Welcome back to Freightos' Container Bytes, the podcast that is technically Episode 15, despite the fact that our team’s ability to count past 14 has recently been called into question.

We dive into the geopolitical soup of the Strait of Hormuz. While the headlines are screaming about oil, we’re looking at the real logistics casualty: the UAE’s Jebel Ali port. If the "Ocean-to-Air" bridge that feeds Europe gets shaky, your lead times are going to look as stretched out as my favorite 10-year-old hoodie.

We also break down the latest "gut punch" for US importers—the proposed 25% secondary tariff on any country doing business with Iran.

And come on, show your friends that you're cool and share this episode. You know you want to.

Chapters: 

• 00:00:00 — Counting is hard: Episode 15 (we think)
• 00:01:20 — The Strait of Hormuz: Why oil is the headline, but Jebel Ali is the real story. 
• 00:02:53 — The 25% Iran-Trade Tariff: China, Trump, and the new de-escalation drama.
• 00:04:19 — Lunar New Year "Red Zone": Rates, search spikes, and why you're already late.
• 00:06:21 — Air Cargo: The post-peak lull before the LNY storm.

Resources Mentioned:

• Lunar New Year 2026 Shipping Timeline
• 2026 Lookahead: What 2025 Means for the Forecast

This podcast is a little experiment from Freightos—and may not be around forever—so if you dig quick bites of freight wisdom, let us know.

For more detailed weekly freight updates delivered straight to your inbox, check out our weekly freight email. Want the freshest freight data on demand? Hit up terminal.freightos.com.

This is an episode from Freightos' Unfiltered Freight series, shared here too.

Welcome to a masterclass in air cargo reality with Glyn Hughes, the Director General of TIACA and a 40 year industry veteran who has seen it all. From the early days of faxed rate sheets to the current AI revolution, Glyn is here to explain why the industry is currently stuck in a psychological trap of its own making.

We have a PlayStation problem. While the next generation is busy playing the game and having fun, logistics leaders are still stuck reading the instruction manual. We are obsessed with the "how" of APIs and AI instead of focusing on the "why." If we do not start focusing on benefits over technical barriers, we are going to get left behind by our own kids.

The "Digital Forwarder" is a myth. Cargo is physical. You cannot ship a pallet through a fiber optic cable. The future belongs to the "Phigital" operators who can blend high tech data transparency with high touch physical execution. If you are still relying on legacy block space agreements and the "good old days" while ocean rates drop 80%, you are already an endangered species.

Welcome to the era of the Border Scientist. Forwarding is not just about moving boxes anymore. It is about navigating "off the chart" complexity like China+1 and USA+Multiple strategies. We do not have an AI job replacement problem. We have a human value problem. With air cargo only touching 0.8% of global trade, we need humans using better tools to go find the other 99%.

Listen to this episode now or enjoy explains to your board why your margins vanished while you were busy reading the API documentation.

CHAPTERS: 
00:00:00 — Border Scientists: Navigating "Off the Chart" complexity
00:03:13 — Logistics Darwinism: Why legacy loyalty won't save you
00:04:48 — Phigital Reality: Why the "Digital Forwarder" is a lie
00:06:56 — Retail Therapy: What e-commerce taught us about transparency 00:08:37 — AI Evolution: Moving from the abacus to the algorithm 
00:11:46 — The PlayStation Trap: Why we focus on the manual instead of the game 00:13:43 — The Dumbest Person in the Room: Simplifying the tech story

This podcast is a little experiment from Freightos—and may not be around forever—so if you dig quick bites of freight wisdom, let us know.

For more detailed weekly freight updates delivered straight to your inbox, check out our weekly freight email. Want the freshest freight data on demand? Hit up terminal.freightos.com.

Welcome to 2026! We are already 3% of the way through the year, so if you haven't hit your KPIs yet, you're officially behind. JK, kinda.

Ocean freight is starting the year with a hangover and a double shot of espresso. Rates are climbing fast, with Asia-Med is up 20% to $4,800 and Transpacific rates jumped 22% just to kick off January. It’s the classic pre-Lunar New Year rush, fueled by the Red Sea crisis that just refuses to quit. It’s basically chaos, but organized chaos.

And in the weirdest news of the week, we narrowly avoided a geopolitical crisis over... lasagna. The US quietly walked back a threatened 92% tariff on Italian pasta. You can put down the pitchforks; the spaghetti is safe.

If you don't rate us 5 stars, I will personally ensure your next BOL features a typo that delays your cargo by three weeks.

