Supply Chain Intelligence Brief

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TRUCKING

FedEx Freight spinoff on track for June 2026

Freight Waves Todd Maiden September 18, 2025

The nation’s largest less-than-truckload carrier, FedEx Freight, is on track to become a standalone public company by June of next year. Parent company FedEx said Thursday it plans to spend $600 million enhancing IT infrastructure and systems ahead of the spinoff.

Links: FedEx Fiscal First Quarter 2026 Earnings Presentation w/FedEx Freight Data and Financial and Operating Statistics w/FedEx Freight Data p. 17

FedEx to Lean on Domestic Shipping as Tariffs Slow China Volume

The Wall Street Journal Katherine Hamilton September 18, 2025 $Subscription Based

U.S. domestic shipping buoyed first-quarter revenue and volumes, as well. Average daily volume in the U.S. increased 5%, while international volume fell 3%.

FedEx Restores Profit Forecast Despite Tariff Turmoil

Transport Topics/Bloomberg News Cailley LaPara September 18, 2025

FedEx Corp. reinstated its full-year profit outlook, a sign that the company is gaining some clarity on the future of its business even while the pressure from tariffs is far from over.

State of Freight takeaways: volumes are weak to stable but silver linings on the horizon

Freight Waves John Kingston September 18, 2025

Coming a few weeks after an earnings season that saw a lot of trucking companies struggling (or even failing) to turn a profit, and an interim update from LTL carriers that was decidedly weak, the FreightWaves September State of Freight webinar spent much of the time parsing through various data points of a market firmly in year three of a freight recession.

Bot Auto tractor-trailer tests 40-mile route without person onboard

Trucking Dive David Taube September 18, 2025

The tractor-trailer operated at dusk and during the nighttime on the route, per video footage, adhering to traffic signs in urban areas, merging onto highways and waiting for oncoming traffic before turning left.

SHIPPERS / 3PLs

Independent sellers move 5 billion products annually through Amazon’s network of global logistics, domestic freight, and bulk warehousing

About Amazon Blog Dharmesh Mehta September 18, 2025

We’re excited to share that we now support more than 600,000 sellers worldwide in moving over 5 billion items annually through Amazon’s network of global logistics, domestic freight, and bulk warehousing. That number is more than a milestone—it’s proof that when we provide sellers with fast and reliable services at a great value, we can positively transform their supply chain, expand their reach, and help sellers flourish.

Amazon taps agentic AI to help sellers manage inventory, shipments

Retail Dive Tatiana Walk-Morris September 18, 2025

The enhanced Seller Assistant can monitor merchant inventory levels, analyze demand patterns, optimize shipments, identify slow-moving products before they incur storage fees and suggest price markdowns. It also helps sellers manage issues like product safety regulations, customer service metrics and compliance.

INDUSTRY

Tariffs and regulatory uncertainty are driving up truck and trailer costs

CCJ Pamella De Leon September 19, 2025

Tariffs are projected to significantly add to the cost of trucks and trailers. Dan Moyer, commercial vehicles senior analyst at FTR, estimated that the total impact will be 15-24% on Class 8 trucks, 16-18% on dry van and reefer trailers, and 17-30% on other heavy-duty trailers, including flatbeds.

POLA and POLB volumes remain strong in August

Logistics Management Jeff Berman September 18, 2025

As for the remainder of 2025, Seroka said that the highest Peak Season volumes have already occurred and estimated that September would come in at around 850,000 TEU, which would mark a 10% annual decline.

Survey: 96% of shippers using Gen AI in transportation management

DC Velocity September 18, 2025

In a survey of 616 shippers and logistics service providers (LSPs) in North America and Europe, 96% of respondents said that they were using generative artificial intelligence (AI) for transportation management. The survey was conducted in July 2025 by software provider Descartes Systems Group and SAPIO Research as part of the “Ninth Annual Global Transportation Benchmark Survey.”

