Freight costs are rising. And the first victims are small shippers. Meanwhile, carrier counts are improving, even though payrolls still look relatively thin. Washington wants a much larger support fleet at sea, which says a lot about how seriously logistics is now being treated as a national capacity issue. But at the same time, packaging companies are running out of easy ways to cut exposure to tariffs and fuel shocks.
Continue reading to find out more.
After barely surviving the recent tariff episode, it seems small shippers are in for another round of economic woes. This time, it is the fuel surcharges. Rising diesel prices, tied to the Iran war, are pushing parcel carriers to pass more costs onto shippers. On-highway diesel reached $5.401 per gallon on March 30, up 39% from the start of March and 50% above the prior year.
FedEx raised its domestic ground fuel surcharge to 26.5% and UPS raised its to 27%, while the U.S. Postal Service announced a temporary 8% price increase from April 26 through next January. The challenge for smaller merchants is their lack of scale. Large shippers can negotiate better terms, but smaller ones often cannot, leaving them squeezed between rising transport bills and price-sensitive customers.
U.S. trucking showed a modest return of carrier participation in Q1 2026, with operating authority grants and reinstatements exceeding revocations. That marked the first net influx since Q2 2025, and only the third such quarter since Q3 2022. Revocations also fell to their lowest quarterly level since Q4 2021, which may indicate a firmer market footing after a prolonged freight slump.
Still, the labor picture looks weaker than the carrier count suggests. FTR’s Avery Vise said federal employment data remains soft, with trucking employment at its lowest point since September 2020 and, outside the pandemic period, since November 2017. In truckload, long-distance general freight employment slipped to 496,500 in January. That is the weakest reading since February 2014. Diesel pressure may still reshape the outlook in the months ahead.
The Trump administration is seeking the biggest noncombat ship procurement push seen in decades, with the 2027 budget calling for new cargo ships, vehicle carriers, cutters, a research vessel, a ferry, and a hospital ship. The Navy alone seeks a 46% increase in shipbuilding funds to $65.8 billion, including funding for 16 noncombat vessels.
The move appears aimed at two goals: rebuilding U.S. shipyard demand and improving wartime logistics capacity. Jerry Hendrix of the Office of Management and Budget said the plan is meant to signal to shipyards that orders are coming so they can expand.
A year after the “Liberation Day” tariffs, packaging companies and consumer brands still look stuck between rising costs and limited alternatives. Tariff changes keep shifting, but food and beverage cans made mostly from steel or aluminum still face a 50% rate.
The war in Iran has added new pressure through higher oil and freight costs, pushing up the price of plastics and lifting transpacific shipping rates by nearly 30% from late February to early April. Some brands have added backup suppliers, built inventory, or tried refill models, but most have kept their packaging setups largely intact.
A House hearing on the Trump administration’s crackdown on foreign truck drivers turned into a sharper debate over immigration enforcement, road safety, and freight labor.
According to Oklahoma Public Safety Commissioner Tim Tipton, closer ties between ICE and state police led the Oklahoma Highway Patrol to take more than 450 commercial drivers into custody for immigration violations in 2025. He suggested that other states could copy that model with little delay, but critics like Rep. Shri Thanedar, D-Mich., pushed back. Thanedar argued that immigrants were being used as political cover for wider economic problems.
We understand that tariffs and trade wars have created an unstable environment. However, we can promise you a few things amid this turbulent period. When you call, we answer. No matter the hour. We respond when you have urgent shipping needs. No matter the challenge.
When you work with VCPB, you can always count on:
VCPB Transportation
600 Meadowlands Pkwy Secaucus, NJ 07094
(201) 770-0111
