FreightWaves Today

FreightWaves

FreightWaves NOW is your daily source for the most impactful news in logistics. We break down the complex world of freight—covering trucking, rail, air, and ocean markets—to bring you actionable insights. Whether you are a carrier, shipper, or broker, we provide the data-driven context you need to navigate a volatile market.

  1. 16 hr ago

    FreightWaves Today | July 13

    Welcome to another Monday edition of FreightWaves Today! Hosts Craig Fuller and Julie Van de Kamp are back in the studio to break down a massive week for the logistics and transportation sectors. As the market continues its recovery, we tackle the latest geopolitical escalations impacting global shipping routes, preview the start of Q2 earnings season with JB Hunt, and look at how artificial intelligence is transforming truck financing and historical transactional standards like EDI. Featured guests: Tobias Waldeck – Chief Revenue Officer at Daimler Truck Financial Services. Tobias gives his perspective on exiting the longest freight recession on record, normalizing truck replacement cycles, and the booming flatbed activity driven by AI data center infrastructure. Kevin Bangston – CEO of Daimler Truck Finance. Kevin discusses the shifting ecosystem of captive truck financing, navigating final EPA emissions rulings, and utilizing AI for administrative relief and analytic predictability. Mark Vitner – Chief Economist at Piedmont Crescent Capital. Mark shares insights on the strengthening manufacturing sector, GDP growth forecasts for the second half of the year, inventory replenishment cycles, and the unique challenges facing the current housing market. Christopher Versace – Chief Investment Officer & Thematic Strategist at Tematic Research. Christopher analyzes logistics stocks, hyperscaler CapEx spends, chip demand, and why structural shifts in heavy truck orders keep him bullish heading into the Q2 earnings cycle. Erik Kiser – CEO & Founder of Orderful Technologies. Fresh off a $35 million funding round with Koch Disruptive Technologies, Eric highlights how Orderful is utilizing AI models to completely disrupt and automate traditional EDI onboarding experiences. Follow the FreightWaves Today Podcast Other FreightWaves Shows Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    2hr 1min
  2. Iran Attacks Ship in Hormuz, Toyota's $3.6B Texas Bet, & Q2 Trucking Earnings Rise | The Morning Minute

    23 hr ago

    Iran Attacks Ship in Hormuz, Toyota's $3.6B Texas Bet, & Q2 Trucking Earnings Rise | The Morning Minute

    In this episode, we kick things off with a major escalation in the Middle East that's sending shockwaves through global energy markets and ocean shipping. Iran on Saturday attacked a feeder container ship transiting the Strait of Hormuz, setting the seven-thousand-TEU GFS Galaxy ablaze and forcing the crew to abandon ship. Iran over the weekend declared the strait closed to vessel traffic and expanded missile and drone attacks across the region, pushing Brent crude up about twelve percent, European natural gas up nearly seventy percent, and U.S. gasoline futures up roughly ten percent since late last week. Next, we explore the automotive sector where Toyota is making a massive three-point-six-billion-dollar bet on Texas manufacturing with a stunning expansion in San Antonio. The Japanese automaker is shifting production of its popular Tacoma pickup from Baja California, Mexico, to San Antonio as part of an investment that will double the size of its Texas manufacturing campus and create two thousand new jobs over the next four years. Finally, we break down how Wall Street is raising the bar for trucking carriers heading into second-quarter earnings season. Deutsche Bank analyst Richa Harnain is forecasting mainly beats across her transportation coverage, with less-than-truckload carriers leading the charge. She expects median earnings-per-share growth of fifteen percent year-over-year for the second quarter and twenty-one percent for the third quarter, marking a meaningful improvement from the three percent increase the group recorded in the first quarter. Follow the FreightWaves Today Podcast Other FreightWaves Shows Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    4 min
  3. 3 days ago

    FreightWaves Today | July 10

    It’s Friday, and while the domestic spot market is hitting a bit of a post-holiday summer lull, the freight industry at large is facing massive structural, legislative, and tech shifts. In this episode of FreightWaves Today, hosts Craig Fuller and Julie Van de Kamp sit down with top industry analysts and experts to break down the biggest headlines moving the market this week. We dive deep into a jaw-dropping $104 million nuclear jury verdict against Mesilla Valley Transportation, unpack the EPA’s newly finalized 470-page NOx emissions regulations, and discuss reports that tech giant Trimble is planning to sell off its transportation division. Plus, maintenance and legal expert Matt Loeffler stops by for Freight Expectations to sound the alarm on a sophisticated new type of trailer leasing fraud emerging on social media. Featured guests: Lee Klaskow (Senior Transportation Analyst, Bloomberg Intelligence): Joins us to break down Wall Street's red-hot interest in truckload and LTL stocks, why the current capacity correction feels more structural than cyclical, and what to expect from the upcoming Q2 earnings season. Bart De Muynck (Founder, Bart De Muynck LLC): Weighs in on reports that Trimble is looking to divest its transportation unit. We discuss why European software like Transporion often struggles to gain a foothold in North America, and how modern architecture and real-time AI solutions are shifting the enterprise software landscape. Matt Leffler (The Armchair Attorney): Returns for Freight Expectations to dissect the legal mechanics of the massive $104M verdict, how cross-border carriers manage equipment safety, the heavy technical/cost burden of the EPA's new diesel aftertreatment regulations, and a dangerous new asset scam hitting independent truckers. Follow the FreightWaves Today Podcast Other FreightWaves Shows Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    2 hr
  4. STG Exits Chapter 11, $104M Wrongful Death Verdict, & USPS Flies Mail for UPS | The Morning Minute

    3 days ago

    STG Exits Chapter 11, $104M Wrongful Death Verdict, & USPS Flies Mail for UPS | The Morning Minute

    In this episode, we kick things off by examining a strategic financial comeback landing at precisely the right moment for the intermodal sector. STG Logistics has emerged from Chapter 11 protection after slashing its funded debt by approximately ninety percent and securing one hundred fifty million dollars in fresh capital from Fortress, Fidelity and Invesco. The timing couldn't be better: intermodal is currently thirty-one percent cheaper than over-the-road truckload service, helping drive an eight percent year-over-year increase in total intermodal traffic on U.S. Class I railroads during the second quarter. Next, we explore a major wrongful death verdict sending shockwaves through the truckload sector. An El Paso jury has awarded one hundred four million dollars against Mesilla Valley Transportation and one of its drivers following a fatal crash in twenty twenty where an MVT driver and company trainer fell asleep at the wheel, causing his tractor-trailer to drift onto the shoulder and strike a parked box truck, killing co-driver Orlando Robles who was asleep in the sleeper berth. The jury awarded Robles' son twenty million dollars in compensatory damages and seven point five million dollars in punitive damages, with the overall verdict totaling one hundred four million dollars for the surviving family. Finally, we unpack a costly contractual bind forcing the U.S. Postal Service to fly mail it would rather send by truck. According to a report from the agency's Office of Inspector General, postal officials are spending more than intended because minimum volume commitments under its UPS air cargo contract prevent shifting more pieces to cheaper surface transportation. The percentage of First-Class mail traveling by air skyrocketed from two percent in October twenty twenty-four to fifty percent by March twenty twenty-five, directly contradicting the Postal Service's broader strategy to shift volume to trucking contractors and save money. Follow the FreightWaves Today Podcast Other FreightWaves Shows Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    4 min
  5. UP-NS Merger Exclusive, NYC Amazon DSP Bill Stalls, & Mexico Driver Shortage Worsens | The Morning Minute

    4 days ago

    UP-NS Merger Exclusive, NYC Amazon DSP Bill Stalls, & Mexico Driver Shortage Worsens | The Morning Minute

    In this episode, we kick things off with an exclusive look inside the massive rail merger that could reshape the U.S. economy. During the July Fourth weekend celebration in Philadelphia, FreightWaves spoke with Union Pacific CEO Jim Vena and Norfolk Southern CEO Mark George about their pending merger alongside the iconic Big Boy No. 4014 steam locomotive. As the Surface Transportation Board begins its formal review, the executives remain highly optimistic about approval despite extensive regulatory hurdles ahead. Meanwhile, a potentially groundbreaking New York City law targeting Amazon and its Direct Service Providers has gone quiet for the summer, but sources say significant changes may be brewing. The proposed Delivery Protection Act shows no action since an April public hearing as amendment season unfolds behind closed doors. The legislation would prohibit subcontracting deliveries and require all last-mile workers to be directly employed by facility operators, though backers appear open to changes including a possible joint employer structure. Finally, we explore Mexico's trucking industry as it faces a brutal driver shortage that's threatening cross-border trade and domestic freight movement. A new survey by the International Road Transport Union reveals that fourteen percent of commercial driver positions in Mexico are sitting vacant, the second highest rate among eighteen markets surveyed. With roughly ninety thousand trucks currently sitting idle due to the shortage, and that figure potentially climbing above one hundred eight thousand by 2028, the crisis poses a critical threat to manufacturers and exporters that depend on road transportation. Follow the FreightWaves Today Podcast Other FreightWaves Shows Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    4 min
  6. UP-NS Merger Data Submitted, DHL Earnings Soar, & Mountain Valley Express Shuts Down | The Morning Minute

    6 days ago

    UP-NS Merger Data Submitted, DHL Earnings Soar, & Mountain Valley Express Shuts Down | The Morning Minute

    In this episode, we kick things off by examining the latest developments in the proposed mega-merger between Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern. The two Class I railroads just submitted critical new data requested by the Surface Transportation Board addressing control questions over key interchange terminals and equipment cooperatives. Despite delays in formal review, the partners remain committed to closing their massive eighty-five billion dollar deal by mid-2027. Shifting gears to the parcel sector, we explore how DHL Group raised its full-year earnings forecast after posting remarkable second-quarter results that included a twenty-nine percent jump in pre-tax income. The Germany-based logistics giant attributed the strong performance to favorable demand conditions compared to the tariff-impacted prior year, efficiency savings, and staggering capacity constraints in air cargo driven by the Iran war. Finally, we cover the harsh realities of the freight recession as another LTL carrier confirms it has shut down operations effective July seventh. Mountain Valley Express, a small regional operator with thirteen terminals across California, Arizona, and Nevada, is the latest casualty in a brutal operating environment that has claimed numerous carriers despite aggressive growth plans announced just months earlier. Follow the FreightWaves Today Podcast Other FreightWaves Shows Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    4 min

About

FreightWaves NOW is your daily source for the most impactful news in logistics. We break down the complex world of freight—covering trucking, rail, air, and ocean markets—to bring you actionable insights. Whether you are a carrier, shipper, or broker, we provide the data-driven context you need to navigate a volatile market.

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