Fall 2026 | M&A Report In The Transport, Logistics and Supply Chain Industry Sector The report below gives a good overview of the Fall 2026 M&A activity in the Transport, Logistics and Supply Chain Industry Sector. The global freight and logistics market stands at $6.7 trillion in 2026 and should reach $8.5 trillion by 2031, a compound annual growth rate of 4.8%. Demand keeps growing on e-commerce and new infrastructure, while a driver shortage limits new capacity. The gap lifted prices faster than volumes through the third quarter of 2026. Disruption around Iran drove up the cost of moving goods. On some days in August, traffic through the Strait of Hormuz fell to single digits, leaving about 520 vessels waiting. In September, daily earnings for a supertanker carrying oil from the Gulf to China topped $1 million for the first time. Ships rerouted around the Cape faced an extra 18 to 20 days to Rotterdam, while war-risk insurance and fuel costs also climbed. In the United States, freight shipments rose 1.9% year on year in September, ending a 42-month downturn. Truckload linehaul rates rose 10.1% to a four-year high and freight spending 20.4%, with diesel 68.0% above a year earlier. Rail had its best quarter on record for intermodal, with carloads excluding coal up 4.4%. Asia held the pricing advantage at sea. Orient Overseas Container Line moved 2.1 million containers, 9.0% more than a year earlier, earning $3.3 billion, up 45.1%. European routes went the other way. A container from Asia to northern Europe cost $3,485 in late September, 4.0% less than a week earlier, and $3,835 to southern Europe, down 5.0%. Air freight tightened across Asia, Europe and North America, with September demand up 6.0%, capacity up 2.0% and spot rates 27.0% higher at $3.1 a kilogram. Carriers therefore priced the quarter on cost and space, not on volume.
Posted by Peter Heydenrych.
Read the Entire Fall 2026 Transport, Logistics and Supply Chain Report Here