Transportation
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Transportation
Category Added in a WPeMatico Campaign
Transportation
Railway supply industry news round-up
This week’s global railway supply chain news from Railway Gazette International. On October 1 Indian company Afcons Infrastructure signed its first contract in Europe, a €898.9m EU-cofinanced deal to rebuild and double-track Croatian infrastructure manager HŽ Infrastruktura’s 83 km Dugo Selo – Novska line to support 160 km/h operation. The works are scheduled to take five years and 10 months. ‘We will prove that we are the right choice’, said the contractor’s EVP & Croatian Project Director Udai Veer Singh. Eptisa Adria has been awarded a supervision contract. DYWIDAG and Dual Inventive have signed a MoU to explore how infrastructure monitoring alerts generated by DYWIDAG’s Infrastructure Intelligence platform can be automatically linked to the Dual Inventive’s MTinfo 3000 monitoring and control system. The aim is to reduce the time between detecting a potentially catastrophic event and implementing operational safeguards. The initial focus will be on embankment instability. ‘The railway industry has made significant progress in monitoring infrastructure assets, but there can still be a gap between detecting a problem and applying protection’, said Josh Jackson, Managing Director at Dual Inventive. Marc Ó Dálaigh, DYWIDAG Regional Director for UK & Ireland, said ‘validated data is only useful if it leads to action quickly enough to matter’. Strabag completed its acquisition of 100% of Romanian railway infrastructure contractor BAWI Construction on September 30 following receipt of the required regulatory approvals. BAWI will retain its name and continue its existing activities as part of the Strabag Group, which said the acquisition would expand its expertise and value chain in railway construction and position the group to benefit from growing investment in Romania and the wider southeastern European market. Stadler has appointed Philipp Brunner as Group CEO to take over from Markus Bernsteiner on January 1 2027. The company said the change has been planned well in advance, and Bernsteiner intends to focus on strategic roles on the boards of other companies. Brunner has been with Stadler for more than 16 years. He is currently CEO of the Central Europe and Germany divisions and has been a member of the Group Executive Board since 2021. The new division heads will be announced at a later date. On October 1 Eurofima disbursed a third tranche of €5m to Bulgarian national operator BDZ’s passenger division under a financing framework agreed in April 2026. This is to support the acquisition of 20 second-hand inter-city passenger coaches previously operated in Germany. Eurofima has now provided €17.6m under the framework, supporting the acquisition of a total of 73 coaches to strengthen passenger services while extending the useful life of existing assets. During InnoTrans 2026, bearing manufacturer Schaeffler signed an agreement expanding its strategic co-operation with Alstom to cover products for regional and commuter trains, trams and metros. This builds on existing work on locomotives and high speed trains. ‘By working closer together, we are building a more resilient supply chain while supporting Alstom’s future programmes and long-term ambitions’, says Nathalie Saint-Martin, Chief Procurement Officer of Alstom.
