ITS Logistics May Port Rail Ramp Index: Heavy Import Volumes and Pent-up Demand from China Set to Pull Forward Peak Retail Season and Cause Transportation Challenges for U.S.
On Monday, trade officials announced that the U.S. and China agreed to a temporary tariff reduction, with the U.S. lowering tariffs from 145% to 30% and China lowering its tariffs on U.S. goods to 10% from 125%. With the new rates officially in place for the next 90 days, shippers are eager to restart imports, replenish inventories, and prepare for upcoming holiday seasons. The sudden surge in demand and uncertainty surrounding long-term availability of Chinese imports has the potential to spur another frontloading event that drives an early start to peak season for businesses in key industries like retail.
'I have clients with thousands of containers pre-loaded in China that is ready to come in,' said Paul Brashier, Vice President of Global Supply Chain at ITS Logistics. Over the next four to six weeks, Brashier says he expects a surge of containers, calling the 90-day pause 'the pivotal moment for supply chain planning out of China.'
Brashier continued, 'Shippers should be prepared to increase trucking and equipment capacity immediately to ensure they can withstand volatility and get their goods to market on time.'
Adding to emerging market challenges, industry experts are reporting a surge in cargo theft. Criminal networks in the U.S. and internationally are exploiting weaknesses in current supply chain systems, as well as technology intended to improve overall efficiency, to steal freight. CNBC recently reported industry-wide losses estimated to be close to $1 billion or more a year. A leader in fraud prevention solutions, Highway, cited in its quarterly Freight Fraud Index that the company blocked more than 914,000 fraud attempts in 2024, and over 400,000 were blocked in Q1 of 2025 alone. Additionally, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) data showed a 40% year-over-year increase in container theft incidents in 2024. In the months preceding the April tariff announcement, shippers turned to IPI to move front-loaded goods away from congested ports — only to create new chokepoints at inland rail ramps, where cargo theft is now surging. This is occurring as industry stakeholders demand federal intervention as the current freight fraud crisis escalates, leaving vulnerable supply chains at risk.
'Using IPI offers more storage elasticity and allows shippers to avoid 3PL storage fees on front-loaded inventories,' Brashier explained. 'However, chassis availability and congested ramp operations are becoming more frequent, and theft at interchanges between rail providers is a serious ongoing concern.'
Amid industry professionals seeking ways to best navigate the current supply chain disruptions, ITS advises companies to prepare for an early kick-off to peak season that lasts through Q3. Additionally, as the supply chain industry enters Q4, tax policy, deregulation, and federal reserve policy could spur economic growth that drives higher year-over-year (YOY) volumes.
ITS Logistics offers a full suite of network transportation solutions across North America and distribution and fulfillment services to 95% of the U.S. population within two days. These services include drayage and intermodal in 22 coastal ports and 30 rail ramps, a full suite of asset and asset-lite transportation solutions, omnichannel distribution and fulfillment, LTL, and outbound small parcel.
The ITS Logistics US Port/Rail Ramp Freight Index forecasts port container and dray operations for the Pacific, Atlantic, and Gulf regions. Ocean and domestic container rail ramp operations are also highlighted in the index for both the West Inland and East Inland regions. Visit here for a full comprehensive copy of the index with expected forecasts for the U.S. port and rail ramps.
About ITS Logistics
ITS Logistics is one of North America's fastest-growing, asset-based modern 3PLs, providing solutions for the industry's most complicated supply chain challenges. With a people-first culture committed to excellence, the company relentlessly strives to deliver unmatched value through best-in-class service, expertise, and innovation. The ITS Logistics portfolio features North America's #18 asset-lite freight brokerage, the #12 drayage and intermodal solution, an asset-based dedicated fleet, an innovative cloud-based technology ecosystem, and a nationwide distribution and fulfillment network.
