°®¶¹´«Ã½

Retailers are ramping up hiring for the holiday season, but fewer seasonal employees are expected to be taken on this year to help customers in stores and assemble online orders in warehouses.

In-store shopping was already on the rise as the retail sector reset after the turmoil of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the upcoming holiday season is likely to expedite the trend.

The ATA For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index rose 1.8% to 115.8 from the prior month, and 0.7% compared with August 2023.

FedEx Corp. cut the top end of its full-year profit outlook and reported quarterly earnings below expectations on softer demand for package deliveries.

The report, three years in the making and made public on Sept. 6, lauds the trucking industry for its efforts to join the fight at high-level federal and state government agencies.

As carriers await an upturn in the freight environment, executives say they continue to seek efficiencies and prepare their fleets for when the tipping point comes.

Efforts from established and newer enterprises to develop robust digital tools are being shaped by market demands and technological innovations.

The U.S. Postal Service said Sept. 11 that it is ending discounts that shipping consolidators such as UPS and DHL use to get packages to the nation’s doorsteps.

UPS is acquiring a German firm that specializes in temperature-sensitive shipping to expand its health care logistics capabilities in Europe, the company announced Sept. 10.

UPS Inc. is laying off more of its employees, after earlier this year announcing it was cutting 12,000 jobs in its management ranks.