Month in Review – April 2026

Maritime

April 1: Emergency Surcharges Soar as Container Flows Collapse – Transport Intelligence

There is a particular kind of dread familiar to freight forwarders and supply chain managers alike, the kind that arrives not as a phone call but as a terse advisory email bearing a carrier letterhead and a dollar sign.

March 2nd delivered that feeling at scale, crystallizing a geopolitical shock. Within the span of a single business day, two of the world’s largest container lines had introduced emergency conflict surcharges on Middle East trades. By the end of the week, most of the shipping companies had repositioned their pricing. The Strait of Hormuz, through which a significant slice of global containerized trade ordinarily flows, had effectively closed. What followed was not chaos exactly. It was something more unsettling: a rapid, coordinated repricing of risk.

The surcharges are flat-fee risk transfers announced within hours of the initial strikes, passing the soaring cost of war-risk insurance and operational exposure directly onto the shipper. Hapag-Lloyd moved first on March 2, at $1,500 per TEU. CMA CGM matched the announcement within hours, at a slightly higher $2,000 per 20ft. The numbers between carriers are not wildly different, but the scope of coverage and the pace at which each carrier has since begun relaxing booking restrictions tells you a fair amount about each one’s appetite for the region.

Then came the second wave, and this one caught a good many shippers off guard, precisely because it arrived a fortnight later and felt on the surface like a separate conversation. From mid-March onwards, carriers began stacking emergency fuel surcharges on top of the conflict premiums already in place, citing a sharp spike in global bunker costs driven by the same crisis that had closed the Strait.

April 1: Trump Resumes Strait of Hormuz Threats – The Maritime Executive

As the reality of the Strait of Hormuz energy restriction begins to set in for overseas markets, President Donald Trump has reinstated his pledge to reopen the waterway, having previously signaled that the task would be up to other nations.

On March 30, Trump said that the strait was enough of a priority that the U.S. would destroy Iran’s potable water supplies if Iran didn’t give it up.

On March 31, the president told reporters that he did not see a need to take action to open the strait. “When we leave, the strait will automatically open,” President Trump claimed. “I don’t think about it, to be honest.”

On April 1, he resumed the March 30 pledge to use U.S. military force to make Iran give up control of the waterway. “We will consider [a ceasefire] when Hormuz Strait is open, free, and clear. Until then, we are blasting Iran into oblivion or, as they say, back to the Stone Ages!” Trump pledged, leaving the timetable open for an extended U.S. intervention. Separately, he told reporters that the U.S. would be leaving the conflict “within maybe two weeks, maybe a couple of days longer,” and “it doesn’t matter if they come to the table or not” to achieve a negotiated deal.

April 1: PRPA Announces New President and Chief Executive Officer – PRPA press release

The Prince Rupert Port Authority Board of Directors has appointed Kurt Slocombe as the organization’s next President and Chief Executive Officer. The selection is the result of an international search that began in October 2025.

“Kurt’s understanding of our operations and long-standing commitment to the Prince Rupert community qualify him to lead the team,” said Peter Lantin, Board Chair, Prince Rupert Port Authority.

Slocombe joined PRPA in 2019 as Vice President, Operations, Planning and Infrastructure. He has an extensive background in gateway operations.

April 4: Montreal Port Authority Announces Abrupt Departure of CEO Julie Gascon – CTV News

The Montreal Port Authority (MPA) has announced the sudden departure of its president and CEO, Julie Gascon.

In a brief statement issued on April 3 on its website, the port authority said Gascon “has ceased her position” effective immediately and that the board of directors will oversee the leadership of the organization on an interim basis.

A search for her replacement is underway.

The MPA did not provide a reason for her departure in the statement. A spokesperson said in an email on April 4 that the contractual relationship between Gascon and the MPA “is a private matter” and more details could not be provided.

April 6: Iran Pushes Back Against Trump’s Deadline to Open the Strait of Hormuz – NPR

Iran’s top officials pushed back on April 6 against President Trump’s deadline to open the Strait of Hormuz, striking a defiant tone as the warring sides traded missile attacks. The U.S. and Israel targeted oil facilities inside Iran, while Iran hit several towns in Israel and oil refineries across the Gulf countries.

