CBX marks the third Far East Asia service now calling Jacksonville directly. Premier Alliance’s EC3 service, which made Jacksonville the first US Southeast port of call for that service last July, now dominates the port’s Asian trade volumes. During the past 12 months, Premier Alliance partner Ocean Network Express (ONE) has made 61 port calls to Jacksonville with ships of 14,000-TEU average capacity, according to Sea-web, a sister product of the Journal of Commerce within S&P Global. ONE’s standalone West India North America service also calls the port. Jacksonville also has a jointly-operated trans-Pacific service from Mediterranean Shipping Co. and Zim Integrated Shipping Services. The two accounted for 21 of the post-Panamax ship calls to Jacksonville over the past 12 months. The CBX will be able to tap an expansion and modernization of Jacksonville’s Blount Island container terminal, which was completed last fall. The three-year project included adding six outbound truck lanes, additional staging areas, and newly paved asphalt to allow for higher container stacks. Blount, which has six post-Panamax cranes , will have capacity to handle 500,000 TEUs per year. The port is currently undertaking a project to raise power lines that span the St. John’s River and increase the air clearance for larger vessels to call its Dames Point Container Terminal. Jacksonville’s containerized imports from Asia and the Indian subcontinent slipped to 137,941 TEUs in 2025, according to PIERS, a sister company of the Journal of Commerce, a 1.1% drop from a year earlier. Contact Michael Angell at michael.angell@spglobal.com .

Maritime

Port News

Trans-Pacific

Port infrastructure

North American ports

Marine terminals

International ports

Container Shipping News

CMA CGM taps Jaxport as newest call for Asia express service

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">The largest US LTL carrier looks to add new business in the healthcare, food and energy sectors and among small businesses to grow volume and improve profitability. </div>

The largest US LTL carrier looks to add new business in the healthcare, food and energy sectors and among small businesses to grow volume and improve profitability.

<div class="phx-topic">FedEx Freight is planning for growth despite a weak industrial freight economy by reaching into new markets as it prepares for a June 1 spin off from parent company FedEx. The largest US less-than-truckload (LTL) provider and US trucking company sees big opportunities in small businesses, as well as the healthcare, data center, energy, and food and grocery sectors. Those markets represent a $9 billion revenue opportunity largely untapped by FedEx Freight, which had $8.9 billion in revenue in fiscal 2025. “We’re doing little business in those verticals,” John Smith, FedEx Freight’s incoming president and CEO, told analysts Wednesday at the company’s first standalone investor day in New York. The company expects “modest” top-line growth in a transition period from June 1 through Dec. 31, CFO Marshall Witt said at the event, which was webcast. He stressed the company will put profit before short-term volume growth. In its current fiscal year, which ends on the eve of the spin-off on May 31, FedEx Freight expects $8.7 billion in revenue and $1.1 billion in adjusted operating profit. In its last quarter ending February, revenue dropped 4.6% year over year, but operating profit increased 8.5%. Going forward, the company expects a 4% to 6% compound annual growth rate in revenue as it disentangles its operations from FedEx’s parcel business. “We’re focused on improving our financial position within the first 12 months of the spin-off,” Witt said, noting the industry is facing a “tough freight market with macro-economic volatility.” FedEx Freight, which has reduced its physical network by a net of 30 terminals and 400 service center doors over the past three years, doesn’t plan to cut capacity. “We have 30% excess capacity in our network today, and we feel we’re in a good position in the right markets,” said COO Clint McCoy. LTL carriers typically try to keep 20% to 30% excess capacity in their terminal networks to avoid chokepoints and allow for expansion in times of growth. FedEx Freight currently has 355 LTL service centers and 10 linehaul relay centers or hubs. <h3>Shipment shortfall </h3>Most of the company’s shipments come from industrial, transportation, logistics, and consumer goods customers, according to data shared during the event. Those shipments are declining amid industrial weakness. Total shipments per day at FedEx Freight fell 5.7% year over year in the fiscal quarter ending Feb. 28, dropping to 80,233 daily shipments. The year-to-date average daily shipment count, at 85,938 shipments, is down 13.8% from 2023, FedEx data shows. That underscores a long industry-wide decline in LTL shipment volumes attributed to weakness in US manufacturing and lower demand for physical goods. Recent improvements in US manufacturing activity, evident in Purchasing Managers’ Indexes (PMIs) from S&amp;P Global and the Institute for Supply Management, haven’t added much to LTL volumes yet, although XPO and Saia both saw volumes rise in February. “We’re seeing some upside” in manufacturing, compared with other sectors, Witt said. But he expects improved profitability and yield to drive revenue growth more than volume. Weak volumes are driving the focus on growing business with new shippers in markets underserved by LTL carriers. “We are targeting higher growth in end-markets that align with our offerings,” said Mike Lyons, the company’s chief specialized services and commercial officer. The hiring of a dedicated sales force of 500 regional sales representatives “gives us the engine to go out and address markets where we have little penetration today,” Lyons said. <h3>Disciplined pricing </h3>FedEx isn’t the only LTL carrier eyeing new customers and new markets. XPO, the third-largest LTL provider, also has strengthened its sales force and targeted small businesses, while launching new premium services that support higher profit margins. “The expansion we’re driving with local customers and premium services is contributing to our above-market pricing growth,” XPO CEO Mario Harik said during a March earnings call. Increases in yield helped offset lower volumes in the fourth quarter at XPO. <div class="wrapper-narrow"><dynamic-object type="jocchartid" resource-id="ccca9ba6-556b-417d-9e3d-83b396f754e8"></dynamic-object></div>The focus on yield, a measure of profitability based partly on pricing, means a rate war for market share is not on the table, even as LTL carriers sweat the decline in shipments. FedEx Freight plans to increase its market share, currently at about 15%, according to SJ Consulting Group data, but only when it can do so profitably. “This will be done through maintaining a disciplined approach to pricing, optimizing productivity, and reducing the overall cost to serve and support growth,” Witt said. LTL carriers are still seeing mid-single-digit price increases, according to the producer price index, but those increases are lower than last year. In February, the LTL producer price index rose 5.3% year over year, compared with a 9.5% average increase for the last six months of 2025. Contact William B. Cassidy at <a href="mailto:bill.cassidy@spglobal.com">bill.cassidy@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

