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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 |
Friday, November 6 |
5 stories |
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Ocean
BY STUART CHIRLS · AMERICAN SHIPPER · NOVEMBER 5, 2026
The Pacific Maritime Association and ILWU Local 26 extended their contract through midnight Pacific on Friday, Nov. 6, pushing back a possible walkout again as federal mediation continues.
| THE TAKE — Each short extension keeps cargo moving but leaves the risk intact: the roughly 250 watchmen are about 2% of the ILWU workforce, yet terminals handling about 85% of Long Beach’s cargo and 33% of Los Angeles’ could be affected, and PMA expects other ILWU members to honor picket lines. The separate longshore contract through 2028 stays in force, so the dispute is contained, but another rolling deadline falls on Friday. |
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Ocean
Maersk lifted its full-year EBITDA guidance to $14 billion to $14.5 billion, its third upgrade this year, but quarterly results missed analyst estimates and shares fell as much as 11.6%.
| THE TAKE — Earnings were strong in absolute terms, with EBITDA of $4.7 billion versus $2.7 billion a year ago and revenue up 27%, but the ocean division’s operating profit of about $2.6 billion fell short of forecasts and main shipping volumes dipped about 1%. The market is clearly pricing in a rate peak, which fits the outlook’s assumption of only around 4% container market growth. |
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Air Cargo
Emirates SkyCargo launched a dedicated product for cloud computing companies and AI hardware suppliers, with priority loading, specialized handling and airport-to-airport monitoring.
| THE TAKE — Server racks often weigh more than 3.8 tons, which is why freighters suit them better than belly cargo, and SkyCargo says it moved more than 700 metric tons of AI infrastructure in July alone. With a fleet heading to 23 dedicated cargo jets by March, Emirates is joining the carriers treating the AI buildout as a profit center while e-commerce volumes soften. |
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Rail
The Surface Transportation Board rejected Union Pacific’s appeal and left in place a ruling that a recording of CEO Jim Vena’s shipper-group address lose its confidential designation.
| THE TAKE — CPKC argues Vena’s remarks, allegedly threatening higher rates, chilled participation in the proceeding over UP’s proposed $85 billion Norfolk Southern acquisition, and the regulator has voiced serious concerns about whether UP influenced stakeholder input. A public video will put those comments in front of shippers and regulators as the merger review continues. |
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Parcel
Tractor Supply now moves orders across parcel carriers, gig networks and a two-year-old private fleet as rising surcharges push shippers to diversify.
| THE TAKE — A FarEye survey found 45.8% of U.S. delivery operators say costs are rising faster than revenue, with median last-mile costs up 12% for a second year. Tractor Supply’s panelists said general rate increases are no longer the only thing to worry about, and its real-time rate shopping created volume-balancing problems because of carrier discount tiers. |
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American Shipper · The Daily — published weekdays
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