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Volvo Trucks: $60M Saved with OTA Updates [24% Fewer Stops]

Volvo Trucks is transforming fleet operations with groundbreaking over-the-air (OTA) software updates. Learn how this technology empowers drivers to initiate updates overnight or during breaks, eliminating downtime. Volvo’s Chief Digital Officer Nicole Portello reveals how these updates have already cut unplanned stops by 24% and saved fleets an estimated $60 million in avoided downtime. Discover the impact of real-time data, predictive maintenance, and what’s next for connected trucking.

Volvo Trucks North America has driven its software update compliance rate from 25% to more than 80% of its connected fleet by introducing unattended over-the-air (OTA) updates — a shift the company says has eliminated more than 100,000 days of unplanned downtime and generated roughly $60 million in savings across the network. The company operates more than 200,000 connected trucks in North America.

The compliance gap was stark before the rollout. “We were seeing about 25% of our truck population running on the latest software updates — so 75% of our trucks weren’t on the latest software update,” said Nicole Portello, Senior Vice President and Chief Digital Officer at Volvo Trucks North America. Internal benchmarking showed trucks running current software experienced 25% less downtime than those that did not, giving the company a clear financial case to remove friction from the update process.

The new workflow lets drivers initiate an update, lock the cab, and walk away — during an overnight stop or a rest break — rather than remaining in the vehicle or traveling to a dealership. Of the 100,000-plus days of downtime avoided, Volvo calculates approximately $16 million in savings tied directly to eliminating dealership trips for software updates alone, with the remaining savings attributed to fewer unplanned mechanical stops, which are down 24% for updated trucks.

“We’ve pushed out over hundreds of thousands of software updates. If you take that entire population, that means over 100,000 days of unplanned downtime that’s been avoided, which is about $60 million,” Portello said.

Connectivity also underpins Volvo’s predictive maintenance effort. The company says it processes millions of rows of data per minute from its connected trucks, using machine learning and AI-driven pattern recognition on fault codes to get ahead of failures. Portello said that has produced a 70% reduction in problems for monitored trucks, a 30% reduction in repair time when trucks do come in for service, and a 95% first-time fix rate — because technicians can pre-diagnose issues before the truck reaches the dealership bay.

On the driver side, Volvo has launched a companion app called My Truck that surfaces fluid levels, lighting status, and remote start capability — allowing drivers to pre-condition the cab in extreme temperatures before beginning a route. Portello said the philosophy is to put actionable information directly in the hands of drivers, not just fleet managers or dispatchers.

Looking ahead, Portello said safety technology and broader AI integration are top priorities for 2026 and 2027, alongside deeper predictive maintenance capabilities on the new VNL and VNR platforms, which he described as the most connected trucks Volvo has built. She also noted that the real-world data streaming off those trucks feeds back into the company’s R&D process, helping identify potential quality issues for future product generations. For fleets navigating an increasingly connected landscape, Portello offered a pointed directive: “Make sure you’re not just getting data, but you’re getting actionable data that you can use to further drive your business.”

  • Volvo’s OTA update compliance jumped from 25% to over 80% of its 200,000-truck North American connected fleet, saving an estimated $60 million
  • Trucks running the latest software show 25% less downtime; predictive maintenance yields a 70% problem reduction and 95% first-time fix rate
  • New unattended update capability lets drivers lock the cab and walk away, eliminating dealership trips and recovering more than 100,000 days of unplanned downtime

This Summary is generated thanks to a transcription of the interview, for the full interview please enjoy the video above.

Rising Fleet Costs? Data Has Answers

Rising maintenance costs are hammering fleets. Join Brad Bournes from Love’s Travel Stops as he breaks down the biggest cost pressures today, from surging parts and labor to technician shortages. Discover how leveraging predictive maintenance and smart data tools can transform your fleet operations from a cost center to a strategic advantage.

Fleet maintenance costs have climbed 8.6% according to the most recent ATRI report, and the pressure shows no sign of letting up. Parts inflation driven by tariffs, a shortage of diesel technicians, and extended equipment trade cycles are compounding the problem — pushing more fleets to look at data and AI tools to claw back margin. Brad Bournes, manager of fleet maintenance and service at Love’s Travel Stops and Country Stores, told FreightWaves that the industry’s response is shifting from reactive repairs to predictive maintenance powered by integrated telematics and repair-history data.

Bournes said the single biggest operational win Love’s has measured so far is in administrative efficiency. Fleets using Love’s FleetView platform to import repair and parts invoices automatically — with line items coded to VMRS standards rather than lumped into broad labor and parts categories — have cut invoice-processing time by up to 60%. That time savings also improves data quality, which feeds directly into the platform’s predictive models.