FedEx Freight is planning for growth despite a weak industrial freight economy by reaching into new markets as it prepares for a June 1 spin off from parent company FedEx. The largest US less-than-truckload (LTL) provider and US trucking company sees big opportunities in small businesses, as well as the healthcare, data center, energy, and food and grocery sectors. Those markets represent a $9 billion revenue opportunity largely untapped by FedEx Freight, which had $8.9 billion in revenue in fiscal 2025. “We’re doing little business in those verticals,” John Smith, FedEx Freight’s incoming president and CEO, told analysts Wednesday at the company’s first standalone investor day in New York. The company expects “modest” top-line growth in a transition period from June 1 through Dec. 31, CFO Marshall Witt said at the event, which was webcast. He stressed the company will put profit before short-term volume growth. In its current fiscal year, which ends on the eve of the spin-off on May 31, FedEx Freight expects $8.7 billion in revenue and $1.1 billion in adjusted operating profit. In its last quarter ending February, revenue dropped 4.6% year over year, but operating profit increased 8.5%. Going forward, the company expects a 4% to 6% compound annual growth rate in revenue as it disentangles its operations from FedEx’s parcel business. “We’re focused on improving our financial position within the first 12 months of the spin-off,” Witt said, noting the industry is facing a “tough freight market with macro-economic volatility.” FedEx Freight, which has reduced its physical network by a net of 30 terminals and 400 service center doors over the past three years, doesn’t plan to cut capacity. “We have 30% excess capacity in our network today, and we feel we’re in a good position in the right markets,” said COO Clint McCoy. LTL carriers typically try to keep 20% to 30% excess capacity in their terminal networks to avoid chokepoints and allow for expansion in times of growth. FedEx Freight currently has 355 LTL service centers and 10 linehaul relay centers or hubs. Shipment shortfall Most of the company’s shipments come from industrial, transportation, logistics, and consumer goods customers, according to data shared during the event. Those shipments are declining amid industrial weakness. Total shipments per day at FedEx Freight fell 5.7% year over year in the fiscal quarter ending Feb. 28, dropping to 80,233 daily shipments. The year-to-date average daily shipment count, at 85,938 shipments, is down 13.8% from 2023, FedEx data shows. That underscores a long industry-wide decline in LTL shipment volumes attributed to weakness in US manufacturing and lower demand for physical goods. Recent improvements in US manufacturing activity, evident in Purchasing Managers’ Indexes (PMIs) from S&P Global and the Institute for Supply Management, haven’t added much to LTL volumes yet, although XPO and Saia both saw volumes rise in February. “We’re seeing some upside” in manufacturing, compared with other sectors, Witt said. But he expects improved profitability and yield to drive revenue growth more than volume. Weak volumes are driving the focus on growing business with new shippers in markets underserved by LTL carriers. “We are targeting higher growth in end-markets that align with our offerings,” said Mike Lyons, the company’s chief specialized services and commercial officer. The hiring of a dedicated sales force of 500 regional sales representatives “gives us the engine to go out and address markets where we have little penetration today,” Lyons said. Disciplined pricing FedEx isn’t the only LTL carrier eyeing new customers and new markets. XPO, the third-largest LTL provider, also has strengthened its sales force and targeted small businesses, while launching new premium services that support higher profit margins. “The expansion we’re driving with local customers and premium services is contributing to our above-market pricing growth,” XPO CEO Mario Harik said during a March earnings call. Increases in yield helped offset lower volumes in the fourth quarter at XPO. The focus on yield, a measure of profitability based partly on pricing, means a rate war for market share is not on the table, even as LTL carriers sweat the decline in shipments. FedEx Freight plans to increase its market share, currently at about 15%, according to SJ Consulting Group data, but only when it can do so profitably. “This will be done through maintaining a disciplined approach to pricing, optimizing productivity, and reducing the overall cost to serve and support growth,” Witt said. LTL carriers are still seeing mid-single-digit price increases, according to the producer price index, but those increases are lower than last year. In February, the LTL producer price index rose 5.3% year over year, compared with a 9.5% average increase for the last six months of 2025. Contact William B. Cassidy at bill.cassidy@spglobal.com .

