Shipper Strategy
Procurement, routing, service, risk, and transportation strategy for shippers.
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Freight AI’s Trust Test: Who Saves Time—and Who Does the Extra Work?
Freight AI can save a broker time while creating more work for a carrier. FIR examines the survey evidence and proposes a scorecard for the full transaction.
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Old Dominion’s October 5 Rate Increase: Reprice Your Shipments, Not Just Your Budget
Old Dominion’s October pricing change gives affected LTL shippers a deadline to test actual shipment costs. FIR explains what to rerate, what not to infer, and how to compare alternatives.
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Rail Fuel Surcharges Hit 48 Cents a Car-Mile as Harvest Backlogs Build—What Grain Shippers Should Audit Now
Rail fuel surcharges reached $0.48 per car-mile as harvest demand tightened equipment. FIR identifies the rate, formula and car-supply exposures shippers should audit now.
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Intermodal’s 18% Weekly Gain Is Not a Demand Boom—The Holiday Distortion Shippers Should See Before Q4 Bids
AAR’s latest comparison is accurate but calendar-distorted. Actual intermodal volume fell 1.3% from the prior week, while year-to-date growth reached 4.2%. Shippers should separate the headline from the planning signal.
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Diesel Jumped 36.8 Cents in One Week as Truck Freight Prices Rose 2.0%—What Shippers Should Audit Before Q4 Bids
Weekly pump prices and monthly freight-price data now point in the same direction—but they measure different costs. Shippers should separate fuel, linehaul and accessorials before paying twice for the same…
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September 2026 Freight Outlook: A Cost Shock Without a Volume Boom
September’s freight market pairs expanding goods demand with elevated fuel and transportation costs. Explore verified truck, ocean, rail and air indicators, FIR scenarios, and practical procurement actions.
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Mundra’s 1,500-Trucker Stoppage Disrupts Container Flows—What Shippers Should Do Now
A stoppage involving roughly 1,500 container transporters is disrupting empty returns and factory stuffing at India’s Mundra Port. FIR separates confirmed restrictions from estimates and identifies the actions shippers should…
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Black Sea Disruption Forces 500,000-Ton Wheat Pivot—Now the Shock Is Reaching Container Freight
Black Sea attacks are forcing Asian wheat buyers toward Australia and Argentina, raising delivered costs and pushing some urgent grain into containers.
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Shanghai and Ningbo Reopened—But 10-Day Queues Are Tightening Transpacific Capacity
Shanghai and Ningbo are open, but berth delays now reach 10–11 days as dense yards, vessel bunching and port omissions threaten U.S.-bound September inventory.