Link: Descartes 2025 Transportation Management Benchmark Survey

Amazon Spends $1 Billion to Increase Pay for US Workers

Transport Topics/Associated Press Anne D’Innocenzio September 18, 2025

The Seattle-based company said Sept. 17 the average pay is increasing to more than $23 per hour. Some of its most tenured employees will see an increase between $1.10 and $1.90 per hour. Full-time employees, on average, will see their pay increase by $1,600 per year.

TECHNOLOGY

IT outages cost businesses $76M annually

CIO Dive Makenzie Holland September 18, 2025

Every minute an IT outage causes an operational shutdown costs businesses a median of $33,333, according to a study published Wednesday by New Relic, makers of a tech stack observability platform. New Relic, which polled 1,700 IT and engineering executives, said outages cost businesses a median of $76 million annually.

On the clock: Agentic AI in the workplace

Bank of America Institute Lynelle Huskey September 18, 2025

While enterprise adoption of agentic AI remains in very early stages, momentum is building. By the end of 2025, International

Data Corporation predicts half of all organizations will use enterprise agents tailored to specific business functions

Satya Nadella is haunted at the prospect of Microsoft not surviving the AI era

The Verge Tom Warren September 18, 2025

Microsoft still generates around one-fifth of its annual revenue from productivity software, but Nadella said that “some of the margin that we love today might not be there tomorrow.” It’s a stark warning to Microsoft employees that a platform shift is underway, and one that is already causing big changes inside Microsoft.

AI Assistants Are Curing the Monday Blues by Boosting Productivity. Here’s How

Inc. Bruce Crumley September 17, 2025

Now new data indicates that apps assisting employees with their jobs are also considerably altering workflows and even the structuring of the workweek, while improving staff attitudes in the process.

Link: Read AI New Research: How AI Adopters are Rewriting Workplace Patterns

SUSTAINABILITY / SAFETY / SECURITY

EV Realty secures $75 million investment from NGP for charging expansion

Freight Waves Thomas Wasson September 18, 2025

EV Realty announced Thursday it has secured $75 million in growth equity from private equity investor NGP to scale its portfolio of commercial fleet charging hubs. The company also broke ground on its first large-scale project in San Bernardino, Calif., featuring 76 DC fast-charging stalls with 9.9 MW of grid capacity that can serve more than 200 Class 8 trucks daily.

Shipping experts warn of ‘disaster’ if IMO’s net-zero framework voted down

Journal of Commerce Carly Fields and Greg Knowler September 17, 2025 $Subscription Based

The warning follows Washington’s increasingly aggressive attempts to derail next month’s adoption of the proposed net-zero framework at a pivotal meeting of the IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) in London from Oct. 14-17. US officials earlier this month threatened IMO members supporting the framework with tariffs, port duties and even visa restrictions.

Google inks deal to remove carbon dioxide, measure waste-generated methane emissions

ESG Dive Lamar Johnson September 17, 2025

The tech company will team with bio-waste removal startup Vaulted Deep to remove 50,000 tonnes of CO2 and work with carbon registry Isometric on standards to measure averted methane emissions.

Solar-Powered Cars and Trucks Are Almost Here

The Wall Street Journal Christopher Mimms September 18, 2025 $Subscription Based

New, power-sipping EVs due next year are efficient enough to gain 10 to 40 miles of daily charge from the sun alone.

FMCSA outlines HOS exemption pilots to test driver flexibility

Fleet Owner Jeremy Wolfe September 18, 2025

FMCSA is developing two pilot programs to test increased HOS flexibility for truck drivers: driving time pauses and sleeper berth split options.

Drivers will be monitored via smartphones, smartwatches, telematics, and surveys.

Link: FMCSA Press Release Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy Launches New Initiatives to Improve Trucker’s Quality of Life on the Road

BUSINESS AND THE ECONOMY

The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for the US Declines in August

The Conference Board September 18, 2025

“Besides persistently weak manufacturing new orders and consumer expectation indicators, labor market developments also weighed on the Index with an increase in unemployment claims and a decline in average weekly hours in manufacturing. Overall, the LEI suggests that economic activity will continue to slow. A major driver of this slowdown has been higher tariffs, which already trimmed growth in H1 2025 and will continue to be a drag on GDP growth in the second half of this year and in H1 2026.

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