<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">U.S. trucking groups have lost an appeals court challenge to a federal pilot program that allows Mexican truck drivers to cross the border and deliver goods in the U.S., Bloomberg reports.</div>

U.S. trucking groups have lost an appeals court challenge to a federal pilot program that allows Mexican truck drivers to cross the border and deliver goods in the U.S., Bloomberg reports.

<div>U.S. trucking groups have lost an appeals court challenge to a federal pilot program that allows Mexican truck drivers to cross the border and deliver goods in the U.S., <a>Bloomberg reports</a>.The U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., rejected an argument by the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association that Mexican commercial drivers’ licenses are invalid in the U.S. and also dismissed claims by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters that medical standards for Mexican truck drivers do not meet U.S. standards and that the pilot program is unlawful because not all Mexican vehicles are required to display a decal certifying that they...

U.S. trucking groups have lost an appeals court challenge to a federal pilot program that allows Mexican truck drivers to cross the border and deliver goods in the U.S., Bloomberg reports . The U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., rejected an argument by the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association that Mexican commercial drivers’ licenses are invalid in the U.S. and also dismissed claims by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters that medical standards for Mexican truck drivers do not meet U.S. standards and that the pilot program is unlawful because not all Mexican vehicles are required to display a decal certifying that they comply with U.S. safety standards. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration had determined that the Mexican medical standards would provide a level of safety at least equivalent to U.S. standards as a whole, U.S. Circuit Judge Brett Kavanaugh wrote on behalf of a three-judge panel. The requirement to display the safety sticker applies to items imported into the U.S., not the trucks carrying them, he said. “This whole program is a slap in the face to U.S. drivers that go to great lengths to comply with an ever-tightening regulatory noose,” said Todd Spencer, executive vice president of the owner-operators association, in an emailed statement to a Bloomberg reporter. The Teamsters said in a separate written statement that it is “disappointed” by the court’s decision to uphold the legality of the pilot program and is reviewing options with attorneys, and in the meantime will continue to fight against “dangerous Mexican trucks.”

Transport, Trade and Regulation News

Court Rejects US Truckers' Challenges of Mexican Pilot Program

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">The move into transportation management expands Transfix’s scope from its current focus on brokerage pricing technology. </div>

The move into transportation management expands Transfix’s scope from its current focus on brokerage pricing technology.

Feature image

<div class="phx-topic">Former truckload broker turned software vendor Transfix on Wednesday released a transportation management system (TMS) product designed specifically to help freight brokers wean themselves off third-party applications for processes like scheduling and payment processing. The new product represents an expansion of Transfix’s offerings since it <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/transfix-selling-digital-brokerage-business-to-nfi-industries-5244349">sold its brokerage business to NFI in mid-2024</a> and spun out its technology to serve all brokers. In conjunction with the launch, NFI said it is using the Transfix TMS across its entire brokerage business. Transfix CEO Jonathan Salama said the development of Transfix’s TMS, which builds on its existing pricing products for brokers, was designed to help brokers simplify their tech stacks as they are bombarded by vendors with applications meant to patch over insufficient features within the TMSs they use. He referred to this as an <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/ma-pace-signals-truckload-tech-industry-unsure-about-unbundling-5909043">‘unbundling’ of TMS</a> in recent years, driven in part by the rise of artificial intelligence-based and automation-based vendors aiming to improve discrete processes for a broker. “TMSs are meant to do the work themselves; they’re not meant to do the work through a third party,” Salama told the Journal of Commerce. “We’re obviously going to have an [application programming interface] that makes it easy to integrate with partners, but the idea is you’re not going to need as many partners.” Salama said Transfix essentially “road tested” the TMS when it operated as a broker and has since refined it through working with other brokers as a technology vendor. The focus is around “what you need to do to keep your cost of operation as low as possible,” he said. “Brokerage has seen the toughest market (the last few years),” Salama added. “You have to understand where your costs go, and it goes to two things: people and tech stack, and if you keep adding vendors, it will cost more. Even taking out extra costs, it’s managing fewer vendors. One versus 20 is easier to manage.” NFI CEO Sid Brown said the company had chosen to apply the Transfix TMS across its brokerage business “after evaluating several TMS platforms in the market.” <h3>Transfix seeking larger piece of broker spending </h3>Salama said brokers are better managing their cost per shipment, asserting that the cost to manage a load can rise to more than $100, a number higher than the margin in some cases. “Our (cost per shipment) at Transfix was $40, and that’s where the TMS comes in,” he said. Since spinning off its technology as a standalone business, Transfix has largely competed with a small group of vendors, including AVRL, Parade, Greenscreens.AI (<a href="https://www.joc.com/article/triumph-acquires-broker-focused-pricing-technology-provider-greenscreensai-5951484">purchased in early 2025 by Triumph</a>) and Sonar, that assist brokers with their pricing strategy. Large load board providers, namely DAT Freight &amp; Analytics and Truckstop.com, also play in that space. In going after the broker TMS segment, Transfix is angling for a larger share of broker spend, but it’s also entering a more crowded category, with long-established incumbents like McLeod, Trimble and MercuryGate (acquired in 2024 by Korber and rebranded as Infios) competing against newer options like Tai and Revenova. Contact Eric Johnson at <a href="mailto:eric.johnson@spglobal.com">eric.johnson@spglobal.com.</a></div>

