Warehouse Wisdom. Weekly. 05/23/2025

Happy Friday!

The logistics world is changing at such a rapid pace that it’s challenging to keep up. On the one hand, over half of U.S. companies plan to increase prices as a result of the tariffs. Retailers are mulling price increases, and top players like Target are experiencing sales drops. Meanwhile, the warehouse automation world just discovered the Netflix model, with robots-as-a-service exploding toward 1.3 million deployments by 2026, proving that even robots are going subscription-only in 2025.

Between carrier chaos creating perfect conditions for freight fraud and automation finally becoming affordable for SMBs who couldn't previously justify robot armies, this week's logistics landscape looks like musical chairs played with million-dollar stakes. So grab your coffee and let's unpack a week where both trucking and warehousing got major reality checks.

Global Logsitics

When trade wars get creative

The logistics world just got a new twist in the tariff saga that feels like watching a really expensive game of musical chairs. Recent tariff pause on Chinese goods has led importers to boost stalled orders from Asia, but not by enough to eliminate the risk of retail shortages in the months ahead, while French shipping giant CMA CGM announced they're reorganizing their entire fleet of 670 ships to avoid new U.S. port fees on Chinese-built vessels starting in October. Their CFO's response? "We have enough ship capacity to adapt" which is corporate speak for "we're playing expensive ship shuffle to save money." And just because the Chinese tariffs have been reduced, it doesn’t necessarily mean there’s going to be a reduction in chaos.

The whiplash is real. CMA CGM saw half their China-to-U.S. bookings cancelled for May before demand suddenly revived this week following temporary tariff relief. Meanwhile, rail ramps in strategic regions are experiencing operational pressure as shippers increasingly utilize interior point intermodal (IPI) routing to manage frontloaded inventory. It's like everyone decided to use the same "secret" back road during rush hour, except the back road is America's rail infrastructure.

Ocean rates are defying logic by climbing even as capacity floods the market. Rates from Asia to the U.S. West Coast were up 10% week over week to $2,465 per forty-foot equivalent unit, proving that in logistics, fear trumps economics every time. For SMBs, this creates a perfect storm: higher container costs, potential rail delays, and the expensive guessing game of tariff timing. The smart money is on diversifying suppliers and building buffer inventory, assuming you have the cash flow to play.

And just when you thought you had everything figured out, the US just signaled that reciprocal tariffs may return for some countries.

Parcel Freight and Shipping

Strike threats and strategic shuffles

Canada Post's 55,000 workers are in strike position as of Friday, threatening to shut down mail service while the Crown corporation burns through cash with a $748 million loss in 2023. The union wants full-time jobs for its 22,000 temporary workers, while Canada Post wants weekend part-timers to handle parcel surges without paying overtime. Classic standoff between job security and financial survival.

Meanwhile, Stord just bought UPS subsidiary Ware2Go for 21 warehouses and 2.5 million square feet of storage space, positioning the $1.5 billion startup as the anti-Amazon for smaller e-commerce brands. UPS, busy with cost-cutting, decided to focus on core express delivery rather than chase the distributed fulfillment game.

Logistics Vitals

Freight market exodus hits crisis levels

The freight market is experiencing terminal whiplash, with carrier exits and new entrants creating a revolving door that's spinning faster than a discount tire shop on Black Friday. The numbers tell a story of complete market chaos that would make even seasoned logistics veterans reach for antacids.

• Carrier exits hit a 12-month high at 7,474 in April, up 26% from the prior month

• New carrier authorities jumped 48% month-over-month and 30% year-over-year

• Fleets with 300-1,000 trucks declined 1% while mega-fleets over 5,000 trucks dropped 3.3%

• Ocean container rates expected to surge 50% next week due to tariff panic buying

• Major carriers quoting rates $900 per TEU higher than last week

Warehouse Tech

Rent a robot revolution

The warehouse automation world just discovered the Netflix model, and it's about to change everything for SMBs who couldn't previously afford robot armies. Robots as a Service (RaaS) is exploding, with over 1.3 million RaaS deployments expected globally by 2026 according to ABI Research. Instead of dropping massive capital on automation, companies can now subscribe to robots like they're binge-watching supply chain documentaries. This pay-as-you-go model turns hefty capital investments into manageable operational expenses, making cutting-edge tech accessible to businesses that previously couldn't afford the entry fee.

Meanwhile, manufacturing capacity is scaling fast. Foxconn partnered with Robust.AI to mass-produce Carter warehouse automation robots as the market rockets from $26.5 billion in 2024 to a projected $115.8 billion by 2034. That's nearly 16% annual growth, driven largely by the fact that 80% of warehouses still lack any automation whatsoever—not even a conveyor belt.

Marketplaces

Shopping gets vocal while brands play resurrection

Amazon is getting chatty with your products, literally. The e-commerce giant is testing AI-powered audio summaries on product pages, offering spoken highlights based on reviews and product details. Users can tap "Hear the highlights" to get the AI's take on whether that blender is worth buying. It's like having a very opinionated shopping assistant who never gets tired of talking. And speaking of AI, if you haven’t already, it’s time to start embracing the beginning of the end of “search” as we know it.

Meanwhile, the UK is witnessing a retail resurrection nobody saw coming. Online marketplace OnBuy is pumping £10 million into reviving Comet, the electronics retailer that collapsed in 2012 after shuttering 240 stores. The brand will relaunch by Christmas with Apple, Samsung, and Sony products, proving that in e-commerce, no brand stays dead forever.

On the reconciliation front, Nike is crawling back to Amazon after a six-year breakup, resuming direct sales for the first time since 2019. With Nike's sales falling 9% in Q3, the athletic giant is swallowing its pride and embracing Amazon's reach. Even the biggest brands are learning they can't afford to ignore major marketplaces, no matter how much control they want to maintain.

Warehouse Quick Deliveries

Trucking turmoil meets warehouse automation boom

• De minimis shipments crash 85% after China loses duty-free privileges.

• AI takes over delivery decisions as Parcel Perform launches Decision Intelligence.

• Online grocery market surges.

• Retailers panic-buy inventory but can't decide how much is too much.

• Shopify goes social as Shop app chases TikTok shopping trend.

• Amazon issues severely belated refunds.