American Dollar to Canadian Dollar = 0.794905; American Dollar to Chinese Yuan = 0.152801; American Dollar to Euro = 1.177823; American Dollar to Japanese Yen = 0.009112; American Dollar to Mexican Peso = 0.048245.

Spot rates on the benchmark trans-Pacific ocean shipping trade have increased by double-digits in just the past month, as the conflict  in the Middle East drives downstream effects to the other side of the globe. “On U.S.-bound trades from the Far East, freight rates are still elevated from one month ago as disruption in the Middle East continues to have a cascading effect through Southeast Asian transshipment hubs,” said analyst Peter Sand of shipping platform Xeneta, in an update. “Shippers moving cargo to the U.S. via these hubs are paying the price for bottlenecks created thousands of miles away.”

American Trucking Associations’ advanced seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index decreased 1.6% in June after increasing 3% in May. In June, the index equaled 113.5 (2015=100) compared with 115.3 in May. “While giving back some of the gain from May, it appears that truck freight tonnage is slowly going in the right direction since hitting a recent low in January,” said ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello. “Despite June’s decline, the second quarter average was 0.2% above the first quarter and only 0.2% below the second quarter in 2023, which are good signs that truck freight might be finally turning the corner.” May’s increase was revised down from our June 18 press release. Compared with June 2023, the index decreased 0.4%. In May, the index was up 1% from a year earlier, which was the first year-over-year gain since February 2023.