Former truckload broker turned software vendor Transfix on Wednesday released a transportation management system (TMS) product designed specifically to help freight brokers wean themselves off third-party applications for processes like scheduling and payment processing. The new product represents an expansion of Transfix’s offerings since it sold its brokerage business to NFI in mid-2024 and spun out its technology to serve all brokers. In conjunction with the launch, NFI said it is using the Transfix TMS across its entire brokerage business. Transfix CEO Jonathan Salama said the development of Transfix’s TMS, which builds on its existing pricing products for brokers, was designed to help brokers simplify their tech stacks as they are bombarded by vendors with applications meant to patch over insufficient features within the TMSs they use. He referred to this as an ‘unbundling’ of TMS in recent years, driven in part by the rise of artificial intelligence-based and automation-based vendors aiming to improve discrete processes for a broker. “TMSs are meant to do the work themselves; they’re not meant to do the work through a third party,” Salama told the Journal of Commerce. “We’re obviously going to have an [application programming interface] that makes it easy to integrate with partners, but the idea is you’re not going to need as many partners.” Salama said Transfix essentially “road tested” the TMS when it operated as a broker and has since refined it through working with other brokers as a technology vendor. The focus is around “what you need to do to keep your cost of operation as low as possible,” he said. “Brokerage has seen the toughest market (the last few years),” Salama added. “You have to understand where your costs go, and it goes to two things: people and tech stack, and if you keep adding vendors, it will cost more. Even taking out extra costs, it’s managing fewer vendors. One versus 20 is easier to manage.” NFI CEO Sid Brown said the company had chosen to apply the Transfix TMS across its brokerage business “after evaluating several TMS platforms in the market.” Transfix seeking larger piece of broker spending Salama said brokers are better managing their cost per shipment, asserting that the cost to manage a load can rise to more than $100, a number higher than the margin in some cases. “Our (cost per shipment) at Transfix was $40, and that’s where the TMS comes in,” he said. Since spinning off its technology as a standalone business, Transfix has largely competed with a small group of vendors, including AVRL, Parade, Greenscreens.AI ( purchased in early 2025 by Triumph ) and Sonar, that assist brokers with their pricing strategy. Large load board providers, namely DAT Freight & Analytics and Truckstop.com, also play in that space. In going after the broker TMS segment, Transfix is angling for a larger share of broker spend, but it’s also entering a more crowded category, with long-established incumbents like McLeod, Trimble and MercuryGate (acquired in 2024 by Korber and rebranded as Infios) competing against newer options like Tai and Revenova. Contact Eric Johnson at eric.johnson@spglobal.com.

Logistics Technology News

Transfix targets ‘unbundled’ chaos of truckload brokerage with TMS product

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">The rise in bookings is driving an increase in the capacity offered by ocean carriers on Asia to North Europe and the Mediterranean that this week reached record levels on both trades. </div>

The rise in bookings is driving an increase in the capacity offered by ocean carriers on Asia to North Europe and the Mediterranean that this week reached record levels on both trades.

<div class="phx-topic">Robust demand in December is filling ships on the Asia to North Europe and Mediterranean container shipping trades, with the strong volume expected to continue through January as cargo owners lock in bookings ahead of February’s Lunar New Year. Data from container shipment tracker Vizion shows bookings for the three weeks ended Dec. 7 rose 10% compared to the prior three weeks, with 207,000 TEUs booked on Asia-Europe. Peter Sand, chief analyst at rate benchmarking platform Xeneta, said high demand in December has become a “new normal” on the westbound corridors. “In 2023 and 2024, and probably also 2025, December is the month of the year with the highest demand,” he said, adding that it was “real demand” with no sign of shippers frontloading orders. The rise in bookings is driving an increase in the capacity offered by ocean carriers on Asia to North Europe and the Mediterranean that this week reached record levels on both trades. Data from Xeneta shows carriers are deploying 1.12 million TEUs of capacity in December on Asia-North Europe while blanking 84,000 TEUs, down from 126,000 TEUs blanked in November. Planned capacity for the trade in January is at a record 1.17 million TEUs, while blanks announced so far are at 54,000 TEUs. Capacity deployed on Asia-Mediterranean in December is at 788,842 TEUs with 69,218 TEUs blanked, compared to November when 713,489 TEUs were deployed and 98,296 TEUs blanked, Xeneta data shows. A record 849,371 TEUs are planned for January deployment, with blank sailings currently at 39,706 TEUs. <div class="wrapper-narrow"><dynamic-object type="jocchartid" resource-id="f4ff8e0a-22c0-44e8-99ff-43c43501ec74"></dynamic-object></div>A spokesperson for Hapag-Lloyd said regular capacity deployed on the main trade lanes into Europe was increasing to meet the rising demand, while rates “are expected to peak in early January with a gradual slowdown towards February.” The rising volume through the fourth quarter is being accompanied by a steep increase in spot rates. Asia-North Europe rates reached $2,350 per FEU as of Dec. 9, up 80% since the beginning of October, according to Platts, a sister company of the Journal of Commerce within S&amp;P Global. Asia-Mediterranean rates of $3,250/FEU this week are just over double where they were on Oct. 1. Jacob Moe, senior vice president of global FCL (full container load) at DHL Global Forwarding, said Asia-Europe demand leading into the Lunar New Year was “very strong” in December with a “strong booking intake” already being made for January. “We are for now not seeing extra loaders being put in but are watching the blank sailing program as this seems to be enough to manage the capacity from the carrier side,” Moe told the Journal of Commerce. <h3>Year of high demand growth </h3>Demand growth in Asia-Europe this year is up between 10% and 14%, depending on the market vertical, according to Michael Aldwell, executive vice president of sea logistics at Kuehne + Nagel. ”We haven’t seen growth like that on the Far East westbound trade since before the global financial crisis,” Aldwell told the Journal of Commerce in a recent interview. Total Asian exports to North Europe and the Mediterranean of 21.95 million TEUs from January through October are up 8.6% year over year, with almost 2 million more boxes this year than last, according to Container Trades Statistics (CTS). <div class="wrapper-narrow"><dynamic-object type="jocchartid" resource-id="1757bc92-59e3-4e30-b987-63a9d840cd61"></dynamic-object></div>One explanation for the solid growth in European import volumes into December is that shippers are building inventory as a buffer to counter the <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/stretched-logistics-capacity-in-europe-threatened-by-red-sea-return-6129492">disruption that is likely to occur should widespread Red Sea transits resume</a>, with the later-than-usual Lunar New Year that starts on Feb. 17 giving shippers more time to stock up. But Andy Gillespie, senior logistics advisor at supply chain managers WOWL, said shippers trying to plan orders three or four months out while factoring in a potential return to the Red Sea was virtually impossible. "(Reducing) inventories and replenishment planning with some orders suddenly transiting two weeks faster while others are taking the Cape of Good Hope routing is unplannable for those supply chain managers that are placing orders 90 to 120 days in advance of when they think they need the products at destination (distribution centers) or with customers,” he told the Journal of Commerce. Gillespie said logistics service providers will have to pick up the slack in Europe, adding that yards or warehouses with capacity at 80% or higher “will be slammed” as ships diverting around southern Africa and those transiting the Red Sea converge. “For shippers and the routing of cargo, we won't know which services are going which way exactly or where the feeders will hook up on which service, so the logistics people will deal with the chaos,” he said. “In the end, though, back to Suez safely is a great thing.” Despite some carriers moving capacity through the Suez, there remains no clarity on when large-scale mainline Asia-Europe services will resume voyages through the critical waterway. Carriers are assessing the risk profile of returning to the Red Sea, which they say revolves around the safety of the crew, ship and cargo. Contact Greg Knowler at <a href="mailto:greg.knowler@spglobal.com">greg.knowler@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

Robust demand in December is filling ships on the Asia to North Europe and Mediterranean container shipping trades, with the strong volume expected to continue through January as cargo owners lock in bookings ahead of February’s Lunar New Year. Data from container shipment tracker Vizion shows bookings for the three weeks ended Dec. 7 rose 10% compared to the prior three weeks, with 207,000 TEUs booked on Asia-Europe. Peter Sand, chief analyst at rate benchmarking platform Xeneta, said high demand in December has become a “new normal” on the westbound corridors. “In 2023 and 2024, and probably also 2025, December is the month of the year with the highest demand,” he said, adding that it was “real demand” with no sign of shippers frontloading orders. The rise in bookings is driving an increase in the capacity offered by ocean carriers on Asia to North Europe and the Mediterranean that this week reached record levels on both trades. Data from Xeneta shows carriers are deploying 1.12 million TEUs of capacity in December on Asia-North Europe while blanking 84,000 TEUs, down from 126,000 TEUs blanked in November. Planned capacity for the trade in January is at a record 1.17 million TEUs, while blanks announced so far are at 54,000 TEUs. Capacity deployed on Asia-Mediterranean in December is at 788,842 TEUs with 69,218 TEUs blanked, compared to November when 713,489 TEUs were deployed and 98,296 TEUs blanked, Xeneta data shows. A record 849,371 TEUs are planned for January deployment, with blank sailings currently at 39,706 TEUs. A spokesperson for Hapag-Lloyd said regular capacity deployed on the main trade lanes into Europe was increasing to meet the rising demand, while rates “are expected to peak in early January with a gradual slowdown towards February.” The rising volume through the fourth quarter is being accompanied by a steep increase in spot rates. Asia-North Europe rates reached $2,350 per FEU as of Dec. 9, up 80% since the beginning of October, according to Platts, a sister company of the Journal of Commerce within S&P Global. Asia-Mediterranean rates of $3,250/FEU this week are just over double where they were on Oct. 1. Jacob Moe, senior vice president of global FCL (full container load) at DHL Global Forwarding, said Asia-Europe demand leading into the Lunar New Year was “very strong” in December with a “strong booking intake” already being made for January. “We are for now not seeing extra loaders being put in but are watching the blank sailing program as this seems to be enough to manage the capacity from the carrier side,” Moe told the Journal of Commerce. Year of high demand growth Demand growth in Asia-Europe this year is up between 10% and 14%, depending on the market vertical, according to Michael Aldwell, executive vice president of sea logistics at Kuehne + Nagel. ”We haven’t seen growth like that on the Far East westbound trade since before the global financial crisis,” Aldwell told the Journal of Commerce in a recent interview. Total Asian exports to North Europe and the Mediterranean of 21.95 million TEUs from January through October are up 8.6% year over year, with almost 2 million more boxes this year than last, according to Container Trades Statistics (CTS). One explanation for the solid growth in European import volumes into December is that shippers are building inventory as a buffer to counter the disruption that is likely to occur should widespread Red Sea transits resume , with the later-than-usual Lunar New Year that starts on Feb. 17 giving shippers more time to stock up. But Andy Gillespie, senior logistics advisor at supply chain managers WOWL, said shippers trying to plan orders three or four months out while factoring in a potential return to the Red Sea was virtually impossible. "(Reducing) inventories and replenishment planning with some orders suddenly transiting two weeks faster while others are taking the Cape of Good Hope routing is unplannable for those supply chain managers that are placing orders 90 to 120 days in advance of when they think they need the products at destination (distribution centers) or with customers,” he told the Journal of Commerce. Gillespie said logistics service providers will have to pick up the slack in Europe, adding that yards or warehouses with capacity at 80% or higher “will be slammed” as ships diverting around southern Africa and those transiting the Red Sea converge. “For shippers and the routing of cargo, we won't know which services are going which way exactly or where the feeders will hook up on which service, so the logistics people will deal with the chaos,” he said. “In the end, though, back to Suez safely is a great thing.” Despite some carriers moving capacity through the Suez, there remains no clarity on when large-scale mainline Asia-Europe services will resume voyages through the critical waterway. Carriers are assessing the risk profile of returning to the Red Sea, which they say revolves around the safety of the crew, ship and cargo. Contact Greg Knowler at greg.knowler@spglobal.com .

