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The Daily // Mon 08.17.26 View in browser →
The DailyMonday · August 17, 2026
The five minutes that makes you the most informed person in freight today
Lead Story
United Airlines cargo chief Jan Krems to retire after storied careerAir cargo Hall-of-Fame member Jan Krems has tendered his resignation after more than 12 years as president of cargo at United Airlines and will be replaced by Chris Busch, currently vice president, Cargo Americas. Krems will depart at the end of September. A byproduct of the KLM Cargo system, Krems is credited with building United Cargo into a major cargo player that routinely outperformed U.S. competitors American Airlines and Delta Air Lines. He was inducted into The International Air Cargo Association’s Hall of Fame in 2025, and one of his major successes was managing United through the Covid pandemic, when it became the first airline to use passenger aircraft as mini-freighters, operating about 17,000 flights as freighters. United Airlines’ cargo revenue increased 22.6% to $527 million in the second quarter, compared to $294 million for Delta, as the carrier benefited from a sharp rise in air cargo rates tied to disruptions from the Iran war and the strongest volumes since the Covid-fueled boom in 2020. Last year, United Cargo had sales of $1.78 billion, up 2.1% year over year. "Jan has been a transformational leader for our cargo business and a highly respected voice across the global air cargo industry," said Andrew Nocella, United’s chief commercial officer. "His vision, expertise, and dedication have helped position United Cargo as a leader in the industry, with revenue performance two times our nearest U.S. competitor." Busch has spent 19 years at United, helping lead commercial growth across the Americas region. Why It Matters?
Krems kept his focus on the freight forwarders, which generated return business and allowed United to make more money off cargo than other passenger carriers. The revenue he generated helped make break-even flights profitable. Top Stories
Borderlands Mexico: ANPACT warns tariffs threaten truck trade as exports surgeMexico’s heavy-duty truck industry posted sharp gains in July, with manufacturers producing 14,675 vehicles, up 51.8% year over year, while exports climbed 66.7% to 13,117 units and wholesale sales rose 19.1% to 2,590 units. The U.S. remained by far the largest export market, taking 92.4% of the 71,377 trucks and buses Mexico exported through July. ANPACT officials said maintaining certainty around the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement remains critical for the industry’s long-term growth and renewed calls for changes to Section 232 tariffs, which the group says are harmful to economic activity on both sides of the border. Freightliner remained Mexico’s largest heavy-duty producer through July with 53,364 units assembled. Why It Matters?
More than 92% of Mexico’s heavy-duty vehicle exports are shipped to the United States, making production trends, trade policy and tariff negotiations key indicators for North American trucking capacity, equipment availability and cross-border supply chains. Sponsored · Aurora
Truck manufacturer exits Ohio location, eliminates 1,341 jobsInternational Motors is laying off 1,341 employees at two manufacturing facilities in Springfield, Ohio, following the sale of the operations to Canadian defense and commercial vehicle manufacturer Roshel. The company signed an asset purchase agreement under which Roshel will acquire the Springfield Assembly Plant and Truck Specialty Center, with the sale expected to close Oct. 2. The layoffs affect about 1,314 workers at the assembly plant and 27 at the specialty center, with roughly 1,158 represented by the United Auto Workers. Roshel plans to convert the more than 2 million-square-foot campus into a U.S.-based production hub for commercial, specialty and armored vehicles. Why It Matters?
The conversion of International’s Springfield operations into a defense and specialty vehicle manufacturing hub illustrates how North American manufacturing assets are being repurposed to serve evolving commercial and defense markets, even as more than 1,300 workers are displaced during the transition. DHL Express triples air cargo capacity with Shenzhen terminal expansionDHL Express has completed a $204 million expansion of its "super gateway" at Shenzhen Bao’an International Airport, tripling shipping capacity to 992 tons per day and enabling more direct cargo flights. It’s the company’s largest investment in mainland China to date, and once at full capacity annual throughput is expected to exceed 286,000 tons, about 10 times the volume of the previous Shenzhen gateway. DHL also introduced a new dedicated air route with a widebody Boeing 767 cargo jet linking Shanghai, Bangkok, Bahrain and Brussels to meet demand for air cargo transport between China and key markets across Asia, the Middle East and Europe. The additions support target sectors including AI data centers, semiconductors and life sciences, as DHL Group’s second-quarter profit grew 22% on $25.8 billion in revenue. Why It Matters?