On the cost side, Bournes pointed to an AI audit layer that checks every imported invoice against repair history, national labor and parts benchmarks, warranty conditions, and potential rework situations to flag anomalies. Fleets piloting that feature have seen maintenance cost reductions of 15% to 20% in the specific areas where the audit is applied, though Bournes cautioned that deferred maintenance backlogs built up over the past three years are still creating noise in the numbers.

“The fleets that are going to win over the next few years, I believe, are the fleets that are going to adopt that technology and really turn their fleet maintenance program from a cost center to a real strategic advantage by having that visibility and be able to make those decisions quickly with the data that they need,” Bournes said.

Bournes drew a sharp distinction between preventive and predictive maintenance. Traditional preventive maintenance — oil changes, scheduled inspections, time- or mileage-based PMs — has historically been shaped by failures that already occurred. Predictive maintenance, by contrast, pulls together sensor data, telematics, and full repair histories to identify failure patterns before a breakdown happens. Bournes compared it to pattern recognition: “It’s just pattern matching, right?” he said, noting that wider public familiarity with AI over the past year has made fleets more willing to engage with the concept.

The shift matters financially because roadside breakdowns carry a steep premium over shop repairs. Bournes said extended trade cycles — a widespread response to higher new-equipment prices driven partly by tariffs — are increasing the frequency of those costly roadside events, creating a difficult capital decision for fleet managers weighing continued high operating costs against the capital expenditure of replacing aging iron. Having granular, structured data is essential to making that call, he said.

Love’s FleetView embeds predictive alerts directly into the repair order workflow so technicians and outside vendors see upcoming maintenance flags in context, rather than in a separate portal. Bournes said reducing the number of logins and dashboards required to act on data has been a key adoption driver. The platform’s AI agents, which currently handle invoice import, auditing, and an AI assistant for querying fleet data, are slated to expand over the next couple of years as Love’s continues development.

  • Fleets using Love’s FleetView’s automated invoice import have cut processing time by up to 60%, while AI invoice auditing has reduced maintenance costs 15%–20% in tested areas.
  • ATRI data shows fleet maintenance costs rose 8.6% last year, with tariff-driven parts inflation and technician shortages keeping pressure elevated.
  • Bournes says predictive maintenance — combining telematics, sensor data, and repair history — is moving from concept to measurable results, but broad industry adoption is still early.

This Summary is generated thanks to a transcription of the interview, for the full interview please enjoy the video above.

Spot Rates Split as Tender Rejections Hold Above 13%

Tender rejections are stuck near 13.5%, still far above a balanced freight market — but spot rates and volumes are starting to tell a more complicated story. In this SONAR update, we break down why truckload demand softened faster than expected, how intermodal is taking share from long-haul truckload, why short-haul freight still looks firm, and where reefer spot rates are flashing regional pressure in the Midwest. If you run freight, buy capacity or price loads, this is the setup to watch now.

Truckload tender rejection rates have stalled at 13.5%, more than double the 5% to 7% range considered a balanced market, but a faster-than-expected demand pullback and a measurable shift toward intermodal are beginning to pressure dry van spot rates, according to Zach Strickland’s latest SONAR update.

Strickland noted that rejection rates sat near 5.5% one year ago, and that anything above the 10% threshold makes it “extremely challenging for most shippers to find capacity.” The current stall around 13.5% signals a still-tight market, but a trendline that formed in June had been pointing toward an eventual return to equilibrium in the 5% to 7% range — and demand has been eroding faster than seasonal norms suggest it should.

“One of the reasons for that, because we’re in a supply-side-led cycle, demand has really fallen down faster than we expected, especially from a seasonality standpoint,” Strickland said. The tender volume index, which measures shipper-to-carrier load tenders, has fallen below April levels — a notable drop given that April is itself a slow month and July typically only moderates modestly from June.

“We’re seeing almost a mirror image of replacement” — Zach Strickland, describing the divergence between long-haul truckload and domestic intermodal container volumes.

Long-haul truckload tender volumes are up just 2% year over year, while domestic intermodal container volumes have risen 8% year over year, and Strickland said the widening gap is a key driver of the modal shift narrative. Short-haul tender volumes — loads under 100 miles — are up 4% year over year, outpacing long-haul, and Strickland pointed to that resilience as evidence the truckload cycle is not nearing an early end. Short-haul freight is also the segment least susceptible to intermodal substitution.

