Amazon's Full LTL Network, PepsiCo-Gatik Driverless Deployment, & Early Peak Season | The Morning Minute

In this episode, we kick things off by examining a massive competitive move that could fundamentally reshape the less-than-truckload landscape. Amazon announced the full expansion of its LTL service to all destinations, rolling out a traditional hub-and-spoke network capable of moving palletized freight anywhere nationwide at lower costs than legacy carriers. The service includes next-day live pickup, same-day drop-trailer options, real-time GPS tracking, and automated appointment scheduling, positioning the e-commerce giant as a serious threat to incumbent trucking companies like FedEx Freight, Old Dominion, and Estes. Next, we shift over to the autonomous trucking sector, where PepsiCo and Gatik have launched the largest commercial driverless freight deployment to date. This multi-year strategic partnership brings fully driver-out trucks into PepsiCo's consumer goods supply chain, with operations already live across Texas, Arizona, and Arkansas serving around two hundred fifty retail locations. These autonomous trucks maintain a ninety-nine percent on-time track record with no safety drivers in the cab, and a South Carolina production facility is set to begin mass-producing Level four autonomous trucks in the second half of twenty twenty-seven. Finally, we explore the trans-Pacific shipping market, where new tariffs are fueling an unusually early frontloading frenzy and peak season. Rate hikes and surcharges that took effect June first sent Asia-to-U.S. West Coast prices soaring fifty-one percent to four thousand eight hundred thirty-six dollars per forty-foot container, while East Coast prices jumped twenty-five percent. With the U.S. Trade Representative announcing new tariffs on sixty countries over forced labor concerns, the National Retail Federation has moved the expected peak season to June from July and predicts June import volumes will run five percent higher than May. Follow the FreightWaves NOW Podcast Other FreightWaves Shows Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices