Between miles-long trains and an e-commerce boom, cargo on freight trains has become easy pickings for robbers.

Rates truckers are paid have plummeted by more than half since 2021, accounting for inflation. Meanwhile, costs have only risen.

Autonomous vehicle tech has advanced quite a bit, but we’re nowhere close to replacing truck drivers with AI yet ― and we probably don’t want to.

As congestion eases at some ports, “we know the fixed date of when freight is arriving now,” said customs broker Gretchen Blough.

What happens on the rails has ripple effects because freight trains are the economy’s bloodstream, circulating products across the U.S.

Kevin Feig’s Florida auto parts company is paying the U.S. government up to $600,000 a month in import duties.

It could put extra pressure on global shipping and force companies to raise prices.

Rising freight rates and delayed deliveries are forcing a Wisconsin plant nursery to find ways around the supply chain tie-ups.

“There’s nothing I can do,” said India Hynes, CEO of appliance importer Vinotemp.

Trains are delivering shipping containers brimming with the imported products consumers are demanding. Rail can tell us about U.S. exports, too.