This Week in Shipping: October 26, 2026

Peak season is here, and freight costs are climbing on almost every leg of the journey.

Ocean rates are rising as carriers pull sailings. Truckload carriers are preparing for steep 2027 contract increases. A duty change on Canadian goods takes effect this Friday. The common thread is timing, and operators who act before costs reprice will keep margin that others give away.

The Top 5 Shipping Stories This Week

1. U.S. Revises 50% Duties on Selected Canadian Imports

On October 23, the White House changed which Canadian products face an additional 50% duty. Some plywood, paper products, machinery, refrigeration equipment, and packing crates were removed, while certain valves, carpets, and waste products were added. The new scope applies to goods entered or withdrawn from warehouse on or after October 30.

What It Means for Shippers

This is an execution problem with a hard deadline. Duty treatment depends on when goods enter, not when they were ordered. USMCA origin alone does not exempt covered products, and these duties stack on top of Section 232 duties.

• Screen your HTSUS classifications against the added and removed categories before Friday.
• Flag in-transit and bonded inventory where entry or withdrawal timing changes the duty owed.
• Update landed-cost logic in your ERP and broker systems, and keep an audit trail of the change.
• Revisit pricing on newly covered SKUs, since a sudden 50% duty can erase margin on goods already in motion.

If you move Canadian-origin goods, the next four days matter more than the next four months.

2. Ocean Rates Rise as Carriers Cancel Sailings Into November

Drewry's World Container Index rose 2% week over week to $4,585 per 40-foot container on October 22, with increases on every major East-West trade. Drewry expects 56 blank sailings out of 714 planned through November 30. That is an 8% cancellation rate, and 32% of those cancellations fall on the trans-Pacific eastbound.

What It Means for Shippers

Higher rates and fewer sailings tend to arrive together. For North American importers, budgets and ETAs can slip at the same time. The gradual return of Suez routings could also shift vessel flows and port congestion.

• Check every booked voyage against carrier cancellation notices, then confirm the actual vessel after booking.
• Price alternate services, ports, and transshipment options now, before capacity tightens further.
• Add schedule buffers to replenishment plans, warehouse appointments, and customer delivery promises.

Booked cargo needs a backup plan before November replenishment is fully committed.

3. USPS Adds Sortation, Labor, and Faster Tracking for Peak

USPS added 164 package-sorting machines in fiscal 2026 and hired more than 10,000 seasonal employees. It expects package volume to rise about 40% between October 1 and December 31. Its new tracking platform is nearly four times faster than the old one and often posts scans within a minute.

What It Means for Shippers

More capacity lowers bottleneck risk, but it is not a service guarantee. Ground Advantage is still a 2 to 5 business-day service, and some noncontiguous destinations can take 10 days or more. The bigger operational win this peak is visibility.

• Use faster scan updates to tighten exception alerts and customer notifications.
• Refresh peak routing and returns rules for Ground Advantage and Priority Mail.
• Keep delivery promises conservative for noncontiguous destinations.
• Track actual lane performance weekly instead of relying on published service windows.

Faster tracking helps you catch problems sooner. It does not remove the need for buffers.

4. Knight-Swift Signals Double-Digit Truckload Rate Increases for 2027

Knight-Swift reported third-quarter truckload revenue per loaded mile up 9.7% year over year, excluding fuel surcharge. Management expects to seek low-to-mid double-digit contract increases in the 2027 bid season. It pointed to carrier failures, fleet liquidation, and capacity shifting into dedicated operations.

What It Means for Shippers

The market is tightening from the supply side, not because demand is surging. That means rates can reprice before volume signals show up. Shippers who wait for demand to rise may end up bidding after capacity has already moved.

• Stress-test 2027 freight budgets against low-to-mid double-digit base rate increases, excluding fuel.
• Run mini-bids early on lanes that depend on small carriers or brokered capacity.
• Track tender acceptance and recovery-freight costs by lane, since rising rejections are an early warning.
• Model base rates, fuel exposure, and exception costs separately so every increase is traceable.

Start the 2027 bid conversation now, while you still have options.

5. A Major 3PL Acquisition Reshapes the DTC Fulfillment Map

Stord announced its largest acquisition to date, buying AMS Fulfillment, a 3PL serving beauty, wellness, and DTC brands. The deal adds more than 10 million annual orders. It also adds over 1 million square feet across Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, and the Philadelphia area, bringing Stord's network to more than 100 locations.

What It Means for Shippers

Fulfillment providers are increasingly bundling warehouses, parcel programs, and software into one offer. For brands, that affects zone placement, rate leverage, and how much control you keep. Consolidation during peak also raises integration risk.

• If your 3PL is part of an acquisition, ask how integration will affect SLAs, cutoffs, and system interfaces.
• Confirm you still have direct visibility into inventory, order status, and parcel costs.
• Re-run node placement against your demand geography and parcel zones before committing to a new network.
• Know which parts of your stack you control and which parts you rent from a provider.

Network size matters, but control over your shipping decisions matters more.

The Bottom Line

Costs are repricing across ocean, truckload, and cross-border freight at the same time. Most of these shifts are driven by supply and policy, not demand. That makes them harder to see coming and easier to underestimate. Smart operators will lock in plans, buffers, and visibility now, before peak makes the decision for them.