Trump’s social media post on April 5 said, “Tuesday [April 7] will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran.”

In response, an Iranian spokesman said, “The Strait of Hormuz will open when all the damage caused by the imposed war is compensated through a new legal regime, using a portion of the revenue from transit fees.”

Iran’s mission to the UN said on April 5: “Trump seeks to drag the region into an endless war. This is direct and public incitement to terrorize civilians and clear evidence of intent to commit war crimes. The international community and all States have legal obligations to prevent such atrocious acts of war crimes.”

April 6: Mexico’s Alternative to the Panama Canal Set to Open Fully This Year – Supply Chain Brain

The Mexican government has said the Interoceanic Corridor of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec (CIIT) is due to be fully completed in the first half of 2026, with final construction works set to finish in June this year, reports Automotive Logistics.

The CIIT project, which aims to provide a multimodal logistics service integrating Mexico’s national port system and local administrations, interconnected through rail transport via the Isthmus of Tehuantepec Railway, was officially approved in June 2019, as an alternative to the Panama Canal.

In a pilot program in the spring of 2025, Hyundai and its logistics arm Hyundai Glovis moved 900 vehicles from Asia to the U.S. East Coast, using the 303-kilometre rail route connecting the Pacific port of Salina Cruz to the Gulf port of Coatzacoalcos, according to DailyGalaxy.com. The pilot completed each rail crossing in roughly nine hours, with the full ocean-to-ocean transfer benchmarked at about 72 hours.

A climate study published the same year found that the Panama Canal could face significantly more frequent extreme droughts by the end of the century if greenhouse gas emissions remain high.

April 8: U.S. and Iran Agree to Provisional Ceasefire as Tehran Says It Will Reopen Strait of Hormuz – The Guardian

The U.S. and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire on the evening of April 7 after a last-minute diplomatic intervention led by Pakistan, canceling an ultimatum from Donald Trump for Iran to surrender or face widespread destruction.

Trump’s announcement of the ceasefire agreement came less than two hours before the U.S. president’s self-imposed 8pm Eastern time deadline to bomb Iran’s power plants and bridges in a move that legal scholars, as well as officials from numerous countries and the Pope, had warned could constitute war crimes.

Trump wrote in a post that “subject to the Islamic Republic of Iran agreeing to the COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING of the Strait of Hormuz, I agree to suspend the bombing and attack of Iran for a period of two weeks.”

In the two weeks, Trump said, he believed the U.S. and Iran could negotiate over a 10-point proposal made by Tehran that would allow an armistice to be “finalized and consummated.”

Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, issued a statement shortly after Trump’s announcement saying Iran had agreed to the ceasefire. “For a period of two weeks, safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz will be possible via coordinating with Iran’s Armed Forces,” he wrote.

Israel will also agree to the two-week ceasefire, Axios reported, citing an Israeli official, adding that the ceasefire would enter effect as soon as the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz ceased.

April 8: Iran Closes Strait of Hormuz Again in Response to Israeli Attacks in Lebanon, Threatening Ceasefire – CTV News

Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz again on April 8 in response to Israeli attacks against the Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon, casting doubt over whether an already precarious ceasefire to end more than a month of war will hold.

The U.S. and Iran both claimed victory after reaching the agreement, and world leaders expressed relief, even as more drones and missiles hit Iran and Gulf Arab countries. At the same time, Israel intensified its attacks on the Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon, hitting several commercial and residential areas in Beirut without warning. At least 182 people were killed and hundreds were wounded in one of the deadliest days in the latest Israel-Hezbollah war.

The fresh violence threatened to scuttle what U.S. Vice-President JD Vance called a “fragile” deal.

The White House demanded that Iran reopen the strait immediately and said Vance would lead the American negotiating team in talks in Pakistan aimed at finding a permanent end to the war.

