While Washington argues over the biggest rail consolidation in a generation, the Class I railroad standing outside it has just delivered the best quarter in its history. CSX reported record revenue of $3.94bn for the second quarter on 22 July, up 10 per cent year on year. Operating income rose 17 per cent to $1.51bn. Diluted earnings came in at 54 cents a share, up 23 per cent, beating a consensus of 52 cents. Operating margin expanded 240 basis points to 38.3 per cent, from

There is an old line in the industry that truckers only buy trucks when they are making money. By that measure, the longest freight downturn in living memory has ended. North American Class 8 orders surged in June to 30,500 units on FTR's count and 31,400 on ACT Research's, up 241 and 231 per cent respectively on a year earlier. The comparison flatters, since summer 2025 marked a 16-year seasonal low, but the run is now seven months long and orders are up 125 per cent year to

The controller pipeline ran dry. Jet fuel doubled in five weeks. And the regulator began capping traffic at major airports because the airspace could no longer safely absorb it. Between them, those three explain this summer far better than any story about a single carrier's failings. The shortage of controllers As of June 2026, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) was running roughly 3,000 certified air traffic controllers short of its own staffing target, around 10,800

The US carriers spent July raising fares into the strongest travel demand in years. Then the fuel market moved, and the maths came undone in real time. American Airlines was ready to lift its 2026 profit forecast at the start of the month. Thirteen days later, with its projected fuel bill for the rest of the year up by nearly $1.6bn, it cut the outlook instead. Shares fell 8 per cent on the 23rd. Chief financial officer Devon May told Reuters margins would likely be down acro