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TRUCKING

Large LTL carriers make some volume gains, but market still soft

Journal of Commerce William B. Cassidy December 4, 2025 $Subscription Based

Less-than-truckload (LTL) carriers are beginning to see shipments pick up toward the end of the year, although there’s been little change in overall US freight demand.

Both XPO and Saia, the fourth- and sixth-largest US LTL providers, respectively, reported a year-over-year gain in shipments in November, reversing months of declining volumes.

LTL firms report mixed freight volumes in November

Trucking Dive David Taube December 4, 2025

Notably, ArcBest and Saia both saw year-over-year improvement in those measures compared to a year ago. Saia’s LTL shipments per day improved by 2.6%, while ArcBest’s shipments and tonnage both increased by 3% for its asset-based segment, according to carrier reports.

Logistics growth sees mild decline in November, states LMI

Logistics Management December 4, 2025

On the transportation side, the LMI explained that transportation markets are continuing what it called an upward trend, with the decreased in Transportation Capacity marking the lowest rate of expansion going back to September 2024 and is only the third time it has been flat since March 2022, “when the freight market flipped.” And it added that the gain in Transportation Prices rose at its fastest rate since February.

Link: CSCMP November 2025 Logistics Managers' Index

J.B. Hunt controlling the controllable into 2026

Freight Waves Todd Maiden December 4, 2025

J.B. Hunt Transport Services declined to offer a formal outlook for 2026 during an investment conference this week. However, the multimodal transportation provider emphasized its commitment to control the controllable in the coming year as it remains hopeful that conditions will finally improve after the calendar flips.

English-language crackdown exposes how cheap labor and CDL fraud are remaking trucking

Freight Waves Noi Mahoney December 5, 2025

Trucking executives say the market disruption was fueled by fraudulent CDLs, manipulated e-logs and an influx of short-term foreign drivers

DOT's non-domiciled CDL crackdown hugely popular with truck drivers: Overdrive survey results

Overdrive Alex Lockie December 4, 2025

Overdrive readers have spoken: More than 5,000 of you completed a survey released in late October gauging approval and expectations following the Department of Transportation's move to push nearly 200,000 non-domiciled CDL holders out of truck driving work.

The results showed overwhelming support.

88% overall favored DOT's move to oust non-domiciled drivers.

Lawsuit Abuse Strains Trucking Industry

Transport Topics Eugene Mulero December 4, 2025

“Both frivolous and excess litigation pose grave challenges to the trucking industry today. They drain significant time and resources that could otherwise be spent on improving industry operations and safety,” said Nathan Meisgeier, Werner Enterprises president and chief legal officer, in a statement that accompanied the report’s release.

Link: ATRI Press Release New ATRI Research Expands Insights on the Scale and Causes of Growing Trucking Litigation

SHIPPERS / 3PLs

Broker association to aggregate truckload theft, fraud information for FBI

Journal of Commerce Eric Johnson December 4, 2025 $Subscription Based

TIA this week launched a hotline that its members — freight brokers and other domestic intermediaries — can use to report suspected occurrences of cargo fraud and theft, regardless of the dollar value involved.

Target reportedly piloting overnight delivery

Chain Store Age December 4, 2025

The discount giant is said to be running a next-day delivery pilot in Cleveland that involves a dedicated sortation center and freelance delivery drivers. Gurufocus, following up on initial reporting by the Wall Street Journal, reports that Target is testing the service as its e-commerce sales are improving despite overall falling revenues and Amazon and Walmart are both ramping up efforts to get deliveries to customers within minutes.

Target Tests New Models for Next-Day Delivery

The Wall Street Journal Liz Young December 4, 2025 $Subscription Based

The retailer is shifting some online-order fulfillment to less-busy stores, among other methods to speed up delivery and improve the in-store experience

Report: Amazon Looks to Expand Its Delivery Network as USPS Talks Stall

Supply Chain 24/7 December 4, 2025

According to the Post, Amazon provides more than $6 billion a year to USPS, accounting for roughly 7.5 percent of the agency’s total revenue in 2025. Amazon had been seeking a new four-year contract extension under a negotiated service agreement that would have locked in shipping rates and higher volume commitments. Those formal talks have now largely ended without a deal.

