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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 |
THU · SEP 24 · 2026 |
5 stories |
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Avoid congestion and costly delays. Seattle-Tacoma’s fluid terminal operations, on-dock rail and 2-3 day rail dwell will speed your cargo to its final destination.
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LABOR · SUPPLY CHAIN RISK
BY ERIC KULISCH · AMERICAN SHIPPER · SEP 23, 2026
The ILWU’s West Coast port contract expires July 1, 2028 and the UPS-Teamsters master contract expires a month later, an overlap that would put ports handling 37.2% of U.S. containerized imports and UPS’s 17 million daily packages at simultaneous risk during a presidential election year; Teamsters President Sean O’Brien has floated coordinating action across both, and past ILWU talks have run 10-13+ months with port closures.
| THE TAKE — Retailers largely unaware of this overlap, per the sourcing here, means most import planning for 2028 hasn’t priced in the possibility of concurrent port and UPS disruptions — shippers should start building 2028 peak-season contingency plans now, since front-loading imports only hedges the port side of a dual shutdown, not the UPS side. |
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OCEAN · WEATHER DISRUPTION
Hurricane Polo weakened from Category 5 to Category 4 with 150 mph winds as it crept north at 2 mph roughly 320 miles southeast of Manzanillo, prompting Mexico’s Navy to close Acapulco and Zihuatanejo to all vessels and restrict smaller vessels at Manzanillo, Lázaro Cárdenas and Puerto Marqués; Manzanillo and Lázaro Cárdenas are Mexico’s two main Pacific container gateways for Asian imports.
| THE TAKE — A storm crawling at 2 mph means these port restrictions could last far longer than a typical hurricane pass-through — shippers routing Asian imports through Mexico’s Pacific gateways should build extra dwell time into their plans rather than assuming a quick reopening once winds die down. |
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3PL · EUROPE EXPANSION
Uber Freight is opening a control tower and 4PL operations hub in Krakow, Poland in 2027, its second European location after the Netherlands, calling it a ‘significant, multi-year’ investment as it doubled European 4PL deals last year in a market where EU trucks moved 13.3 billion tonnes of freight in 2025; the expansion follows demand from North American customers like chemical maker OXEA, whose contract spans both regions.
| THE TAKE — Winning a customer that wants one 4PL managing both North American and European freight is the real signal here — Uber Freight is positioning itself against the global 3PLs on cross-continental contracts, not just competing region by region, so shippers evaluating 4PL providers should ask specifically about their European control-tower coverage, not just U.S. capabilities. |
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TRADE POLICY · IMPORTS
U.S. imports fell 4.5% and containerized ocean imports dropped 4.3% in the year following the April 2025 Liberation Day tariffs, per Descartes Datamyne, as Mexico became the top import source (up 6.6%) while China fell to third after a 40.4% decline; Taiwan and Vietnam surged 60.6% and 47.8% respectively, with Vietnam overtaking China in furniture imports and ocean volume from China down 18%.
| THE TAKE — China’s import share collapsing while Taiwan and Vietnam both post 50%-plus gains confirms sourcing diversification has become permanent rather than a tariff-driven blip — shippers still concentrated in Chinese ocean lanes should treat this shift as the new baseline for capacity and rate planning, not a temporary rebalancing that reverses once trade tensions ease. |
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RETAIL · SUPPLY CHAIN
Wegmans plans a new refrigerated distribution center in Rochester, New York for perishables and will consolidate general merchandise operations at its Pottsville, Pennsylvania warehouse by spring 2027, relocating its Rochester return center in the process; the grocer says the moves will cut reliance on third-party logistics providers and won’t result in layoffs.
| THE TAKE — Consolidating general merchandise into one upgraded facility while building fresh dedicated cold-chain capacity separately shows Wegmans treating perishables and dry goods as two distinct logistics problems rather than one network — regional grocers watching this rollout should note that in-housing more of the supply chain, not just adding capacity, is the actual strategy here. |
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| Get a behind-the-scenes look at one of North America’s leading trade gateways. This short video shows how the Northwest Seaport Alliance is creating opportunities, moving cargo, and keeping supply chains connected: Watch the video. |
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OCT 27–28, 2026 · THE SIGNAL, CHATTANOOGA · CHATTANOOGA, TN
FreightWaves’ flagship event blends rapid-fire tech demos and world-class speakers with the most legendary networking in logistics. Join 1,000+ freight and logistics experts, industry leaders, entrepreneurs and innovators for a definitive look at the year ahead. Come for the insights, stay for the celebration and leave with the connections that will define your 2027.
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American Shipper · The Daily — published weekdays
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