Transportation
New Jersey CDL school lawsuit questions evidence behind FMCSA shutdown
Start CDL Inc. is challenging its emergency removal from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s training registry. The Cinnaminson, New Jersey-based truck driving school said the FMCSA improperly used drivers’ later English-proficiency violations to justify shutting down its federally regulated training operations, according to a complaint filed Oct. 2. But the 236-page complaint and exhibit packet presents questions beyond that legal dispute: A six-driver spreadsheet names another training provider, the attached roadside reports concern 10 different drivers, and a scanned removal notice makes substantive findings against a third school. The school’s own account also contains unresolved date discrepancies, including an English-assessment certificate dated after the roadside inspection it allegedly preceded. Start CDL filed the suit Oct. 2 in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey against the U.S. Department of Transportation, FMCSA and Administrator Derek D. Barrs, seeking reinstatement and relief from the agency’s action. FMCSA’s Aug. 31 notice immediately removed Start CDL from its training provider registry, along with more than 100 other schools. The notice to shutdown arrived as federal regulators crack down on hundreds of commercial driver training providers and attempt to create stricter enforcement of CDL training. The FMCSA notice prohibited Start CDL from conducting entry-level driver training, enrolling new trainees, certifying completion or uploading training certifications. FMCSA cites safety risks The agency said six trainees certified by Start CDL subsequently received English-language-proficiency violations during roadside inspections. FMCSA inferred that the drivers lacked the required proficiency when the school submitted their certifications, concluding that the provider had material deficiencies and demonstrated willful disregard of applicable requirements. The notice invoked both an immediate public safety rationale and willful disregard as grounds for emergency removal. English proficiency is a longstanding federal driver-qualification requirement. Enforcement guidance included in the exhibits describes restoration of out-of-service treatment for English-proficiency violations in June 2025. Several attached inspection reports in the Oct. 2 complaint document specific communication problems or incorrect highway-sign responses. An Arkansas report describes difficulty answering questions about cargo, documents and air pressure. A Missouri report records four incorrect sign responses. Those accounts provide factual support for officers’ findings at the roadside. They do not, by themselves, establish when the drivers completed training or their proficiency when certifications were uploaded — the connection at the center of the school’s challenge. Driver records do not line up The spreadsheet attached to the removal materials lists six drivers under Star CDL Training LLC. Its provider identifiers differ from Start CDL’s registry identifier. None of those six names appears among the 10 unique drivers in the attached inspection reports. The report numbers also differ. Start CDL’s exhibits include training agreements connecting the school to three of the inspection subjects, but do not provide a reconciled six-driver roster with completion dates and certification upload records. The notice describes the inspection reports as a representative sample, yet the packet does not explain how they correspond to the six drivers in the spreadsheet. A scanned version of the notice also names Punjabi School of CDL Inc. in findings addressing deficiencies, immediate safety necessity and willful disregard. Another version is called Start CDL. The discrepancies raise questions about how the FMCSA may have assembled and matched its evidence. The filing does not establish whether they reflect attachment errors, underlying data errors or another explanation. School’s timeline also needs clarification Start CDL argues in the complaint that later roadside violations do not establish deficient instruction or proficiency at the time of training. It also disputes FMCSA’s interpretation of a training provider’s responsibilities under federal entry-level driver training requirements. However, the complaint and administrative petition describe cited inspections occurring between May and August 2026. The attached roadside reports instead span July 2025 through May 2026. The complaint says driver Viacheslav Iroltuev passed the school’s English assessment with an 84% score in February 2026, before a May 13 roadside inspection. Both attached certificate copies show a date of July 2, 2026. The packet does not establish whether that is an issuance date documenting an earlier assessment. School owner Vasyl Kushnir also says a July 23 DOT inspection prompted process corrections but identified no English-proficiency deficiencies. The exhibits contain no completed inspection report verifying that account. Start CDL says it submitted an administrative-review petition and emergency-stay request Sept. 10. According to the complaint, those requests remained undecided when the lawsuit was filed Oct. 2. The latest docket supplied for review lists no subsequent government response or judicial ruling. The administrative stay request included in the exhibits is directed to FMCSA; it is not a separately filed federal injunction motion. FMCSA and Start CDL attorney Anton Kaminsky did not respond to requests for comment by publication time. Why it matters: Removal prevents Start CDL school from providing federally required entry-level driver training, while the case raises questions about how FMCSA connects roadside safety violations to training providers. More FreightWaves articles by Noi Mahoney: Mexico remains top US trading partner as August commerce hits $94.3B TA Services acquires 2 Texas cross-border carriers, adds 133 trucks DP World plots US port comeback with Corpus Christi container terminal The post New Jersey CDL school lawsuit questions evidence behind FMCSA shutdown appeared first on FreightWaves.
