Supply Chain Intelligence Brief

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TRUCKING

Dynamic Pricing Momentum on the Upswing in LTL, 3PL Segments

Transport Topics Keiron Greenhalgh October 8, 2025

Dynamic pricing is not new to the trucking industry, but momentum is growing and may be at a tipping point in the less-than-truckload and third-party logistics segments, Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals’ CSCMP Edge 2025 conference attendees heard Oct. 6.

Brian Thompson, chief commercial officer at LTL pricing specialist SMC3, said he began using dynamic pricing as early as 2013. At the time, Thompson was vice president of pricing at YRC Worldwide.

Transport companies are working closely with shippers on LTL overhaul

Trucking Dive Alejandra Carranza October 8, 2025

“We did a lot of work to identify shippers that were going to be affected by this,” Marty Martin, SVP of LTL at Echo Global Logistics, said at the conference.

In the case of Echo Global, the Chicago-headquartered 3PL launched an email campaign to reach out to shippers on not only how the NMFC changes were going to impact them but “what type of changes they were going to have to make to their shipping behaviors as a result of these upcoming changes,” Martin said.

Kodiak AI, now a public company, looks to deliver an autonomous trucking future

Freight Waves Thomas Wasson October 8, 2025

While Kodiak continues to develop its long-haul highway capabilities, targeting driverless highway operations in the second half of 2026, the company sees substantial opportunities in other sectors. The company has added more than 3,000 miles to its highway commercial network in the past six months and moves freight for companies including J.B. Hunt and Werner Enterprises.

SHIPPERS / 3PLs

3PL Customers Confident About Adapting to Tariffs

Transport Topics Keiron Greenhalgh October 8, 2025

Looking longer term, more shippers seem to be willing to take a wait-and-see approach, with 30% saying they have no long-term tariff strategies in place. An equal number (30%) plan to re-evaluate their product portfolio, while 25% see re-establishing their manufacturing base as key, and 20% plan to manufacture domestically. The lowest-ranked answer at 5% of respondents was postponing final assembly.

INDUSTRY

U.S. imports seen well below average for rest of 2025

Freight Waves Stuart Chirls October 8, 2025

“This year’s peak season has come and gone, largely due to retailers frontloading imports ahead of reciprocal tariffs taking effect,” NRF Vice President for Supply Chain and Customs Policy Jonathan Gold said in a release. “New sectoral tariffs continue to be announced, but most retailers are well-stocked for the holiday season and doing as much as they can to shield their customers from the costs of tariffs for as long as they can.”

Link: National Retail Federation Monthly Imports Expected to Drop Below 2 Million TEU as Tariffs Continue to Rise

Tariff uncertainty to keep lid on US import growth until spring: retailers

Journal of Commerce Laura Robb October 8, 2025 $Subscription Based

Monthly US containerized imports will slide below 2 million TEUs and be at a year-over-year deficit at least through February due to an early peak season driven by tariff frontloading and as importers contend with new tariffs yet to come, a major retail group said Wednesday.

Related: Logistics Management Expected U.S.-bound import declines remain intact, notes Port Tracker report

Broker liability in the spotlight in ‘Montgomery v Caribe Transport’

Journal of Commerce Matthew Leffler October 8, 2025 $Subscription Based

The case of Montgomery v Caribe Transport II, LLC holds significant implications for the transportation and logistics industry, particularly for large shippers and manufacturers. The US Supreme Court on Oct. 3 granted certiorari — meaning it has agreed to hear the case — for the first time on the issue of broker liability.

TECHNOLOGY

The AI Application Spending Report: Where Startup Dollars Really Go

Andreessen Horowitz Olivia Moore et al. October 2025

But what does this next generation of software look like? We worked with Mercury, the fintech ambitious companies use for banking, credit cards, and all their financial workflows, to collect and analyze spend across their database of over 200,000 customers, looking at patterns over the last three months (June – August 2025). We then identified the top 50 AI-native application layer companies – similar to our Top 100 Gen AI Consumer Apps, but built around spend data versus web traffic data.

SUSTAINABILITY / SAFETY / SECURITY

Cargo theft costs trucking $18 million per day, most loads never recovered

CCJ Jason Cannon October 8, 2025

Research conducted by the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) and released Wednesday found that motor carriers average more than $520,000 in annual theft losses and Logistics Service Providers (LSPs) average more than $1.84 million.

Link: American Transportation Research Institute New ATRI Research Confirms the High Costs of Cargo Theft to Industry

Keeping track of California’s climate disclosure laws as 2026 deadlines loom

ESG Dive Zoya Mirza and Lamar Johnson October 8, 2025

Over 3,100 companies are subject to the state’s climate disclosure laws, according to a preliminary list published by the California Air Resources Board last month, with some expected to report beginning in 2026.

Link: California Air Resources Board Preliminary List of Reporting/Covered Entities

IEA cuts estimate of U.S. renewables capacity growth by about 50%

Supply Chain Dive Diana DiGangi October 8, 2025

Globally, the International Energy Agency forecasts renewable power capacity will double by 2030, increasing by 4,600 GW – but the group revised down its estimates for U.S. deployments in that period by almost 50% from last year’s estimates, according to a Tuesday report.

Link: International Energy Agency Renewables 2025

High-on-pot drivers are contributing to more highway accident deaths

The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board October 8, 2025 $Subscription Based

How much social and public-health damage will Americans suffer before doing a U-turn on marijuana promotion? A new study finds that more than 40% of drivers who died in car accidents in one U.S. county over the last six years had elevated levels of the drug in their blood.

BUSINESS AND THE ECONOMY

The Unofficial Jobs Numbers Are In and It’s Rough Out There

The Wall Street Journal Konrad Putzier October 8, 2025 $Subscription Based

A host of alternative jobs data from Wall Street are pointing in the same direction: The U.S. labor market is losing steam.

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