WSI’s Warehouse Wire: September 25, 2026

Your connection to what’s happening in warehousing, transportation, and supply chain operations.

Together, the stories show how quickly transportation costs and production conditions can change the assumptions behind inventory, facility capacity, and mode selection.

Check back monthly for timely headlines and practical insight into warehousing and supply chain operations.

Rail Safety Week puts track and crossing risks back in focus

Rail Safety Week and the U.S. See Tracks? Think Train® campaign are underway September 21–27, bringing railroads and safety organizations together around the persistent rail incidents that still occur away from trains themselves, at crossings and along railroad property.¹

Operation Lifesaver Inc. reports that more than 2,300 people in the United States were injured or killed in railroad crossing collisions or trespassing incidents in 2025. This year marks the 10th anniversary of its national awareness campaign. CPKC is participating with public outreach across its network and reminders around designated crossings, warning signals, stalled vehicles, and trespassing.²

The message also applies to industrial supply chains, where rail-served plants, warehouses, and transload facilities put employees, truck drivers, contractors, and visitors near active rail infrastructure. However, long-term awareness and safety depend on daily operating discipline.

The campaign also places procedures around crossings, spotting and pulling railcars, vehicle movement, and employee training part of rail performance itself. A rail connection creates transportation flexibility, but only when the infrastructure around it is managed with the same attention given to warehouse and production safety.

Higher diesel prices strengthen the case for truck-to-rail conversion

Higher diesel prices are beginning to change transportation decisions. Journal of Commerce reports that trucking companies with contractual fuel-surcharge mechanisms can pass much of the rapid increase in diesel costs through to customers, putting those surcharges back under scrutiny as fuel prices rise.³

At the same time, Union Pacific says some customers are beginning to move freight from trucks to rail because of rail’s fuel-efficiency advantage.⁴ The railroad said it had expected diesel to average about $4.25 per gallon during the third quarter but was recently paying roughly $5.25 to $5.30. Despite that pressure, Union Pacific reported continued strength in industrial and intermodal freight.

Railroads are not insulated from higher fuel costs, but the difference in fuel consumed per ton-mile changes the economics when diesel rises sharply. Freight that was marginal for intermodal or carload service at lower fuel prices may warrant another look.

The decisions around rising prices demonstrate a need for optimal network design. Moving a lane to rail requires more than comparing linehaul rates. Shippers also require origin and destination access, transloading, inventory timing, and receiving capacity determine whether the lower-cost mode works operationally once the freight leaves the highway.

Strait of Hormuz disruption keeps pressure on energy and industrial supply chains

The Strait of Hormuz remained severely constrained as of September 18, operating at a fraction of normal traffic, according to IndustryWeek’s ongoing disruption tracker.⁵ The situation grew more complicated after damage largely shut down Saudi Arabia’s East-West Pipeline, an important route for moving crude to the Red Sea without passing through the strait. Repairs were expected to take several weeks.

Commercial vessels have also faced continuing security incidents in and around the waterway. IndustryWeek identifies oil, liquefied natural gas, and fertilizer among the supply chains directly exposed to current conditions.

The effects extend well outside ocean transportation. Higher or less predictable energy costs move into trucking, rail, chemical production, plastics, and other energy-intensive manufacturing. Material availability can also tighten when producers alter output or shipments take longer routes.

Companies dependent on affected raw materials may need to monitor lead times and inbound reliability more closely, particularly where warehouses were designed around steady replenishment. Additional inventory can provide protection, but it also creates new storage and working-capital requirements if disruption persists longer than planned, requiring strong inventory management strategies.

DHL brings express service to heavier industrial freight

DHL Express has launched Heavy Weight Express,⁶ a new U.S. service aimed at shipments that fall well outside typical express parcel dimensions but still require time-definite transportation.

The service accepts individual pieces weighing up to 2,200 pounds and shipments totaling as much as 6,600 pounds. DHL says it is available across more than 220 countries and territories, with dedicated Heavy Weight Priority Desks providing monitoring and intervention when shipments encounter problems.

DHL is targeting industries where a late shipment can interrupt a larger operation, including manufacturing, technology, and life sciences. That positioning is notable as heavy freight has traditionally required a clearer tradeoff between freight capacity and express speed. DHL is trying to narrow that gap for industrial products where urgency can justify a premium transportation option.

The service will not replace traditional air freight or expedited trucking for most heavy shipments. It does add another option for production parts, high-value equipment, and other freight where the cost of delay may exceed the transportation premium.

DHL’s move expands the recovery playbook when a normal replenishment lane cannot meet an unexpected production or customer deadline.

U.S. factory output falls after seven months of growth

U.S. manufacturing production fell 0.3% in August,⁷ ending a seven-month stretch of consecutive gains, according to Federal Reserve data reported by Reuters. Economists had expected production to increase by the same amount.

Durable-goods output declined 0.5%, with motor vehicle and parts production falling for a second month. Computer equipment also declined during August, although several technology-related manufacturing categories remained well above year-ago levels. Overall manufacturing capacity utilization fell to 75.7%, below its long-term average.

The pullback arrives as manufacturers contend with higher energy costs and borrowing expenses. Those pressures may limit production growth during the remainder of the year even as investment tied to technology infrastructure and defense supports parts of the industrial economy.