Trucking News

Surface

FedEx Freight plans diversification as spin-off date approaches

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">The carrier said the ships, with a combined value of up to $1.8 billion, will be deployed on Asia-Europe services as part of a strategic plan to increase the size of vessels serving that trade by 2030.</div>

The carrier said the ships, with a combined value of up to $1.8 billion, will be deployed on Asia-Europe services as part of a strategic plan to increase the size of vessels serving that trade by 2030.

<div class="phx-topic">Taiwan’s Evergreen Marine is adding to its lengthening order book with a deal for six 24,000-TEU container ships to be built at South Korea’s Hanwha Ocean shipyard, the carrier said Wednesday. The value for the new order of LNG-fueled vessels is between $1.6 billion and $1.8 billion, Evergreen said in a filing to the Taiwan stock exchange. The deal means Taiwan’s largest container line has splashed out more than $6 billion on new ships since November. Earlier contracts comprise orders worth almost $1.5 billion <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/evergreen-adds-to-order-backlog-with-deals-for-23-ships-worth-up-to-almost-15-billion-6159700">for 23 container ships in January</a> and an order close to $3 billion for <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/evergreen-says-will-spend-almost-3-billion-on-14-new-lng-fueled-ships-6114739">14 14,000-TEU LNG-fueled vessels in November</a>. Evergreen said the latest ships will be deployed on Asia-Europe services as part of a strategic plan to increase the size of vessels serving that trade by 2030. The carrier also said it aims to launch an additional Asia-Europe service by the end of the decade. Evergreen currently has 12 24,000-TEU ships assigned to European sailings after the last vessel in the series, Ever Aeon, was completed in late 2024. It now offers seven Asia-North Europe services as a member of Ocean Alliance with Cosco, OOCL and CMA CGM, under which it launched its “Day 10” network this month. <div class="wrapper-narrow"><dynamic-object type="jocchartid" resource-id="ef78ab1f-3609-44d0-a713-fb260bc40609"></dynamic-object></div>The ship order announced Wednesday would increase Evergreen’s total group fleet to about 274 vessels with a deployed capacity of more than 2.9 million TEUs, according to the carrier’s fleet figures. The LNG-powered ships will increase the number of dual-fuel vessels in the Evergreen fleet to more than 60 by 2029 — 22% of the enlarged fleet by that date, according to the carrier’s data. The order, meanwhile, reinforces LNG as the next-generation fuel of choice for carriers. LNG vessels now account for almost 80% of the dual-fuel ships on order, equivalent to over 6.4 million TEUs of capacity, according to Sea-web, a sister company of the Journal of Commerce within S&amp;P Global. Contact Keith Wallis at <a href="mailto:keithwallis@hotmail.com">keithwallis@hotmail.com</a>. </div>

