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TRUCKING

Averitt Boosts LTL Network as Freight Market Upturn Beckons

Transport Topics Keiron Greenhalgh March 23, 2026

Averitt Express is expanding its core less-than-truckload business to get ahead of what it sees as an emerging upturn in the less-than-truckload market, particularly in areas where capacity constraints are beginning to surface.

“LTL probably already picked up. We’re already seeing year-over-year growth. And I think many of our peers are seeing year-over-year growth,” he said (Kent Williams, Averitt executive vice president of sales and marketing).

February freight shipments and expenditures see annual gains in February, reports Cass Freight Index

Logistics Management March 23, 2026

Tim Denoyer, the report’s author and ACT Research vice president and senior analyst, wrote in the report that the increase in shipments on a month-to-month seasonally-adjusted basis recovered much of the weather disruptions seen over the previous two months—adding that the normal seasonal trend would put the shipments component of the report down 5% annually in March.

“While shipment declines continue, the year-over-year increases in expenditures were driven by higher rates,” noted Denoyer.

Survey: trucking fleets face “procurement paralysis” due to shifting business climate

DC Velocity March 23, 2026

Aging Equipment: In 2023, only 37% of organizations with transportation fleets had more than 150 trucks that were 5+ years old. By 2025, the pressure of holding trucks longer is evident, with 55% of organizations now running trucks for more than 5 years as a standard.

Link: Fleet Advantage Press Release Fleet Advantage Announces Benchmark Industry Findings: C-Level Leaders Face Procurement Paralysis

PlusAI unveils ‘major advancement’ in autonomous driving software

Trucking Dive Haley Cawthon March 23, 2026

Trucks equipped with SuperDrive 6.0 are already transporting commercial freight in Texas. While construction zone handling is active, the night-driving feature is expected to roll out in the coming weeks, enabling round-the-clock operations on customer routes, the release continued.

SHIPPERS / 3PLs

How Amazon Is Bringing Fast Delivery to Rural America

The Wall Street Journal Sean McLain March 22, 2026 $Subscription Based

Amazon currently operates around 560 delivery stations across the country, of which around 160 are in rural areas, said Marc Wulfraat, president of MWPVL International, a supply-chain consultancy that monitors the e-commerce company’s logistics network.

Amazon signals ecommerce delivery shift as USPS contract talks stall

Digital Commerce 360 Mark Brohan March 23, 2026

Amazon has not said it will fully exit its USPS relationship, but its contingency planning points to a more diversified approach to ecommerce fulfillment as it looks to manage costs and maintain delivery performance.

Amazon Acquires Rivr to Improve Last-Mile Delivery Efficiency

Supply Chain 24/7 March 23, 2026

The robots are built to carry packages from delivery vehicles directly to customers’ doors, a step often referred to as the “last meter” of delivery.

Toyota to Invest Further $1B to Boost Output at US Plants

Transport Topics/Bloomberg News Chester Dawson March 23, 2026

The world’s largest carmaker said March 23 it will plow $800 million into its factory in Georgetown, Ky., to boost production of its best-selling RAV4 compact sport utility vehicle and Camry sedan, as well as to manufacture a new electric vehicle. It will also earmark an additional $200 million for its Princeton, Ind., facility to increase capacity for its popular Grand Highlander midsize SUV.

Link: Toyota Press Release Toyota Kicks Off a Milestone Year with a $1 Billion Investment in Kentucky and Indiana

Manufacturers upbeat about outlook despite economic headwinds: NAM

Trucking Dive Jeffrey Kinney March 23, 2026

According to the survey conducted last month, 75.3% of respondents felt either somewhat or very positive about their company’s outlook. That is 5.4 percentage points higher than reported in the Q4 2025 survey and above the historical average of 74.3% for the first time since Q1 2023, NAM said in a news release.

Link: National Association of Manufacturers Outlook Survey First Quarter 2026

Walmart Shuts Down Agentic Commerce With OpenAI

PYMNTS March 23, 2026

Walmart is pulling back from OpenAI’s Instant Checkout feature inside ChatGPT after internal data showed conversion rates were roughly three times lower than transactions completed on its own website, as reported by Wired.

INDUSTRY

Intermodal volumes bounce back in February, states IANA

Logistics Management Jeff Berman March 23, 2026

Trailers were the lone intermodal segment to see an annual decline in February, falling 3.3%, to 35,822, marking an improvement over January and December, which were off 7.2% and 14.6%, respectively. Domestic containers, at 701,849, increased 5.2% annually, and all domestic equipment, which is comprised of trailers and domestic containers, at 737,671, posted a 4.7% annual increase.

Trailer storage demand rises as tariffs, nearshoring reshape supply chains

Freight Waves Noi Mahoney March 23, 2026

Manufacturers and retailers across North America are increasingly turning to mobile storage trailers as a flexible alternative to traditional warehouses as supply chains face tariff volatility, labor shortages and rising logistics costs, John Brooks, founder and CEO of Warehouse on Wheels, said.

Rep. Latta Leads the Charge for Autonomous Vehicle Framework

Transport Topics Eugene Mulero March 23, 2026

Latta has pushed for a national AV policy for about a decade, warning that today’s state‑by‑state regulatory patchwork can contribute to a slowdown in development and uncertainty for manufacturers.

“Right now you have 35 states out there [that] are doing their own thing,” he said March 19 at an event hosted by Axios. 

Mexico’s auto parts sector thinks it will withstand US trade policy instability

Supply Chain Dive Elizabeth Machuca March 23, 2026

Data from the International Trade Administration, part of the U.S. Department of Commerce, shows that Mexico is ranked as the fourth largest global spare parts producer and exporter worldwide, accounting for 52.2% of auto parts imported by the U.S.

TECHNOLOGY

Companies Aren’t Ripping Out Business Software for AI. Here’s What They’re Doing Instead

The Wall Street Journal Belle Linn March 23, 2026 $Subscription Based

Tech leaders at large corporations say that, for now, they’re vibe-coding their own small, custom apps, and putting pressure on their software vendors.

ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini Entered the WSJ Bracket Pool. One Might Actually Win

The Wall Street Journal Ben Cohen et al. March 24, 2026 $Subscription Based

The AI ringers struggled at first. But soon, they were calling upsets, picking against the crowd—and beating the humans.

SUSTAINABILITY / SAFETY / SECURITY

Fraud and Loathing in the Mojave Desert

Freight Waves Thomas Wasson March 23, 2026

Walking the rail lines in California’s Mojave Desert reveals the staggering scale of organized cargo theft firsthand. The isolation that makes this corridor ideal for freight transit also makes it a prime hunting ground for sophisticated criminal networks that have turned rail cargo theft into a multimillion-dollar enterprise.

Apparel industry not decarbonizing fast enough: report

ESG Dive Lauren Schenkman March 23, 2026

The report was produced by Cascale, previously known as the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, a collective of over 300 organizations in the apparel, footwear and textile industries that was originally founded in 2009 by Walmart and Patagonia.

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