On the spot rate side, a spread is opening among the three modes. Flatbed remains the strongest, supported by AI data center construction activity, though rates have begun to edge lower. Refrigerated spot rates, which had been moving nearly in lockstep with dry van, are now separating to the upside. Dry van, the mode most exposed to intermodal competition, is pulling back and would show a largely red — declining — national rate map, Strickland said.

A regional signal is drawing particular attention. Midwestern rejection rates spiked earlier this week, and the same pattern is now appearing in refrigerated spot rates, with increases concentrated in protein and grain corridors. Strickland flagged it as early for a harvest-driven rate move and called the region one to watch for carriers and shippers active in temperature-controlled freight.

  • Tender rejection rates are holding at 13.5%, more than double the 5–7% balanced-market benchmark, but demand is falling faster than seasonal trends expected
  • Domestic intermodal container volumes are up 8% year over year vs. 2% for long-haul truckload, pointing to modal shift as a key driver of dry van rate softness
  • Midwest refrigerated spot rates and rejection rates are spiking early, with protein and grain corridors flagged as a region to watch ahead of harvest season

This Summary is generated thanks to a transcription of the interview, for the full interview please enjoy the video above.

AI agents can find the load. MapUp helps them determine its profitability

Western Express tractor-trailers alongside FuelGuru MCP branding

AI dispatch agents have gotten good at finding freight. They’ll pull from load boards, filter by equipment and radius, and return a ranked list in seconds. What they still struggle to do is tell an operator whether that top-ranked load actually pays.

MapUp aims to close that gap with the launch of FuelGuru MCP. The company calls it the first production Model Context Protocol server built for fleet fuel purchasing, tolls and commercial truck routing. It lets any AI agent, load board, dispatch tool or TMS copilot ask MapUp’s engine what a trip will really cost for a specific truck on a specific day under a fleet’s own rules.

“While these AI agents are already helping to pick a good load, the next level of intelligence is defining what is a good load,” MapUp CEO Katie Mahlawat told FreightWaves. “Right now the good definition is time and cost and how that trade-off plays out.”

The load that looks fine but really isn’t

Mahlawat used a concrete example. A broker posts $1,800 all-in for a five-axle dry van from Harvey, Illinois, to Philadelphia. On the 773-mile practical route, that works out to about $2.33 a mile. The posted rate alone says nothing about what remains after route-specific fuel, tolls and time.

In an August 2026 FuelGuru analysis, MapUp priced three commercial routes for the same trip. The practical I-80 route covers 773 miles in 11 hours and 49 minutes of driving, more than a solo driver can legally run without a 10-hour break, with $192.97 in tolls and $554.58 in fuel, leaving $1,052.45 of the rate before driver pay, equipment and fixed costs. The fastest option, which combines I-80 with the Pennsylvania Turnpike, arrives 23 minutes sooner but leaves only $908.91.

That is $144 in extra fuel and tolls to buy back 23 minutes — a marginal tractor hour priced at $374. Very few fleets in North America treat a marginal hour of driver time at that rate. Many simply price all-in or chase a target rate per mile. The truck then takes the faster route because nobody priced the alternative before it rolled.

The cheapest line on the table punishes the opposite instinct. An I-70 routing carries the lowest tolls at $150.36 but adds 39 miles and 62 minutes. At a $54-an-hour loaded driver cost, that extra hour costs about $56 to save $22.77 in combined fuel and tolls — a net loss before it threatens the delivery window.

“This is why ‘avoid tolls’ is bad policy and ‘always take the toll road’ is worse,” wrote MapUp co-founder and Chief Technology Officer Maneesh Mahlawat in the company’s launch note. “Neither is a decision. Both are habits.”

Nick Brooks, vice president of technology and marketing at Western Express, said the timing of the calculation is what carries the operating value.

“Being able to come back with the real fuel cost and the real toll cost at the time you are going to incur it is infinitely valuable,” Brooks said. “As toll routing gets more complicated, it is going to make profitability happen quicker.”

A universal power adapter for freight math

FuelGuru first launched last year at FreightWaves’ F3: Future of Freight Festival, where FirstFleet Chief Information Officer Austin Henderson demonstrated it alongside NavGuru, MapUp’s commercial navigation product. It originally shipped as an API, so every platform that wanted the engine had to build a custom integration.

“MCP is like a universal power adapter,” Katie Mahlawat said. “You could say you want to connect your own phone to anyone else’s speaker. How do you like them to talk to each other? That’s it.”