Transportation
FMCSA split sleeper berth pilot program moves closer to launch
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is moving closer to launching a pilot program that could results in amending split sleeper berth requirements, with an eye on allowing more flexibility in how a driver spends the required daily minimum of 10 hours off-duty. In a Federal Register notice released Wednesday, FMCSA opened the “information collection activities” that would provide it with data on whether a change in the 10 hours split, which now allows only 10 consecutive hours, or an 8-2 split or a 7-3 split, would meet safety goals if it was 5-5 or 6-4. Those new splits would become possible if the minimum length of the required sleeper berth period drops to five hours from seven. The program needs as many as 256 volunteers to participate. It can be a team of drivers. Drivers will receive $1,600 for their participation, according to a press release published by the Department of Transportation in late August. As FMCSA said in a September 2025 Federal Register notice that first called for comments on the proposal, the current law says the 10 hours of off duty time “may either be accumulated consecutively, or alternatively, split into 1 consecutive period of at least 7 hours in the sleeper berth and a second period of at least 2 consecutive hours of time in the sleeper berth, off duty time, or any combination thereof, provided that the total of the periods is at least 10 hours. In practice, this allows drivers to utilize any split of sleeper berth time including and between a 7/3 split and an 8/2 split.” The September 2025 notice was more detailed on the issue, and was described as a “notification of proposed pilot program; request for comments.” The notice Wednesday was just described as a “notice and request for comments.” Following up on the April 2025 EO The April 2025 executive order on trucking from the Trump administration that was notable mostly for its English language proficiency requirements and restrictions on non-domiciled CDLs also had in it a general goal for the Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy to “identify and begin carrying out additional administrative, regulatory, or enforcement actions to improve the working conditions of America’s truck drivers.” In the Federal Register recap of the steps that have led to the pilot program, FMCSA said the experiment would be part of that call to action. The pilot program involves taking those 256 commercial motor vehicle drivers and giving them flexibility over 16 weeks to spend their 10 off duty hours in the sleeper berth as they choose. Participants in the study are volunteers. Chris Eckhart, a partner with the trucking-focused Scopelitis law firm, said the Federal Register notice this week is the follow to the September 2025 notice which sought comment on the split sleeper berth proposal with the goal of seeking flexibility for drivers. “The notice published Wednesday requests comments on the information collection the FMCSA will seek through the pilot,” Eckhart said in an email to FreightWaves. “I don’t think it breaks any new ground on the FMCSA’s plans for the pilot or other potential changes to the split-sleeper berth rule.” The comment period is open until December 7. Not a quick process Even though the actual testing of drivers and their daily submissions on their activities is scheduled to go on for 16 weeks, the September 2025 announcement of the program said the entire pilot program would take 34 to 36 months. The Federal Register notice recaps the long tortuous road to the launch of the study. It cites a joint submission by the American Trucking Associations and the Minnesota Trucking Association to FMCSA in 2013 for what the two groups called a “flexible sleeper berth pilot program.” That came after three FMCSA listening sessions on the issue in 2010. When the Hours of Service rule was implemented in 2011, according to the Federal Register notice, the split sleeper berth beyond 7-3 was not included. “FMCSA determined that the issue should be explored in greater depth to determine whether additional flexibility would achieve an equivalent or improved level of safety relative to compliance with the current regulations,” the Federal Register notice this week said. In the September 2025 Federal Register notice, FMCSA said a review of the issue conducted in 2015 “suggested that sleep split into multiple segments is restorative, and when implemented strategically, does not negatively impact performance. Further, split sleep does not negatively affect daytime ‘‘neurobehavioral performance’’ when compared to a consolidated sleep period of the same total duration.” OOIDA checks in Lewie Pugh, executive vice president of the Owner Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA), said his group is “always in favor of more hours of service flexibility for the driver.” Pugh discussed the length of time that the issue of a split sleeper berth HOS flexibility has been discussed. He said OOIDA “was pushing for the three hours back in 2018,” he said. But a key feature needs to be that the use of those hours are at the driver’s discretion. What OOIDA doesn’t want, he said, is “either the carrier or the shipper saying, hey, you got an extra three hours? Just go off near whatever, and use that extra three hours while we jack you around to load you.” Pugh’s discussion of control and driver discretion is one that his organization has been sounding since soon after the September 2025 Federal Register notice. Eligibility to participate as a driver in the study will not be available to drivers with a list of several disqualifying marks, including having an “unsatisfactory” rating from FMCSA, having an Out of Service (OOS) rate more than the national average. Eligible drivers also can not have had any FMCSA enforcement actions in the last three years. More articles by John Kingston FMCSA’s Elison: ‘weeks’ away from fixing Motus user experience Wall Street analysts positive on C.H. Robinson deal; S&P more cautious Red dye diesel break is being greeted with a big yawn The post FMCSA split sleeper berth pilot program moves closer to launch appeared first on FreightWaves.
