The vessels will vary in size between 8,000 TEUs and 15,000 TEUs and are likely meant for deployment on the carrier’s longer-haul intra-Asia and mainline east-west services.

Bills introduced in the House and Senate seek to expand the US-flag international fleet from the current level of about 80 ships to 250 in 10 years and would require all government cargoes to be carried on US-flag vessels.

Disentangling FedEx’s LTL and parcel units will take time, but it will rearrange the less-than-truckload market — and most likely raise LTL shipping costs.

Imports are likely to remain robust into January as shippers attempt to beat new tariffs expected to be imposed by the incoming Trump administration while also navigating an early Lunar New Year that begins Jan. 29.

Continuing the steady slide from a late-July peak, average spot rates from West India to the US East Coast have dropped about 20% from the end of November.