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said planned talks with the U.S. to seek a permanent halt to hostilities were “unreasonable” because Washington broke three of Tehran’s 10 conditions for an end to the fighting. In a social media post, Ghalibaf objected to Israeli attacks on Hezbollah, an alleged drone incursion into Iranian airspace after the ceasefire went into effect and the U.S. assertion that it will not accept any Iranian enrichment capabilities in a final agreement.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi insisted that an end to the war in Lebanon was part of the ceasefire agreement with the U.S.

April 8: The Port of Montreal Is Ready to Take On Unprecedented Levels of Debt – La Presse (translated from French)

Still waiting for money from the private sector, the Montreal Port Authority (MPA) has just received the green light from the Carney government to borrow up to $1.16 billion from the Canada Infrastructure Bank to finance its future container terminal, La Presse has learned.

Taking into account other loans already offered by the provincial and federal governments, the country’s second largest port could borrow more than $1.4 billion from governments and a federal corporation to finance its project currently estimated at $2.3 billion.

“We’re changing scale here. These are large sums of money. What projected revenues are they planning to use to repay all these amounts? We don’t have the information,” says Jacques Roy, professor emeritus at HEC Montréal specializing in transportation and logistics.

Mr. Roy is not the only one asking questions.

Standard & Poor’s, one of the world’s leading rating agencies, had already issued a warning to the MPA in January 2025 when it downgraded its credit rating outlook (AA) from “stable” to “negative.” The reason: a financial situation that could be severely strained due to anticipated investments in Contrecœur.

Among the experts consulted by La Presse, no one, including S&P, questions the Port of Montreal’s current business model. Year in, year out, the MPA generates surpluses and cash flow, which allows it to reinvest in its current infrastructure and maintain its long-term debt at a reasonable level.

“The current balance sheet seems quite satisfactory to me for the current activities of the port,” says Mr. Roy.

What worries observers consulted by La Presse is the cost of expansion when we have just turned the page on one of the worst years of the last decade in terms of volumes.

For a decade, the MPA has been navigating in a context of stagnation.

April 9: ‘Mental Breakdown’: Oil Tanker Workers Stuck in Gulf for Six Weeks Are Reaching Their Limit – The Guardian

‘You can try to minimize the impact that this situation has on your mental health but it’s becoming impossible.” After six weeks stranded in the Gulf, one of the 20,000 seafarers trapped by Iran’s chokehold on the strait of Hormuz is reaching their limit.

Yet with the fragile Middle East ceasefire already fraying, the oil tanker worker said any hope they may soon be free to leave had already evaporated, if it ever felt real at all.

“We’re at anchor, near dozens of loaded tankers. No one has moved an inch,” said the crew member, one of hundreds anchored off the coast of the United Arab Emirates with a clear view of the loaded Kuwaiti oil tanker set ablaze by an Iranian missile less than a fortnight ago.

Within hours of the ceasefire being agreed, the tell-tale plumes of intercepted missiles streaked the sky above their vessels. After a month and a half of drone attacks and reports of underwater mines, many seafarers feel unwilling and unable to traverse the strait – even if the ceasefire allowed them to do so.

“I gave my notice exactly one month ago,” the seafarer said. “I’ve informed the master, I’m not willing to sail through the strait. It’s about safety, it’s all about safety.”

Aboard the same tanker, most of the crew feel the same, they added, saying about 90% of those on board want to exercise their right to refuse to sail. One crew member has suffered a “mental breakdown”, and is being checked on regularly by colleagues.

“I’ve no doubt that this particular issue, this mental breakdown, is happening [on tankers] all around us from the stress of this situation. Seafarer support [phone] lines are trying to help, but from the beginning we have all known that it would not be enough,” the seafarer said.

April 9: El Niño Watch Puts Panama Canal Back in Focus After Dramatic Drought Recovery – gCaptain

A newly issued El Niño watch from the NOAA Climate Prediction Center is putting the Panama Canal back in focus, with early signals pointing to conditions that could once again squeeze one of the world’s most critical shipping arteries.

