Escalating tensions around the Strait of Hormuz are once again rippling through global supply chains, driving congestion, tightening capacity and reshaping freight rates. This week, Charlotte Goldstone is joined by Gavin van Marle to unpack the latest developments on the India-Europe trade, volatile ocean freight markets, schedule reliability and the strategies carriers are adopting to navigate persistent port congestion.<br><br>Later, BoxC chief sales officer Craig Strickland explains what the EU&#x27;s new low-value import duties and IATA&#x27;s Direct Air Waybill rules mean for freight forwarders, customs brokers and importers. Plus, we examine the latest air freight market conditions, rates and practical advice for businesses adapting to a changing regulatory landscape.<br><br>Click here for The Loadstar&#x27;s new State of AI in Supply Chain 2026 report, revealing how freight forwarders and customs brokers are putting AI to work - and where they&#x27;re seeing real operational gains.


                    News in Brief Podcast | Week 28 2026 | Hormuz, hub and spoke and air forwarder advice  
                

The Loadstar

Hello and welcome to The Loadstar Podcast News in Brief. I'm your host, Charlotte Goldstone, and as always, with the help of my guests, I'm going to be unpacking this week's supply chain news. And coming up, we are going to be looking at schedule reliability, port congestion, rates in air and sea, and some advice to forwarders and shippers on new direct airway bill and EU de minimis rules. But before we get into all of that, I want to give a call to action to our latest AI report.

So the data is officially in. The Loadstar has launched the State of the AI in Supply Chain report to find out what is the on-the-ground impact of AI for freight forwarders and customs brokers in 2026. This is based on our independent survey of over 200 industry executives, and this report delivers a definitive look at how operators are deploying automation and where the real efficiencies are being found and what it means for your business.

So to get a copy of these exclusive sector insights, just click the link in the show notes below. My first guest for this episode is Managing Editor of The Loadstar, Gavin van Marle. Hi, Gav. Hello, Charlotte. How are you? I'm all right, thank you. Very warm. But yeah, keeping well. How are you? Yeah, fine. I love this weather. So this is my natural habitat.

To start the week's news, we had the very disappointing development that the Hormuz conflict had seen a sharp escalation with quite a few successive vessel attacks and also attacks between the US and Iran. This is obviously a major setback for any kind of normalisation in Hormuz or the wider Middle East.

News in Brief Podcast | Week 28 2026 | Hormuz, hub and spoke and air forwarder advice

Read the full transcript

The candid version is on a podcast,
not the earnings call.

News in Brief Podcast | Week 28 2026 | Hormuz, hub and spoke and air forwarder advice

Read the full transcript

The candid version is on a podcast, not the earnings call.

The candid version is on a podcast,
not the earnings call.