FreightCasts

On this episode of FreightWaves Today, Craig Fuller and Julie Van de Kamp break down the latest signals from across trucking, rail, intermodal and the broader industrial economy.

Thom Albrecht of Reliance Partners joins the show to discuss where the freight cycle is headed, improving demand signals and the supply-side forces reshaping trucking. Albrecht explains how English-language proficiency enforcement, non-domiciled CDL scrutiny, changes to CDL and ELD self-certification, safety enforcement and major court decisions could affect capacity and potentially extend the current freight cycle.

The show also dives into what the railroads are telling us about the health of the industrial economy, including strength across commodities such as chemicals, scrap metal, steel-related freight and grain. Craig and Julie examine the continued shift of freight toward intermodal and BNSF's expanded Phoenix-to-Dallas-Fort Worth service as railroads look to capture more over-the-road truckload freight.

Plus, Bloomberg Intelligence's Lee Klaskow provides his outlook for transportation and what the fourth quarter could hold, Oliver Sawbridge brings a supply chain intelligence perspective to the conversation, and Bill Stephens closes out the show with a deeper look at the rail industry and what current volumes are signaling about the economy.

Craig and Julie also cover the day's biggest freight headlines, including Americold's new $80 million cold-storage hub at Port Saint John, BNSF's intermodal expansion between Phoenix and Dallas-Fort Worth, and UPS strengthening its Asia-Pacific air cargo network.

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In this episode of Loaded and Rolling, host Thomas Wasson sits down with Greg Akselrod, Chief Technology Officer at Outpost. They dive deep into the often-overlooked world of yard management, exploring how modern technology, AI, and computer vision are revolutionizing traditional gate operations and check-in workflows.

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Malcolm Harris and Michael Vincent host another fast-paced episode of WHAT THE TRUCK?!?, covering cargo theft surges, roadside enforcement sweeps, and the real math behind heavy-duty fleet decarbonization.

In the top stories for today, police in Leeds arrest six individuals tied to organized cargo theft, recovering stolen goods, drugs, and weapons amid estimates that cargo crime costs the UK $88 million annually, analyzing multi-state and Canadian provincial safety sweeps targeting impaired driving, log falsification, and brake defects, while highlighting data showing 25% of U.S. commercial trucks carry immediate out-of-service violations, authorities in North Carolina arrest a suspect in possession of a stolen truck, an illegal gun, and $258,000 worth of stolen copper wire, evaluating recent WARN layoff notices—driven largely by Tyson Foods plant closures—against broader job creation figures across the logistics sector.

Scott Cornell from SPG Cargo explains why official cargo theft figures only scratch the surface. While CargoNet documented $732 million in cargo losses last year, voluntary reporting and inconsistent police crime codes mean actual economic impact is roughly ten times higher. Cornell previews TAPA's upcoming university study to measure true supply chain losses, discusses the federal CORT Act, and warns of a rising "bump and run" tactic targeting high-value data center shipments valued at over $110 million since June.

Former Cummins Westport President Jim Arthurs breaks down alternative fuel economics for heavy-duty trucking. With megawatt electric truck charging scaling to $0.40–$0.50 per kWh (equivalent to $7/gallon diesel) and hydrogen hovering over $20/kg, natural gas remains the most cost-effective alternative fuel. Arthurs details Westport’s direct-injection technology achieving diesel-equivalent fuel efficiency (8.5 mpg) at 500 horsepower, the strength of North America's CNG pipeline system, and how Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) from dairy manure delivers net-negative carbon intensity.

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In this episode, we kick things off by examining a major cold chain infrastructure investment at one of the Atlantic seaboard's fastest-growing container gateways. Americold has opened a roughly eighty million dollar import-export hub at Port Saint John, stitching together DP World and CPKC into one seamless cold chain and eliminating the inefficient routing of Canadian-bound refrigerated freight through U.S. ports. This temperature-controlled facility, which provides twenty-two thousand pallet positions, is the only one in Eastern Canada directly connected to a port without drayage, arriving just as Port Saint John's container volumes surged one hundred seventy-five percent since 2021.

Shifting gears to the rails, we examine how BNSF is aggressively capturing truck freight between two of the Southwest's fastest-growing metropolitan areas. The Class I railroad has expanded its intermodal rail service between Phoenix and North Texas to six days a week, completing the route in just over three days as domestic peak shipping season approaches. The enhanced service is explicitly designed to convert over-the-road truck freight to rail as shippers face tighter highway capacity and higher rates, while BNSF simultaneously builds out Logistics Park Phoenix, its second intermodal facility in the region.

Finally, we explore a major routing shift that positions UPS to strengthen its Asia-Pacific freight network as the logistics giant grows aggressively in the region. The U.S. Department of Transportation has approved UPS's transfer of six Hong Kong flying rights to Clark Airport in the Philippines, where a hub expansion project is expected to be completed later this year. The move comes as UPS's Asia-to-Asia export volume surged thirteen point six percent year over year in the second quarter, enabled by recent investments including a major expansion project for its Hong Kong hub and terminal upgrades at Incheon airport in Seoul.

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Craig Fuller and Julie Van de Kamp dive into the most pressing headlines and structural shifts impacting the supply chain, logistics, and transportation sectors. They discuss the escalation of organized freight fraud—including a recent raid in Armenia targeting U.S. carriers—and why the industry urgently needs coordinated law enforcement solutions like the CAUCA legislation

Lakshman Achuthan, Co-Founder of the Economic Cycle Research Institute (ECRI), breaks down leading indicators signaling a potential slowdown in global industrial growth and what sticky business costs mean for freight margins.

Jared Weisfeld, Chief Strategy Officer at RXO, shares why structural capacity exits and federal regulatory enforcement could pave the way for a multi-year recovery in truckload markets.

Pat Dillon, CEO of Flock Freight, explains how pooling technology and shared truckload models are helping enterprise shippers optimize partial loads and reduce costs during shifting market conditions.

Lainey Sibble rom Cox Automotive's Central Dispatch discusses new biometric identity verification and secure vehicle transfer technologies built to safeguard vehicle transport against bad actors.

Plus, tune in for a live SONAR market update breaking down tender rejections, spot rate movements, and ocean freight rate spikes!

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