El Niño events are typically associated with reduced rainfall across Central America, a dynamic that directly impacts water levels in Gatun Lake, the freshwater reservoir that powers the canal’s lock system.

After severe El Niño-driven drought conditions in 2023–2024 forced the canal to slash daily transits to as few as 24 vessels per day and impose draft restrictions below 44 feet, maritime shipping remains highly sensitive to any renewed signs of water stress, particularly as other chokepoints remain constrained. The prolonged disruption rippled across global supply chains, driving congestion, higher transit costs and widespread rerouting.

The turnaround since then has been dramatic. A shift to La Niña and sustained rainfall restored water levels through 2025, allowing the canal to return to near-normal operations with roughly 36 daily transits and full 50-foot draft for Neopanamax vessels. By early 2026, Gatun Lake had surged to near maximum capacity, even forcing authorities to open spillways, marking an abrupt reversal from the historic lows seen just two years earlier.

NOAA now expects El Niño to emerge by mid-2026 and persist through year-end, raising the risk that rainfall deficits could reappear during the canal’s critical wet season.

April 13: Trump Announces Naval Blockade of Strait of Hormuz After Iran Talks Collapse over Nuclear Demands – Yahoo

President Trump announced on April 12 that the United States will blockade the Strait of Hormuz after nearly 20 hours of peace talks in Islamabad collapsed over Iran’s refusal to give up its nuclear ambitions.

“Effective immediately, the United States Navy, the Finest in the World, will begin the process of BLOCKADING any and all Ships trying to enter, or leave, the Strait of Hormuz,” Trump wrote in a pair of posts on Truth Social.

Trump said the talks reached agreement on most points, but broke down on the single issue he said mattered most: Iran’s nuclear program. A source told Axios that another point of contention was control of the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran’s chief negotiator, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, offered his own account of the collapse on X, saying the Iranian delegation entered talks in “good faith” but that the U.S. “failed to gain the trust of the Iranian delegation in this round of negotiations.” He stopped short of closing the door entirely. “America has understood our logic and principles,” Qalibaf wrote, “and now it’s time for it to decide whether it can earn our trust or not.”

Tehran has consistently maintained that its nuclear program is for civilian purposes, not weapons development. Iran was a signatory to the 2015 nuclear deal, which placed limits on its enrichment activities in exchange for sanctions relief, before the U.S. withdrew from the agreement under President Trump’s first term.

April 13: NATO Allies Refuse to Join U.S. Hormuz Blockade, Deepening Rift with Trump – gCaptain

NATO allies said on April 13 they would not get involved in U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan to blockade the Strait of Hormuz, proposing instead to intervene only once fighting ends, in a move likely to anger Trump and increase strains in the alliance.

Trump had said the U.S. military would work with other countries to block all maritime traffic in the waterway after weekend talks failed to reach an agreement to end the six-week conflict with Iran. The U.S. military later specified that the blockade would apply only to ships going to or from Iranian ports.

“The Blockade will begin shortly. Other Countries will be involved with this Blockade,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social on April 12.

But NATO allies said they would not be drawn into the conflict by taking part in the blockade, saying instead they were working on an initiative to open the waterway.

Their refusal to participate is yet another point of friction with Trump, who has threatened to withdraw from the military alliance and is weighing pulling some U.S. troops from Europe after several countries denied U.S. military planes use of their airspace for attacks on Iran.

April 15: U.S. and Iran Eye Ceasefire Extension amid Hormuz Standoff – Transport Topics

The U.S. and Iran are considering a two-week ceasefire extension to allow more time to negotiate a peace deal, according to a person familiar with the matter, reducing the prospect of a return to fighting despite an intensifying standoff over the Strait of Hormuz.

Mediators between the warring sides are seeking technical talks to overcome the most contentious issues preventing an agreement that would extend beyond next week, when an initial truce will expire, said the person, who asked not to be identified discussing sensitive matters. Those include the reopening of Hormuz and the future of Iran’s nuclear program.

