<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Trucking is increasingly bumping against a hiring ceiling. Low unemployment and job openings in competing industries mean fewer candidates are available to fill trucking jobs.</div>

Trucking is increasingly bumping against a hiring ceiling. Low unemployment and job openings in competing industries mean fewer candidates are available to fill trucking jobs.

<div class="phx-topic"><div class="wrapper-narrow float-right-element"><img src="/images/phoenix/5254290_1.0.jpg"></img>l</div>Whether or not trucking hit a bottom in volume or pricing in the summer of 2016, the industry certainly seemed to bounce back in terms of trucking employment. Since hitting a low point in June, motor carriers added 15,600 employees through November, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics’ latest data shows. In November, trucking companies tracked by the BLS added 1,100 employees to their payrolls, after bringing a revised 6,800 workers on board in October.The influx of new workers sent the JOC For-Hire Trucking Employment Index to 101.6 in November, the highest level before or since the 2008 to 2009 recession. The employment numbers provide further evidence that motor carriers were slowly climbing out of a deep trough at the end of 2016. November was the fifth straight month that trucking employment rose after a three-month year-over-year decline in mid-2016.In October, the Cass Freight Index for shipments, a measure of US domestic freight volume, rose for the first time on a year-over-year basis in 20 months, climbing 2.7 percent.That’s a sign additional spending helped fill more tractor-trailers. “The winter of the overall freight recession we have seen for over a year-and-a-half in the US may not be over, but it is showing signs of thawing,” Avondale Partners said in its report on the Cass index. Transportation payrolls overall expanded at the end of 2016, with transportation and warehousing industries adding 8,900 jobs from October and 60,600 jobs since November 2015, a 1.2 percent gain. Rail, aviation, and maritime employment in the United States decreased slightly in November, although messenger and courier companies and warehouses added workers.Warehouse operators expanded their workforce for the 34th straight month, adding 3,100 jobs month-to-month in November, as demand for industrial storage space soared. That increase underscores the buildup of inventories that helped depress freight demand and trucking recruitment efforts in much of 2015 and 2016.Does this mean the driver shortage is history? Far from it. Increasingly, trucking is bumping against a hiring ceiling, as the narrow year-over-year gains in employment show. Low unemployment and job openings in competing industries such as construction mean fewer candidates are available to fill trucking jobs, especially long-haul truck drivers.Over the three months that ended in November, construction businesses added 59,000 jobs, largely in residential construction, the BLS said. Construction employment rose 2.4 percent year-over-year in November. In a sign as to why construction might siphon jobs from trucking, the average hourly construction wage rose 3.2 percent to $26.24 in November, and the average hourly transportation and warehousing wage rose 1.4 percent to $21.17.The gap between the average hourly construction and transportation wage widened year-over-year by 51 cents, to $5.07. Although that’s an improvement from a $5.11 gap in October, it’s a clear advantage for construction companies hiring blue-collar workers. Contact William B. Cassidy at <a href="mailto:bill.cassidy@ihsmarkit.com">bill.cassidy@ihsmarkit.com</a> and follow him on Twitter: <a href="http://www.twitter.com/wbcassidy_joc">@wbcassidy_joc</a>.</div>

l Whether or not trucking hit a bottom in volume or pricing in the summer of 2016, the industry certainly seemed to bounce back in terms of trucking employment. Since hitting a low point in June, motor carriers added 15,600 employees through November, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics’ latest data shows. In November, trucking companies tracked by the BLS added 1,100 employees to their payrolls, after bringing a revised 6,800 workers on board in October. The influx of new workers sent the JOC For-Hire Trucking Employment Index to 101.6 in November, the highest level before or since the 2008 to 2009 recession. The employment numbers provide further evidence that motor carriers were slowly climbing out of a deep trough at the end of 2016. November was the fifth straight month that trucking employment rose after a three-month year-over-year decline in mid-2016. In October, the Cass Freight Index for shipments, a measure of US domestic freight volume, rose for the first time on a year-over-year basis in 20 months, climbing 2.7 percent. That’s a sign additional spending helped fill more tractor-trailers. “The winter of the overall freight recession we have seen for over a year-and-a-half in the US may not be over, but it is showing signs of thawing,” Avondale Partners said in its report on the Cass index. Transportation payrolls overall expanded at the end of 2016, with transportation and warehousing industries adding 8,900 jobs from October and 60,600 jobs since November 2015, a 1.2 percent gain. Rail, aviation, and maritime employment in the United States decreased slightly in November, although messenger and courier companies and warehouses added workers. Warehouse operators expanded their workforce for the 34th straight month, adding 3,100 jobs month-to-month in November, as demand for industrial storage space soared. That increase underscores the buildup of inventories that helped depress freight demand and trucking recruitment efforts in much of 2015 and 2016. Does this mean the driver shortage is history? Far from it. Increasingly, trucking is bumping against a hiring ceiling, as the narrow year-over-year gains in employment show. Low unemployment and job openings in competing industries such as construction mean fewer candidates are available to fill trucking jobs, especially long-haul truck drivers. Over the three months that ended in November, construction businesses added 59,000 jobs, largely in residential construction, the BLS said. Construction employment rose 2.4 percent year-over-year in November. In a sign as to why construction might siphon jobs from trucking, the average hourly construction wage rose 3.2 percent to $26.24 in November, and the average hourly transportation and warehousing wage rose 1.4 percent to $21.17. The gap between the average hourly construction and transportation wage widened year-over-year by 51 cents, to $5.07. Although that’s an improvement from a $5.11 gap in October, it’s a clear advantage for construction companies hiring blue-collar workers. Contact William B. Cassidy at bill.cassidy@ihsmarkit.com and follow him on Twitter: @wbcassidy_joc .