Media Contact
Amber Good
LeadCoverage
[email protected]
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/bf31431b-1a2e-44c5-b315-aaa5ed886f89
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
4 minutes ago
- Yahoo
NFL Players Association executive JC Tretter is resigning amid union overhaul
WASHINGTON (AP) — NFLPA chief strategy officer JC Tretter is resigning from his position, three days after Lloyd Howell stepped down as executive director of the players' union. Tretter told CBS Sports on Sunday that he doesn't want to be considered for the NFLPA's interim executive director position and denied he played any role in undermining Howell's position. 'Over the last couple days, it has gotten very, very hard for my family. And that's something I can't deal with,' Tretter told CBS Sports on Sunday. 'So, the short bullet points are: I have no interest in being (executive director). I have no interest in being considered. I've let the executive committee know that. I'm also going to leave the NFLPA in the coming days because I don't have anything left to give the organization.' The 34-year-old Tretter, who played center for eight seasons with Green Bay and Cleveland through 2021, was the player president from 2020 to 2024. He served in his new role since October 2024. Howell resigned Thursday after two years because his leadership had become a distraction. Howell has come under scrutiny since ESPN reported he has maintained a part-time consulting job with the Carlyle Group, a private equity firm that holds league approval to seek minority ownership in NFL franchises. That followed the revelation that the NFLPA and the league had a confidentiality agreement to keep quiet an arbitrator's ruling about possible collusion by owners over quarterback salaries. The latest issue was an ESPN report Thursday that revealed two player representatives who voted for Howell were not aware that he was sued in 2011 for sexual discrimination and retaliation while he was a senior executive at Booz Allen. In 2023, a year after the NFLPA sued the owners for collusion, the NFL sued the union after Tretter suggested in an interview that running backs who were unhappy with their contracts could fake injuries, which would be a violation of the collective bargaining agreement. The grievance also was decided this year and was not shared publicly. Tretter told CBS Sports he didn't have access to the collusion grievance and wasn't involved in the confidentiality agreements. Tretter was the NFLPA's player president in 2023 when Howell was elected as the union's executive director following a vote that changed the union's constitution and made the search and election process more confidential. 'I'm not resigning because what I've been accused of is true,' Tretter said. 'I'm not resigning in disgrace. I'm resigning because this has gone too far for me and my family, and I've sucked it up for six weeks. And I felt like I've been kind of left in the wind taking shots for the best of the organization. ... And in the end, what's the organization done for me? Like, nothing.' ___ AP NFL:
Associated Press
6 minutes ago
- Associated Press
NFL Players Association executive JC Tretter is resigning amid union overhaul
WASHINGTON (AP) — NFLPA chief strategy officer JC Tretter is resigning from his position, three days after Lloyd Howell stepped down as executive director of the players' union. Tretter told CBS Sports on Sunday that he doesn't want to be considered for the NFLPA's interim executive director position and denied he played any role in undermining Howell's position. 'Over the last couple days, it has gotten very, very hard for my family. And that's something I can't deal with,' Tretter told CBS Sports on Sunday. 'So, the short bullet points are: I have no interest in being (executive director). I have no interest in being considered. I've let the executive committee know that. I'm also going to leave the NFLPA in the coming days because I don't have anything left to give the organization.' The 34-year-old Tretter, who played center for eight seasons with Green Bay and Cleveland through 2021, was the player president from 2020 to 2024. He served in his new role since October 2024. Howell resigned Thursday after two years because his leadership had become a distraction. Howell has come under scrutiny since ESPN reported he has maintained a part-time consulting job with the Carlyle Group, a private equity firm that holds league approval to seek minority ownership in NFL franchises. That followed the revelation that the NFLPA and the league had a confidentiality agreement to keep quiet an arbitrator's ruling about possible collusion by owners over quarterback salaries. The latest issue was an ESPN report Thursday that revealed two player representatives who voted for Howell were not aware that he was sued in 2011 for sexual discrimination and retaliation while he was a senior executive at Booz Allen. In 2023, a year after the NFLPA sued the owners for collusion, the NFL sued the union after Tretter suggested in an interview that running backs who were unhappy with their contracts could fake injuries, which would be a violation of the collective bargaining agreement. The grievance also was decided this year and was not shared publicly. Tretter told CBS Sports he didn't have access to the collusion grievance and wasn't involved in the confidentiality agreements. Tretter was the NFLPA's player president in 2023 when Howell was elected as the union's executive director following a vote that changed the union's constitution and made the search and election process more confidential. 'I'm not resigning because what I've been accused of is true,' Tretter said. 'I'm not resigning in disgrace. I'm resigning because this has gone too far for me and my family, and I've sucked it up for six weeks. And I felt like I've been kind of left in the wind taking shots for the best of the organization. ... And in the end, what's the organization done for me? Like, nothing.' ___ AP NFL:
Yahoo
32 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Nvidia and Broadcom: Here's How These Top AI Stocks Are Doing 1 Year After Their Stock Splits
