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Supply Chain by the Numbers

Oct. 16, 2026

Supply Chain by the Numbers for Oct. 16, 2026

Costly US Shipbuilding. Q4 Freight Rates to Soar. High Cost of Green Port Trucks. US Manufacturing in September Up a Little


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$330 Million
That is the cost per ship for each of three container ships on order from US carrier Mason to be built in the shipyard of Philadelphia. The problem? That’s about twice the cost for a similar ship built in China or South Korea. The contract came about as part of the Trump admiration’s plan to boost US manufacturing, especially, especially shipbuilding. In the Philadelphia yard, the goal is to expand capacity from two ships per year to 20. However, an article this week in the Wall Street Journal quotes Basil Karatzas, head of consulting firm Karatzas Marine Advisors, as saying ““It’s hard to justify a high valuation multiple for a U.S. shipbuilder like Philly from a foreign buyer, based on pure economics.”

$60.00

That’s how much the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are considering paying truckers each time they pick up or drop off containers with a zero-emission vehicle, up to a maximum $36,000 per truck per year, over the next three years. The boards of the two ports are expected to vote on the proposal in the coming months. Why? Even soaring diesel prices – over $8.00 gallon in California - aren’t enough to make the economics of battery-electric trucking work at the ports.



80%
That’s by how much over a baseline rate in January 2018 that US LTL rates will reach in Q4. That forecast this week from AFS Logistics and TD Cowen. The upward pressure will of course hit all modes, with truckload rates projected to jump to levels not seen since Q1 2022. “We expect fuel to drive elevated transportation costs for the foreseeable future. Inventories are low and refineries are at capacity, so even if crude oil prices drop in the coming months, diesel and jet fuel supplies must still catch up before prices recede,” says Andy Dyer, CEO, AFS Logistics.

98.4
That was the level of US manufacturing output in September, as represented in the monthly index from the Federal Reserve Bank, which was released this week. That was flat from August (with a score of 98.2), as the index has been in range that has seen it hover around the 96 -98 level for more than six months, with no real growth, but not recessionary declines either. However, September output was up just 1.1% versus the same period in 2025. But at an index level of 98.2, it means US manufacturing output is still below that of the baseline year of 2017 (index = 100) now nine years later. It is also well below the all-time high of about 108, reached in late 2007.

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