Container lines

Asia-Europe

Container Shipping News

Maritime

Cargo bookings for Asia-Europe ocean trade rise sharply in December

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">The Israel-based carrier is urging shareholders to reelect its current slate of directors later this month after alternate nominees were put forth by dissident shareholders. </div>

The Israel-based carrier is urging shareholders to reelect its current slate of directors later this month after alternate nominees were put forth by dissident shareholders.

<div class="phx-topic">A group of shareholders has launched a proxy fight to get their candidates elected to the board of Zim Integrated Shipping Services after the ocean carrier rejected <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/zim-says-reviewing-buyout-offers-including-one-from-ceo-6123362">an initial buyout offer from its chief executive</a> as too low and continues to review other potential bids. The Israel-based ocean carrier said in a statement Tuesday that a proxy advisor recommended shareholders reelect eight current board members at the company’s Dec. 26 annual meeting. The advisor also recommended that Zim shareholders vote against a slate of three directors nominated by an investor group that “made no attempt to work constructively with the board nor provided any suggestions for improving the company’s business or any other insight into how to create long-term value for shareholders,” Zim said. The investor group — Mor Gemel &amp; Pension Ltd., Reading Capital Ltd., and Sparta 24 — said in a letter nominating its candidates that it holds 5% of the company’s stock, Zim said. The investor group did not release the required stock exchange disclosures or a public statement about its proxy fight. There was no contact information available for the investors. The investor group put up their nominees after a report that Zim Chief Executive Eli Glickman made a buyout offer that was less than the company’s cash balance, Zim said in its statement. While Zim evaluated Glickman’s proposal, it “unanimously determined that it materially undervalued the company,” the carrier said. “The rumor that the board was willing to accept such an undervalued bid was clearly false,” Zim said. The investor group wants the company to issue a special dividend, Zim said, which would undermine Zim’s “liquidity and create substantial risk to shareholder value given our charter-intensive model, which requires adequate cash to navigate industry cycles.” Zim’s board said that it’s continuing a review of strategic alternatives that could include a merger or other another transaction. As part of that review, Zim has set up a transaction committee and appointed two additional outside directors to review any offers. Contact Michael Angell at <a href="mailto:michael.angell@spglobal.com">michael.angell@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

A group of shareholders has launched a proxy fight to get their candidates elected to the board of Zim Integrated Shipping Services after the ocean carrier rejected an initial buyout offer from its chief executive as too low and continues to review other potential bids. The Israel-based ocean carrier said in a statement Tuesday that a proxy advisor recommended shareholders reelect eight current board members at the company’s Dec. 26 annual meeting. The advisor also recommended that Zim shareholders vote against a slate of three directors nominated by an investor group that “made no attempt to work constructively with the board nor provided any suggestions for improving the company’s business or any other insight into how to create long-term value for shareholders,” Zim said. The investor group — Mor Gemel & Pension Ltd., Reading Capital Ltd., and Sparta 24 — said in a letter nominating its candidates that it holds 5% of the company’s stock, Zim said. The investor group did not release the required stock exchange disclosures or a public statement about its proxy fight. There was no contact information available for the investors. The investor group put up their nominees after a report that Zim Chief Executive Eli Glickman made a buyout offer that was less than the company’s cash balance, Zim said in its statement. While Zim evaluated Glickman’s proposal, it “unanimously determined that it materially undervalued the company,” the carrier said. “The rumor that the board was willing to accept such an undervalued bid was clearly false,” Zim said. The investor group wants the company to issue a special dividend, Zim said, which would undermine Zim’s “liquidity and create substantial risk to shareholder value given our charter-intensive model, which requires adequate cash to navigate industry cycles.” Zim’s board said that it’s continuing a review of strategic alternatives that could include a merger or other another transaction. As part of that review, Zim has set up a transaction committee and appointed two additional outside directors to review any offers. Contact Michael Angell at michael.angell@spglobal.com .