Now the integration is largely a credential. “Get an API key from us, plug it in your Claude configuration, it gets added as a skill,” she said. “Now you have an agent which is a FuelGuru brain.”

An agent hands over the load, truck position, equipment, appointment windows, tank level, fuel economy, card pricing and fleet rules. FuelGuru returns practical, fastest, cheapest and alternate routes with drive time, vehicle-specific tolls, fleet-net fuel cost and prescribed stops.

The pricing is fleet-specific, not a national average. FuelGuru costs the negotiated rate the fleet’s card will actually capture at that station, against the state tax spread, the out-of-route miles to reach it, and the arrival time the hours-of-service plan predicts.

Lane profitability used to take a month and five teams

At a large carrier, pricing a lane often feels like navigating a committee. A sales team quoting next quarter’s rates collects cost history from the fuel desk, the toll team and finance. Those groups rarely hold the same version of the truth because of different incentives and data silos.

“That process takes somewhere between two, three weeks to a month, as well as coordination between four or five different teams, for their sales team to have that at their fingertips,” Mahlawat said.

For fleets already running MapUp, including FirstFleet and Western Express, the MCP server can read the carrier’s own history instead of relying on averaged or lagged data.

The same math reaches into fuel-surcharge negotiation. A carrier that can see route cost by customer can identify which accounts may carry a less favorable fuel-surcharge program. Mahlawat said the mismatch between static lane pricing and moving costs is what first pulled her into the problem.

“That means the same pricing is going on for a while, while things like fuel prices are fluctuating … every day toll hikes are happening.” One example was how Pennsylvania Turnpike tolls have increased every year since 2009. The five increases from 2022 through 2026 compound to about 25.

Without access to fleet-specific tools, a general-purpose chatbot falls back on public or historical estimates. It does not know a carrier’s negotiated fuel prices, card network, tank level, remaining driver hours or operating rules. “If you tell me $1,400 to $1,500 on a Wednesday evening or on a Sunday morning, it could be somewhere between $1,000 to actual $2,000,” Mahlawat said. “So this is what we are eliminating.”

Lane profitability for the 90%

Owner-operators and small fleets account for the vast majority of U.S. trucking carriers. Enterprise fuel-optimization tools were rarely built for them.

“So far 90% of trucking never had access to something like Expert Fuel or Manhattan Fuel and Route … because those are enterprise solutions and built that way,” Mahlawat said.

Bubba, the AI AutoPilot from Hey Bubba, is an early example. Through FuelGuru MCP it can evaluate available loads using the truck’s actual deadhead, commercial route, fuel plan, toll exposure and remaining hours.

“MapUp gives our AI the live fuel pricing, routing and toll intelligence to determine whether a load is cost-effective, whether to bid higher, which driver should run it and where that driver should fuel,” said Tapan Chaudhari, founder and CEO of Hey Bubba.

A prescription that never reaches the cab

Fuel optimization is not new. Compliance is where the value often leaks. Fleets that already own an optimizer commonly see driver adherence in the mid-70s percent range, in part because the plan lives in a back-office report while the driver lives in the truck.

“A perfect plan followed 74% of the time leaks a quarter of its value before anyone books a savings number,” Maneesh Mahlawat wrote.

MapUp splits the work. FuelGuru decides and NavGuru executes, placing the prescribed route and fuel stops into the driver’s turn-by-turn navigation. At one dedicated carrier running more than 2,500 trucks, fuel-prescription compliance moved from 74% to above 98% within four months of putting the plan where the driver already was.

The plan does not freeze at dispatch. Miss a stop, run off route or show less fuel in the tank than expected, and FuelGuru recalculates on current position, prices, time and fleet rules, then hands the revision to NavGuru.

“AI agents can automate a lot of work, but they still need the brain behind the decision,” Katie Mahlawat said. “FuelGuru MCP gives them the math to calculate the real cost of a route, including fuel, tolls and time. That is how they can understand what is actually a good load.”

Acertus expands with Fisher Shipping acquisition

a loaded auto hauler on a highway

Finished vehicle transportation provider Acertus announced it has acquired Fisher Shipping.

Overland Park, Kansas-based Acertus’ automotive logistics platform handles the transportation, storage, maintenance, titling and registration of finished cars and trucks. The deal expands its network of carriers and customers, and its relationships with OEMs and dealers.

Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

“This acquisition expands our platform and deepens our ability to serve the automotive ecosystem, but more importantly, it brings talented people and trusted partnerships built over two decades,” said Acertus CEO Michael DeLuca. “Those are the foundations of long-term success.”