Transportation
AV truck fleets win 5-Year exemption on warning beacons
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration granted a five-year exemption on Wednesday that lets carriers running Level 4 autonomous trucks use cab-mounted warning beacons in place of reflective triangles. The exemption runs through Oct. 7, 2031, and covers Aurora Operations plus any other Level 4 carrier that notifies the agency first, under a notice signed by Administrator Derek Barrs. It replaces four three-month waivers Aurora has operated under since October 2025. Kodiak AI, Waabi and Stack AV opted in along the way. “Going from a temporary waiver to a five-year exemption gives the industry a lot of confidence,” said Jeff Farrah, CEO of the Autonomous Vehicle Industry Association, in an interview with FreightWaves. “As these companies scale, raise money in the capital markets and set up business partnerships, there are often questions about what they are going to do about the warning-triangle issue. Now there is a firm answer.” Bart Teeter, director of fleet and operational safety at Bot Auto, said in a statement that the exemption “will give the autonomous freight industry a key piece of regulatory certainty that will allow us to continue to scale safely.” Federal rules require the driver of a truck stopped on a road or shoulder to turn on hazard flashers and place warning devices in front of and behind the truck within 10 minutes. The required devices are three bidirectional reflective triangles or at least six fusees. “Now, with autonomous vehicles, we need to evolve some of these requirements, since with an autonomous truck there is not going to be somebody who can get out and put warning triangles behind the vehicle,” Farrah said. Beacon specifications and operating limits The beacons must be amber, meet the Class 1 photometric requirements of SAE J595 and sit at least 100 inches off the ground, at or above the top of the side mirrors. Each truck needs at least one rearward-facing light on each side of the cab and one forward-facing light on the front, with redundant power to prevent a single-point failure. They must activate within five minutes of a stop and keep flashing, alongside the standard hazard flashers, until the truck moves again or is recovered. FMCSA called the five-minute limit “a clear, verifiable safety improvement” over the 10 minutes drivers get to place triangles. Trucks may run only on roads inside their validated operational design domain. Carriers cannot haul hazardous materials or passengers, or run any operation that would require an H, X, P or S endorsement if a human were driving. Doubles are limited to two 28-foot trailers, and triples are barred. Tankers are permitted. Every carrier other than Aurora must email FMCSA before starting, certifying under penalty of perjury that it has the beacons and will follow the terms. Carriers must report any crash while the beacons are on, or should have been on, within five calendar days. Annual reports on beacon malfunctions and power issues are due by Nov. 1. States may not enforce conflicting rules on interstate operations covered by the exemption. “Aurora filed the exemption, and Aurora was part of the first waiver process, but this allows any similarly situated company to use it,” Farrah said. “It is not just Aurora. It is any other autonomous vehicle company doing these operations.” From 2024 denial to five-year exemption FMCSA denied Aurora and Waymo’s 2023 request for the same relief in December 2024. Exempting “a class of unspecified carriers using unspecified equipment on unspecified vehicles only further undermines the claimed likely equivalent level of safety,” the agency wrote at the time. The new exemption names the equipment and the vehicles, and it makes every carrier identify itself. After the denial, FMCSA issued Aurora a narrow waiver. From Oct. 10, 2025, through Jan. 9, 2026, Aurora ran the beacons on 34 trucks that traveled more than 500,000 miles, the company reported in its application. The beacons were active for nearly 10 hours, and Aurora reported no faults, malfunctions or power issues. FMCSA said the trucks were not involved in any collisions while stopped with the beacons on. Aurora filed its new five-year request in April with limits similar to the waiver’s. Two studies filed with both applications got a second look. In 2024, the agency flagged that Aurora’s