Zim faces proxy fight after rejecting CEO’s buyout bid

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Average intermodal train speeds among the four US Class I railroads have exceeded year-ago levels for 30 consecutive weeks dating back to early May, according to the Association of American Railroads. </div>

Average intermodal train speeds among the four US Class I railroads have exceeded year-ago levels for 30 consecutive weeks dating back to early May, according to the Association of American Railroads.

<div class="phx-topic">US Class I railroads have delivered a year of consistent, reliable intermodal service based on publicly reported metrics such as train speeds, railcars idling with containers on top, and the number of trains stopped while in transit. Among the four US Class I railroads, average intermodal train speeds have exceeded year-ago levels for 30 consecutive weeks dating back to early May, according to the Association of American Railroads (AAR). Train speeds were higher for all US railroads between January and November compared with a year ago. “Our intermodal speed, our performance in the terminals, our performance with the truck turns has been impeccable, to say the least,” CSX CEO Mike Cory said at the UBS Industrials and Transportation Conference on Dec. 2. “Our ability to absorb the incoming volume is there without any additional assets. With the speed, we’ve been setting records for both dwell and speed across the network.” Both Union Pacific Railroad (UP) and Norfolk Southern Railway (NS) posted their highest average intermodal train speeds in the first 11 months since 2020, according to the AAR data. <div class="wrapper-narrow"><dynamic-object type="jocchartid" resource-id="d9b4d6bd-0250-45bf-9d62-66214a1d8bcf"></dynamic-object></div>An average of 10 intermodal trains per day have been held due to crew issues, locomotive issues or other problems, according to data from the US Surface Transportation Board (STB), less than half the combined average of 2018, 2019, 2023 and 2024. Strong service can help railroads and intermodal marketing companies (IMCs) shed the lingering stigma of service disruptions over the past decade. The rail network was near a virtual meltdown during the worst of the pandemic-related freight surge in 2021 and 2022, a memory that has stayed with some shippers. Even before the pandemic, the rail networks suffered multiple service disruptions in the 2010s. UP’s service on the West Coast has stood out. It is the only railroad to have a positive Intermodal Service Z-Score every week of this year. The Z-Score is a Journal of Commerce metric that measures how far each railroad diverges from its own history on train speeds, trains held and idle rail cars. The positive Z-Score indicates that UP has outperformed its own average in all three categories since the beginning of the year dating back to 2017. UP has accomplished the feat while also handling more than 20% year-over-year growth in domestic intermodal volumes since July in Southern California, according to data provider RailState. <div class="wrapper-narrow"><dynamic-object type="jocchartid" resource-id="752fed3a-b216-4e51-a58e-5cdfd2113fe9"></dynamic-object></div>Among both western railroads, domestic volume from the Southwest to the Southcentral US jumped by 11% between January and October, according to the Intermodal Association of North America (IANA). Traffic has also surged nearly 22% from the Southwest to the Pacific Northwest during the same period, a route where only UP runs. BNSF does not have track directly connecting California with Washington state. “Our domestic intermodal business has been a positive for us, and we’ve seen quite a bit of over-the-road conversion,” Kenny Rocker, UP’s executive vice president of sales, said at the UBS Conference. <h3>East Coast service also strong </h3>Demand within the CSX and Norfolk Southern domestic intermodal networks has also ticked up this year. Volume from the Southeast to the Northeast jumped 8.1% year over year between January and October, according to IANA. That includes routes connecting warehouses in Florida and Georgia to those in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Domestic container volumes from the Midwest to the Southeast, which includes Chicago and the Ohio Valley, rose 9.2% year over year between January and October, IANA data shows. IMC J.B. Hunt Transport Services, which reported lower year-over-year volume on the West Coast in the third quarter, grew 6% on local East Coast loads moving on CSX and NS. “The service we provide has been really, really strong and as good a service as we’ve ever provided in my whole career,” Darren Field, president of J.B. Hunt intermodal, said at the UBS event last week. Brad Delco, J.B. Hunt’s CFO, added that growing local East Coast intermodal volume, where the price differential to trucking can be razor thin, is a “true testament to the collective service product that both J.B. Hunt and the railroads provide.” Contact Ari Ashe at <a href="mailto:ari.ashe@spglobal.com">ari.ashe@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