The U.S. hasn’t “formally requested an extension of the ceasefire,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters April 15 but acknowledged “we remain very much engaged in these negotiations.”

Pakistan’s military said a delegation from the country arrived in Iran on April 15, with Islamabad continuing to mediate the exchange of messages between the two sides.

April 15: China Told Maersk and MSC to Drop Panama Port Operations, FT Reports – Reuters

In a meeting last month, China told Danish shipping group Maersk and Switzerland-based Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) to cease operating ports ‌on the Panama Canal, the Financial Times reported on April 15.

In the meeting with China’s state planner, Maersk and MSC were told to withdraw from the Balboa and Cristóbal ports ⁠immediately, the report said, citing two people familiar with the talks. Maersk and MSC were told not to “engage in illegal activities that harm the interests of Chinese companies, ‌and ⁠to uphold commercial ethics and international rules,” the report said.

Panama has granted temporary 18-month concessions to keep the terminals operating, with APM Terminals, a unit of Maersk, managing Balboa ⁠and TIL Panama, a unit of MSC, handling Cristobal.

April 20: Green Light for Strait of Hormuz Shipping Could Take Six Months or More After War’s End – American Shipper

It could take six months or longer for ships to be cleared for transit through the Strait of Hormuz, even after the Iran war is over. That’s because Iran has mined the narrow waterway that guards the entrance to the Persian Gulf.

In 1991, it took the United States six months to recover 1,300 mines after the Iraq war, a task that led to the destruction of two American warships, said a source with knowledge of military operations at that time.

“And we had a map of where [the mines] were,” said the source, who requested anonymity to protect relationships. “Not even the Iranians know how many; nobody has a map nor knows how many and where they were dumped. They move around and there most likely will be incidents in the future.”

As a result, the source said, six months from the end of hostilities to clear ship operations would be normal for vessel insurers and underwriters who have declared force majeure in the region.

April 21: Vancouver Fraser Port Authority and GCT Enter into MOU to Explore Partnership to Advance Roberts Bank Terminal 2 – VFPA–GCT press release

With the support of the Major Projects Office, the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority (VFPA) and GCT Global Container Terminals (GCT) have entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to explore partnership to advance Roberts Bank Terminal 2 (RBT2) at the Port of Vancouver. The parties will work collaboratively to share information and negotiate in good faith with the goal of achieving a joint development agreement.

Under the MOU, VFPA and GCT will work together through a defined process to assess the benefits, synergies and operational expertise that GCT can contribute as the potential terminal builder and operator. During this one-year period, VFPA will work exclusively with GCT to explore a development and operating arrangement for RBT2.

VFPA will continue to lead the development of the RBT2 landmass and remain responsible for permitting and engagement with Indigenous communities.

As part of this coordinated approach, GCT will withdraw its application to the Major Project Office for its separate Deltaport Berth 4 (DP4) expansion project and instead focus its efforts on advancing RBT2.

April 21: Trump Extends Ceasefire with Iran Indefinitely – The Maritime Executive

On April 21, President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. will extend its ceasefire with Iran without an end date, suspending his pledges to attack Iranian civilian infrastructure unless Tehran reached terms to end the seven-week conflict. As recently as the morning of April 21, the president warned that he was unwilling to extend the ceasefire and had said that he would “expect to be bombing” if the deadline passed without an agreement.

Citing apparent leadership divisions within Iran, Trump said that he would abide by a request from the Pakistani intermediaries who are brokering the talks, and would “extend the ceasefire until such time as [Iran’s] proposal is submitted and discussions are concluded.” The sudden reversal comes after weeks of dire threats from the White House, including controversial pledges to attack civilian bridges and powerplants within Iran.

April 21: Shipping Industry Closes Ranks Behind IMO Ahead of High-Stakes Climate Talks – gCaptain

The International Maritime Organization faces a defining moment next week as global shipping groups line up in rare unity behind the regulator ahead of renewed climate negotiations at Marine Environment Protection Committee 84 in London.