Key Points These leading AI players saw their shares skyrocket in the year prior to their stock splits, with levels reaching beyond $1,000. Nvidia and Broadcom both have reported soaring demand for their products. 10 stocks we like better than Nvidia › Stock splits were a big thing last year, with many major companies across industries launching such operations. Two of the most exciting were in the area of artificial intelligence (AI). Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA), the world's No. 1 AI chip designer, and Broadcom (NASDAQ: AVGO), a networking giant, completed stock splits in June and July 2024, respectively. What is a stock split, and why do companies go this route? These operations enable a company to bring down a soaring stock price to more reasonable levels, making the stock more accessible to a broader range of investors. Nvidia and Broadcom even said they decided on splits to make it easier for employees and investors to get in on their shares, which had surged more than 200% and about 100%, respectively, in 2023. Stock splits don't change the total market value of the company or anything fundamental, though. They simply involve offering more shares to current holders according to the ratio of the split. So, for example, in a 10-for-1 stock split, if you originally held one share, you would hold 10 shares post-split -- but the total value of your holding would remain the same. Because of this, a stock split alone isn't a reason to buy or sell a stock. Still, it's interesting to see how stock split players have performed a year after these operations, so let's take a look at both Nvidia and Broadcom a year after their splits. Nvidia Nvidia completed its 10-for-1 stock split on June 7 of last year, with shares trading at the split-adjusted price as of June 10. This brought the shares down from about $1,200 to $120. Since that time, Nvidia stock has experienced ups and downs, but it's delivered a gain of more than 40%. As mentioned, this operation isn't the reason investors have flocked to Nvidia over the past year (though a lower price per share may have made it easier for some to get in on the growth story). What has driven Nvidia's share price performance is the ongoing high demand for its graphics processing units (GPUs), or AI chips, and related products and services. What also helped this AI leader was its strong execution of a big launch: Nvidia released its Blackwell architecture and chip this past winter to demand that CEO Jensen Huang called "insane." The company generated $11 billion in revenue from Blackwell in its very first quarter of commercialization and maintained a gross margin above 70%, ensuring high profitability on sales. Although investors worried about potential headwinds, such as import tariffs or a decrease in AI spending, these concerns have eased. Trade talks have spurred optimism that tariffs may not be as hefty as initially expected, and companies have reiterated their AI investment plans. All of this helped boost Nvidia's shares in recent weeks, even pushing the company to a $4 trillion market cap, making it the first company ever to reach this level. Broadcom Broadcom executed its stock split on July 12, and the stock began trading on July 15 at the new price. Like Nvidia, the company decided on a 10-for-1 split to bring its share price down -- in this case, from about $1,700 to $170. Broadcom stock has also climbed in the double digits since the operation, rising more than 65%. And like Nvidia, Broadcom saw its shares take off thanks to demand from AI customers. This company is a networking leader, making thousands of products used in a variety of locations -- from your smartphone to major data centers. But in recent times, demand from big cloud service providers to support their AI development has helped revenue skyrocket. In the most recent quarter, AI revenue surged 77% to $4.1 billion, and the company says it expects this momentum to continue in the current quarter and through the next fiscal year. This is amid demand for both connectivity products and Broadcom's accelerated processing units (XPUs), a type of processor for specific AI tasks. The company says its networking expertise and wide range of products -- from switches and routers to network interface cards (NICs), which connect computers to networks -- have been key growth drivers as cloud service providers ramp up their AI platforms. Broadcom stock followed a similar path to Nvidia, declining in April of this year due to general tariff concerns, but it has also rebounded and is on the rise today. The stock even closed at a record high just a few days ago. Could the post-split success continue? Both Nvidia and Broadcom have completed successful post-split years, scoring double-digit gains. Nvidia is slightly less expensive from a valuation standpoint than it was a year ago, but Broadcom's valuation has advanced. Still, these AI players remain reasonably priced, considering their earnings track record and long-term prospects in this growth market. It's impossible, of course, to guarantee what these stocks will do next, but the current environment supports the idea of more gains ahead. Even more importantly, Nvidia and Broadcom are well positioned to win in the AI market over the long run. Should you buy stock in Nvidia right now? Before you buy stock in Nvidia, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Nvidia wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $652,133!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,056,790!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 1,048% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 180% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of July 15, 2025 Adria Cimino has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Nvidia. The Motley Fool recommends Broadcom. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Nvidia and Broadcom: Here's How These Top AI Stocks Are Doing 1 Year After Their Stock Splits was originally published by The Motley Fool
