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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 |
Tuesday, November 10 |
5 stories |
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Ocean
BY STUART CHIRLS · AMERICAN SHIPPER · NOVEMBER 9, 2026
Xeneta says October Asia–U.S. West Coast spot rates were 343% above their pre-war level yet 14% below the pandemic record, and it forecasts global spot rates could fall 30% in 2027.
| THE TAKE — The warning is in the supply picture: the container fleet is expected to grow 6.8% in 2027 against demand growth of 2.5% to 4%, and the return to shorter Red Sea routes has already released about 599,000 TEUs of nominal capacity. Costs are moving the other way for now, with long-term fuel surcharges up 42% to $820 per FEU and on-time arrivals at just 27% in the third quarter. Shippers should expect the leverage to shift toward them next year. |
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E-commerce
Walmart and Zipline will expand drone delivery to 300 new store locations as Zipline raises $1.5 billion at a $21.5 billion valuation.
| THE TAKE — Walmart has completed more than 2 million drone deliveries since 2021 but has just 21 Zipline sites today, so the jump to more than 270 locations in nearly 20 metros is a major scale-up with no timeline or city list yet. It also sharpens the race with Amazon, which plans Prime Air delivery to nearly 500 U.S. communities by year-end, and Uber’s goal of a million Zipline deliveries a day by 2029. |
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Ocean
The Pacific Maritime Association and ILWU Local 26 extended the deadline for about 250 terminal watchmen to Nov. 20, with operations continuing during bargaining.
| THE TAKE — This is the fourth deadline pushed back, after Nov. 1, Nov. 4 and Nov. 6, so the extension buys the ports nearly two more weeks but resolves nothing. The separate longshore contract covering more than 22,000 workers runs to July 2028, which limits the dispute’s scope, though picket lines remain the risk if talks fail. |
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Air Cargo
A warehouse system problem at Thai Airways’ cargo terminals at Suvarnabhumi Airport has left hundreds of containers unattended and forwarders struggling to release shipments.
| THE TAKE — The clearance system doesn’t record storage location or status, and Thai Airways has suspended freighter service through November and asked airlines to cut inbound cargo by 50% for a week. About 22% of Thailand’s 2025 exports went to the United States, so the backlog’s spread to outbound shipments is the part U.S. shippers should watch. |
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Ocean
Cosco Shipping Holdings’ third-quarter profit rose about 81% to roughly $2.58 billion on revenue up 29%, driven by higher freight rates from longer voyages.
| THE TAKE — Trans-Pacific revenue rose 61% on just 13% more cargo, a clear sign that rates, not volume, drove the quarter, and the longer routing caused by geopolitical disruptions did the work. Cosco itself warns that Middle East developments, port congestion and shifting trade patterns will keep the market challenging, even as it expects demand to stay relatively resilient. |
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American Shipper · The Daily — published weekdays
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