Trucking labor

US truck driver ranks expand, but not enough

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Sea-Intelligence said elevated freight rates are drawing small carriers to the eastbound trade lane, but the additional capacity should dwindle by mid-August. </div>

Sea-Intelligence said elevated freight rates are drawing small carriers to the eastbound trade lane, but the additional capacity should dwindle by mid-August.

Feature image

<div class="phx-topic">Niche container lines are ramping up weekly capacity in the trans-Pacific at a rate similar to the surge of 2021 and 2022, drawn by the lure of strong ocean freight rates. But that capacity is expected to quickly ebb as rates ease throughout the summer, according to consultancy Sea-Intelligence Maritime Analysis. Sea-Intelligence said Thursday it expects niche ocean carriers to provide 4.6% of the weekly capacity in the trans-Pacific by the end of June. That would top the 4.5% those carriers deployed at the start of September 2021. The draw for the niche carriers is the strength in spot freight rates, Sea-Intelligence said, although those rates have <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/asia-uswc-spot-rates-weakening-as-vessel-overcapacity-takes-hold-6022847">already started to soften amid the broader injection of fresh capacity</a>. The North Asia-to-US West Coast trade lane saw spot ocean freight rates at $5,633 per FEU as of June 11, down 7% on the week, according to Platts, a sister company of the Journal of Commerce within S&amp;P Global. Spot freight rates had risen threefold since bottoming out at $1,600 in late March. “During the height of the pandemic, the [Asia-North America West Coast (NAWC)] trade lane saw a slew of new entrants — carriers which had no previous footprint on Asia-NAWC and were only there to seize an opportunity that had presented itself in the form of unnaturally high freight rates,” Sea-Intelligence Chief Executive Alan Murphy said. Murphy added that capacity “is back at the level” seen during the height of the pandemic. “This means that the current market conditions are such that these new entrants feel that there is an opportunity reminiscent of the global pandemic,” he said. <div class="wrapper-narrow"><dynamic-object type="jocchartid" resource-id="e8c13a3e-9f5a-412f-8741-adbf5e1a7779"></dynamic-object></div>Some niche carriers have remained in the trans-Pacific since 2022, seeking to offer regularly scheduled liner service instead of ad hoc calls. SeaLead Shipping and T.S. Lines launched <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/two-niche-ocean-carriers-team-up-in-trans-pacific-as-rates-remain-high-5703158">a jointly-operated trans-Pacific service</a> into the Port of Long Beach almost one year ago when freight rates hovered near $6,000 per FEU. Hede Shipping has also regularly offered <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/chinese-niche-carrier-to-launch-shanghai-los-angeles-expedited-service-next-week-5222119">a premium express service</a> to Los Angeles since March 2024. However, Sea-Intelligence sees the current surge in niche carrier capacity ending faster than it did during 2021–22. Sea-Intelligence data shows that weekly niche carriers will account for 3.8% of capacity by the end of July, with that amount dropping to 2.6% by mid-August. The drawdown coincides with expectations that <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/pause-in-tariff-hikes-drives-big-gains-in-trans-pacific-spot-rates-6017111">imports from Asia will peak around late summer</a> as the Trump administration’s 90-day reprieve on Chinese tariffs expires. “If history is anything to go by, we will see these carriers remove capacity as quickly as it was introduced once the market conditions start to normalize,” Murphy said. Contact Michael Angell at <a href="mailto:michael.angell@spglobal.com">michael.angell@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

