Warehouse Wisdom, Weekly. 01/23/2026

🚚 Happy Friday.

Winter is once again reminding the logistics world who is really in charge. A powerful winter storm is set to hammer major U.S. transportation networks, threatening delays across trucking, parcel delivery, and freight corridors right when many businesses are trying to reset after the holidays. Mother Nature remains undefeated, and supply chains are once again forced to adapt on the fly.

Meanwhile, Canada Post and its union are moving ahead with a new round of contract proposals that will soon be voted on by employees. The new revised labor contract proposal adjusts delivery operations, including changes to weekend service and routing rules.

This week, we will break down shifting parcel rules, new shipping fees, slowing ecommerce growth, warehouse market dynamics, fuel price fluctuations, trade policy curveballs, and how AI continues to reshape logistics and marketplaces. Let’s dive in!

Freight & Shipping

Parcel rules tighten as carriers and the Postal Service shift the goalposts

Parcel shippers may need to remeasure more than just expectations this year. The Postal Service is proposing new dimensional requirements for small parcels, a move that could force shippers to rethink packaging strategies or face higher costs. For SMBs, this is another reminder that “small” packages are increasingly being treated like big ones when it comes to compliance.

At the same time, private carriers are heading in a similar direction. FedEx and UPS are making tweaks that could lead to more large package fees, continuing a trend of stricter dimensional pricing. While carriers frame these changes as efficiency-driven, shippers will feel the impact most directly in higher surcharges and fewer gray areas in how parcels are classified.

Adding to the parcel shakeup, USPS is opening a bidding process that allows companies to reserve last-mile delivery capacity. For high-volume shippers, this could provide more certainty during peak periods. For everyone else, it signals a future where guaranteed delivery capacity may increasingly come with a price tag.

Warehouse Tech

AI gets smarter, pricier, and a little more opinionated

AI continues to march deeper into commerce, and OpenAI is signaling that it wants a bigger role in how transactions actually happen. With ChatGPT expanding toward commerce use cases, AI is shifting from being a productivity helper to a potential participant in buying and selling decisions. For SMBs, this raises both opportunity and new questions around cost, control, and dependence on platforms.

That shift is reinforced by Gartner’s prediction that 60 percent of brands will adopt agentic AI for one-to-one engagement. The promise is more personalized customer experiences, but the underlying requirement is better data, tighter systems, and a willingness to let algorithms take the wheel more often.

Not all automation is arriving overnight, however. Gartner also cautions that humanoid robots are unlikely to see widespread supply chain use before 2028. While the headlines may suggest otherwise, warehouses still have time before bipedal coworkers become the norm.

Finally, ChatGPT’s new 4 percent fee structure is a reminder that as AI tools become embedded in commerce, monetization follows quickly, and platforms rarely leave value on the table.

Logistics Vitals

Ecommerce growth slows, but the story is in the numbers

Ecommerce growth cooled heading into the end of 2025, offering a reality check after years of outsized gains. While online sales are still growing, the pace has slowed as consumers pull back on discretionary spending and promotions lose some effectiveness. Key numbers to know:

• U.S. ecommerce sales grew just under 7 percent year over year in November 2025, down from double-digit growth earlier in the year

• The slowdown marked one of the weakest monthly growth rates of 2025

• Retailers are increasingly relying on discounts and fulfillment efficiency to protect margins as demand softens

Commercial Real Estate

Warehouse demand firms up as a $221 billion market takes shape

The U.S. warehouse market is tightening again, according to Prologis, as demand stabilizes and available space becomes more constrained in 2026. After a period of elevated vacancies, the pendulum appears to be swinging back toward landlords in several major markets.

Zooming out, the warehousing industry has grown into a $221 billion market, according to Armstrong & Associates. That scale reflects just how central warehousing has become to modern commerce, and why even modest shifts in demand can ripple quickly through pricing, lease terms, and availability.

Global Supply Chain

Fuel prices flicker and trade policy keeps everyone guessing

Diesel prices have finally ticked upward after eight straight weeks of declines, a reminder of how volatile fuel costs remain. Even small increases can have an outsized impact on freight budgets, especially for shippers with limited fuel surcharge protection.

On the policy front, the White House reversed its earlier tariff threat against European countries, adding yet another chapter to an already unpredictable trade environment. For supply chains, the reversal offers short-term relief, but long-term planning remains difficult when policy direction can change so quickly.

Warehouse Quick Deliveries

Truck parking, drone deliveries, AI spending, and more…

• Congress considers $200 million in funding to expand truck parking nationwide

• Zipline’s drone delivery business reaches a $7.6 billion valuation

• IBM research highlights growing AI investment tied to smarter business growth