US Class I railroads have delivered a year of consistent, reliable intermodal service based on publicly reported metrics such as train speeds, railcars idling with containers on top, and the number of trains stopped while in transit. Among the four US Class I railroads, average intermodal train speeds have exceeded year-ago levels for 30 consecutive weeks dating back to early May, according to the Association of American Railroads (AAR). Train speeds were higher for all US railroads between January and November compared with a year ago. “Our intermodal speed, our performance in the terminals, our performance with the truck turns has been impeccable, to say the least,” CSX CEO Mike Cory said at the UBS Industrials and Transportation Conference on Dec. 2. “Our ability to absorb the incoming volume is there without any additional assets. With the speed, we’ve been setting records for both dwell and speed across the network.” Both Union Pacific Railroad (UP) and Norfolk Southern Railway (NS) posted their highest average intermodal train speeds in the first 11 months since 2020, according to the AAR data. An average of 10 intermodal trains per day have been held due to crew issues, locomotive issues or other problems, according to data from the US Surface Transportation Board (STB), less than half the combined average of 2018, 2019, 2023 and 2024. Strong service can help railroads and intermodal marketing companies (IMCs) shed the lingering stigma of service disruptions over the past decade. The rail network was near a virtual meltdown during the worst of the pandemic-related freight surge in 2021 and 2022, a memory that has stayed with some shippers. Even before the pandemic, the rail networks suffered multiple service disruptions in the 2010s. UP’s service on the West Coast has stood out. It is the only railroad to have a positive Intermodal Service Z-Score every week of this year. The Z-Score is a Journal of Commerce metric that measures how far each railroad diverges from its own history on train speeds, trains held and idle rail cars. The positive Z-Score indicates that UP has outperformed its own average in all three categories since the beginning of the year dating back to 2017. UP has accomplished the feat while also handling more than 20% year-over-year growth in domestic intermodal volumes since July in Southern California, according to data provider RailState. Among both western railroads, domestic volume from the Southwest to the Southcentral US jumped by 11% between January and October, according to the Intermodal Association of North America (IANA). Traffic has also surged nearly 22% from the Southwest to the Pacific Northwest during the same period, a route where only UP runs. BNSF does not have track directly connecting California with Washington state. “Our domestic intermodal business has been a positive for us, and we’ve seen quite a bit of over-the-road conversion,” Kenny Rocker, UP’s executive vice president of sales, said at the UBS Conference. East Coast service also strong Demand within the CSX and Norfolk Southern domestic intermodal networks has also ticked up this year. Volume from the Southeast to the Northeast jumped 8.1% year over year between January and October, according to IANA. That includes routes connecting warehouses in Florida and Georgia to those in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Domestic container volumes from the Midwest to the Southeast, which includes Chicago and the Ohio Valley, rose 9.2% year over year between January and October, IANA data shows. IMC J.B. Hunt Transport Services, which reported lower year-over-year volume on the West Coast in the third quarter, grew 6% on local East Coast loads moving on CSX and NS. “The service we provide has been really, really strong and as good a service as we’ve ever provided in my whole career,” Darren Field, president of J.B. Hunt intermodal, said at the UBS event last week. Brad Delco, J.B. Hunt’s CFO, added that growing local East Coast intermodal volume, where the price differential to trucking can be razor thin, is a “true testament to the collective service product that both J.B. Hunt and the railroads provide.” Contact Ari Ashe at ari.ashe@spglobal.com .

Rail News

Intermodal providers

Surface

Rail service shakes off prior disruptions to close 2025 on high note

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">The move is part of the Chinese government’s ambition to accelerate the development of China as a maritime power, China Shipbuilding Group said.</div>

The move is part of the Chinese government’s ambition to accelerate the development of China as a maritime power, China Shipbuilding Group said.

<div class="phx-topic">China Cosco Shipping Group has signed a $7 billion deal with China Shipbuilding Group for a massive fleet renewal and expansion covering 87 ships, including container ships and multipurpose vessels, that is the largest single order for new ships ever placed with the Chinese shipbuilder. The deal was confirmed by China Shipbuilding in a statement Monday. China Cosco Shipping, parent company of ship operating subsidiaries including Cosco Shipping Holdings and Cosco Shipping Specialized Carriers, has not commented on the deal. No details on the number of different ships or sizes were given. There were also no details on the time frame for vessel deliveries. The orders are likely to be spread around several China Shipbuilding Group shipyards, including Guangzhou Shipyard International, which is currently building a 70,000-deadweight metric ton (dwt) semi-submersible vessel for Cosco Shipping Heavy Transport for likely delivery in 2027. <div class="wrapper-narrow"><dynamic-object type="jocchartid" resource-id="00f898cc-0bf5-4e4d-80d3-6db9454b1165"></dynamic-object></div>The deal could also mark a departure for Cosco Shipping because its most recent container ship orders, including a deal for 14 18,500-TEU container ships placed in April, have been contracted with Cosco’s own shipyards including Dalian COSCO KHI Ship Engineering Co. and Nantong COSCO KHI Ship Engineering Co. “This new shipbuilding cooperation is a milestone in the joint development of the two groups,” China Shipbuilding said in its statement. The deal is also part of the Chinese government’s ambition to accelerate the development of China as a maritime power, the statement added. “At present, the global shipping and shipbuilding industry is facing profound changes, and the deep integration of green and low-carbon and digital intelligence technology has become an important direction for industrial development,” China Shipbuilding said. “Facing the future, the two sides will take this signing as a new starting point...” <div class="wrapper-narrow"><dynamic-object type="jocchartid" resource-id="9d9c4551-6e03-4e7a-b6ec-fea88b4d9485"></dynamic-object></div>Globally, there are currently 10.4 million TEUs on order, equivalent to 32% of the existing fleet, according to Sea-web, a sister company of the Journal of Commerce within S&amp;P Global. Cosco Shipping Holdings is currently the world’s fourth-largest container line with an in-service fleet totaling 3.45 million TEUs and a further 722,000 TEUs on order, according to Sea-web. Cosco Shipping Specialized Carriers has more than 150 ships, including MPVs and 20 heavy-lift semi-submersible ships. “If Cosco’s newly placed orders approach 700,000 TEUs, that would put Cosco in the race to potentially also overtake [second-place] Maersk,” Lars Jensen, CEO of consultant Vespucci Maritime and a Journal of Commerce contributor, said in a LinkedIn post Tuesday. “Of course, with the strong caveat that carriers also adjust fleet size by buying and selling vessels secondhand as well as vary the portion of their fleet on charter.” Contact Keith Wallis at <a href="mailto:keithwallis@hotmail.com">keithwallis@hotmail.com</a>.</div>

