Commerce Express Weekly Road Map:
March 4th, 2025
Keeping you informed on the latest news/insights in our industry.
Mark Your Calendars – International Roadcheck May 13th-15th
The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) recently announced the dates (May 13th-15th) for their yearly International Roadcheck, a safety initiative.
During this time, law enforcement will conduct inspections on commercial vehicles and drivers to ensure compliance with regulations. These inspections will be carried out across the U.S., as well as in Mexico and Canada. Should a driver or vehicle receive an out-of-service violation, it would be kept off the road until all violations have been corrected and ‘properly addressed.’
Every year there’s a focus on different safety-related areas. This year, two areas of focus will be on federal hours-of-service rules and tire maintenance. Data from the 72 hours inspections will be collected and results will be released in the summer by CVSA.
Commerce Blog
Less-than-truckload shipping can act as a godsend for businesses who regularly push out or bring in a small amount of goods per shipment.
Here’s a hypothetical: let’s say you have a ready shipment that fits the ideal service description for LTL shipping. While the model clearly presents a cost-effective solution in theory, there are certain realities you and your supply chain partners should understand before booking an LTL service.
Tariffs:
Canada: Per an Executive Order issued by President Trump, a 25% tariff on nearly all imports from Canada to the U.S. went into effect at midnight March 4th. Except for energy, which faces a 10% tariff.
In response, Canada has issued 25% retaliatory tariffs on $107 billion U.S. dollars of imports from the U.S. to Canada, per a statement from the Canadian Prime Minister. Some of those Canadian retaliatory tariffs start now (on about USD $21 billion worth of goods), while the remaining will take place over the next three weeks.
Mexico: Per an Executive Order, 25% tariffs on nearly all imports from Mexico to the U.S., went into effect March 4th. In response, Mexico’s President, Claudia Sheinbaum said she will announced retaliatory tariffs and specific details of those, this Sunday, March 9th – per AP News.
China: There is now a total of 20% additional tariffs on imports from China to the U.S. The first 10% was added in early February, now this additional 10% went into effect on March 4th, per an executive order. In response, China has announced up to 15% retaliatory tariffs on some U.S. goods, with an effective date of March 10th, per CNBC.
This is a fluid situation and things can change. We will continue to stay up to date on this and provide new updates when applicable. If you have any questions/concerns, please contact us.
Diesel update: The average price of diesel decreased 6.2 cents a gallon. Putting the average price of diesel at $3.635, per the U.S. EIA.
Infrastructure: A section of Interstate 40, that runs through the border of Tennessee and North Carolina border, officially reopened to traffic on March 1st – per the NC Department of Transportation. It will only be opened to one lane in both directions, and as the NCDOT notes, travelers should expect some traffic delays.
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