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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 |
WED · SEP 23 · 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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INLAND WATERWAYS · EUROPE
BY ERIC KULISCH · AMERICAN SHIPPER · SEP 22, 2026
Drought has pushed Rhine River water levels to 16 centimeters below the low-water threshold, cutting navigable depth to about 4.25 feet and nearly halting barge traffic through Switzerland and southern Germany, with only 20% capacity possible on the upper and middle river; shippers are scrambling for truck capacity (up to a two-week wait) and rail slots (up to six weeks), while a Global Shippers Association official calls the disruption unprecedented.
| THE TAKE — A six-week wait for intermodal rail capacity means shippers who haven’t already diverted Rhine-dependent freight are choosing between demurrage now or a six-week routing delay later — European logistics teams should treat this as a multi-month planning problem, not a short-term reroute, given how much rainfall it would take to reverse. |
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OCEAN · RELIABILITY
Only 29% of container vessels arrived on schedule in August, down from 33% in July, with the Far East-Europe route collapsing to 6% on-time performance and 8.2-day average delays as Red Sea rerouting, North European port congestion and four typhoons that stranded 1.1 million TEUs in China all hit at once; Maersk led the major carriers at 51% on-time despite a 6-point drop, while Cosco fell to 22%.
| THE TAKE — Ten of twelve major carriers losing reliability in the same month points to a system-wide capacity squeeze, not one carrier’s operational problem — shippers on Far East-Europe lanes should build extra transit-time buffer into Q4 planning now, especially with China’s Golden Week holiday about to compound the congestion. |
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RAIL · INFRASTRUCTURE
The Alabama Port Authority is building a $100 million, 272-acre inland rail terminal in Montgomery that will move 60,000 container units a year via daily CSX express rail service from the Port of Mobile, adding over 25,000 feet of track and two Konecranes rubber-tired gantry cranes ahead of an early 2027 opening.
| THE TAKE — Running daily express rail rather than relying on truck drayage from Mobile signals Alabama is betting inland manufacturers will choose rail reliability over trucking flexibility — shippers in central Alabama should start evaluating whether shifting import/export volume to this terminal beats their current drayage costs once it opens in 2027. |
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RAIL · M&A
The Surface Transportation Board rejected motions from BNSF, CSX and a shipper coalition seeking to immediately dismiss the proposed Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern merger application, ruling that further evidence would aid its review rather than granting summary denial; opening comments are now due Nov. 18, with UP calling the ruling a rejection of opponents’ attempt to avoid review and BNSF maintaining the application still lacks transparency.
| THE TAKE — Declining to summarily kill the merger this early doesn’t say anything about how the STB will ultimately rule, but it does confirm the case will be decided on a full evidentiary record rather than a procedural shortcut — shippers should expect the real fight over trackage rights and competitive conditions to play out in the November comment round, not before. |
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LABOR · LAST MILE
Fifty-five drivers at Dallas-area DHL Express subcontractors DeliverOL and Driven-Force voted unanimously to join Teamsters Local 745, following a spring agreement between DHL Express and the Teamsters that delivered a 20% wage increase and stronger benefits for the carrier’s own unionized workers; the union alleges both subcontractors resisted the organizing drive and says it now plans to pursue first contracts at both companies.
| THE TAKE — Organizing the subcontractors DHL uses to run its own-branded routes, not just DHL’s direct employees, shows the Teamsters are targeting the wage gap between contracted and in-house drivers doing identical work — carriers leaning on subcontracted last-mile fleets under a recognizable brand should expect similar organizing pressure wherever that pay gap is visible to the drivers wearing the uniform. |
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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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