October 2022 “Naturalistic Study of Warning Device Equivalency” showed a slightly lower share of drivers responding to beacons than to triangles in five of eight scenarios. This time it pointed to response distance from the same study: motorists began evasive moves an average of 135.71 meters from the beacons and 133.24 meters from the triangles. A Virginia Tech Transportation Institute study prepared for Waymo in August 2022 found beacons drew earlier braking at night. Opponents cite trailers, power and weather Aurora’s application drew 402 comments. Opponents included the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA), the Truck Safety Coalition, Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, REAL Women in Trucking and many individual truck drivers. Supporters included the American Trucking Associations, Waymo, Kodiak AI, Volvo Group North America, Amazon and the National Fraternal Order of Police. Critics argued a jackknifed or angled trailer could block cab-mounted lights and that a single electrical failure could knock the beacons out. Others said the studies did not cover the range of weather, road and lighting conditions trucks face. Advocates said nearly 10 hours of beacon use during planned stops was not a sufficient basis for a five-year exemption. The Small Business in Transportation Coalition said granting the exemption “would open a can of worms” by holding driverless trucks to more lenient standards than trucks driven by humans. OOIDA urged FMCSA to wait for its own study of warning devices for stopped trucks. FMCSA answered that the terms confine trucks to their validated operational design domains. It said it lacks data showing triangles significantly improve driver reaction time, and that whether such devices improve traffic safety at all is a historically unresolved question. The Autonomous Vehicle Industry Association and Volvo urged FMCSA to allow beacons on traditional trucks. The agency wrote that updating warning device requirements for all commercial vehicles “may be ripe for future regulatory action.” “High-visibility, cab-mounted warning beacons are a critical, 21st-century solution that enhances roadside safety by immediately alerting other road users without ever needing to put a person in harm’s way,” said Gerardo Interiano, senior vice president of government relations and public affairs at Aurora, in a statement. The industry has coalesced around cab-mounted beacons, an idea Waymo and Aurora first conceived, Farrah said. “This is a critical step, because this is one of the issues that has been really problematic for the deployment of autonomous trucks,” he said. “Now we have a pathway to deploying in the U.S.” The post AV truck fleets win 5-Year exemption on warning beacons appeared first on FreightWaves.
Transportation
Global container volumes hit record 17.46 million TEUs
Global container shipping volumes reached a record 17.46 million twenty-foot equivalent units in August, while freight pricing climbed to its highest level in more than two years, according to Container Trades Statistics. August liftings surpassed the previous record set in July and increased 3.7% from August 2025. Through the first eight months of 2026, global volumes were up 4.7% year over year, CTS said in its Oct. 8 report. The figures show continued growth in container trade despite elevated fuel prices, disruption in the Arabian Gulf, Panama Canal constraints and changing tariff conditions. August volumes were 7.2% higher than in the same month of 2024 and 12.9% above August 2023 levels. Freight pricing rises alongside volumes CTS’ Global Price Index rose two points from July to 117 in August, its highest reading since July 2024, when Red Sea shipping disruption was putting pressure on rates. The index was approximately 50% above its January level and 44% higher than in August 2025. CTS said the increase reflected pricing pressures that had developed since late February, as disruptions to key shipping routes affect available capacity and operating costs as vessels are rerouted. North American imports recover North American container imports were up 2% through August compared with the same period last year, extending a gradual recovery that began in May after negative year-to-date growth earlier in 2026. Increased cargo flows from Asia supported the recovery, with trans-Pacific trade up 5% year-to-date. CTS described that performance