Taiwan’s Evergreen Marine is adding to its lengthening order book with a deal for six 24,000-TEU container ships to be built at South Korea’s Hanwha Ocean shipyard, the carrier said Wednesday. The value for the new order of LNG-fueled vessels is between $1.6 billion and $1.8 billion, Evergreen said in a filing to the Taiwan stock exchange. The deal means Taiwan’s largest container line has splashed out more than $6 billion on new ships since November. Earlier contracts comprise orders worth almost $1.5 billion for 23 container ships in January and an order close to $3 billion for 14 14,000-TEU LNG-fueled vessels in November . Evergreen said the latest ships will be deployed on Asia-Europe services as part of a strategic plan to increase the size of vessels serving that trade by 2030. The carrier also said it aims to launch an additional Asia-Europe service by the end of the decade. Evergreen currently has 12 24,000-TEU ships assigned to European sailings after the last vessel in the series, Ever Aeon, was completed in late 2024. It now offers seven Asia-North Europe services as a member of Ocean Alliance with Cosco, OOCL and CMA CGM, under which it launched its “Day 10” network this month. The ship order announced Wednesday would increase Evergreen’s total group fleet to about 274 vessels with a deployed capacity of more than 2.9 million TEUs, according to the carrier’s fleet figures. The LNG-powered ships will increase the number of dual-fuel vessels in the Evergreen fleet to more than 60 by 2029 — 22% of the enlarged fleet by that date, according to the carrier’s data. The order, meanwhile, reinforces LNG as the next-generation fuel of choice for carriers. LNG vessels now account for almost 80% of the dual-fuel ships on order, equivalent to over 6.4 million TEUs of capacity, according to Sea-web, a sister company of the Journal of Commerce within S&P Global. Contact Keith Wallis at keithwallis@hotmail.com .

Container lines

Asia-Europe

Evergreen adds to order book with deal for six 24,000-TEU vessels

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">As part of the deal, Iran said it would allow shipping to resume through the strait with vessel passages coordinated by the Iranian military, but it has not yet issued any technical details.</div>

As part of the deal, Iran said it would allow shipping to resume through the strait with vessel passages coordinated by the Iranian military, but it has not yet issued any technical details.