Chapters:

00:00:00 - The 3% Rule (Panic Early)

00:00:11 - Ocean Rates: Up, Up, and Away

00:01:29 - Transpacific Trends: The $2,600 Question

00:02:18 - Air Freight: The Post-Peak Hangover

00:04:50 - The Great Pasta De-Escalation

00:06:15 - The Supreme Court Wild Card

This podcast is a little experiment from Freightos—and may not be around forever—so if you dig quick bites of freight wisdom, let us know.

For more detailed weekly freight updates delivered straight to your inbox, check out our weekly freight email. Want the freshest freight data on demand? Hit up terminal.freightos.com.

Welcome to the final Container Bytes of 2025! It’s been a year. We laughed, we cried, we watched spot rates do things that defy physics. (I’m not crying – you are).

The "Blink-and-You-Missed-It" Peak This year's peak season on the Trans-Pacific was… weird. Like, "my kids eating their veggies" weird. It was skewed entirely by the trade war front-loading. We saw rates hit $6,000 per container briefly in June/July as everyone panicked about the jump from 30% to 145% tariffs, but then it vanished. Asia-Europe volumes were actually up 8%, but rates sat around $3,000 (compared to $8k-$9k last year) because capacity just keeps growing.

Air Cargo is for Robots Now While everyone was worried about e-commerce, air freight decided to pull a fast one. Trans-Pacific air rates spiked over $8/kg—which is usually "Christmas panic" pricing—but it wasn't for fast fashion. It was laptops and AI microprocessors. Even with a dip in general e-commerce, the robot revolution is keeping planes full. I, for one, welcome the overlords as long as rates stay normal.

The Red Sea Wildcard Looking at 2026, the biggest threat might actually be things getting better. If the Suez Canal reopens, we aren't just going to see rates drop immediately. We’re likely going to see massive "bunching" at ports in Europe, leading to congestion, equipment shortages, and chaos before the overcapacity actually kicks in.

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If you don't listen and share this episode, I hope your next BOL gets lost during the Olympic Curling finals.

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00:00:00: The "Freak Year" Review

00:00:18: Why Ocean Peak Season was a hallucination

00:01:39: AI Chips vs. Fast Fashion ($8/kg Air Rates)

00:03:33: The Q1 2026 Forecast

00:04:46: The Red Sea "Bunching" Nightmare

This podcast is a little experiment from Freightos—and may not be around forever—so if you dig quick bites of freight wisdom, let us know.

For more detailed weekly freight updates delivered straight to your inbox, check out our weekly freight email. Want the freshest freight data on demand? Hit up terminal.freightos.com.

This is an episode from Freightos' Unfiltered Freight series, shared here too.

Welcome to a special edition of Container Bytes, featuring 30-year ocean veteran Stephanie Loomis, who's navigated everything from Hanjin's collapse to pandemic-era chaos. Her market predictions are legendary, and she's not sugarcoating what's ahead for your freight procurement in 2026.

Carriers have finally learned capitalism. The days of $500 China-LA rates are buried, and today's shipping giants won't touch freight that doesn't make money. "There are rates that will move freight and rates that will not." Smart shippers are securing space, not just chasing pennies.

Annual tenders? Dead. With the pave of change, quarterly procurement is the new minimum. 

Industry boundaries are blurring fast. BCOs working with forwarders, everyone building tech stacks, and carriers potentially timing their Suez return to create just enough chaos to boost rates.

Share this episode or your next shipment might mysteriously end up on the blank sailing list.

CHAPTERS:
00:00:00 — Reality Check: Why your cheap rate won't move jack
00:00:52 — This Ain't 2008: When carriers discovered profit margins
00:03:20 — New Procurement: Space security trumps rate chasing
00:06:34 — Tender Evolution: Why annual contracts are obsolete
00:07:34 — Industry Convergence: BCOs, forwarders and carriers blur lines
00:09:23 — Human Element: Why relationships still beat algorithms
00:12:39 — Suez Strategy: Calculating when carriers create profitable chaos

This podcast is a little experiment from Freightos—and may not be around forever—so if you dig quick bites of freight wisdom, let us know.

For more detailed weekly freight updates delivered straight to your inbox, check out our weekly freight email. Want the freshest freight data on demand? Hit up terminal.freightos.com.

We're back and pumped to talk freight. Get your freight Christmas sweater on.🧣

Transpacific air rates hit $7.50/kilo, beating out last year's $7.30 peak despite recession fears and front-loading concerns (take that, 2024!). Meanwhile, Asia-Europe stays flat at $3.60/kilo as carriers shift more capacity there.

And....the Red Sea is showing signs of life! I'm not crying - you are.

Houthis released hostages that had been held since July, and CMA CGM is increasing vessel traffic through the area (though full return remains as elusive as my son's missing left shoes). Ocean rates continue their wild ride, with transpacific bouncing between $1,400-$3,000 in recent months, while Asia-Europe rates have climbed 40-50% since October lows. It's a rollercoaster.

