Transportation & Logistics Weekly Fast Track: UP/NS Application Challenges Continue, April Imports Fall Ahead of Retailers’ Updates

Research evidence excerpt

Transportation & Logistics Weekly Fast Track: UP/NS Application Challenges Continue, April Imports Fall Ahead of Retailers’ Updates

J P M O R G A N North America Equity Research

15 May 2026

Transportation & Logistics

Weekly Fast Track: UP/NS Application Challenges

Continue, April Imports Fall Ahead of Retailers’ Updates

This weekly publication highlights current transports and logistics trends across a Airfreight & Surface Transportation /

wide range of truckload, intermodal, LTL, ocean, and airfreight market metrics. Shipping

The rail section also includes a report card that simplifies how the network is Brian P. Ossenbeck, CFA AC

performing relative to history and peers while also tracking carload trends versus (1-212) 622-1023

consensus expectations. brian.p.ossenbeck@jpmorgan.com

Grady Carr

Key topics of the week: Import update, look ahead to next week. April import (1-212) 622-1251

grady.carr@jpmchase.com

activity from Descartes came in at -5.5% YoY and -3.2% MoM which

Brandon Wexlerunderperformed normal seasonality from March to April by -380bps and came in

(1-212) 622-1956

narrowly better than our preliminary estimate of -5.6% YoY and -3.3% MoM. brandon.wexler@jpmchase.com

China-origin imports decreased -4.3% MoM and -15.3% YoY and are now down J.P. Morgan Securities LLC

-15.5% YTD although total U.S. imports still remain elevated relative to pre-

pandemic levels, standing +18.7% above April 2019. Additionally, the National

Retail Federation (NRF) published its May update for monthly import forecasts

this week (Figure 7) that was an incremental positive from last month’s update as

the NRF currently calls for April imports to be down -4% YoY (was -6%), 2Q26

imports to be up +5% YoY (was +2%) and rolled out the initial 3Q26 forecast to

be -5% YoY.