<div class="phx-topic">The shipping industry is awaiting details from the US and Iran on how to transit the Strait of Hormuz safely following a narrow two-week ceasefire window agreed to Wednesday between Washington and Tehran. As part of the deal, Iran said it would allow shipping to resume through the strait with vessel passages coordinated by the Iranian military, but it has not yet issued any technical details. Complicating matters is that Iran has proposed a toll system for Hormuz passage, with Tehran suggesting it would charge vessels $2 million for transiting and split the fee with neighboring Oman. And underscoring the sensitivity around transits, a container ship near the strait received a message Wednesday from the Iranian navy warning that operators needed permission from authorities or vessels would be targeted and attacked, according to a source close to the matter who didn’t want to be identified. “In the next couple of days, we will have to see what really happens and how many of the ships can go in and out, and then we’ll have to stay close to that situation to judge what’s going to happen after those 14 days,” Hapag-Lloyd CEO Rolf Habben Jansen told customers in a briefing Wednesday. As negotiations between the US and Iran get underway, the top priority from ocean carriers is to remove an estimated 170 container ships representing 450,000 TEUs, or about 1.5% of global capacity, that have been stuck in the Persian Gulf since the Middle East conflict began on Feb. 28. Hapag-Lloyd has six ships comprising a total of 25,000 TEUs in the Gulf. But the two-week window is too short and too uncertain for carriers to make long-term plans for reestablishing disrupted Middle East networks, Habben Jansen noted. “Hopefully it remains open, and then we can start looking at how quickly we can return to the Persian Gulf,” he said. “How that will go over the upcoming couple of weeks depends on how stable it is, but you should assume that it will still take six to eight weeks or so until we get back to a more normal situation. “Maybe on the back of that, we will also see the Red Sea open up again, but first priority is now clearly with the strait,” he added. <h3>Iran issues 10-point plan </h3>Whether the ceasefire will result in a lasting peace settlement remains highly uncertain. In agreeing to the ceasefire, Iran also issued an ambitious 10-point plan in a statement to its National Security Council that includes an end to US military presence in the region, cessation of war by the US “on all fronts” in the Middle East, Iranian control over the Strait of Hormuz, the lifting of all primary and secondary sanctions, and compensation for reconstruction from war damages. Bimco chief shipping analyst Niels Rasmussen said if it was considered safe to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, ships trapped within the Persian Gulf will want to leave as soon as possible. “They will load cargoes prior to leaving but only if loading does not jeopardize the chance of leaving within the two weeks,” Rasmussen said in a statement from the shipping association Wednesday. “Unless the two-week window is quickly lengthened, I doubt there will be a large influx of ships into the Persian Gulf,” he said. “Partly because many ships have already sailed to other regions and partly because they do not want to risk being trapped after the two-week window closes.” Any rush to sail through the Strait of Hormuz without prior coordination with the US and Iran “would entail heightened risk and would not be advisable,” said Jakob Larsen, Bimco’s chief safety and security officer. An uncoordinated exit would present navigational risks from collisions and groundings in the narrow waterway, while the potential lack of communication within the depleted Iranian military and political system presents other problems, he noted. “Iran has announced that they want to be in control of transits in the strait,” Larsen said in the Bimco statement. “However, Iran’s military command structure has been severely impacted by attacks in recent weeks which could lead to misunderstandings between the Iranian authorities approving transits and the Iranian military formations that control the weapons. “Such misunderstandings could potentially lead to unintended targeting and attacks on ships approved for transit,” he added. <h3>Reestablishing oil flows ‘will take months’ </h3>News of the ceasefire saw oil prices falling by 13% on Wednesday, although they remain more than 30% above pre-conflict levels. About one-fifth of the world’s crude oil and refined products — 20 million barrels per day — is exported via the Strait of Hormuz, but that slowed to a trickle after the conflict began. Still, even if the ceasefire holds and shipping resumes through Hormuz, it will take months to reestablish disrupted oil and gas production in the Persian Gulf, according to Tristan Abbey, an administrator at the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). “Just as we had never before seen the strait close, we’ve never seen it reopen ... what exactly that looks like remains to be seen,” Abbey said in an EIA market forecast released Tuesday before the ceasefire announcement. “Full restoration of flows will take months. Our modeling indicates that fuel prices will continue to rise until these variables resolve." The EIA forecast noted that limited oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz caused oil storage to fill quickly in countries that relied on the waterway for exports. As a result, the EIA estimated that Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the UAE, Qatar and Bahrain collectively shut in 7.5 million b/d of crude oil production in March, with production shut-ins to rise to 9.1 million b/d in April. The EIA outlook assumes the conflict will not persist past April, and that traffic through the Strait of Hormuz will gradually resume. Under those assumptions, the agency expects production shut-ins will fall to 6.7 million b/d in May and return close to pre-conflict levels in late 2026. Contact Greg Knowler at <a href="mailto:greg.knowler@spglobal.com">greg.knowler@spglobal.com</a>.</div>

