Nearly 1.4 billion pounds of cargo made its way through Chicago Rockford International Airport in 2017 — a record that the airport has beaten by nearly 22% through the first 10 months of this year.

September and October were record months for many of the nation’s ports as shippers prepared for a busy holiday shopping season and rushed to get cargo into the U.S. ahead of the Trump administration’s tariffs against several nations, including China.

Area shoppers will want to purchase their holiday gifts earlier this year, as a major jump in online holiday shopping could complicate the delivery system.

The U.S. Postal Service said it expects to deliver nearly 15 billion pieces of mail and 900 million packages between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day, according to a release.

Serial entrepreneurs Andrew and Michael Leto, who started GlobalTranz Enterprises and 10-4 Systems, both of which were sold earlier this year, are launching a new enterprise. It is a software platform called Emerge that allows shippers and carriers to book loads, track shipments and source new capacity in what is being described as a private freight marketplace.

Lineage Logistics and Dreisbach Enterprises opened a modernistic cold storage and logistics facility at the Port of Oakland to handle food imports and exports.

NEW YORK — Walmart may be bruised by Amazon, but it’s learning how to fight back.

Cadence Premier Logistics has opened the Pit Stop Truck Center, a 77,000-square-foot facility in Joliet, Ill., the company announced Nov. 14.

Elon Musk apparently is charting his way out of what he’s referred to as “delivery logistics hell” by making acquisitions and lining up contracts with trucking haulers.