Transportation, Mobility & Logistics

Portage, Indiana – October 29, 2026 -- Ports of Indiana-Burns Harbor has been awarded $11.2 million through the U.S. Department of Transportation's Maritime Administration (MARAD) Port Infrastructure Development Program (PIDP) to modernize cargo handling and prepare for future international container service.

Burns Harbor award is part of a $498 million PIDP round covering 35 projects

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy announced the $498 million round, which funds 35 port projects across 19 states. The Burns Harbor grant is one of those awards.

Ports of Indiana contributes $2.8 million to a $14 million equipment project

The Burns Harbor Container Handling Modernization Project totals $14 million. Ports of Indiana is providing a $2.8 million match, and the federal grant covers the rest.

SAN JOSE – October 29, 2026 -- Tensor Auto Inc. and Münchner Taxi Zentrum (MTZ), Munich's largest taxi operator, have signed a letter of intent to deploy up to 500 Tensor Robocars as autonomous taxis in German cities, with a further 10,000 vehicles targeted across Europe.

The initial fleet depends on definitive agreements and Level 4 regulatory approval in Germany. MTZ will operate the vehicles under its own brand.

Operators keep the customer and data while Tensor sells the vehicle and a subscription

Tensor sells the Robocar and charges a recurring fee for Autonomous Driving as a Service (ADaaS). The subscription covers autonomous driving software, fleet-management tools, ongoing service and training. MTZ, not Tensor, operates the vehicles, and the Robocar integrates with MTZ's existing dispatch systems, so riders book as they do today.

Chicago – October 29, 2026 -- Crash Champions raised $300,000 in September to seed Champion It Forward, a new independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit aimed at a collision repair labor shortage in which more than 55% of auto body repair technician roles are unfilled.

Industry data puts collision repair demand at nearly 100,000 technicians over five years

The workforce gap is the organization's founding premise. According to the latest industry data cited by the group, the sector needs nearly 100,000 technicians over the next five years. Champion It Forward plans to widen career pathways, expand mentorship and provide financial support for aspiring technicians.

New York – October 29, 2026 -- Timeshifter, maker of the most-downloaded jet lag app, has released a free report arguing that popular jet lag advice and in-flight amenities fail to address the problem and can make it worse, leaving airlines an untapped loyalty lever on long-haul routes.

The report, titled The Arrival Advantage, states that jet lag is a circadian misalignment between the brain's internal 24-hour clock and the local time zone, not a sleep problem. Insomnia and daytime sleepiness are symptoms, Timeshifter says, which is why many products treat it incorrectly. The company names individually timed light exposure and light avoidance as the only science-based fix.

United States – October 29, 2026 -- SupplyOne cut the average pack size by more than 20% for a nationwide distributor of new OEM automotive parts, lowering the customer's dimensional-weight shipping costs.

Manual RSC box assembly could not keep pace with order growth

The distributor runs strategically located distribution centers and more than 250 retail locations. As order volume grew, it needed to move beyond manually assembled RSC boxes. The new process had to support both retail distribution and online fulfillment.

Rightsized carton equipment forms trays at each packing station

SupplyOne built the program around speed, consistency, branding and freight efficiency. Its automated pack-out equipment forms right-sized trays automatically at each packing station, which reduces manual box setup.

SupplyOne also developed large and small corrugated trays with custom printed lids. Online orders carry their own branded graphics.

Hamilton – October 29, 2026 -- Flex LNG Ltd. reported second-quarter 2026 vessel operating revenues of $106.8 million, up from $80.5 million in the first quarter, and net income of $44.9 million, compared with $19.5 million in the prior quarter.

Basic earnings per share reached $0.83 (Q1: $0.36). Adjusted EBITDA rose to $79.0 million from $53.2 million, while adjusted net income climbed to $42.5 million from $16.9 million. Adjusted basic EPS came in at $0.79 versus $0.31, an increase of 155%.

Spot exposure on two vessels lifts average TCE to $86,119 per day

The average Time Charter Equivalent rate rose to $86,119 per day from $65,729 in the first quarter. Revenue excluding EU Allowances was $102.7 million, the company's highest quarterly revenue since the fourth quarter of 2021.

Nashville – October 29, 2026 -- TransCore has launched open-road all-electronic tolling (AET) at the New Hope-Lambertville Toll Bridge (U.S. Route 202), the first of the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission's (DRJTBC) seven legacy toll bridges to complete the conversion.

Toll plaza infrastructure is eliminated at the crossing

The system replaces cashless tolling run through existing toll plaza infrastructure with full open-road AET. Motorists now pass through the crossing without stopping. TransCore says this improves roadway safety and cuts long-term maintenance requirements.

Hong Kong – October 29, 2026 -- Windward has tied 45 Russia-trading shadow fleet tankers, held through 45 single-ship Hong Kong companies, to one untraceable nominee director, and 42 of the vessels are sanctioned.

Per Windward's visual link analysis, all but three of the tankers share 19 ISM managers with addresses in one industrial cluster in Sumqayit, Azerbaijan. The three exceptions are the unsanctioned vessels, which use ISM managers in the UAE.

Aging fleet runs under two flags

The group comprises six Suezmaxes, 33 Aframaxes and six medium-range product tankers, with an average age of 22 years. Thirty-four fly the Sierra Leone flag and nine fly the Equatorial Guinea flag.

Global – October 29, 2026 -- Declaration-based trade data cannot identify the vessels customs agencies most need to stop, according to a Windward analysis that points to a UK cocaine seizure worth roughly $100 million at London Gateway as proof.

Trade data records declarations, and enforcement targets the ones that fail

Cargo manifests, customs declarations and import and export filings were built to answer commercial questions, such as crude volumes through Yanbu or dry bulk flows into Rotterdam. Enforcement asks different questions. Which of 15,000 containers arriving at a port in one day holds something undeclared? Which vessel detoured through a sanctioned port?

Windward argues the gap is structural, not a matter of coverage or refresh rate. A vessel running dark leaves no AIS record to check, and one broadcasting manipulated positions leaves a record that looks complete.

Middle East – October 29, 2026 -- Spot tanker rates reached record highs in September as geopolitical disruption in the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea lengthened voyages and cut trade efficiency, according to a Teekay Tankers market update.

Hormuz shuttle trade ties up VLCC capacity

Middle East Gulf crude exports have recovered despite continuing attacks on ships. Several producers now run a dedicated fleet of VLCCs through the Strait of Hormuz to transfer crude ship-to-ship (STS) in the Gulf of Oman. The arrangement absorbs a large number of vessels and adds extended waiting times, which pushed VLCC spot rates to record levels.