Niche container lines are ramping up weekly capacity in the trans-Pacific at a rate similar to the surge of 2021 and 2022, drawn by the lure of strong ocean freight rates. But that capacity is expected to quickly ebb as rates ease throughout the summer, according to consultancy Sea-Intelligence Maritime Analysis. Sea-Intelligence said Thursday it expects niche ocean carriers to provide 4.6% of the weekly capacity in the trans-Pacific by the end of June. That would top the 4.5% those carriers deployed at the start of September 2021. The draw for the niche carriers is the strength in spot freight rates, Sea-Intelligence said, although those rates have already started to soften amid the broader injection of fresh capacity . The North Asia-to-US West Coast trade lane saw spot ocean freight rates at $5,633 per FEU as of June 11, down 7% on the week, according to Platts, a sister company of the Journal of Commerce within S&P Global. Spot freight rates had risen threefold since bottoming out at $1,600 in late March. “During the height of the pandemic, the [Asia-North America West Coast (NAWC)] trade lane saw a slew of new entrants — carriers which had no previous footprint on Asia-NAWC and were only there to seize an opportunity that had presented itself in the form of unnaturally high freight rates,” Sea-Intelligence Chief Executive Alan Murphy said. Murphy added that capacity “is back at the level” seen during the height of the pandemic. “This means that the current market conditions are such that these new entrants feel that there is an opportunity reminiscent of the global pandemic,” he said. Some niche carriers have remained in the trans-Pacific since 2022, seeking to offer regularly scheduled liner service instead of ad hoc calls. SeaLead Shipping and T.S. Lines launched a jointly-operated trans-Pacific service into the Port of Long Beach almost one year ago when freight rates hovered near $6,000 per FEU. Hede Shipping has also regularly offered a premium express service to Los Angeles since March 2024. However, Sea-Intelligence sees the current surge in niche carrier capacity ending faster than it did during 2021–22. Sea-Intelligence data shows that weekly niche carriers will account for 3.8% of capacity by the end of July, with that amount dropping to 2.6% by mid-August. The drawdown coincides with expectations that imports from Asia will peak around late summer as the Trump administration’s 90-day reprieve on Chinese tariffs expires. “If history is anything to go by, we will see these carriers remove capacity as quickly as it was introduced once the market conditions start to normalize,” Murphy said. Contact Michael Angell at michael.angell@spglobal.com .

Maritime

Container Shipping News

Trans-Pacific

June expected to be peak for niche carriers in the trans-Pacific: analyst

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Instead of rising in May as would typically be expected, US freight volumes dropped, and that is having an impact on pricing, freight indicators reveal. </div>

Instead of rising in May as would typically be expected, US freight volumes dropped, and that is having an impact on pricing, freight indicators reveal.

<div class="phx-topic">Trucking executives may say they are <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/schneider-jb-hunt-see-us-truck-capacity-shrinking-in-h2-6023884">increasingly, if still cautiously, optimistic</a> about a recovery in their market, but the latest data on US freight demand isn’t encouraging. The monthly Cass Freight Index and the US producer price index report released Thursday show freight demand and pricing either declining or stalled on a month-to-month basis. Truck and intermodal rail shipments fell 0.4% from April to May and dropped 4% year over year, according to the shipment component of the Cass Freight Index. The 4% decline followed a 3.6% year-over-year decrease in shipments in April. The May shipment decline bucks normal seasonal trends, Cass said. Consumer spending in the first quarter, before the Trump administration introduced higher US tariffs, is still propping up freight demand, but that support is beginning to weaken. “Pre-tariff inventory stocking has started to turn to destocking, and those stocks will start to thin in the coming months,” Cass Information Systems said in its May report. A further drop in domestic freight volume is likely this month. Normal seasonality would have shipments decline by 2% year over year in June, according to Cass. On a year-over-year basis, the Cass Freight Shipments Index has been falling since February 2023. Month to month, the index rose 0.4% in April before dropping in May. Truckload rates are still rising year over year, but they have been decreasing on a consecutive monthly basis, according to the Cass Truckload Linehaul Index. In May, the truckload pricing index was up 0.6% from a year ago but down 0.8% from April. The Truckload Linehaul index, which includes spot and contract rates, dropped 1.5% from February through May. The truckload index trendline is similar, although not identical, to other indicators. The long-distance US truckload producer price index (PPI) was flat in May from April at a reading of 177.3 and up 3% from a year earlier. The PPI, released by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics Thursday, measures the total cost of a truckload shipment paid by shippers and is weighted toward contract rates. The weighted Journal of Commerce Shipper-Paid Truckload Rate rose 4 cents per mile on average in May to $2.18 per mile, although that was down from $2.21 a year earlier. The measure of all-inclusive shipper-paid dry-van pricing is down 8% from January. The US long-distance less-than-truckload (LTL) PPI shows more stability but also the impact of lower LTL volumes. The LTL PPI dropped about 1 percentage point to 258.1 in May after staying flat at about 259 for three months. However, those three months represented the highest reading for the LTL PPI in its history, with pricing up about 5% year over year. Contact William B. Cassidy at <a href="mailto:bill.cassidy@spglobal.com">bill.cassidy@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