Auburn, Massachusetts-based Fisher Shipping will continue to operate under its existing banner and leadership team. It will now have access to Acertus’ expansive carrier network and its platform, which provides enhanced fraud prevention and real-time shipment visibility.

Fisher Shipping CEO Dave Fisher will receive an equity interest in Acertus as part of the transaction. He will also manage customer and commercial relationships for the combined organization.

“Since 2006, we’ve built this business on trust, service and an unwavering commitment to our customers,” said Fisher. “Joining ACERTUS lets us preserve those values while giving our customers access to greater capacity, technology and solutions.”

The announcement follows another big acquisition in the space earlier this week.

Proficient Auto Logistics (NASDAQ: PAL) announced Monday that it agreed to acquire California-based peer Hansen & Adkins for $130 million. The combined entity is expected to haul over four million vehicles annually, roughly one-quarter of the new car market.

Why it matters? These acquisitions are significant for the car haul sector because they highlight a clear push toward industry consolidation to gain scale, capacity, and technological sophistication.

More FreightWaves articles by Todd Maiden:

Battle of the briefs: UP-NS fires back at AGs anti-merger letter

Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern are bringing out the Dream Team.

The railroads reached into academia to gather a quartet of former government anti-trust experts in an effort to refute the latest filing by red state Attorneys General urging regulators to reject the proposed merger that would create the first U.S. transcontinental freight railroad.

In a nine-page filing submitted Wednesday to the Surface Transportation Board that read like a legal brief complete with citations, the experts cautioned that merger complaints stand as conjecture – and not proof. They offered case histories and academic research supporting previous corporate tie-ups that were also contested on anti-trust grounds, and how opponents use the courts to hinder mergers.

The filing this week by the top law enforcement officials from seven Republican states said that the merger of UP (NYSE: UNP) and NS (NYSE: NSC) won’t enhance competition as required by STB rules, and will raise costs for shippers and consumers.

The experts writing for UP-NS are Alden Abbott, general counsel of the Federal Trade Commission from 2018-2021, now at George Mason University; Tad Lipsky, Jr., deputy assistant attorney general in the Department of Justice Antitrust Division from 1981–1983 and chief antitrust lawyer at Coca-Cola from 1992–2002, also at George Mason, as is Gregory Werden, former DOJ Antitrust Division economist and lawyer; and Mark Whitener, former global executive counsel for competition law and policy for General Electric and deputy director of the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Competition from 1993–1997, now affiliated with Georgetown University.

The hundreds of filings for and against the merger carry no legal weight; STB Chairman Patrick Fuchs has made it clear that the deal will stand on its own merits as evaluated by his agency. Fuchs earlier assembled his own team of data scientists from MIT to break down the numbers, and has fiercely defended the STB’s independence and decision-making process.

The experts also cited case history showing how opponents of mergers are inherently incentivized to protect their own interests, and not necessarily those of the consumer.  

“Railroad competitors are not disinterested observers of this transaction; they are commercial rivals that presumably stand to lose traffic if the merged UP–NS offers a superior service product,” they wrote. “Their opposition should be understood as advocacy by market participants to protect their bottom line – not as objective evidence of likely harm to shippers or the competitive process.

“[S]ingle-line integration,” they said, “can create a lower-cost, more efficient service that intensifies overall modal rivalry.”

Subscribe to FreightWaves’ Rail e-newsletter and get the latest insights on rail freight right in your inbox.

Read more articles by Stuart Chirls here.

Read more:

Rail freight stretches lead over 2025

Federal court upholds challenge to FRA’s two-person rail crew rule

BNSF earnings rise on higher volume and revenue

AAR launches freight rail research consortium 

Rail merger a failure on first sight, shippers protest

FedEx 777 in retro livery lands at Memphis airport renamed for Fred Smith

FedEx Corp. landed a Boeing 777 freighter aircraft painted in a retro 1973 color scheme and the Memphis metropolitan region renamed its airport Frederick W. Smith International Airport in honor of FedEx founder Fred Smith, who died in June of last year.

Today, FedEx (NYSE: FDX) delivers over 18 million packages a day around the world and sorts more than 2.4 million packages daily at its Memphis World Hub, located at the newly dedicated airport.

Tuesday’s renaming ceremony coincided with the inaugural FedEx FWS Day of Service, which celebrates his love for his adopted hometown, how he became one its fiercest economic champions, and his philosophy of community service. Under Smith, FedEx encouraged team members to contribute time and effort to support communities where they live and work. 