as a notable improvement from the trade’s earlier weakness amid tariff uncertainty and severe typhoon-related congestion at originating ports. Sub-Saharan Africa posted the strongest percentage growth in imports, with volumes up 13% through August. Growth came from across its major origin markets, with the Indian Sub-Continent and Middle East the notable exceptions. The combined Indian Sub-Continent and Middle East region was the only region to record declining imports, down 5% year to date. It also was the only region with lower exports, which fell 10%, representing just under 1 million fewer TEUs than in the first eight months of 2025. Far East drives export growth Asia exports increased 8% year to date, adding approximately 6.3 million TEUs compared with the same period of 2025. Every destination region recorded growth in cargo originating in the Far East, with Sub-Saharan Africa and South and Central America leading in percentage terms. European exports, meanwhile, returned to roughly flat year-to-date growth after declines earlier in the year. CTS attributed the improvement to stable or increasing cargo flows across most destination regions. Despite the new volume record, CTS cautioned slowing month-to-month growth could signal a moderation in demand, making growth and elevated rates a key issue heading into the final quarter of 2026. Read more articles by Stuart Chirls here. Read more: Samsung seeks $186M from CMA CGM in container charges dispute Zim lifts profit forecast 72% on strong demand New submarine plant planned at Baltimore multimodal hub Xeneta: US-bound container rates peak, but sharp collapse unlikely DP World plots US port comeback with Corpus Christi container terminal The post Global container volumes hit record 17.46 million TEUs appeared first on FreightWaves.
Transportation
EcoFlow 2x 1,024Wh DELTA 3 Classic power stations $889, Segway extended 50% off e-scooter sale, Anker SOLIX, EGO, much more
Amazon’s Fall Prime Day Sale event is over, but that doesn’t mean the savings are slowing down, and we’re keeping all the ongoing deals in our updated Fall Prime Day Green Deals hub here for the rest of the week. Leading today’s edition of Green Deals is the latest and final EcoFlow Prime Day flash sale running for 72 hours, with offers like the 2x 1,024Wh DELTA 3 Classic power station bundle down at $889, alongside some other notable units from $599. Right behind that we have collected all the ongoing Segway Fall Deals Deals Day Sale savings on e-scooters, with continuing options like the ZT3 Pro Off-Road Electric Scooter down at $800. We also have Anker’s SOLIX Prime Deals Encore Sale offering the 2,048Wh C2000 Gen 2 Portable Power Station with a 400W solar panel at an exclusive $1,330, among others, as well as the Segway Navimow i2 Series Robot Mowers at their lowest prices, a continuing low price on EGO’s 56V 12-inch Electric Snow Shovel, and more options hanging onto savings for a while longer. Head below for other New Green Deals we’ve found today and, of course, Electrek’s best EV buying and leasing deals. Also, check out the new Electrek Tesla Shop for the best deals on Tesla accessories. more…
Transportation
Factory backlogs build as freight and steel costs climb
Unfilled orders at U.S. factories rose 0.6% to $1,609.6 billion in August, and shipments stalled, the Census Bureau said in its Oct. 2 report on manufacturers’ shipments, inventories and orders. Backlogs have increased in 25 of the last 26 months. Transportation equipment accounted for $1,009.9 billion of the total and led the August increase. Shipments were virtually unchanged at $658.6 billion, the first stall after eight monthly gains. New orders rose 0.1% to $663.5 billion. The ratio of unfilled orders to shipments rose to 6.87 from 6.81. Census does not adjust the figures for inflation. Orders for motor vehicle bodies, parts and trailers rose 0.8%. Machinery orders rose 1.1%. Nondefense capital goods orders excluding aircraft rose 1.6%. Durable goods orders fell 0.1%, with transportation equipment down 0.7% and nondefense aircraft and parts down 4.3%. A fabricated metal products respondent told the Institute for Supply Management the company has orders through year-end above forecast levels. “Our biggest challenge continues to be a severe shortage of workers, limiting our production output to meet demand. The second challenge is general availability of steel; the