Just six months after governments failed to adopt a landmark carbon pricing framework, the industry is sending a clear message: Deliver a global deal or risk fragmenting the rules that govern international shipping.

In a coordinated statement ahead of the meeting, major trade bodies, including BIMCO, the International Chamber of Shipping and the World Shipping Council, threw their support behind the IMO as the only viable global regulator for shipping emissions.

“The industry remains unified in its commitment to the value and effectiveness of the IMO as the global regulator for international shipping and remains committed to pursuing the ambition established within the 2023 IMO Strategy on Reduction of GHG Emissions from Ships,” the joint statement reads.

The timing is no coincidence. At the October 2025 session, a widely backed Net-Zero Framework collapsed after a bloc of oil-producing states, led by the United States and Saudi Arabia, pushed through a one-year delay, derailing what would have been the first global carbon pricing system for shipping.

That failure left the industry facing growing uncertainty just as shipowners are committing billions to alternative fuels and new technologies.

The industry’s concern is now shifting from whether a deal is possible to what happens if one isn’t.

April 23: Trump Orders U.S. Military to ‘Shoot and Kill’ Iranian Small Boats Choking Strait of Hormuz – CBC News

U.S. President Donald Trump said on April 23 he has ordered the U.S. military to “shoot and kill” small Iranian boats that deploy mines to choke traffic through the Strait of Hormuz as Israel says it’s ready to resume attacks on Iran.

Trump’s post on social media came shortly after the U.S. seized another tanker associated with the smuggling of Iranian oil, ratcheting up a standoff with Tehran over the strait.

“I have ordered the United States Navy to shoot and kill any boat, small boats though they may be … that is putting mines in the waters of the Strait of Hormuz,” Trump posted.

“There is to be no hesitation. Additionally, our mine ‘sweepers’ are clearing the Strait right now. I am hereby ordering that activity to continue, but at a tripled up level!”

Meanwhile, Israel’s defence minister said on the same day that Israel is prepared to resume war with Iran and is awaiting a “green light” from the United States, according to a statement following a security assessment.

 

 

Air

April 7: Airlines Slash Schedules as Fuel Costs Rise – Air Cargo Week

A surge in jet fuel prices driven by disruption linked to the Iran conflict and the shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz has pushed costs from US$742 to over US$1,710 per metric tonne, triggering widespread airline disruption and raising the risk of supply shortages.

Global flight cancellations have climbed to nearly 7 percent, with over 7,000 services grounded in a single day, while carriers including United Airlines, Air New Zealand and SAS are cutting capacity in response to mounting cost pressures.

The impact is compounded by operational disruptions and route suspensions across the Middle East, leaving airlines facing sustained cost inflation and forcing increasingly reactive network and pricing strategies.

April 8: IATA Warns Jet Fuel Recovery Could Take Months Despite Hormuz Reopening – Air Cargo Week

Jet fuel supply constraints are expected to persist for months even if the Strait of Hormuz reopens, according to IATA Director General Willie Walsh, highlighting a key difference between the current disruption and previous crises.

Speaking in Singapore, Walsh said the bottleneck is no longer crude availability alone but damage to refining capacity across the Middle East, a critical hub for global fuel production.

“If it were to reopen and remain open, I think it will still take a period of months to get back to where supply needs to be,” he said.

April 11: EU Airline Industry Warns of Fuel Shortages if Strait of Hormuz Stays Closed – BBC News

Europe could see jet fuel shortages if the Strait of Hormuz does not reopen in the next three weeks, the trade body for European airports has warned.

Airports Council International (ACI) Europe said its members had “increasing concerns” about the availability of jet fuel, particularly with the approach of the summer tourism season. It warned smaller airports are particularly vulnerable.

ACI Europe’s director-general Olivier Jankovec wrote in a letter to the European commissioners for energy and tourism about the concerns.

“A supply crunch would severely disrupt airport operations and air connectivity – with the risk of harsh economic impacts for the communities affected, and for Europe,” Jankovec said.