After serving in the Vietnam War and retiring from the U.S. Marine Corps, Smith established Federal Express in Memphis, Tennessee, for its strategic location and reliable weather. Over more than five decades, Smith’s investments built the express airline’s small terminal into a massive global logistics hub that is indispensable infrastructure for hundreds of billions of dollars in economic activity each year. 

As a tribute to Smith’s shared history with the city of Memphis, FedEx unveiled a mural along Plough Blvd., which skirts the airport. The artwork features a portrait of Smith composed of the iconic FedEx purple aircraft tails, FedEx announced.

A new mural celebrating FedEx founder Fred Smith was installed on the fence at Memphis airport, now named in his honor. (Photo: FedEx)

“Moving forward, every plane, person, and package that passes through Frederick W. Smith International Airport will carry the spirit of our visionary founder and the pride of a city that connects the world,” said CEO Raj Subramaniam at the dual event hosted along with the Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority.

The event concluded with a ceremonial landing of Flight 1944, a FedEx 777 painted in the company’s original purple and red/orange livery, with the words Federal Express

The flight number honors the year Smith was born. The aircraft is named Rosie after one of Smith’s granddaughters who was born shortly before his passing. This naming continues the longstanding tradition of naming aircraft after employees’ children. 

(Why It Matters: FedEx was a pioneer of the express air logistics industry and aviation who had a huge impact on how economies operate and how we consume goods.)

There were no 777s when Smith started FedEx. The first plane in the fleet was the small Dassault Falcon passenger aircraft, which he had to convert to an all-cargo aircraft with an enlarged door. On its first night of service in 1973, FedEx Express delivered 186 packages from Memphis, Tennessee, to 25 cities with 14 Dassault Falcon business jets. 

“Today, we immortalize a true visionary who reshaped the logistics industry and elevated our city’s footprint on the global stage,” Terry Blue, president and CEO of Memphis Shelby County Airport Authority, said in a statement. “As passengers travel through Frederick W. Smith International Airport, we want them to be reminded of the relentless drive, innovation, and community spirit that Fred Smith championed throughout his life.” 

The FWS Day of Service also is a part of Purple Week, the company’s global, enterprise-wide celebration grounded in its “People-Service-Profit” mission statement. This week, more than 120 FedEx Cares volunteer and community impact events are happening around the world, part of the company’s global community engagement program. FedEx said the day of service will continue annually.

Click here for more FreightWaves/American Shipper stories by Eric Kulisch.

Write to Eric Kulisch at ekulisch@freightwaves.com.

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How Fred Smith built FedEx into the world’s largest cargo airline

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Ex Williams-Sonoma exec pleads guilty to $16M warehouse kickback scheme

An aerial view of a large warehouse with trucks parked at the docks.

A former Williams-Sonoma Inc. executive on Tuesday pleaded guilty to three counts of fraud for accepting $16.3 million in kickbacks from vendors that supplied equipment for company warehouses in New Jersey and stealing real estate broker commissions.

Eric Marsiglia, 52, admitted that over a four-year period ending in about 2022 he conspired to defraud Williams-Sonoma (NYSE: WSM), where he served as vice president of engineering, projects, planning, facilities and real estate, the Department of Justice announced. Marsiglia oversaw the selection and leasing of warehouse space throughout the United States as well as the purchase of steel racking, forklifts and related logistics services.

According to court documents, starting in 2018, Marsiglia accepted money from co-conspirators in exchange for steering Williams-Sonoma business to three New Jersey companies that supplied forklifts, racking systems and machinery for warehouses. Marsiglia set up a shell company, REM Group, to receive and conceal the kickbacks. In total, he received over $12.2 million in warehouse kickbacks, which he concealed from the retailer.

From 2020 through 2022, Marsiglia also conspired to divert real estate broker commissions associated with Williams-Sonoma warehouses that stored kitchenware and home furnishings. He directed those payments to accounts held by REM Group and then distributed portions of those proceeds to himself and co-conspirators. Marsiglia concealed from Williams-Sonoma that he was diverting broker commission payments to accounts he controlled, rather than to the firm that was entitled to them, prosecutors said. The scheme resulted in the theft of more than $4.1 million in broker commissions.

(Why It Matters: Williams-Sonoma is a publicly traded company. Cargo theft by outsiders is big news in the logistics sector, but stopping inside jobs is also important to prevent companies from losses.)

Marsiglia pleaded guilty to money laundering for engaging in wire fraud to conceal and disguise the diversion of the broker funds.