DHL tripling its Shenzhen capacity and adding a China-Europe freighter route signals continued confidence in cross-border e-commerce and manufacturing demand out of South China, even as trade tensions push other carriers to hedge their China exposure. ICE expands state law enforcement partnerships with Indiana, Oklahoma, WyomingU.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has expanded 287(g) Task Force Model agreements with the Indiana State Police, Oklahoma Department of Public Safety and Wyoming Highway Patrol, allowing trained local officers to enforce immigration issues that arise during traffic stops or commercial vehicle inspections. Wyoming’s program is already being used by 17 troopers. "For our troopers this program will work as a part of daily duties already being performed," Wyoming Highway Patrol spokesman Aaron Brown told FreightWaves, adding that if a driver is found to be in the country illegally during a DOT inspection, "the driver will be detained and transferred to ICE custody." Whether Indiana and Oklahoma will deploy similar enforcement models remains unclear. Why It Matters?
The partnership between U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and state law agencies could have direct implications for trucking fleets, drivers and enforcement operations on major freight corridors. FreightWaves Today · Live at 12PM ET
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FreightWaves Events
F3: Future of Freight Festival
FreightWaves’ flagship event blends the latest FreightTech with rapid-fire demos and world-class speakers with the most legendary networking in logistics. October 27–28, 2026 · The Signal, Chattanooga
Sponsored Insight
Presented by Avalara
The true cost of cross-border commerceDiscover insights from a global survey of 9,000 consumers across nine markets and learn how pricing clarity, duties, and tax transparency shape conversion, trust, and cross-border growth. Presented by NFI Industries
How NFI Is Operationalizing AI Across the Entire Transportation Management StackNFI recognized as honoree in 2026 AI Excellence in Supply Chain Awards. Presented by Aurora
Your next truck could drive itself.Aurora Driver 2 is hauling freight on public roads. From the Research Desk
In partnership with CargoWise Landside
What It Takes to Win in the Next Era of DrayageFreightWaves and CargoWise Landside surveyed drayage operators on the automation investments separating growth from margin compression amid demand volatility and driver shortages. In partnership with Werner
High-Stakes Freight Brokerage: Risk and AccountabilityFreightWaves and Werner surveyed shippers moving high-value freight and found compliance failures and limited visibility are turning low-cost brokerage into a reliability risk, not just a pricing one. Courtesy of Infios
New Research: Tariffs Didn’t Raise Costs. They Raised the Execution Standard.Infios-backed research breaks down how tariff volatility turned transport-mode selection and trade-route monitoring into daily operating decisions instead of annual ones. Watch on FreightWaves TV
What We’re Watching
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Mexico truck trade rides a tariff tightropeMexican heavy-duty truck exports jumped 66.7% in July with 92.4% headed to the U.S. Watch whether ANPACT’s push to preserve USMCA and roll back Section 232 tariffs gains traction. ▸
Springfield’s next chapter takes shapeInternational’s Ohio plant sale to Roshel closes Oct. 2, displacing 1,341 workers. Watch whether Roshel offers hiring preferences to former International employees as it retools the site. ▸
ICE-state trooper partnerships widenIndiana, Oklahoma and Wyoming have joined ICE’s 287(g) task force model, with Wyoming already running 17 troopers under the program. Watch whether more states sign on for roadside immigration enforcement. That’s your Daily for today. See you tomorrow.
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