Warehouse Wisdom, Weekly. 09/18/2026

INTRODUCTION / SEPTEMBER 18 2026

Happy Friday!

Cybercriminals have decided that container ports make excellent targets. The Port of Los Angeles saw cyberattacks surge in August, adding another potential headache to the long list of things that can interrupt the flow of goods. And Canadian companies hoping to sell to Uncle Sam just got some unwelcome news, as the White House moved to ban Canadian goods from U.S. federal government purchases. Between hackers knocking on the ports’ digital doors and new barriers going up at the border, international trade certainly isn’t suffering from a lack of excitement.

In this week’s edition, we’re covering soaring diesel prices, tightening truckload capacity, freight shifting from trucks to rail, container shipping’s return to the Suez Canal, AI’s growing influence over online shopping, parcel shipping changes, and more. Let’s dive in!

FREIGHT AND SHIPPING
Diesel soars, capacity shrinks, and freight hops on the rails

Remember when diesel below $4 a gallon felt expensive? Those were the days. The average U.S. diesel price has now broken above $6 per gallon, rising more than 60% over the past year as global supply disruptions squeeze the market. For SMBs moving freight, higher fuel costs have a nasty habit of finding their way onto invoices through fuel surcharges and transportation rates, so this is one number worth watching closely.

And those soaring diesel prices are starting to change how freight moves. Union Pacific says some shippers are shifting freight from trucks to rail to take advantage of rail's greater fuel efficiency. If diesel stays elevated, intermodal could become increasingly attractive to shippers with enough flexibility in their transit times.

Unfortunately, the truckload market isn't offering much relief either. Truckload capacity continues to leave the market, with regulatory enforcement, high fuel costs, insurance pressures and years of weak market conditions squeezing smaller carriers. Schneider says capacity, not demand, is now its biggest obstacle to growth, while Werner expects one-way rates per mile to rise 10% to 13% year over year during the third quarter. Translation for shippers: the days of seemingly endless truck capacity and rock-bottom negotiating leverage may be fading in the rearview mirror.

So, just move everything by rail, right? Not so fast. Rail-bound containers are spending longer at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, with average dwell climbing to 6.75 days in August from 6.34 days in July. Truck-bound containers, meanwhile, averaged just 2.95 days. With the ports handling nearly 1.88 million TEUs during the month, strong import volumes are putting added pressure on inland rail capacity. Freight may be hopping off trucks and onto trains, but apparently it has to wait in line first.

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OCEAN FREIGHT
Suez makes a comeback, but the Red Sear isn’t exactly rolling out the welcome mat

Container carriers are steadily returning to the shorter Suez Canal route, even as security risks around the Red Sea remain elevated. More than a quarter of Asia-Europe capacity is expected to transit the Red Sea in September, with the shift helping push Asia-Europe spot rates lower. Asia-North Europe rates recently fell 3% to roughly $4,300 per FEU, while Asia-Mediterranean rates dropped 12% to about $4,200. Shorter voyages are great for transit times and vessel capacity, assuming the shortcut doesn't suddenly become the long way around again.

The Suez comeback is showing up in the canal's numbers, too. Container ship net tonnage through the canal jumped 54.2% during the first eight months of 2026, and carriers including Maersk, MSC, CMA CGM, Hapag-Lloyd and COSCO have returned services to varying degrees. Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd are adding another four Gemini services through Suez, but carriers continue to stress that future routing depends on security conditions.

Anyone expecting an early end to ocean peak season may want to hold off on the victory lap. September is now forecast to be the busiest import month of the year at major U.S. ports, with 2.31 million TEUs expected, up 9.6% year over year. Recent typhoons in China and concerns around Panama Canal capacity have shifted some cargo later than anticipated, keeping import volumes elevated despite earlier expectations that frontloading would bring peak season to an early close.

And the latest import numbers show just how much freight is still arriving. U.S. container imports reached 2.60 million TEUs in August, up 3.8% from July and 3.3% from a year earlier, making it the third-highest monthly total on record. Eight of the 10 largest U.S. gateways posted monthly gains, but higher volume came with increased transit delays at all 10 major ports. Plenty of containers are arriving. Getting them through the system quickly is apparently a separate subscription.

WAREHOUSE QUICK DELIVERIES
USPS delivery delays, Ontrac discounts, and FedEx duty relief

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LOGISTICS VITALS
Truckload rates jump as freight finally finds a pulse

After three and a half years of year-over-year declines, freight shipments finally moved into positive territory in August. Meanwhile, truckload linehaul rates continued climbing as the larger contract market adjusted higher. For shippers, freight demand may only be showing a modest pulse, but transportation costs certainly appear wide awake.

ONLINE MARKETPLACES
AI takes over the shopping aisles just in time for the holidays

AI may still represent a relatively small slice of e-commerce traffic, but that slice is getting noticeably bigger. Online retailers are reporting AI referrals around 5% of website traffic in some cases, compared with less than 2% reported by leading retailers earlier this year. Povison expects AI referrals could reach roughly 10% of its traffic by early 2027, while La Joya Jewelry says its AI-referred visitors are converting substantially better than normal traffic. Turns out asking a robot what to buy might actually lead to buying something.

Retailers are preparing accordingly. Target is adding more AI tools to its shopping experience, including Photo Search, AI-generated review insights, improved repeat-purchase recommendations and personalized reminders for products shoppers previously viewed. Target says some of the tools are already producing double-digit conversion improvements, while traffic arriving from external AI platforms is growing rapidly from a still-small base.

The timing couldn't be better, because holiday shopping is about to get rolling. Amazon's Prime Big Deal Days will return Oct. 6 and 7, offering Prime members 48 hours of deals across more than 35 categories. For e-commerce sellers, the event provides another reminder that the holiday rush now seems to begin sometime shortly after everyone finishes putting away the Fourth of July decorations.

And shoppers appear ready to bring AI along for the ride. Sixty-five percent of consumers plan to use AI for at least part of their holiday shopping, including 43% for gift discovery, 33% for product comparisons and 15% for post-purchase tasks such as delivery tracking. Meanwhile, only 8% of retailers surveyed said they were very confident in their ability to use AI to improve the shopping experience.

AI is also moving beyond helping people shop and into helping SMBs actually move the products. DHL and Alibaba.com are exploring an AI-powered logistics partnership for small and medium-sized businesses. The companies plan to explore connecting DHL Global Forwarding's quotation and booking capabilities with Alibaba.com's Accio AI platform, potentially allowing SMBs to obtain real-time freight quotes, compare shipping options and book shipments while managing other pieces of the international sourcing process. If it works as planned, AI may soon help find the product, find the supplier, find the freight rate and book the shipment. At that point, we may just be here for moral support.

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GREEN LOGISTICS
Google puts 25 electric trucks on Texas roads

Google is helping put 25 additional electric Class 8 trucks on the road through a partnership with electric carrier Nevoya and the Center for Green Market Activation. Google is providing capital to accelerate deployment along the Dallas-Houston freight corridor, while the project will also add dedicated charging infrastructure. With Google’s trucks included, the broader program is expected to total 63 electric trucks when it launches in early 2027, making it the largest known deployment of Class 8 battery-electric trucks in Texas.