Supply Chain Intelligence Brief

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TRUCKING

Survey reveals top LTL carriers for 2025

Freight Waves Todd Maiden October 7, 2025

Daylight Transport was named by Mastio & Co. as the top overall less-than-truckload carrier for a second straight year. The research and consulting firm’s annual customer value and loyalty survey listed Old Dominion Freight Line as the top national carrier for a 16th consecutive year.

Link: Mastio Press Release: MASTIO publishes the 21st Edition U.S. LTL Carrier Customer Value Loyalty Report (Carrier Ranking List)

Surprising surge: Trucking spot market rates climb overnight

Freight Waves Craig Fuller October 7, 2025

The spot market heat map in SONAR, which tracks sudden shifts in spot market rates, has turned extremely blue, indicating that spot rates are suddenly surging well beyond recent trends.

It’s happening all over the country, and it happened overnight. What makes this unusual is that a sharp market development such as the one we’re currently experiencing is happening without tender volumes or rejections indicating market stress.

Trump Announces 25% Tariff on Medium-Duty and Heavy-Duty Trucks

Heavy Duty Trucking Deborah Lockridge October 7, 2025

As the Financial Times reported, it’s likely that lobbying will be fast and furious as November approaches. One of the many details that need to be addressed is whether tariffs will apply to truck parts. Another is how these tariffs will intersect with the USMCA trade agreement between the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

Mexico Risks New Tariff Hit on $15 Billion of Truck Exports

Transport Topics/Bloomberg Alex Vasquez and Maya Averbuch News October , 2025

Mexico supplies 70% of the heavy trucks imported by U.S., making them an important product for the local economy, Deputy Economy Minister for Foreign Trade Luis Rosendo Gutierrez said during a BloombergNEF forum in Mexico City.

DAT Freight & Analytics Trucking Market Update With Bill Cassidy (Video 37M)

DAT Freight & Analytics October 7, 2025

DAT’s Dean Croke provides a market update and interviews Bill Cassidy of the Journal of Commerce.

SHIPPERS / 3PLs

Shippers and 3PLs align through tech and collaboration, notes 3PL Study

Logistics Management October 7, 2025

Relationship shifts moving from more transactional to strategic: Shippers stated that supply chain disruptions (81%), cost optimization through collaboration (76%) and digital transformation (57%) represent some of the top drivers for strategic partnerships. For 3PLs, leading the way were demand for end-to-end visibility (61%), customized/value-added services (61%) and cost optimization via collaboration (56%);

Nestle shares process for optimizing distribution network

Supply Chain Xchange Susan Lacefield October 7, 2025

Nestle’s model includes inputs such as transportation costs, handling costs, storage costs, flow balance constraints, storage capacity constraints, customer delivery constraints, and inventory strategy. The model has been used, for example, to help the company determine which products should be shipped from distribution centers and which should be shipped direct from the plant.

INDUSTRY

National diesel average falls, after two weeks of gains, reports EIA

Logistics Management October 7, 2025

The national average price per gallon of diesel gasoline decreased, following increases over the previous two weeks

The national average price per gallon, for the week of October 6, fell 4.3 cents, to $3.711, for the week of October 6

Links: U.S. Energy Information Administration  Gasoline and Diesel Fuel Update  and Weekly U.S. No 2 Diesel Ultra Low Sulfur (0-15 ppm) Retail Prices (Chart) 

TECHNOLOGY

Automation reshapes for-hire trucking—from tracking to rate negotiations

Fleet Owner Jeremy Wolfe October 7, 2025

“You’re seeing these technologies take over those transactional bits of relationships so that the broker and carrier relationships can become much more focused on the human and business elements, as opposed to the very operational and manual tasks,” Kary Jablonski, VP and GM of broker growth and Trucker Tools for DAT Freight & Analytics, told FleetOwner.

AI surge fuels logistics transformation as Coupa buys Scoutbee

Freight Waves Noi Mahoney October 7, 2025

San Francisco-based Scoutbee’s technology helps shippers and manufacturers identify alternative suppliers and streamline onboarding. Scoutbee was founded in 2015 and has around 50 employees.

Link: Coupa Press Release Coupa Announces Acquisition of AI-Powered Scoutbee to Drive Supplier Intelligence and Discovery

SUSTAINABILITY / SAFETY / SECURITY

States’ Commercial Vehicle Dragnets Snag ELP, CDL Violations

Transport Topics Noël Fletcher October 7, 2025

Three states recently ramped up enforcement of federal English-language proficiency rules and roadside checks of immigration status in response to renewed U.S. Department of Transportation attention to these issues.

BUSINESS AND THE ECONOMY

Households Pump the Brakes on Credit as Economic Uncertainty Looms

PYMNTS October 7, 2025

Americans are walking a careful line as they navigate inflation and household balance sheets, leveraging credit where needed but showing signs of restraint.

The latest Federal Reserve data released Tuesday (Oct. 7) paints a picture of consumers who still have “dry powder” in the form of available credit but are using it judiciously as the year winds down.

Link: Federal Reserve Consumer Credit

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