Supply Chain Intelligence Brief

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TRUCKING

Cass TL Linehaul Index extends positive run

Freight Waves Todd Maiden December 16, 2025

Shipment counts were off again in November but higher rates kept total freight spend largely in line with year-ago levels, according to monthly data from Cass Information Systems.

Link: Cass Transportation Index Report November 2025

Plummeting truck orders could flip the freight market by 2027, FTR says

CCJ Pamella De Leon December 16, 2025

If disruptions to labor and equipment intensify, Vise pointed out, “This could produce some real issues in terms of the upside of the market, which, of course, carriers would welcome, but shippers would not.”

Truck transportation jobs last month were the lowest in years: BLS

Freight Waves John Kingston December 16, 2025

The number of people working in the segment that the Bureau of Labor Standards calls truck transportation was at its lowest level in November since the first post-pandemic months.

SHIPPERS / 3PLs

ISM forecast sees a manufacturing rebound in 2026 as services maintain steady expansion

Logistics Management Jeff Berman December 16, 2025

For manufacturing, ISM reported that manufacturing revenue is expected to rise 2.5% in 2025, outpacing a 1.3% growth estimate from its previous report in May, with a 4.4% increase in 2026, supported by 56% of respondents expecting higher 2026 revenues.

Link: Institute For Supply Management Economic Improvement To Continue In 2026

INDUSTRY

National diesel average falls for the fourth straight week, reports EIA

Logistics Management December 16, 2025

The national average price per gallon of diesel gasoline fell for the fourth straight week, according to data issued today by the Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration (EIA).

Links: U.S. Energy Information Administration  Gasoline and Diesel Fuel Update  and Weekly U.S. No 2 Diesel Ultra Low Sulfur (0-15 ppm) Retail Prices (Chart)

Is Union Pacific’s Proposed Merger the Best Way to Speed Up Deliveries?

The Wall Street Journal Esther Fung December 16, 2025 $Subscription Based

Today, no single railroad controls tracks from the West Coast to the East Coast, so carriers rely on each other to complete cross-country cargo deliveries. Freight trains loaded with goods from the Western U.S. typically have to stop at a rail yard in Chicago or another city along the Mississippi River and transfer their railcars to a different carrier for the remaining journey east.

PwC report indicates transportation and logistics dealmaking activity is focused on strategy, not scale

Logistics Management Jeff Berman December 16, 2025

The report observed that T&L dealmaking activity gained renewed traction over the second half of this year, with buyers prioritizing strategic alignment over scale.

Link: PWC US Deals 2026 outlook Transportation and logistics

Carriers look to higher rates, fewer sailings on key Asia-US route

Freight Waves Stuart Chirls December 16, 2025

“Last week West Coast rates retreated 6% from a start of the month GRI bump, to $1,963 per FEU (forty foot equivalent unit),” said Freightos Head of Research Judah Levine, in a note to clients. “Prices to the East Coast increased 8% to $3,150 per FEU this week, but are down 15% from a month ago.

TECHNOLOGY

5 CIO predictions for AI in 2026

CIO Dive Lindsey Wilkinson December 16, 2025

2. AI-driven productivity gains for software engineers will open new doors

Enterprises expect to reach significant productivity gains in the year ahead as strategies and use cases mature. Some leaders predict these uplifts will open the door and fuel more in-house projects.

Match Your AI Strategy to Your Organization’s Reality

HBR Cyril Bouquet et al. December 2025 $Subscription Based

Artificial intelligence is often hailed as a game changer, but too many firms discover that their bold AI pilots collapse when their operating models can’t support them. In this article the authors argue that AI success depends less on the algorithms than on the fit between a company’s ambitions and its organizational reality.

Rewire Organizational Knowledge With GenAI

MIT Sloan Management Review Tomoko Yokoi and Michael Wade December 16, 2025 $Subscription Based

What do the companies making tangible progress with generative AI, well beyond the experimentation phase, have in common? They use GenAI to unlock and connect knowledge across the enterprise, according to IMD research. Unlike the knowledge management systems of old, GenAI tools can embed knowledge inside everyday workflows to improve speed and collaboration. Learn how to do the same, through real-world examples.

SUSTAINABILITY / SAFETY / SECURITY

EU to Expand CBAM Carbon Import Tax to Downstream Products to Avoid Production Shift to Countries with Weaker Climate Policies

ESG Today Mark Segal December 17, 2025

The European Commission announced the release of a series of proposed changes to the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), the EU’s carbon tax on imported goods, including expanding the scope of the CBAM to some downstream products, in order to avoid a shift in production away from EU manufacturers to those in countries with weaker climate policies.

New bipartisan caucus targets trucking reform

Freight Waves John Gallagher December 16, 2025

Taylor and co-chairs Harriet Hageman, R-Wyo., Pat Harrigan, R-N.C., Doug LaMalfa, R-Calif., Mary Miller, R-Ill., and Shomari Figures, D-Ala., plan to leverage the caucus as a policy engine to tackle issues such as commercial driver’s license (CDL) integrity, aging infrastructure, and to break through regulatory red tape affecting 8.4 million jobs in and related to trucking.  

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