Known as Werner Global Logistics (WGL), the division offers freight forwarding services for international ocean and air shipments to customers with international freight forwarding operations primarily in the U.S., China, and Mexico.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed. WGL’s freight forwarding services for international ocean and air shipments generated $53 million of revenue in fiscal year 2020.
Denmark-based SGL has its U.S. headquarters in Seattle and offers international freight-forwarding services worldwide primarily by air and sea, with supporting IT, logistics, warehousing, and road services.
According to Werner, current WGL customers will benefit from SGL’s network of over 115 locations across the globe, their modern transportation management technology, global multi-channel service offerings, and ability to provide local and international solutions in new trade lanes across the Asian Pacific, European, Middle-Eastern, and Latin American markets.
Following the deal, Omaha, Nebraska-based Werner will continue to provide North American truck brokerage, freight management, intermodal, and final mile services. As part of the deal, Werner also entered into an agreement with SGL to offer comprehensive international logistics solutions to its existing and future North American customers.
“Innovative solutions in logistics has been our focus for over three decades,” SGL’s North American COO - International, Julien Ranzato, said in a release. “Werner’s established culture, leadership, network, and core values are a great fit for us, and we look forward to continuing and expanding our relationship with Werner on international and domestic business opportunities that will result from this strategic partnership.”
Market analysts have revised their 2025 outlook for the U.S. ports sector down to “negative” from “stable,” forecasting that White House tariffs and policy uncertainty will dent trade volumes, according to a study from Moody’s.
Moody’s preliminary estimates indicate that Trump’s tariffs will slow U.S. real gross domestic product (GDP) growth to between 0% and 1% in 2025 as the risk of a recession grows, signaling a potential drop in consumer demand.
The ultimate impact from tariffs and the economy on ports will largely hinge on the level, reach, and time frame of the levies. Tariffs on Chinese goods in particular will have the most pronounced adverse effect on volumes of cargo moving through U.S. ports.
Specific to the port sector, Moody’s said it now projects cargo volumes in 2025 to decline in the 7%-12% range. That would come because the wave of import tariffs on China, Mexico, and Canada and on products such as steel, aluminum, and vehicles represent an increase in trade barriers not seen in nearly a century. And counter-tariffs levied by countries globally on imports from the U.S. will also impact U.S. export trade volumes.
“Tariffs, tariff policy uncertainty, and the rising risk of a recession this year are expected to weigh on trade volumes at U.S. ports in 2025,” David Kamran, AVP at Moody’s Ratings, said in a statement. “The higher cost of imported goods will reduce import volumes, while uncertainty over tariff policy has impacted business planning and consumer sentiment, increasing the risk for a recession this year. With demand for container cargo historically correlated with US real GDP and retail sales, any slowing economic activity will further weaken US trade volumes.”
Looking at the larger economy, the erratic nature of tariff implementation has increased uncertainty and hurt business and consumer sentiment, with potential knock-on effects on capital outlays, business expenditures, and consumer demand, Moody’s found. Given that demand for container cargo has historically been correlated with growth in U.S. real GDP and retail sales, we expect slowing economic activity stemming from policy uncertainty to further weaken U.S. trade volumes, Moody’s said.
That bad economic weather would also hurt ports’ business rankings, since sustained high tariffs—especially on China—could hurt ports' relatively strong credit quality, which had previously been driven by a multi-year period of healthy financial performance and robust liquidity. On the other hand, factors that could support trade activity include lower fuel costs and/or monetary policy easing, Moody’s said.
The Industrial & Logistics sector of the U.S. retail market slumped in the first quarter, as construction of new buildings dropped significantly and demand dropped even faster, forcing a slight rise in vacancy rates, according to report from real estate services firm CBRE.
Specifically, the overall vacancy rate rose by 20 basis points to 6.3%, the highest since Q2 2014. On the other side of the scales, construction completions fell to their lowest quarterly level since Q2 2018 at 64.6 million square feet, and plummeting construction starts will lead to fewer completions in coming quarters, CBRE found.
According to CBRE’s analysis, the reason is that many occupiers are taking a wait-and-see approach before making real estate decisions. The imposition of widespread tariffs on imports likely will have a significant impact on market activity, especially if increased costs are passed on to consumers, the report said.
Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is the secret ingredient for a new class of containerships operated by Crowley, a Jacksonville, Florida-based ship owner and operator. Choosing LNG as fuel instead of conventional diesel lowers a vessel’s greenhouse gas emissions—including sulfur oxide, carbon dioxide, and nitrogen oxide—while eliminating particulate matter, the company says.
Crowley put that theory into practice in April when it launched the LNG-powered Quetzalfrom the Port of Santo Tomás, Guatemala. The vessel is the first of four “Avance Class” (the name translates to “advance” in English) containerships it plans to deploy in the Caribbean Basin.
The **ital{Quetzal} and its sister ships—the Copan, Tiscapa, and Torogoz—are designed to transport perishable goods like food and pharmaceuticals as well as retail products, apparel, and breakbulk cargo. Each vessel has a capacity of up to 1,400 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) and can accommodate a variety of container sizes.
The Avance Class vessels, built by Hyundai Mipo Dockyard of Korea for owner Eastern Pacific Shipping, are all expected to enter service in 2025. They will operate under long-term charters to Crowley, which will use them to haul cargo between the U.S., Central America, and the Dominican Republic.
“Quetzal and the Avance Class ships represent the next generation of Crowley’s innovation and leadership in supply chain solutions for international shipping in the Caribbean Basin,” Tom Crowley, chairman and CEO of Crowley, said in a release. “The vessels provide frequent service and greater capabilities to deliver cargo at peak timing while carrying forward Crowley’s high operational standards.”
If you’ve ever run a “turkey trot” on Thanksgiving Day, you know that many 5K and 10K road races serve as fundraisers for charities like local food banks. Now the Austrian freight forwarder Gebrüder Weiss is applying that model on a much wider scale.
On April 1, the company launched the fourth season of its international cycling campaign, GWcycles, calling on cycling enthusiasts worldwide to hit the saddle and pedal with purpose until Oct. 31. This year’s campaign, dubbed “Cycling for the Seas,” will support ocean cleanup efforts in addition to raising awareness about sustainable mobility. For every 100,000 kilometers (62,137 miles) cycled collectively, the company’s new partner, waste management solutions specialist CleanHub, will remove a ton of plastic waste from rivers and coastal regions of Southeast Asia.
That may sound like a long way to ride, but during last year’s event, cyclists around the world pedaled over 810,000 kilometers (503,310 miles)—the equivalent of riding to the moon and back—and the 2025 campaign runs a month longer than usual. When the clock runs out, the 300 most active riders will be entered into a drawing for a gravel bike, while the top-ranked cyclist will receive a Gebrüder Weiss winner’s jersey.
Grocery giant Ahold Delhaize USA has elevated the leader of its distribution and transportation operations to the leadership suite, saying Sanja Krajnovic has been named the company’s chief supply chain officer (CSCO).
Krajnovic, who is currently EVP for both ADUSA Distribution and ADUSA Transportation, will continue in those roles, according to Ahold Delhaize USA CEO JJ Fleeman. “Given the scope of her role leading one of the largest supply chains on the East Coast, with more than 20 distribution centers and an expansive transportation network, it is important to have Sanja and her teams represented within our U.S. leadership group,” Fleeman said in a release. “Sanja has helped further solidify our self-distribution model as a competitive edge in the markets where the U.S. brands operate, with nearly 90% of our network now self-distributed. I’m confident she will continue to add value in this role, applying a strategic approach to supply chain management and partnering with each of the brands to advance their local brand strategies and growth.”
Ahold Delhaize has its global headquarters in the Netherlands, and its U.S. offices in Salisbury, North Carolina. The company operates some 9,500 stores worldwide, including its U.S. brands Food Lion, Giant, Hannaford, and Stop & Shop.
Krajnovic joined ADUSA Distribution in August 2022. Since then, she has continued the transformation of the supply chain into an integrated self-distribution model, enhancing operations, driving increased efficiency and savings and improving safety performance, retention and culture, the company said.
Prior to joining ADUSA Distribution, Krajnovic served as Senior Vice President of Store Operations at Dollar General, where she oversaw 9,300 locations across the U.S. Before that, she spent 25 years with Target Corporation, most recently as Group Vice President, Global Supply Chain and Logistics. In various roles at Target, she directed multi-site functions across retail operations, food, global supply chain and logistics, and led numerous strategic initiatives and transformations.