market is getting worse, and more production delays are expected as we gap out of needed material.” Freight, diesel and steel cost more ISM’s manufacturing index registered 54.5 in September, a tenth of a point below August, the group said in its Oct. 1 report. ISM said it was the ninth straight month of expansion after a 10-month contraction. The prices index climbed 6.8 points to 77.9, the largest move in the report. ISM said 58.6% of respondents reported paying higher prices, up from 46.2% in August. Freight was on ISM’s list of commodities up in price for a seventh month. Diesel fuel was on it for a second. No commodity was reported down in price. The Energy Information Administration’s weekly benchmark diesel price, the figure most fuel surcharges use, set a record of $6.529 a gallon on Sept. 21, FreightWaves’ John Kingston reported. “The Prices Index reading is still being driven by (1) increases in steel and aluminum prices that impact the entire value chain, (2) tariffs applied to many imported goods and (3) increases in petroleum-based products as a result of the Middle East conflict,” said Susan Spence, chair of ISM’s Manufacturing Business Survey Committee. A food, beverage and tobacco products respondent told ISM that “fuel costs are still affecting transportation costs and the overall cost of goods.” A machinery respondent said higher interest rates are slowing new construction and that “we also have to face up to the higher cost of components from overseas due to tariffs and freight rates.” ISM’s inventories index fell 2 points to 48.6 in September, back in contraction. The customers’ inventories index slipped to 41.6, a 24th month in “too low” territory. “A ‘too low’ status for the Customers’ Inventories Index is usually considered positive for future production,” Spence said. Canada tariffs and the August import jump The August trade figures predate Canada’s retaliation. The U.S. goods deficit with Canada widened $4.1 billion to $7.1 billion as imports from Canada rose $4.6 billion to $37.1 billion, the Census Bureau and Bureau of Economic Analysis said. Ottawa put retaliatory tariffs of 15% to 50% on about C$27.6 billion in U.S. goods on Sept. 8, FreightWaves’ Noi Mahoney reported, matching U.S. duties after talks broke down in August. “Canada tariffs have impacted cross-border costs and left our supply chain team scrambling — those supply chains took years to develop and nurture — hurting the very lead times government buyers are concerned about,” a machinery respondent said. That respondent said orders and delivery times had both doubled in semiconductors, electronics and government work. Goods imports rose $17.2 billion to $342.2 billion in August, and the goods deficit widened $12.8 billion to $136.6 billion. Industrial supplies accounted for $9.1 billion of the import increase. Crude oil was up $3.3 billion and nonmonetary gold $3.1 billion. Capital goods imports rose $6.2 billion, including $2.4 billion in semiconductors and $1.3 billion in other industrial machinery. Real goods imports, in 2017 dollars, rose 4.1% to $267.7 billion, against a 5.4% nominal increase. Year to date, the goods and services deficit is down 19.9% from the same period in 2025, and total imports are up 4.4%. “This month, it is the trade war with Canada, which every day is getting worse — causing prices to go up and uncertainty that creates massive disruption,” a transportation equipment respondent said. “Buying continues to get pushed out indefinitely as customers don’t want to spend on capital expenditures until there is more certainty of costs and demand.” The post Factory backlogs build as freight and steel costs climb appeared first on FreightWaves.
Transportation
VinFast plans US electric buses – and it’ll handle more than the ride
VinFast wants to put electric buses on US streets, and its pitch goes beyond the vehicles: charging, maintenance, and operations bundled into one package. Deliveries of buses approved for US use are expected to begin in Q1 2028. more…
Transportation
Tesla files permit for Semi service center in Las Vegas as ramp begins
Tesla is preparing a dedicated Tesla Semi service center in Las Vegas, according to a new building permit filed with Clark County, Nevada. It’s one of the first concrete signs of the service network Tesla needs to support its electric Class 8 truck, which only entered volume production two weeks ago. more…