What’s going on in freight — Friday 23 October 2026

Washington moved two trade dates at once, reshuffling the 50% Canada tariff list from 30 October and proposing to keep China port fees paused until January, while war risk kept rising in Hormuz and the Black Sea. On rates, carriers are asking far more for November than any spot index shows, even as ship charter costs and air demand keep a floor under prices.

War, chokepoints and disruption

• Brent crude settled at $116.72 a barrel on 23 October, a day after a tanker was hit about 7 nautical miles northeast of Limah, Oman; UKMTO counts 57 of 79 projectile strikes since July on ships using the southern route, and the Istanbul ministers’ meeting ended with no reopening plan. (Maritime Executive, Fox News, The National) [03]
• Typhoon Champi forced Taoyuan to cancel 596 flights before 9am on 23 October, 75 of them cargo flights, and with customs shut and Monday a holiday, Taiwan exporters face a four-day bottleneck to 26 October. (Focus Taiwan, SEKO Logistics) [04]
• A drone sank the cargo ship Khoryv about 13 nautical miles east of Constanta on 23 October, killing one sailor with three missing, just outside the 12-mile line that insurers leave out of the Black Sea risk area. (ABC News (AP), Beinsure) [06]
• Iraq’s state line sailed the 900-TEU Basrah from Jebel Ali on 21 October on an eight-day shuttle to Umm Qasr, its first regular Gulf cargo service since the mid-1960s, but the route still runs through Hormuz. (Marine Insight, Maritime Executive) [10]

Rates and markets

• The SCFI edged up 1.76 points to 3,681.34 on 23 October, while Xeneta has Asia–North Europe up 6.8% to $3,698 per 40ft and the FBX has it down to $3,516; MSC still wants $4,500 to North Europe from 1 November. (Economic Daily News, IndexBox, The Loadstar) [05]
• Braemar’s containership charter index stands at 325.8, up 21% on a year and the highest since autumn 2022, despite a record orderbook. (The Loadstar) [08]
• Cathay Cargo carried more than 150,000 tonnes in September, up 14.2%, on capacity up only 5.3%, and the TAC Index global air rate rose 4.7% in the week to 19 October. (Air Cargo News, Air Cargo News) [09]

Tariffs, customs and policy

• Trump signed a proclamation on 23 October that changes which Canadian goods pay the 50% Section 338 tariff from 30 October: packing crates and boxes, plywood and refrigeration equipment come off, and carpets, valves and waste products go on. (White House, White House Annex I, CBS News) [01]
• USTR proposed on 23 October to keep its port fees on China-linked ships suspended until 9 January 2027, removing the 10 November restart if finalised; comments close on 30 October. (gCaptain, Federal Register) [02]

Forwarders, carriers and deals

• Ryder raised its 2026 rental truck spending by $300m to $500m and lifted its full-year earnings guidance, with rental utilisation at 77% in Q3 against 70% a year earlier. (SEC / Ryder, The Motley Fool) [07]
• UPS has finished automating four more sort hubs before peak, and 68.5% of its US volume went through automated hubs as of 1 July, up from 64% a year earlier. (FreightWaves) [11]

Software, AI and automation

• Motive launched AI “Agents” on 19 October that call drivers, open work orders and mark trucks out of service on their own; one 35-truck customer says hours-of-service violations fell from about 85 a month to 10. (FreightWaves) [12]
• Einride will test Nvidia’s Alpamayo driving model in its trucks, first in “shadow mode”, with a live road evaluation planned for the second half of 2027. (FreightWaves) [13]

Coming up

• 26 October: USTR port fee notice due in the Federal Register; Monday holiday in Taiwan. [02] [04]
• 27 October: SEKO’s Taiwan office reopens after the Champi closure; UPS reports Q3 results. [04] [11]
• 30 October: new Section 338 Canada list takes effect; comments close on USTR’s port fee proposal. [01] [02]
• 1 November: MSC’s new Asia–Europe FAK rates apply. [05]
• 10 November: date the China port fees were due to return before the proposed suspension. [02]
• Around 19 November: Drewry’s week-47 World Container Index reading. [05]
• 9 January 2027: end of the proposed port fee suspension; the US–China truce runs to 10 January. [02]