Uneven manufacturing activity can be more difficult for warehouse networks to manage than a broad slowdown. Some plants may require additional raw-material and finished-goods capacity while others draw inventory down. Manufacturing warehouses positioned around historical production patterns may end up seeing different requirements by region or product category.

The August data shows the value of looking at network capacity by lane and facility rather than assuming national manufacturing trends will affect every operation in the same way.

Higher crude costs put petrochemical production under pressure

Crude oil prices above $100 per barrel have pushed petrochemical costs higher across Asia even as demand remains relatively soft. ICIS reported that crude moved above $110 per barrel intraday earlier in September, raising feedstock costs and contributing to higher prices across much of the petrochemical market.⁸

Higher freight rates and reduced Middle East supply are adding to the pressure. ICIS expects prices to rise for 30 of the 31 chemical products it tracks, while weak downstream demand is making it difficult for some producers to pass those costs through. That margin pressure has prompted lower operating rates and discussions around additional production cuts.

Since chemical and plastics supply chains are global, the imbalance matters well outside Asia. Changes in production economics often alter import volumes, sourcing patterns, and inventory availability in North America.

A period of higher prices does not automatically mean shortages, but constrained production introduces another variable into procurement planning.

Companies using polymers or chemical feedstocks may see more value in tracking supplier operating rates alongside traditional transportation indicators. If availability becomes uneven, storage locations and rail or bulk-handling capabilities may influence how effectively additional inventory can be positioned without creating unnecessary handling or compliance risk.

Pulp markets hold steady while supply adjustments tighten spot availability

U.S. pulp contract pricing was largely stable in September, but changes underneath the headline numbers point to a market that may be tightening.

Fastmarkets reported that preliminary U.S. contract prices for both bleached softwood and hardwood kraft pulp remained flat in September. Northern bleached softwood kraft held at $1,570 per tonne, while spot prices showed modest improvement as availability tightened because of mill downtime, closures, and production changes.⁹

International conditions are also affecting the U.S. market. Higher prices and lower port inventories in China have drawn some volume away from North American spot markets, while scheduled downtime at mills is reducing near-term supply.

Within the pulp and paper supply chains, stable contract pricing does not necessarily translate to stable operating conditions. Mill closures and production shifts can change where product originates, how far it travels, and how much buffer inventory converters or manufacturers decide to carry.

Those changes eventually reach transportation and warehousing. Paper and pulp products require substantial storage space, specialized handling, and often rail access. Even modest adjustments in sourcing or inventory levels can create meaningful changes in warehouse utilization when volumes are measured in railcars rather than individual pallets.

Multi-agent AI moves closer to supply chain execution

Supply chain AI is beginning to move from recommending actions to carrying them out within defined operational boundaries.¹⁰

Multi-agent systems use specialized software agents to monitor different parts of an operation and coordinate responses using real-time information from carrier ETAs, warehouse management systems, yard activity, and other sources.

AI News highlighted several companies testing or deploying the approach. Lenovo connected order fulfillment and risk-management agents to its global supply chain infrastructure, reporting three-times-faster fulfillment decisions and four-times-faster disruption response. A Fujitsu and Rohto Pharmaceutical virtual-network trial reported transportation cost reductions of up to 30%, with an expanded test running on Rohto’s physical supply chain through March 2027.

The change is notabe because many current AI applications still end with a recommendation that requires human approval. Multi-agent systems are being designed to take limited actions directly, including rerouting freight, adjusting safety stock, and changing dock allocations.

That autonomy also introduces risk. The systems described in the report rely on strict cost thresholds, approval requirements, and limits on supplier communication to prevent automated decisions from creating larger operational problems.

The near-term opportunity may be controlled execution rather than fully autonomous operations. AI can handle defined decisions faster, while people retain authority over actions with larger financial, service, or supplier consequences.

References

1. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/rail-safety-week-2026-cpkc-encourages-safe-behaviour-at-crossings-and-around-tracks-302884167.html
2. https://www.progressiverailroading.com/safety/news/Operation-Lifesaver-Inc-kicks-off-See-Tracks-Think-Train-week–77786
3. https://www.joc.com/article/fuel-surcharges-in-trucking-spotlight-as-diesel-prices-continue-to-soar-6292617
4. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/union-pacific-says-high-diesel-prices-shifting-freight-trucks-rail-2026-09-16/
5. https://www.industryweek.com/supply-chain/news/55388479/strait-of-hormuz-watch-weekly-snapshot-of-energy-disruptions-and-maritime-conditions
6. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/dhl-express-launches-new-heavy-weight-express-service-to-help-us-businesses-ship-large-items-faster-302872978.html
7. https://www.reuters.com/business/us-manufacturing-output-falls-august-after-rising-seven-straight-months-2026-09-18/
8. https://www.icis.com/explore/resources/news/2026/09/16/11233552/strong-crude-lifts-asia-petrochemicals-despite-poor-demand/
9. https://www.fastmarkets.com/insights/us-pulp-prices-hold-flat-as-nbsk-and-bhk-spot-markets-show-recovery-signs-ahead-of-closures/
10. https://www.artificialintelligence-news.com/news/multi-agent-ai-systems-supply-chain-execution/