What’s going on in freight

The US blockade of Iran is now disabling cargo ships, not just tankers, even as Qatar floats a plan to reopen Hormuz. In the US, the LA/Long Beach strike risk has moved to 20 November, while trucking jobs have stopped falling but not recovered and cargo thieves are hijacking real carriers’ inboxes.

War, chokepoints and disruption

• A US aircraft disabled the St Kitts-flagged cargo ship M/V Huda in the Gulf of Oman on 7 November after it called at an Iranian port. CENTCOM counts 147 ships redirected and five disabled since July, and has set up Task Force Iron Gate to target Iran’s land and Caspian routes. (Stars and Stripes, Gulf News) Our story →
• A Qatari plan reported on 7 November would reopen Hormuz to commercial traffic on the second day of a deal, in return for the US lifting its blockade. UKMTO counted at least 11 ships attacked and three sunk in the week to 6 November, with transits about 65% below pre-conflict levels. (The Independent via Yahoo, Al Jazeera) Our story →
• The Friday midnight deadline at Los Angeles and Long Beach passed with no strike, and about 250 ILWU Local 26 watchmen and their employers extended their contract to 20 November. Terminals handling about 85% of Long Beach cargo and a third of Los Angeles cargo are exposed, while 35,688 import boxes were waiting for rail on 26 October. (Reuters via GV Wire, JOC, FreightWaves) Our story →

Rates and markets

• Ships loaded 17.35m TEU worldwide in September, up 8% year on year, and the CTS Global Price Index rose to 123, up 62% year on year, FreightWaves reported on 6 November. North American imports grew 9%. (FreightWaves) Our story →
• US truck transportation jobs were unchanged in October at 1,471,300, the first flat month in 10 years of BLS data, and 1,600 below a year earlier. SONAR’s tender rejection rate was near 13.9% in mid-October, against under 6% a year before. (FreightWaves, FreightWaves) Our story →

Forwarders, carriers and deals

• Lufthansa Cargo, SWISS WorldCargo, ANA and Nippon Cargo Airlines said on 6 November they had signed an MoU on Japan–Europe air cargo, which could revive the Lufthansa–ANA joint venture ANA suspended in September 2023. NCA, now owned by ANA, flies eight Boeing 747-8 freighters. (Air Cargo News, FreightWaves) Our story →

Software, AI and automation

• Highway’s Q3 2026 Freight Fraud Index links 40.2% of stolen-load reports to hijacked email or phone channels, while thefts tied to bought trucking authorities fell from 21.1% to 7.1%. Verisk CargoNet counted 547 US and Canadian thefts in Q3, down 33%, but losses rose 12% to $230.1m. (FreightWaves, Verisk) Our story →

Coming up

• Friday 20 November: LA/Long Beach watchmen contract extension expires Our story →
• Thursday 26 November: US Thanksgiving Our story →
• Early December: CTS October container data and price index Our story →
• Early February 2027: US January jobs report with the annual benchmark revision Our story →
• End of March 2027: ANA’s cargo reorganisation due to finish Our story →