Underscoring the need for long-overdue freight rail reform, American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) President and CEO Donna Harman urged the United States Senate to quickly confirm the nominations of Patrick Fuchs and Michelle Schultz to the U.S. Surface Transportation Board. The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation approved the nominations on Wednesday, April 25. “As one of the largest manufacturing sectors in the nation, the paper and wood products industry relies on the nation’s rails to move millions of tons of materials to production mills and final markets. Revoking the outdated commodity exemption policy and addressing harmful service failures and higher pricing will help ensure the accessibility of effective, streamlined and competitive rail service to our companies all rail customers. We thank the committee for its approval and urge the Senate to quickly confirm Mr. Fuchs and Ms. Schultz.”

The 10 Roads group of companies — one of the largest U.S. mail haulers — announced Monday it will wind down all operations over the next 60 days and cease service to the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) by Jan. 30, citing steep revenue losses tied to major USPS network changes. In a statement to FreightWaves, the company said it has faced “continued and significant headwinds” across the transportation sector, compounded by fundamental operational shifts at USPS over the past two years. Those changes include increased use of brokers and the insourcing of transportation work — a trend that 10 Roads said has resulted in a 70% loss of revenue with expectations of further declines, company officials said. The company, which has provided mail-haul transportation to USPS for more than 47 years, said it has formally notified USPS of its intent to discontinue service. “We remain very appreciative of our long-standing relationship with the USPS and are committed to supporting a smooth transition,” the spokesperson added.

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