Supply Chain Intelligence Brief

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TRUCKING

US truckload rates jump on poor weather, shorter holiday shopping season

Journal of Commerce Ari Ashe December 10, 2025 $Subscription Based

US truckload spot rates have surged in recent days as cold weather, snowstorms and a compressed holiday shopping season tighten capacity ahead of Christmas, analysts say.

Spot rates on the 50 largest US lanes rose 4% on average during the first week of December, according to DAT Freight & Analytics.

Industry Reacts to English-Language Enforcement Crackdown

Transport Topics/Bloomberg News December 10, 2025

The trucking industry is now preparing for a sharp drop in the number of drivers. Shelley Simpson, CEO of freight shipping company J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc., said at a recent conference that she’s expecting as many as 400,000 drivers — about 11% of the supply — to leave the business over the next few years because of enforcement actions, a number she has called “meaningful.”

Trump admin touts pulling nearly 10,000 truckers off road for failing English tests

CNBC Kevin Breuninger December 10, 2025

The Trump administration said Wednesday that it has pulled nearly 10,000 commercial truck drivers off U.S. roadways for failing to speak English sufficiently.

SHIPPERS / 3PLs

Home Depot Issues Cautious 2026 Outlook

Transport Topics/Bloomberg News Jaewon Kang December 10, 2025

Home Depot Inc. is offering cautious preliminary guidance for next year, a sign that the home-improvement retailer doesn’t anticipate the housing market to rebound in the short term.

Link: Home Depot 2025 Investor Presentation

IKEA Shifts More Manufacturing to U.S. as Tariffs Raise Costs

Supply Chain 24/7 December 9, 2025

By making more products in the U.S., IKEA also expects to cut long-haul shipping costs and shorten delivery times, two issues that have become more challenging since the pandemic. The company believes the move will help reduce out-of-stocks and improve overall service for customers.

Walmart launches drone delivery in metro Atlanta

Supply Chain Dive Kelly Stroh December 10, 2025

Walmart’s metro Atlanta launch is part of its larger drone delivery expansion outlined in June. At the time, the retail giant said it would expand its drone program with Wing over the next year to five new cities, including Atlanta, Houston; Charlotte, North Carolina; and Florida cities Orlando and Tampa.

November extends $10B online grocery sales streak to five months

Digital Commerce 360 Abbas Haleem December 10, 2025

November online grocery sales spiked, marking the second time that such sales topped $12 billion, according to data from Brick Meets Click and Mercatus.

Deere targets big sales goals

Manufacturing Dive Nathan Owens December 10, 2025

Deere is targeting a 10% annual sales growth rate over the next five years as the company looks to be more technology-focused, SVP and CFO Josh Jepsen said at the company’s investor day event Monday.

INDUSTRY

Reliance on contracts results in unused truckload, ocean capacity: study

Journal of Commerce Eric Johnson December 10, 2025 $Subscription Based

The study, conducted this fall by Angi Acocella, a freight lab researcher at MIT’s Center for Transportation and Logistics, found that while most shippers commit at least 90% of their forecast truckload volume to contracts, as much as 70% of that contracted capacity goes unused.

Link: Freightos Strategic Freight Procurement in Chaos: MIT Research Reveals Why 70% of Contracted Lanes Fail

Transfix targets ‘unbundled’ chaos of truckload brokerage with TMS product

Journal of Commerce Eric Johnson December 10, 2025 $Subscription Based

Former truckload broker turned software vendor Transfix on Wednesday released a transportation management system (TMS) product designed specifically to help freight brokers wean themselves off third-party applications for processes such as scheduling and payment processing.

Link: Transfix Press Release Transfix Launches Its Flagship TMS, Ushering in the Next Era of Connected Freight Technology

Reshoring and AI Power the 2026 US Supply Chains

Supply Chain Digital Louise Collins December 11, 2025

Deloitte has released its 2026 Manufacturing Industry Outlook, identifying five trends which will impact the sector’s operations in the upcoming year.

Link: Deloitte 2026 Manufacturing Industry Outlook

IEA Forecasts Smaller Oil Surplus as OPEC+ Output Declines

The Wall Street Journal Giulia Petroni December 11, 2025 $Subscription Based

The oil market’s projected surplus has narrowed due to lower OPEC+ production, but a large supply overhang continues to cloud the outlook, the International Energy Agency said in its closely watched monthly report.

Link: IEA Oil Market Report – December 2025

DOT advisors push massive freight tunnel, truck-parking projects

Freight Waves John Gallagher December 10, 2025

Fixing America’s truck parking problem was also brought up at the meeting, and to help fix it, the board recommended DOT take the lead in sponsoring 1,000 DOT-certified truck parking facilities over the next three years to create 40,000 new truck parking spaces that would meet minimum standards of safety, quality, and amenities.

TECHNOLOGY

Microsoft says its Copilot AI tool is a ‘vital companion’ in new analysis of 37.5M conversations

GeekWire Taylor Soper December 10, 2025

In a new preprint titled “It’s About Time: The Copilot Usage Report 2025,” Microsoft AI researchers analyzed 37.5 million de-identified Copilot conversations between January and September of this year. Enterprise and school accounts were excluded, and machine classifiers labeled each chat by topic and “intent,” such as searching for information, getting advice, or creating content.

Link: Microsoft AI It’s About Time: The Copilot Usage Report 2025

SUSTAINABILITY / SAFETY / SECURITY

CARB releases draft text for California’s climate disclosure regulations

ESG Dive Lamar Johnson December 10, 2025

The California Air Resources Board on Tuesday proposed regulatory text for the state’s two climate disclosure laws, Senate Bills 253 and 261, and set a hearing on their final approval in late February.

Link: California Air Resources Board California Climate Disclosures

DHL Supply Chain deploys first Tesla Semi in net zero carbon push

Freight Waves Thomas Wasson December 10, 2025

DHL Supply Chain recently announced the delivery of its first all-electric Tesla Semi.

This is part of a larger commitment by the less-than-truckload carrier to reduce its CO2 emissions to 29 million metric tons in 2030. By 2050, DHL hopes to take its carbon footprint to net zero.

Nearly 200 groups urge Congress to approve clean fuel tax credits for fleet operators

Clean Trucking Jay Traugott December 10, 2025

The AFTC expired on December 31, 2024. The credit, worth 50 cents per gallon for Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) motor fuel, has been in place since 2005 and has a strong track record, helping public and private fleets invest as they shift to cleaner, U.S.-produced gaseous fuels.

Link: The Transport Project Alternative Fuel Tax Credit

Holding steady on sustainability

DC Velocity Diane Rand December 10, 2025

Despite global policy uncertainty, companies worldwide are holding steady on their sustainability goals. According to this year’s “State of Supply Chain Sustainability Report”—produced by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sustainable Supply Chain Lab and the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals—73% of the more than 1,200 respondents have not changed their sustainability goals in the past year, while 12% have increased their commitment to sustainability efforts.

Link: MIT Sustainable Supply Chain Lab The 2025 State of Supply Chain Sustainability