Company forced to refund money, compounding 50% drop in cargo revenue
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The day’s most important moves across every mode — air, rail, road, ocean and the trade that ties them together.
| ● On the Wire |
TUE · AUG 18 · 2026 |
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Register today for the Houston International Maritime Conference (HIMC26) happening this November in Downtown Houston. Our agenda is out now! Buy your early bird ticket by August 31.
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AIR · CARGO LOGISTICS
BY ERIC KULISCH · AMERICAN SHIPPER · AUG 17, 2026
Global Crossing Airlines has dropped its $30 million breach-of-contract suit against Ascent Global Logistics and walked away from their exclusive cargo brokerage agreement, ending a partnership that soured after cargo referrals dried up and Ascent sought repayment of a prepayment balance.
| THE TAKE — THE TAKE — With GlobalX’s cargo revenue down roughly 50% year over year and two of its four converted freighters already parked, shippers who leaned on the GlobalX-Ascent pipeline for air cargo capacity should line up backup options now rather than wait to see how the remaining fleet gets redeployed. |
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AIR · AUTOMATION
Korean Air is rolling out driverless transfer vehicles, automated guided vehicles and expanded cold-storage capacity at its Incheon and JFK cargo terminals, targeting a 25% bump in Incheon’s annual capacity by September 2026 and a completed JFK upgrade by 2027.
| THE TAKE — THE TAKE — Korean Air’s cargo yields jumped 41% last quarter on almost flat volume growth, showing carriers can grow revenue through pricing and mix (pharma, semiconductors) even as tonnage plateaus — worth factoring in when negotiating capacity and rates with the carrier. |
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OCEAN · LEADERSHIP
CMA CGM has named 30-year shipping veteran Natasha Griffin, most recently head of its UK operation, as CEO of CMA CGM North America, succeeding Adeline Franger Chouraqui atop a region that moves roughly 5 million containers a year across 38 services and 25 ports.
| THE TAKE — THE TAKE — Leadership continuity matters for shippers with long-term CMA CGM contracts; watch whether Griffin’s background running UK terminal and intermodal operations changes how the carrier manages its three U.S. marine terminals in Los Angeles and New York-New Jersey. |
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OCEAN · CONTAINER SHIPPING
Global trade volumes are running stronger than expected in 2026, but a widening East-West trade imbalance driven by strong Chinese exports is leaving carriers with a glut of empty containers on unprofitable backhaul routes — Maersk says terminal throughput demand is running 7-8% versus roughly 4% loaded-cargo growth, and Rotterdam has logged a 60% jump in empty-box volumes since 2020.
| THE TAKE — THE TAKE — Repositioning costs from empty-container congestion tend to show up in shippers’ rates and equipment availability before they show up in headline freight indices — worth watching backhaul-lane pricing now if you route through European or Chinese gateways. |
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TRADE · SUPPLY CHAIN RISK
A new Oxford Economics study warns that maritime chokepoint risk extends well beyond the Strait of Hormuz — nearly a quarter of global trade moves through the Malacca and Taiwan straits alone, and climate-driven disruptions like Panama Canal draft restrictions and back-to-back Asian typhoons are compounding geopolitical flashpoints such as the Red Sea.
| THE TAKE — THE TAKE — Oxford’s advice to map which chokepoints actually sit inside your own sourcing lanes, rather than just diversifying suppliers, is the practical takeaway — a diversified supplier base doesn’t help much if every alternate still routes through the same strait. |
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OCT 27–28, 2026 · THE SIGNAL AT CHATTANOOGA CHOO CHOO · CHATTANOOGA, TN
FreightWaves’ flagship freight festival returns to Chattanooga blending the latest FreightTech with rapid-fire demos and top-tier networking — register by August 24 for a buy-one-get-one offer to bring a colleague along.
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American Shipper · The Daily — published weekdays
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