Asia demand buoys results
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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 |
FRI · AUG 14 · 2026 |
5 stories |
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Port Houston is investing in infrastructure like expanding the Houston Ship Channel to support larger ships and more efficient flow of cargo. Choose Port Houston for your cargo needs.
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OCEAN · EARNINGS
BY STUART CHIRLS · AMERICAN SHIPPER · AUG 13, 2026
A.P. Moller-Maersk hiked its full-year guidance for the second time this year after a stronger-than-expected second quarter, with revenue up 20% year over year to $15.8 billion as ocean rates climbed 22% and vessel utilization hit 96%.
| THE TAKE — Maersk says Strait of Hormuz disruptions pushed Gulf-bound cargo onto alternative ports and inland routes — shippers relying on Gulf gateways should keep contingency routings current, since carriers are now pricing and planning around that rerouting as the new normal rather than a one-off. |
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AIR · CARGO
FedEx marked the one-year anniversary of founder Fred Smith’s death by renaming Memphis’s airport in his honor and flying in a Boeing 777 freighter repainted in the company’s original 1973 purple and red-orange livery.
| THE TAKE — The tribute is symbolic, but the underlying network stats are the real signal for shippers: FedEx says it’s still moving more than 18 million packages a day globally, with over 2.4 million sorted daily through the Memphis hub Smith built from a 14-jet startup. |
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OCEAN · PORTS
The Port of Long Beach logged its second-busiest July ever at 928,508 TEUs, as a 14.8% jump in exports and a steep drop in empty container moves offset a slight decline in loaded imports.
| THE TAKE — Export growth outpacing imports at a major gateway is worth tracking — combined with Maersk’s guidance raise and NRF’s upgraded import forecast, it points to peak season running hotter and longer than shippers may have budgeted for. |
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RAIL · M&A
Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern enlisted four former federal antitrust officials to rebut a letter from seven Republican state attorneys general opposing their merger, arguing the AGs’ competition concerns are speculative rather than evidence-based.
| THE TAKE — With dueling expert briefs now stacking up at the STB, shippers should expect the merger timeline to stretch further — Chairman Patrick Fuchs still has to weigh both sets of claims before any decision on rate and service commitments takes effect. |
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TRADE · LOGISTICS CRIME
A former Williams-Sonoma vice president pleaded guilty to steering warehouse equipment and real estate business to favored vendors in exchange for more than $16 million in kickbacks routed through a shell company over roughly four years.
| THE TAKE — Shippers should treat this as a reminder to audit how warehouse equipment and real estate vendors are selected internally — concentrated purchasing authority with no second sign-off is exactly the gap this scheme exploited for years before it surfaced. |
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OCT 27–28, 2026 · THE SIGNAL AT CHATTANOOGA CHOO CHOO · CHATTANOOGA, TN
FreightWaves’ flagship event blends the latest FreightTech with rapid-fire demos and world-class speakers, plus a Buy One, Get One registration special for anyone who signs up by August 24.
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American Shipper · The Daily — published weekdays
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