A federal grand jury indicted Marsiglia on April 11, 2023, along with three other individuals on charges arising from the kickback and broker commission diversion schemes. Another co-conspirator was later charged in a superseding indictment in 2024. All defendants charged have pleaded guilty to federal offenses. 

Marsiglia is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 3 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. He faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each of the two wire fraud conspiracy counts and a maximum of 20 years in prison and a $500,000 fine for conspiracy to commit money laundering, subject to sentencing guidelines.

Click here for more FreightWaves/American Shipper stories by Eric Kulisch.

Write to Eric Kulisch at ekulisch@freightwaves.com.

Taiwan manufacturer settles case over falsified customs entries for $5.2M

Maersk raises 2026 outlook again as earnings surge

A crane lowers a large ocean container at a port with stacks of containers in the background.

A.P. Moller-Maersk raised its full-year earnings outlook after second-quarter revenue climbed 20% year over year and EBITDA reached $3.0 billion, as robust Far East export demand, higher spot rates and congestion across key trade lanes lifted results.

Revenue rose to $15.8 billion in the second quarter from $13.1 billion a year earlier. EBIT increased to $1.6 billion from $845 million, producing a 10% EBIT margin. Ocean was the principal earnings driver, adding $2 billion in revenue during the quarter.

The Copenhagen-based company (OTC: AMKBY) said disruption to traffic through the Strait of Hormuz prompted cargo destined for the Gulf region to move through alternative ports and inland routes. 

Maersk redeployed affected vessel capacity to other expanding trades. Import demand was particularly strong in Africa, North America and Latin America, while exports from the Far East – especially China – remained a principal source of volume growth.

Spot freight rates rose substantially, according to Maersk, reflecting demand, increasingly unbalanced trade flows, tight capacity and port congestion in Europe, the Middle East, the east coast of South America and West Africa. The company said these supply-chain bottlenecks are straining landside infrastructure from ports to inland transportation networks.

Ocean Leads Improvement

Maersk’s ocean segment increased revenue by 23% year over year. Loaded volumes rose 4.1%, led by Asian exports, while average loaded freight rates increased 22%. Vessel utilization remained high at 96%.

Ocean EBIT reached $935 million, compared with $229 million in the prior-year quarter and a $192 million loss in the first quarter of 2026. Unit cost at fixed energy declined 0.8%, as greater volumes offset higher operating expenses.

Logistics & Services revenue grew 15% year over year and 11% sequentially, with an EBIT margin of 5.1%, up 0.5 percentage points from the first quarter. The segment generated EBIT of $217 million, compared with $175 million a year earlier. Maersk cited Gulf-region landbridge services, strong air and project logistics forwarding volumes, and favorable contract mix in its Solutions segment.

Terminals revenue increased 11%, supported by a 7.1% improvement in revenue per move and 2.2% volume growth. Terminal EBIT was $458 million, essentially unchanged from $461 million in the second quarter of 2025.

Guidance raised again

Maersk now expects full-year global container-market volume growth of about 4% and raised its 2026 financial guidance:

MeasureNew guidancePrevious guidance
Underlying EBITDA$10.5–12.5B$8–10B
Underlying EBIT$4.5–6.5B$2–4B
Free cash flowGreater than $0At least negative $1.5B

The company attributed the revision to its second-quarter performance and improved visibility for the rest of the year.

Maersk also highlighted continued infrastructure investment, including the opening of APM Terminals’ $350 million fully electrified container terminal at Suape, Brazil, and an agreement with Hateco Group and Da Nang City to develop and operate Vietnam’s Lien Chieu Container Terminal. Maersk said the Vietnam project represents investment of more than $1.7 billion.

Read more articles by Stuart Chirls here.

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How NFI Is Operationalizing AI Across the Entire Transportation Management Stack

When FreightWaves launched the AI Excellence in Supply Chain Awards, the goal was to cut through the noise of an industry where “AI” has become a marketing buzzword slapped on every press release, and instead spotlight the companies that are leveraging AI in truly revolutionary ways. 

The awards recognize real deployments and measurable outcomes as opposed to flashy pitches. Entries are judged on the strength of the AI application itself, how deeply it’s integrated into existing workflows, and the tangible results it produces.

This year, NFI was named one of the honorees in the Operational AI Integration category for logistics companies. Specifically, the honor goes to the AI work embedded across NFI Transportation Management, the company’s managed transportation arm.

While many organizations showcase chatbot pilots or bolt-on AI features, few can demonstrate a coherent AI strategy that spans multiple functions, operates in production long enough to generate significant value, and measurably enhances human capacity.