China Cosco Shipping Group has signed a $7 billion deal with China Shipbuilding Group for a massive fleet renewal and expansion covering 87 ships, including container ships and multipurpose vessels, that is the largest single order for new ships ever placed with the Chinese shipbuilder. The deal was confirmed by China Shipbuilding in a statement Monday. China Cosco Shipping, parent company of ship operating subsidiaries including Cosco Shipping Holdings and Cosco Shipping Specialized Carriers, has not commented on the deal. No details on the number of different ships or sizes were given. There were also no details on the time frame for vessel deliveries. The orders are likely to be spread around several China Shipbuilding Group shipyards, including Guangzhou Shipyard International, which is currently building a 70,000-deadweight metric ton (dwt) semi-submersible vessel for Cosco Shipping Heavy Transport for likely delivery in 2027. The deal could also mark a departure for Cosco Shipping because its most recent container ship orders, including a deal for 14 18,500-TEU container ships placed in April, have been contracted with Cosco’s own shipyards including Dalian COSCO KHI Ship Engineering Co. and Nantong COSCO KHI Ship Engineering Co. “This new shipbuilding cooperation is a milestone in the joint development of the two groups,” China Shipbuilding said in its statement. The deal is also part of the Chinese government’s ambition to accelerate the development of China as a maritime power, the statement added. “At present, the global shipping and shipbuilding industry is facing profound changes, and the deep integration of green and low-carbon and digital intelligence technology has become an important direction for industrial development,” China Shipbuilding said. “Facing the future, the two sides will take this signing as a new starting point...” Globally, there are currently 10.4 million TEUs on order, equivalent to 32% of the existing fleet, according to Sea-web, a sister company of the Journal of Commerce within S&P Global. Cosco Shipping Holdings is currently the world’s fourth-largest container line with an in-service fleet totaling 3.45 million TEUs and a further 722,000 TEUs on order, according to Sea-web. Cosco Shipping Specialized Carriers has more than 150 ships, including MPVs and 20 heavy-lift semi-submersible ships. “If Cosco’s newly placed orders approach 700,000 TEUs, that would put Cosco in the race to potentially also overtake [second-place] Maersk,” Lars Jensen, CEO of consultant Vespucci Maritime and a Journal of Commerce contributor, said in a LinkedIn post Tuesday. “Of course, with the strong caveat that carriers also adjust fleet size by buying and selling vessels secondhand as well as vary the portion of their fleet on charter.” Contact Keith Wallis at keithwallis@hotmail.com .