Two Types of Shoppers Are Powering Holiday Spending: The Wealthy and Deal-Hunters

The Wall Street Journal Sarah Nassauer et al. December 4, 2025 $Subscription Based

Two different consumers are fueling this year’s holiday-shopping season: high-end luxury shoppers and deal-hunters making everyday-spending trade-offs to keep the gifts flowing.

Dollar General sales jump as Americans hunt for value

Retail Dive Dani James December 4, 2025

“We’re pleased to see growth once again in our total customer count, with disproportionate growth coming from higher income households,” Dollar General CEO Todd Vasos told analysts on a Thursday call.

Ecommerce Trends: 5 holiday shopping shifts that mattered during the Cyber 5

Digital Commerce 360 Brian Warmoth December 4, 2025

3. Shoppers used BNPL more often to make their holiday purchases

Cyber Monday in 2025 became the first day on record that U.S. consumers made more than $1 billion in BNPL purchases online. Notably, 79.4% of that Cyber Monday activity happened on mobile devices, as Adobe’s own survey data showed the highest likelihood for use being in electronics, apparel, toys and furniture purchases.

Should Walmart Really Be Trading Like a Tech Company?

The Wall Street Journal Jinjoo Lee December 5, 2025 $Subscription Based

America’s biggest retailer is growing quickly in e-commerce, and it might advance more as it moves to Nasdaq.

INDUSTRY

U.S. rail carload and intermodal volumes are mixed, for week ending November 29, reports AAR

Logistics Management December 5, 2025

Intermodal containers and trailers, at 234,860 units, fell 6.5% annually, topping the week ending November 22, at 234,592, and the week ending November 15, at 223,101.

TECHNOLOGY

Should CIOs let go of long-term planning cycles?

CIO Dive S.L. Fuller December 4, 2025

AI will render plans stretching two or more years into the future outdated, while even one-year plans would be “susceptible to disruption,” according to a CGS Immersive report. In July, McKinsey cited AI chip development as a factor complicating long-term plans. A month later, Grant Thornton said six- to eight-week cycles were replacing multiyear projects.

SUSTAINABILITY / SAFETY / SECURITY

Is COP30 Zero-Emission Transport by 2040 Deal Realistic?

Sustainability Magazine Charlie King December 5, 2025

At COP30, Brazil and Mexico made a move towards carbon-neutral road transportation by signing The Global Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Zero-Emission Medium- and Heavy-Duty Vehicles.

Signed by more than 40 governments, the collective pledge agrees to work towards 100% zero-emission new truck and bus sales by 2040, with an interim milestone of 30% by 2030.​

Link: Global Drive To Zero Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Zero-Emission Medium- and Heavy-Duty Vehicles

US added 2 GW of solar in September, putting 2025 ahead of 2024 for new solar generation

Utility Dive Meris Lutz December 4, 2025

Solar accounted for 75% of the 28 GW of new generation installed in 2025 so far, followed by wind at 13% and gas at 11%.

BUSINESS AND THE ECONOMY

Layoff announcements top 1.1 million this year, the most since 2020 pandemic, Challenger says

CNBC Jeff Cox December 4, 2025

The firm said layoff plans totaled 71,321 in November, a step down from the massive cuts announced in October but still enough to bring the 2025 total up to 1.17 million. That total is 54% higher than the same 11-month period a year ago and the highest level since 2020, when the Covid pandemic rocked the global economy.

Link: Challenger, Gray & Christmas Restructuring, Closing Contribute to 71,321 Cuts; Hiring Continues to Lowest Point in 15 Years

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