Inside NFI’s AI Strategy: Build vs. Buy, and a Three-Pillar Framework

NFI Transportation Management describes its philosophy as a “build-versus-buy framework” designed to prioritize speed, ROI, and customer value over simply adopting whatever AI tool is trending. Rather than chasing a single flashy use case, NFI organized its AI investments into three categories that map directly onto where the technology creates the most leverage: Operational Support, Back Office Support, and Customer Value Add.

Operational Support is where NFI has attacked manual load tracking, one of freight’s most persistent pain points. Instead of associates manually checking in on freight via calls, emails, and portal logins, NFI deployed agentic AI that uses web scraping, email monitoring, and automated phone check-ins to track loads with minimal human intervention. The tool is already live for LTL freight and is being onboarded for truckload, and it’s saving 160 hours per week and growing. Alongside it, NFI built a natural language chatbot that gives associates instant access to SOPs and reporting, cutting down on formal training time, reducing help-desk tickets, and, according to NFI, improving employee satisfaction in the process.

Back Office Support is where the “eliminate the monotonous” philosophy shows up most clearly. Three tools do the heavy lifting here:

  • An email triage and response system that uses agentic AI to process inbound freight bill correspondence automatically, saving 60 hours per week and growing, with more use cases already in development.
  • A freight bill-to-load match exceptions tool, which trains a model to handle the tedious work of matching freight bills to the correct loads. That process historically required manual searching. Two of three planned phases are already live, saving 17-plus hours per week, with another 10 hours of potential savings identified as the third phase rolls out.
  • An FBA aging app that automatically prepares aging reports for carriers on request, good for 15 hours per week in savings and a direct improvement to how carriers themselves are served.

Add it up, and all of this puts the back-office productivity gains at more than 100 hours reclaimed per week, plus the equivalent of four full-time employees’ worth of capacity freed from load-tracking duties alone.

Customer Value Add is centered on Navitrace, a global intelligence platform that serves as the engine for what the company refers to internally as its “Digital Twin.” The Digital Twin is a virtual replica of a customer’s transportation network, built from proprietary data and contracted rates, capable of running “what-if” scenarios on demand. This allows customers to model the impact of adding or removing carriers, compare contracted rates against market pricing, or evaluate consolidation strategies. Navitrace is designed to provide actionable insights rather than simply presenting complex dashboards.

NFI reports that the Digital Twin is uncovering an average of 5% to 10% in transportation savings per customer, with one client alone realizing more than $600,000 in annual savings. Alongside it, automated appointment scheduling has produced a 75% reduction in dwell time, directly cutting down on costly on-time, in-full (OTIF) fines for customers. That tool is live with some customers now and is expanding through the rest of 2026.

A Platform Built by Operators, for Operators

The development of Navitrace was a strategic response to a market saturated with cumbersome, one-size-fits-all visibility tools that often fail to reflect the nuances of individual shipper operations, such as varying accrual structures, budgeting approaches, and KPIs.

Navitrace utilizes a modular, microservices-based architecture designed for agility and seamless integration with emerging technologies. It is explicitly forward-looking, serving as more than a real-time reporting layer. As NFI notes, the Digital Twin is built to reveal scenarios that organizations might not have previously considered.

Proactive, tailored solutions are the basis of NFI’s entire submission, whether the tool in question is customer-facing or purely internal.

NFI describes the goal of its AI integration as “shifting the human-technology paradigm,” using automation to strip out friction and latency from repetitive tasks specifically so that people can move from reactive firefighting into proactive, strategic work. In practice, that deepens customer and carrier relationships, applies what the company calls “professional empathy” in carrier interactions, and aids in continuously optimizing the network.

AI conversations often skew toward replacement rather than reallocation, but NFI’s framing is part of what set this entry apart in a category that’s getting crowded fast, as every logistics provider races to claim its own AI story.

“What set NFI apart was that they could show their work,” said Adam Wingfield, FreightWaves’ Editorial Director. “Most entries in this category talk about AI in the abstract, but NFI came in with hours saved, dollar figures, and a clear read on what’s live versus what’s still in development. Concrete specificity is exactly what this award is supposed to recognize,” he said.

NFI hasn’t fallen into the temptation of leaning on a single flashy feature. The company has laid out several discrete tools, each with a clear goal, a documented deployment status, and a specific, quantified result. 

Congratulations to NFI Transportation Management on a well-earned honoree spot, and on doing the less glamorous, more difficult work of operationalizing AI across an organization.

Click here to learn more about NFI Transportation Management.