Trucking executives may say they are increasingly, if still cautiously, optimistic about a recovery in their market, but the latest data on US freight demand isn’t encouraging. The monthly Cass Freight Index and the US producer price index report released Thursday show freight demand and pricing either declining or stalled on a month-to-month basis. Truck and intermodal rail shipments fell 0.4% from April to May and dropped 4% year over year, according to the shipment component of the Cass Freight Index. The 4% decline followed a 3.6% year-over-year decrease in shipments in April. The May shipment decline bucks normal seasonal trends, Cass said. Consumer spending in the first quarter, before the Trump administration introduced higher US tariffs, is still propping up freight demand, but that support is beginning to weaken. “Pre-tariff inventory stocking has started to turn to destocking, and those stocks will start to thin in the coming months,” Cass Information Systems said in its May report. A further drop in domestic freight volume is likely this month. Normal seasonality would have shipments decline by 2% year over year in June, according to Cass. On a year-over-year basis, the Cass Freight Shipments Index has been falling since February 2023. Month to month, the index rose 0.4% in April before dropping in May. Truckload rates are still rising year over year, but they have been decreasing on a consecutive monthly basis, according to the Cass Truckload Linehaul Index. In May, the truckload pricing index was up 0.6% from a year ago but down 0.8% from April. The Truckload Linehaul index, which includes spot and contract rates, dropped 1.5% from February through May. The truckload index trendline is similar, although not identical, to other indicators. The long-distance US truckload producer price index (PPI) was flat in May from April at a reading of 177.3 and up 3% from a year earlier. The PPI, released by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics Thursday, measures the total cost of a truckload shipment paid by shippers and is weighted toward contract rates. The weighted Journal of Commerce Shipper-Paid Truckload Rate rose 4 cents per mile on average in May to $2.18 per mile, although that was down from $2.21 a year earlier. The measure of all-inclusive shipper-paid dry-van pricing is down 8% from January. The US long-distance less-than-truckload (LTL) PPI shows more stability but also the impact of lower LTL volumes. The LTL PPI dropped about 1 percentage point to 258.1 in May after staying flat at about 259 for three months. However, those three months represented the highest reading for the LTL PPI in its history, with pricing up about 5% year over year. Contact William B. Cassidy at bill.cassidy@spglobal.com .

Surface

Truckload

Trucking News

US trucking rate momentum stalls amid volume decline: Cass, PPIs

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Rising Asian vehicle exports have surpassed falling volumes from the west, forcing trade reshuffling and a rise in ballast trips.</div>

Rising Asian vehicle exports have surpassed falling volumes from the west, forcing trade reshuffling and a rise in ballast trips.