Also, don't miss tomorrow's session with Stanford's Neil Mahoney on trade war impacts. 

If you don't share this episode, I'll blank sail your next three shipments and replace your BOLs with my 4-year-old's crayon drawings. NBD.

CHAPTERS:
00:00:00 — Air cargo defies death, rates spike
00:01:23 — Red Sea: Signs of life or zombie twitches?
00:03:15 — Ocean rates: The rollercoaster that never ends
00:05:34 — How not to get fleeced in 2024 contracts

This podcast is a little experiment from Freightos—and may not be around forever—so if you dig quick bites of freight wisdom, let us know.

For more detailed weekly freight updates delivered straight to your inbox, check out our weekly freight email. Want the freshest freight data on demand? Hit up terminal.freightos.com.

BREAKING: So... the Suez Canal Authority is that friend who tells everyone you're definitely coming to their party when you clearly said "maybe next year." 

Meanwhile, carriers are playing Red Sea chicken while rates do whatever the heck they want (mostly staying flat by YMMV).

Air cargo is peaking harder than my acting career (I was a lollipop in Willy Wonka in second grade, nbd). , with China-US hitting $6.50/kg despite everyone's doom predictions. Who needs consistency when you can have CHAOS?

Here's a link to the procurement planning webinar I casually dropped in while chatting.

Also..share this episode or we'll blank sail your podcast feed. (Kidding! ...or are we?)

Chapters

00:00:00 — Red Sea Confusion™: the world's most expensive game of "you first"

01:56 — Ocean rates refusing to behave, carriers blanking sailings

03:42 — Capacity management theater: Slow steaming and ship scrapping

05:04 — China→US rates climbing to $6.50/kg (because apparently people still buy stuff)

07:42 — Plot twist: People actually bought things on Black Friday/Cyber Monday! Supply chains acting surprisingly adult-like for once

This podcast is a little experiment from Freightos—and may not be around forever—so if you dig quick bites of freight wisdom, let us know.

For more detailed weekly freight updates delivered straight to your inbox, check out our weekly freight email. Want the freshest freight data on demand? Hit up terminal.freightos.com.

Got good news and bad news for your today, freight podcast friend.

Good news? The Houthis said they would stop firing on ships in the Red Sea (but container liners aren't holding their breath).

The bad news? A 48% increase in China - US West Coast rates (and a confusing 3% drop on China - US East Coast).

Ready for a game of GRI Madness? Then how about throwing in a healthy dose of tariff Supreme Court indicators to round it out?

Also, do us a solid and share this episode with someone.

Chapters

00:00:00 — Red Sea “ceasefire” headlines: what it could mean for ships, transit times, and rates. Suez talks, risk tolerance, and the first-mover dilemma

01:44 — Tariff tea leaves: Supreme Court arguments and what a “low tariff window” could trigger

03:25 — Macro vibe check: peak season fades (ocean), ramps (air), FAA blip, and capacity watch

03:58 — Ocean: GRI Madness edition—China→US West Coast up ~48% and holding, blank sailings in play

05:08 — Air cargo: China→US at ~$6.30/kg, Europe near ~$4/kg, ecom shifts and capacity agility

This podcast is a little experiment from Freightos—and may not be around forever—so if you dig quick bites of freight wisdom, let us know.

For more detailed weekly freight updates delivered straight to your inbox, check out our weekly freight email. Want the freshest freight data on demand? Hit up terminal.freightos.com.

That's not how this was supposed to work. I'm taking my ball and going home.

Ocean freight rates climbed despite increased stability, with some major drivers of stability for the next year on China-US trade. Judah breaks down air cargo rates, ocean rates, why the GRIs might be sticking and which ones aren't.

Also, yolo, no port fees! Party time!

This podcast is a little experiment from Freightos—and may not be around forever—so if you dig quick bites of freight wisdom, let us know.

For more detailed weekly freight updates delivered straight to your inbox, check out our weekly freight email. Want the freshest freight data on demand? Hit up terminal.freightos.com.

Bro, how am I supposed to run a podcast if everything changes every day?

Less than 24 after the last weekly podcast was published, a trade summit between China and the United States changed everything. So we tacked on our quick view on what that means at the end of this episode. 

Just another reminder of how everything can change, every day.

This podcast is a little experiment from Freightos—and may not be around forever—so if you dig quick bites of freight wisdom, let us know.

For more detailed weekly freight updates delivered straight to your inbox, check out our weekly freight email. Want the freshest freight data on demand? Hit up terminal.freightos.com.