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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 |
Thursday, October 22 |
4 stories |
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The Northwest Seaport Alliance connects Pacific Northwest shippers to Asia with some of the shortest transit times on the West Coast, backed by deep-water berths and on-dock rail at both Seattle and Tacoma.
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Fulfillment
BY ERIC KULISCH · AMERICAN SHIPPER · OCTOBER 21, 2026
Stord acquired AMS Fulfillment, which handles online orders for more than 150 beauty, wellness and direct-to-consumer brands, in what it calls the largest deal in its 11-year history.
| THE TAKE — The "nine figures" price and 10 added warehouses covering nearly 1.3 million square feet show how consolidation is becoming the route to scale for direct-to-consumer logistics providers up against large marketplaces. It’s Stord’s 11th acquisition and follows a $400 million credit facility earlier this month, so the buying spree is well funded. The harder part is integrating a long string of acquired networks and systems into one platform as peak season arrives. |
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Ocean
CMB.Tech’s Mineral Europa, a 210,000-dwt Newcastlemax chartered to Fortescue, finished sea trials and departed China for Australia after bunkering 1,000 metric tons of green ammonia.
| THE TAKE — A real ship-to-ship ammonia bunkering and a maiden voyage move ammonia fuel from pilot talk to operations, and CMB.Tech has 21 ammonia-powered vessels planned through 2029. The cost gap remains the hurdle, though: DNV puts newbuild premiums at 15%–20% and European green ammonia at roughly five times the energy cost of diesel. |
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Rail
Ontario Midland Railroad will use a CRISI grant to rehabilitate about 10 miles of track in Wayne County, replacing rail, resurfacing grade crossings and renewing turnouts.
| THE TAKE — The grant is part of $20.8 million in CRISI funding for two upstate New York short lines, a reminder that federal money is still flowing to small-railroad infrastructure that serves agriculture and manufacturing. For a carrier that interchanges with CSX at Newark, replacing aging rail and crossties is about keeping local service reliable, and the senators’ argument that it reduces truck traffic is the policy rationale to watch. |
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Rail
Intramotev will deploy two autonomous TugVolt railcars on Missouri’s Columbia Terminal Railroad, backed by a $16.2 million CRISI grant awarded to the City of Columbia.
| THE TAKE — The phased approach, from remote switching at the terminal to autonomous service on the full 21.4-mile mainline including public crossings, is aimed at building a safety record that FRA and the 600-plus U.S. short lines can use as a template. That record matters more than the technology itself, since regulatory comfort is the real gate to scaling autonomy beyond pilots. No timeline for full-line service was given. |
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This week on American Shipper TV: how fulfillment consolidation is reshaping e-commerce logistics, and what federal rail grants mean for short lines heading into 2027. Watch the full segment →
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OCT 27–28, 2026 · THE SIGNAL, 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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