The shipping industry is awaiting details from the US and Iran on how to transit the Strait of Hormuz safely following a narrow two-week ceasefire window agreed to Wednesday between Washington and Tehran. As part of the deal, Iran said it would allow shipping to resume through the strait with vessel passages coordinated by the Iranian military, but it has not yet issued any technical details. Complicating matters is that Iran has proposed a toll system for Hormuz passage, with Tehran suggesting it would charge vessels $2 million for transiting and split the fee with neighboring Oman. And underscoring the sensitivity around transits, a container ship near the strait received a message Wednesday from the Iranian navy warning that operators needed permission from authorities or vessels would be targeted and attacked, according to a source close to the matter who didn’t want to be identified. “In the next couple of days, we will have to see what really happens and how many of the ships can go in and out, and then we’ll have to stay close to that situation to judge what’s going to happen after those 14 days,” Hapag-Lloyd CEO Rolf Habben Jansen told customers in a briefing Wednesday. As negotiations between the US and Iran get underway, the top priority from ocean carriers is to remove an estimated 170 container ships representing 450,000 TEUs, or about 1.5% of global capacity, that have been stuck in the Persian Gulf since the Middle East conflict began on Feb. 28. Hapag-Lloyd has six ships comprising a total of 25,000 TEUs in the Gulf. But the two-week window is too short and too uncertain for carriers to make long-term plans for reestablishing disrupted Middle East networks, Habben Jansen noted. “Hopefully it remains open, and then we can start looking at how quickly we can return to the Persian Gulf,” he said. “How that will go over the upcoming couple of weeks depends on how stable it is, but you should assume that it will still take six to eight weeks or so until we get back to a more normal situation. “Maybe on the back of that, we will also see the Red Sea open up again, but first priority is now clearly with the strait,” he added. Iran issues 10-point plan Whether the ceasefire will result in a lasting peace settlement remains highly uncertain. In agreeing to the ceasefire, Iran also issued an ambitious 10-point plan in a statement to its National Security Council that includes an end to US military presence in the region, cessation of war by the US “on all fronts” in the Middle East, Iranian control over the Strait of Hormuz, the lifting of all primary and secondary sanctions, and compensation for reconstruction from war damages. Bimco chief shipping analyst Niels Rasmussen said if it was considered safe to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, ships trapped within the Persian Gulf will want to leave as soon as possible. “They will load cargoes prior to leaving but only if loading does not jeopardize the chance of leaving within the two weeks,” Rasmussen said in a statement from the shipping association Wednesday. “Unless the two-week window is quickly lengthened, I doubt there will be a large influx of ships into the Persian Gulf,” he said. “Partly because many ships have already sailed to other regions and partly because they do not want to risk being trapped after the two-week window closes.” Any rush to sail through the Strait of Hormuz without prior coordination with the US and Iran “would entail heightened risk and would not be advisable,” said Jakob Larsen, Bimco’s chief safety and security officer. An uncoordinated exit would present navigational risks from collisions and groundings in the narrow waterway, while the potential lack of communication within the depleted Iranian military and political system presents other problems, he noted. “Iran has announced that they want to be in control of transits in the strait,” Larsen said in the Bimco statement. “However, Iran’s military command structure has been severely impacted by attacks in recent weeks which could lead to misunderstandings between the Iranian authorities approving transits and the Iranian military formations that control the weapons. “Such misunderstandings could potentially lead to unintended targeting and attacks on ships approved for transit,” he added. Reestablishing oil flows ‘will take months’ News of the ceasefire saw oil prices falling by 13% on Wednesday, although they remain more than 30% above pre-conflict levels. About one-fifth of the world’s crude oil and refined products — 20 million barrels per day — is exported via the Strait of Hormuz, but that slowed to a trickle after the conflict began. Still, even if the ceasefire holds and shipping resumes through Hormuz, it will take months to reestablish disrupted oil and gas production in the Persian Gulf, according to Tristan Abbey, an administrator at the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). “Just as we had never before seen the strait close, we’ve never seen it reopen ... what exactly that looks like remains to be seen,” Abbey said in an EIA market forecast released Tuesday before the ceasefire announcement. “Full restoration of flows will take months. Our modeling indicates that fuel prices will continue to rise until these variables resolve." The EIA forecast noted that limited oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz caused oil storage to fill quickly in countries that relied on the waterway for exports. As a result, the EIA estimated that Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the UAE, Qatar and Bahrain collectively shut in 7.5 million b/d of crude oil production in March, with production shut-ins to rise to 9.1 million b/d in April. The EIA outlook assumes the conflict will not persist past April, and that traffic through the Strait of Hormuz will gradually resume. Under those assumptions, the agency expects production shut-ins will fall to 6.7 million b/d in May and return close to pre-conflict levels in late 2026. Contact Greg Knowler at greg.knowler@spglobal.com .

Ocean carriers wait for clarity on safe Hormuz passage after US-Iran ceasefire

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