Cosco Shipping inks $7 billion deal for big fleet expansion

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The world of LTL is slow to embrace change. Business anachronisms permeate current supply chain processes. These vestiges of the way things used to work define the LTL freight transportation procurement process of many modern shippers.David Knuth, logistics specialist at IEWC, a global supplier of cable and wire based in Wisconsin, is happy to have modernized the RFP process, automating the entire LTL bidding procedure with Bid$ense, SMC³’s automated truckload and LTL freight transportation sourcing solution. But when prompted, he can still recall what once was.In his previous job, a large part of his duties were consumed by creating an intermodal bid package for carriers. In a spreadsheet, Knuth detailed the company’s volumes lane by lane, taking care to delete any errant keystrokes or misleading data. He would then email out the information to each carrier, taking time to respond to detailed technical questions about the spreadsheet data. Finally, he had to compile all the results, create an algorithm that would compare the carriers on each lane, and award the business.“It was a huge undertaking. It took about four months to do,” Knuth said of the old process. “It was almost a full-time job for that part of the year, every year.”In his new job at IEWC, he sat down with Bid$ense on day one and was amazed at the capabilities. Knuth had never before used a bid tool. SMC³’s latest versions of Bid$ense automate the process even further, taking truckload and LTL RFPs entirely online. The tool draws on RFP best-practices protocols to streamline the bidding communication process, enabling bidding carriers to respond accurately and promptly to shipper requests. The solution also does all the distribution work automatically, electronically submitting shipper bid data to carriers based on their actual service capabilities and performance records. Carriers are alerted with timely prompts for RFP deliverables, so shippers aren’t waiting by the phone for responses.Another benefit of automating the process is the data-cleansing assistance. When Knuth sent spreadsheets to carriers, data errors might cloud the bidding process; he might have to resend data or simply accept a price that did not truly reflect the costs of doing business. Data cleansing is incredibly beneficial, he said.The spreadsheet technique also made bidding analysis an onerous task. Since Bid$ense automates and streamlines the entire RFP process, intensive examination is now simple. SMC³ knows that each bid has more than one best outcome. With uniform responses from each carrier, shippers can quickly rank results and create an unlimited quantity of what-if scenarios to make the optimal procurement decision.Jesse Burnett of Central Garden &amp; Pet experiences many of the same benefits. Founded in 1980, Central Garden &amp; Pet has spent the last three decades growing from a small garden supply company to a provider of a range of products from dog chews and bird seed to soil supplements and natural insecticides. For much of its life, the company shipped these disparate goods via LTL and truckload carriers to retailers throughout the country, relying on each business unit to negotiate directly with their freight transportation providers. This arrangement worked fairly well for a small company, but as Central Garden &amp; Pet expanded, leadership decided to consolidate decision making.Burnett helped centralize the transportation decision making in 2015 with SMC³’s Bid$ense. Before Bid$ense, every business unit operated independently as far as negotiating with carriers.“There were a lot of different things just floating around,” he said. “We didn’t have master agreements in place; no national pricing at all. The pricing from carriers was just all over the place, depending on where you were.”The transformations he saw with Bid$ense were immediate. Burnett has been using the tool about every other year since its implementation at the company. Central Garden and Pet’s $19.6 million 2019 LTL bid saved the company just more than 9 percent when compared to its historical average. For Burnett, though, bid automation extends far beyond savings.“We knew that we weren’t getting the best pricing offer from our carriers just because nothing was centralized,” he continued. “We knew that if we combined everything from all these business units and paired it with one corporate offering, then it would drive some cost benefit with it.”When the company initially decided to centralize bid procurement, executives researched a number of different methodologies and technologies. In the end, though, Burnett found that Bid$ense was both widespread and well known, and that his carrier partners already knew how to use the application. Burnett also highlighted the data-cleansing process as a major benefit, saying the rigorous process ensures that carriers always return the best price.“It definitely has helped drive savings,” he said. “Any time you go out there and you drive that competitiveness with the carriers and they know they’re in a bid environment, it seems to sharpen their pencils.”Transportation procurement is an integral part of the modern supply chain. With Bid$ense, shippers can develop a strategic implementation plan that saves them time and money, but also helps them create strong relationships with their carrier partners. These carriers appreciate the solution’s data-cleansing process; when carriers receive a complete shipment history and future volume forecast, they don’t have to guess on pricing. Carriers that receive more data from shippers get a complete picture of that shipper’s freight, allowing them to accurately plan instead of simply preparing for the worst-case scenario. Clean data presented through an automated system can lead to both bigger shipment savings and a lasting partnership between carrier and customer.Whether customers are looking to streamline over-the-road transportation bidding by automating the RFP process or create an entirely new, centralized sourcing process, Bid$ense has the analytical horsepower to get the job done.SMC³ 2020 Customer Case Study

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Shippers save money, time with automated transportation bidding tools

If there’s one immutable truth in the world of logistics, it’s this: LTL is an inherently complex form of transportation. Tariffs, rates, DIM weights, transit times — it’s enough to confuse even seasoned logistics professionals. The solution to this knowledge gap has historically been on-the-job training or university supply chain education, but for a variety of reasons there is now a pressing need for third-party, remote LTL training that prepares logistics workers for transportation success. Global Scope Can Overlook Local Intricacies In the past, professionals looking to move into a supply chain career learned about the basics of supply chain from universities. However, many of these college supply chain programs are now global in scope, focusing on worldwide supply chain management instead of the intricacies of specialized domestic transportation. And even these programs, which used to be widespread, are becoming less common. LTL is not an industry of broad-brush strokes; supply chain professionals really need a pointillistic understanding of the logistics of LTL in order to excel in the industry. Accelerating Need for Dedicated LTL Education This lack of specified training put the onus on employers to prepare new hires with the LTL knowledge needed to do their jobs. Dedicated LTL study is a necessity, not a luxury. At the same time, changes in LTL and the broader supply chain world are accelerating. The reliance on e-commerce has ballooned since the start of the pandemic, and last-mile LTL shipments and related e-commerce strains on the supply chain won’t diminish once social distancing abates. That genie isn’t going back into the bottle. So supply chain employers need logistics workers that are fully versed in all aspects of the industry, ready to solve unique shipping and delivery problems based on their extensive supply chain knowledge But why care about LTL? It’s been reported that some shippers in today’s world are no longer concerned with what mode is used to ship their goods. A Multimodal Approach Ensures On-Time Delivery This mode agnosticism means supply chain stakeholders have to be well versed in all modes of transportation. As unforeseen weather events and other disruptions, such as protests, become more common, savvy logistics employees will need to be armed with familiarity of all modes, not just the most popular, to ensure that freight is delivered on time, without damage, and in the most financially expedient way possible. Offerings like SMC³’s LTL online education courses cover a wide range of topics from LTL basics and operations to more advanced concepts like pricing analytics and transportation law. The company also has plans to continually refresh content, adding new expert presenters and taking the feedback of students to make the courses even better as time goes on. Learn more about&nbsp;<a href="https://logisticstrainingcenter.com/smc3-courses/" rel="noreferrer" class="joc_admin__link">SMC³’s LTL Online Education program</a>&nbsp;and view the 2021 hybrid schedule, featuring live industry experts,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.smc3.com/onlinelearning2021/" rel="noreferrer" class="joc_admin__link">here.</a>

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Filling the Supply Chain Education Gap with LTL Education Courses

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