“At this stage, we understand that, if the passage through the Strait of Hormuz does not resume in any significant and stable way within the next three weeks, systemic jet fuel shortage is set to become a reality for the EU.”

 

 

Trucking

April 1: Updated CVSA Out-of-Service Criteria Now in Effect – TruckNews.com

The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s (CVSA) 2026 out-of-service criteria are now officially in effect, featuring 17 changes that were ratified last year. All changes have been incorporated into inspection bulletins, inspection procedures, operational policies and training materials.

This article lists the 17 changes.

April 12: U.S. Bill Aims to Lift Minimum Insurance Requirement for Carriers to $5 Million – TruckNews.com

Legislation introduced in the U.S. House by a group of Democratic lawmakers would lift the minimum insurance requirement for motor carriers to $5 million from the current $750,000. The Fair Compensation for Truck Crash Victims Act would also index the new minimum insurance requirement to inflation.

The $750,000 minimum insurance requirement for interstate motor carriers was first set in 1980. Similar legislation has been introduced several other times in recent years, but has failed to advance.

In a report sent to Congress earlier this year, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said that “the landscape of crash costs” exceeds existing minimum financial responsibility requirements, and there is “a disparity between current minimums and the actual costs incurred in some fatal and severe/critical injury incidents.”

April 21: Strategic Cargo Theft Keeps Evolving to Evade Vetting – Transport Topics

Strategic cargo theft is growing not only in scope but also in complexity as criminals continuously adjust their tactics and devise schemes that are harder for motor carriers, freight brokers and shippers to detect and prevent.

Logistics industry leaders discussed how strategic theft methods are evolving and offered advice on safeguarding freight during an April 17 panel discussion at the Transportation Intermediaries Association’s 2026 Capital Ideas Conference.

One emerging method involves an organized crew getting one of its members hired as a driver at a legitimate carrier to circumvent industry vetting processes, which typically focus on the qualifications and reputation of the motor carrier rather than the individual driver.

From there, the thief drives for that carrier until assigned a valuable load that the crew wants to steal. When that opportunity arises, the thief parks somewhere and goes to the truck stop or visits friends or family while other crew members physically steal the cargo.

“They make people believe that there was no deception involved here, that the driver just left the load unattended and then they physically stole it,” said Scott Cornell, chief risk officer for insurance provider SPG Cargo & Logistics. “Everybody leaves it thinking that it’s a straight theft, when in essence it’s actually a strategic theft.”

Most likely, the trucking company will then play into the hands of the criminals’ plan by firing the driver for leaving the load unattended or taking an unscheduled break, he said. “That allows that bad guy to then move on to the next company.”

This form of strategic theft isn’t commonplace but has begun to appear more frequently in recent months, Cornell said.

April 27: Alberta-Led Platform Targets Inconsistent Trucking Regulations – TruckNews.com

Interprovincial trade barriers continue to create inefficiencies for Canada’s trucking industry, with inconsistent regulations on weights, dimensions and permitting limiting how freight moves across the country.

A newly launched Canadian trucking regulations hub, led by Alberta, is being positioned as a key step toward addressing those challenges.

The online platform centralizes regulatory information from multiple jurisdictions, giving carriers and drivers a single access point to rules that have traditionally been fragmented across provinces.

 

 

Rail

April 14: Merged UP-NS Would Control Half of All U.S. Rail Freight: BNSF CEO – FreightWaves

The proposed coast-to-coast merger of Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern is bad for the industry, a rival CEO warned, and would give the transcontinental behemoth a dominant 50% share of all U.S. rail freight.

“We’ve had lots of opportunities to be very clear that we’re opposed to this merger, and we don’t think it’s good for the industry,” said Katie Farmer, chief executive of BNSF Railway. “Make no mistake, this is a consolidation of almost 50% of all the rail volume…to one road. When you consolidate 50% of all rail volume that moves under one carrier, you eliminate, or significantly reduce, flexibility for customers, optionality, and ultimately there’s going to be fewer interchange points. You have one railroad that is looking to optimize their network, and based on what’s happened in the past, that is not always good for customers.”