CARB Withdraws Pending Environmental Waivers from EPA
The CA Air Resources Board (CARB) withdrew Waiver Requests from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on January 13th, affecting several zero-emissions (ZE) regulations in CA, including the “Advanced Clean Fleets” (ACF) rule, the “In-Use Locomotive” rule, and the “transport refrigeration units” rule. The rules required approval by the EPA to be enforced in CA. The withdrawal eliminates the CA state mandate for the industry to have ZE trucks and locomotives in their fleets. The CARB action was taken in anticipation that the Trump Administration would refuse to grant the pending waivers. Previously granted EPA waivers were not affected, such as the “Advanced Clean Trucks” rule or the mandate to ban the sale of new gas-powered cars beginning with year model 2035 cars. These rules remain in effect; however, the new administration is expected to pursue legal challenges to these rules as well. Regarding the ACF rule, Chris Spear, President of the American Trucking Associations (ATA), stated: “The trucking industry and American consumers can breathe a collective sigh of relief today after CARB finally bowed to reality and shelved its job-killing Advanced Clean Fleets regulation. This unachievable mandate would have raised costs and disrupted our supply chain without delivering the promised environmental benefits.”
The In-Use Locomotive regulation threatened the viability of the planned $1.5 billion BNSF Barstow International Gateway (BIG) project processing SoCal Port intermodal rail freight. Katie Farmer, BNSF CEO, stated: “We are encouraged that CARB has pulled down their request for a waiver with the EPA” and said the railway now has a path to move forward with its investment in Barstow. Read more at Transport Topics and Trains.com
East & Gulf Coast Port Union Set to Ratify Master Contract Agreement
Rank-and-file members of the ILA (International Longshoreman’s Assoc.) are scheduled to vote on the ratification of the Master Union Contract on February 25 after an agreement was reached between union leaders and the USMX (U.S. Maritime Alliance), representing U.S. East & Gulf Coast Ports, on January 8, one week ahead of the contract extension deadline, which could have resulted in another strike at the Ports. Members of USMX approved the master contract in January. The ILA and USMX stated: “This agreement protects current ILA jobs and establishes a framework for implementing technologies that will create more jobs while modernizing East and Gulf Coast ports – making them safer and more efficient and creating the capacity they need to keep our supply chains strong.” The new agreement is retroactive to Oct. 1, 2024, and, if ratified, will be in effect until Sept. 30, 2030.
During the negotiation process, Shippers diverted freight to alternative Ports to avoid a potential strike at the Ports. This partly contributed to SoCal Ports achieving record volumes for the year 2024. The Port of Los Angeles reported processing nearly 10.3 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) – a 19.3% increase over 2023 and its second best year in history. The Port of Long Beach processed 9.6 million TEUs in 2024 – up 24.3% from 2023 and its highest volume in the Port’s history. Read more at FreightWaves and Logistics Management
DHL Supply Chain Acquires Inmar Supply Chain, a top Product Returns Processor
DHL Supply Chain, a leading third-party logistics (3PL) provider, announced the acquisition of Inmar Supply Chain Solutions, a leading returns solutions provider for the retail e-commerce industry. According to DHL, the strategic acquisition will make DHL Supply Chain the largest provider of reverse logistics solutions in North America. The acquisition will bring 14 return centers and approx. 800 associates to DHL Supply Chain, expanding the company’s North American footprint currently at over 520 warehouses supported by 52,000 associates. The financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Patrick Keller, CEO of DHL Supply Chain, N. America, stated: “This acquisition strengthens our existing capabilities, allowing us to offer our customers a single-source solution for their entire supply chain, including the critical and complex area of returns management. This enhances the value we deliver to our customers by streamlining their operations, reducing complexity, and improving their overall supply chain efficiency.”
According to Ben Gordon, Managing Partner of Cambridge Capital, reverse logistics has never been more critical. In 2024, consumers returned 17% of their purchases, equal to $890 billion. Returns have doubled in the 5 years since 2019. Read more at Logistics Management and DHL.
SoCal’s Worst Freeway Truck Bottlenecks
The American Transportation Research Institute’s (ATRI’s) latest annual report on the nation’s top truck bottlenecks identified six SoCal locations among the 100 worst truck bottlenecks in the nation. Utilizing truck GPS data and a speed/volume algorithm to quantify the impact of congestion at 325 freight-significant locations throughout the U.S., the ATRI analysis provides information to help guide investment decisions to improve the truck freight transportation infrastructure. The top SoCal truck bottlenecks are: (#7) SR 60 at SR 57 in Walnut; (#18) I-710 at I-105 in Lynwood; (#20) I-10 at I-15 in Ontario; (#40) I-15 at SR 91 in Corona; (#72) I-110 at I-105 in Los Angeles; and (#91) SR 91 at SR 55 in Anaheim. The same six bottlenecks appeared in last year’s worst 100 list. These areas had average peak-hour truck speeds of 27.6 to 37.5 mph. The nation’s worst truck bottleneck was at I-95 & SR 4, near the George Washington Bridge in Fort Lee, NJ. Read more at ATRI
The Ontario International Airport reports the Highest Air Cargo Volume since the Pandemic
The Ontario International Airport in Southern California’s Inland Empire reported its highest air cargo volume in 2024 since air shipments surged during the pandemic. Year-over-year air cargo volume grew 5.5% in 2024 over 2023 for a total of 793,370 tons, maintaining its status as a top 10 U.S. cargo hub by landed weight. Air cargo growth includes the growth of e-commerce and parcel shipments by Ontario’s top air cargo carriers, including FedEx, UPS, DHL, and Amazon. Read more at AJOT
Maersk Tests RFID-enabled Autonomous Drone System for Warehouse Inventory Management
Maersk Contract Logistics, a top 3PL, has piloted an RFID-enabled autonomous drone system by Verity at Maersk’s CA warehouse for Sportswear brand On for real-time wall-to-wall inventory counts.
The Verity drones can autonomously navigate warehouse aisles, scanning RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tags at up to 1,000 tags per second with an identification success rate of over 99.9%. Due to the limited range of many passive RFID tags, RFID readers must operate within proximity (e.g., at gates), limiting access. According to Verity, the mobile RFID drones aim to overcome this limitation by providing real-time inventory visibility inside and beyond boxes, enabling precise tracking and identification of individual items at every stage of the warehouse lifecycle, and realizing the promise of a true warehouse digital twin. Read more at Verity