While contract and spot prices in the transportation industry have been narrowing, there's still a significant gap between the two, as pointed out by Adamo.

Despite Panama Canal transit restrictions and efforts to curb capacity, carriers have been adding approximately 20% of incremental capacity on the Asia-US East Coast route since the end of August.

The Teamsters and UPS have reached a tentative labor agreement, averting a potential strike that could have disrupted the supply chain.

According to the Logistics Managers' Index (LMI), supply chain activity reached a new low in June, marking the fourth consecutive record low.

Hapag-Lloyd, the world's fifth-largest container shipping operator, has warned that current low freight rates in the industry are unsustainable and must increase. CEO Rolf Habben Jansen stated that there are spot rates below cost, which is not viable in the long run.

The container shipping industry witnesses a record-breaking 27.5% decline in global long-term freight rates in May, marking the ninth consecutive month of rate drops, according to Xeneta's Shipping Index.

After historically high freight rates in the maritime shipping industry clouded the sector while consumers panic-bought everything from furniture to toilet paper during the pandemic years - the rates have finally cooled off.