From Robinson to Expeditors & UPS via K+N & DSV - the ladder is burning

There is a photograph of CH Robinson's CEO, Dave Bozeman, sitting in his office at the Eden Prairie headquarters, taken in January 2025. By the time that picture was published, the company had reduced its total employment by 31%, a figure that includes both AI-driven attrition and the divestiture of its European Surface Transportation business. Employment peaked at 17,399 in 2022. As of early 2026, it stood at roughly 11,855. The company didn't do it with a single dramatic ...

South-east Asia the star exporter replacing ecommerce in air cargo

General cargo imports have emerged as the main driver of air freight demand on the transpacific, replacing the ecommerce boom that had dominated the market for three years, according to new analysis from Trade and Transport Group (TTG). Frederic Horst, MD of TTG, said the market had undergone a significant shift. "For the past year, general air cargo imports have filled the gap created by the end of the US de minimis exemption," he said. "Up to early 2025 it was the main driver. That has changed." Asian air exports to the US increased 21.5% last year, with growth accelerating further during the first months of this year, according to TTG data. Mr Horst noted that the trend was reflected in the divergence between air traffic data - covering all cargo flown - and air trade data, which tracks import consignments valued at more than $2,000, and therefore excludes most cross-border ecommerce. The figures mirror Chinese trade statistics, which show a sharp decline in low-value exports to the US. According to TTG, Chinese low-value trade to the US fell 28% in 2025, and was down 33% through April. The changing relationship between air traffic and air trade provides further evidence of the shift. In 2015, air trade accounted for around 80% of total air traffic weight, most of the remainder consisting of express parcels. By 2024, that share had fallen to roughly 53%, reflecting the surge in ecommerce volumes. However, the gap has narrowed again, with air trade accounting for 72% of air traffic weight by March 2026. The trend was also highlighted by WorldACD chief executive Ken de Witt Hamer during TIACA's Executive Summit earlier this month. Data covering the first four months of 2026 showed "some significant changes" in outbound ecommerce flows, he said. While China, North-east and South-east Asia were among the top regions driving tonnage growth last year, "we've actually seen a really important reversal of roles here". "Most growth is actually coming out of South-east Asia, the new number one, and China moved to the third spot," Mr de Witt Hamer said. He added that the US and North America had dropped out of the top five origin sub-regions for growth, replaced by South America and South Asia. According to WorldACD, the fastest-growing tradelane this year has been South-east Asia-US, followed by North-east Asia-South-east Asia and China-South-east Asia, underscoring the continuing diversification of global air cargo flows away from China-centric ecommerce traffic.

More shipper pain on the way as carriers levy new peak season surcharges

Ocean carriers have continued their flurry of surcharge and rate increase announcements, which "continue to be the scourge of shippers' lives", according to James Hookham, director of the Global Shippers Forum. Danish shipping line Maersk today announced it was implementing a Peak Season Surcharge (PSS) for Far East Asia to North Europe and Mediterranean from 7 July of $750 per teu. From South Korea this will be applicable from 16 July. It also announced a Far East Asia to Southern Africa and Indian Ocean Islands PSS of $1,800 per teu from 1 July, along with yesterday's notice of a PSS from Far East Asia to Middle East of $1,000 per 40ft, also for 1 July. French carrier CMA CGM joined its Danish counterpart in a flurry of PSS across today and yesterday. This includes a charge of between $350 and $850 per teu from China to West Africa, between $400 and $500 from China to East Africa from 21 June and $350-$550 from China to South Africa and Mozambique from 21 June. Alongside the PSS, CMA CGM also updated its FAK rates from the Indian Subcontinent to North Europe, the Mediterranean, North Africa, and Latin America, all effective 1 July. To North Europe and the Mediterranean this is $5,000 per teu, to North Africa $6,000, and to Latin America between $4,300-$6,150. Hapag-Lloyd also announced General Rate Increases (GRI) from Indian Subcontinent and Middle East to North America west coast of $2,100 and $1,500 to the east coast. James Hookham, director of the Global Shippers Forum recently told The Loadstar Podcast that surcharges "continue to be the scourge of shippers' lives". "They don't want surcharges, they want solutions," he stated. Referring to recent fuel surcharges, Mr Hookham said: "Not that we can do much about the situation now, but I think there is a need to look at this again, because I would suggest it's one of the biggest factors in hindering productive relations between shippers and shipping lines going forward. "There's obviously the huge disruption that's taken place to trades in the Middle East... inevitably the hit on fuel prices has been passed on," he acknowledged. But Mr Hookham highlighted that this was done "not just through the established bunker adjustment factors", as would be expected. "We saw quite early on, within the first few weeks of the conflict, additional surcharges coming in for fuel prices... but it was difficult to understand how the shipping line had actually had to pay that price for fuel in the previous three or four days, and suddenly the shipper was being confronted with an increased cost, and that was across many trades. "Some of us had difficulty believing that they need to pay it quite so quickly that they needed to pass those surcharges on as quickly as they did," he underscored. Today, Maersk also announced intermodal fuel fee updates for many regions of Europe, including Poland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, Luxembourg and Netherlands from the period 22 June to 6 July. "Given the volatility of the current energy market, this surcharge will be review bi-weekly to account to account for evolving conditions," it explained. For the UK, as per the advisory update shared by Port of Felixstowe, yesterday, Maersk announced it was decreasing its EFS from £5.38 to £4.17 per import laden container effective from 1 July.