North American freight shipments rose modestly in September, a month usually associated with a peak season increase. This month's 2.2-percent increase can be attributed, however, more to contingency planning for the anticipated International Longshoreman's Association (ILA) dock workers strike than to a seasonal surge in orders. Although federal mediators stepped in at the last minute and negotiated a three-month extension to continue talks, many shippers had already scrambled to re-schedule October shipments for September. The alternative, should the strike have occurred, was to reroute goods to the West Coast, where carriers were charging strike surcharges ranging from $300 to $1,000.

DB Schenker Logistics has opened an office in Sochi, Russia, host city of the 2014 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Canada's oil patch is quietly sending large new volumes of oil on rail cars, even as it fights to overcome mounting opposition to plans for new pipelines to the U.S. Gulf Coast and Canada's West Coast.

The growth of U.S. exports, especially to countries such as China, has put a spotlight on the need for strategic inland ports across the United States, according to Jones Lang LaSalle. Inland ports, which traditionally focus on moving and handling imports, are also facilitating the effective movement of goods outside the U.S.

APL Logistics has introduced AutoDirect, a service that uses flexible, secure racks to transport finished vehicles from door to door.

Synchronet Intermodal Services Inc. (SIS) has expanded its North American street-turn service to include both beneficial cargo owners (BCOs) and non-vessel operating common carriers (NVOs).

Truckload pricing remained constant from July to August according to the Cass Truckload Linehaul Index, which for the second month in a row registered a value of 109.5. On a year-over-year basis, truckload rates are up 1.0 percent. After seeing substantial year-over-year growth rates last year and early in 2012, truckload pricing has continued to see its rate of growth move down over the last few months, according to Avondale Partners' recent report.