Industry News

Hefty fuel surcharges from FedEx and UPS and reduced ground shipping discounts contributed to elevated delivery prices for shippers in Q2, per the TD Cowen/AFS Freight Index released last week. The ground parcel rate per package reached a record high of 42.4% above its January 2018 baseline in Q2, up 6.9% year over year, according to a news release. The rate is expected to dip to 38.7% in Q3, an easing in line with seasonal trends.

Companies that agree to begin work on expanded aluminum production facilities by Jan. 20, 2029, will receive relief for the 50% levy under a to-be-established federal program. To encourage aluminum production onshoring, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick will establish a program for companies to apply for the reduced tariff rates, per the proclamation. To qualify, companies will be required to submit plans to build, refurbish or expand U.S. aluminum facilities and commit to beginning construction by Jan. 20, 2029.

With the relevant federal agencies filing their brief with the District of Columbia Court of Appeals last week, the stage is set for oral arguments in the case of Lujan vs. the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration that will rule on the agency’s recent restrictions on the granting of non-domiciled CDLs. In the interim, the FMCSA rule on non-domiciled CDLs is in place, with the plaintiffs in the case having been rejected in their request for a stay that would have blocked the regulation. At issue is the February rule that limited the ability of states to issue a CDL to persons who were “not domiciled in the United States, who are almost entirely aliens,” the government respondents, including FMCSA and Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy, said in its brief filed last week.

President Donald Trump on Monday announced sweeping new 50% tariffs on roughly $20 billion worth of Canadian imports, reviving trade tensions with one of the largest U.S. trading partners and creating fresh uncertainty for cross-border supply chains. The Trump administration used an obscure trade authority—Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930—to target a broad range of Canadian products after U.S. officials accused Canada of discriminating against U.S. exports of automobiles, dairy products and alcoholic beverages. Administration officials said the tariffs are intended to offset what they describe as Canada’s “unreasonable and discriminatory” treatment of U.S. commerce.

Executives should also consider how variable a particular environment is before deploying AI, and how that can impact a company's ability to produce and distribute products, Anand said. To better position a pilot for success, Anand recommended organizations figure out if the necessary data for the test is available, the return on investment can be demonstrated and employees are comfortable leveraging the AI tool. He added that organizations should consider using the "left-on test" to determine if the effort to maintain the AI tool is worth it.

Amazon's Port St. Lucie, Florida, warehouse closure comes as the e-commerce company converts another facility in the state into a fulfillment center. Please let us know if you have feedback. Amazon will temporarily shutter a distribution facility in Port St. Lucie, Florida, to renovate it into a sortable fulfillment center where employees pick, pack and ship customer orders, Amazon told Supply Chain Dive.

The beverage company is still working to determine the full scope of the breach at its Fairlife business. Coca-Cola on Thursday said it is investigating a ransomware attack that impacted its Fairlife dairy unit and has suspended production at the company’s U.S. production facilities. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company said it is trying to determine the full scope of the attack and what impact it might have on its business.

WD-40's input costs for specialty chemicals rose by as much as 100% last quarter, largely due to higher oil prices linked to the Iran war, VP of Finance and CFO Sara Hyzer said in a July 9 earnings call. Supplier prices for the specialty chemicals and base oils WD-40 buys are expected to decline slowly, easing input-cost pressure on margins over time, Hyzer said. At the time, Hyzer told investors that higher raw material spending typically takes 90 to 120 days to show up in the cost of products sold.