<div class="phx-topic">Soaring vehicle exports from Asia, especially China, are creating a widening trade imbalance between west and eastbound shipments that major car carrier operators are finding challenging to manage, senior shipping executives say. This imbalance is likely to worsen in part due to US tariff polices as Asian vehicle makers, especially those in China and South Korea, continue to gain market share at the expense of US and European manufacturers, according to Wallenius Wilhelmsen CEO Lasse Kristoffersen. Highlighting the imbalance, Kristoffersen said 13.4 million light vehicles were exported from China, South Korea and Japan last year compared with 2.7 million exported from the US, Europe and the UK, quoting motor industry statistics. While vehicle exports from Asia have increased 66% since 2019, they dropped 23% in the same period from the US, Europe and the UK, he added. Consequently, the imbalance in light vehicle shipments between east and west has surged 132% since 2019, from 4.6 million to 10.7 million last year, Kristoffersen said. <h3>Asian exports on the rise </h3>Erik Lewenhaupt, managing director of car carrier operator Stena Glovis, said vehicle exports from Europe and the US have been relatively flat at about 2.8 million units per year since 2020. The recovery in vehicle shipments over the last few years is due to the rise in exports from Asia, he told the Journal of Commerce. Kristoffersen said the structural shift in growing exports from Asia will be “escalated by US tariff policies.” Vehicle makers in Asia are expected to seek alternative export markets amid a possible drop in US sales after the Trump administration imposed 25% tariffs on all vehicle and component imports except those from China, which face tariffs of 30%. Reciprocal tariffs of 10% imposed by China make vehicle imports from the US more expensive. “When we talk to executives from Volvo, Mercedes or others they don’t know where they will produce cars, they don’t know where they will send them, and they don’t know how many they’ll send,” Kristoffersen said during a first-quarter results briefing in May. “They need help to have a flexible, fully integrated supply chain.” Kristoffersen said Wilhelmsen is less affected than some of its competitors. “We have a better book of business going back [to Asia] than others,” he said. <h3>Imbalanced utilization prompts trade rethink </h3>Despite this, Wilhelmsen and other carriers are facing higher trade inefficiency, lower fleet utilization and a growing need for ballast voyages where ships return to Asia empty or partially loaded. For Wilhelmsen, this resulted in a drop in cargo volumes in the first quarter to 12.7 million cubic meters, the lowest for the company since the third quarter of 2020, when it carried 11.9 million cubic meters. Other carriers, including Japan’s “K” Line and Norway’s Höegh Autoliners, agreed that vehicle exports from Asia are outpacing those from Europe and the US, leading them to adapt various strategies in response to those challenges. “For our return voyages to Japan, we manage the impact of this imbalance by carrying vehicles exported from Europe and the US and implementing efficient vessel allocation strategies,” a “K” Line spokesperson told the Journal of Commerce. “K” Line said it also triangulates vehicle, high-and-heavy and breakbulk cargoes between different markets to avoid costly ballast voyages with ships sailing empty or partially loaded direct to Japan from the US or Europe. Höegh Autoliners said it has diversified its network, loading vehicles and other cargo in 13 main areas and discharging cargo in 17 key markets last year. While Japan, China and South Korea accounted for 35% of loaded cargo volumes last year, followed by Europe with 26%, ports in the Caribbean, Central America, Europe, the Gulf region and Oceania were the main discharge areas. Höegh said its agile network allowed rapid adjustments to shifting volume and market conditions. <h3>Making shifts in Europe </h3>While not addressing the trade imbalance directly, carriers said they have adapted to the changing market conditions, especially in Europe. Japan’s NYK Line said it was awarded a 27-year concession by the Spanish port of Barcelona on May 7 to develop a finished vehicle logistics terminal with a capacity to handle 180,000 vehicles a year starting from 2027. “NYK aims to position the port of Barcelona as an international hub for finished-vehicle logistics, catering for current and future demands in the western Mediterranean and North African regions,” the carrier said in a statement announcing the deal. The new facility will augment at least four similar finished vehicle terminals NYK operates at Zeebrugge and Antwerp in Belgium, Port Said in Egypt and Yarimca, Turkey. Cosco Shipping Car Carriers is also expanding in Europe, signing several agreements to develop shipping links and import facilities as Chinese vehicle manufacturers move to transport vehicles on China-controlled tonnage. The carrier signed a deal with Germany’s BLG Logistics to develop BLG AutoTerminal Bremerhaven as the main port of entry for Cosco’s vehicle shipments to Germany and a central hub for imports to Scandinavia, the Baltic states and central and eastern Europe. Cosco also teamed up with Piraeus, Greece-headquartered roll-on/roll-off (ro/ro) ship operator Neptune Lines to cooperate on vehicle shipments on Mediterranean, Black Sea and North Africa routes. That comes as Chinese vehicle manufacturers are deploying increasingly bigger vessels on export trades in competition with traditional operators such as Wilhelmsen and Höegh. Anji Logistics, part of Shanghai-based vehicle maker SAIC Motors, deployed the world’s biggest car carrier, the 9,500-vehicle capacity Anji Ansheng, on its maiden voyage to Europe in May. Electric vehicle maker BYD is also developing is fleet, launching the 9,200-car equivalent unit (CEU) BYD Shenzhen, which left on its maiden voyage to Brazil in May. Geely Jisu Logistics, part of Geely Auto that owns Volvo, also deployed its first car carrier in May when the 7,000-CEU Jisu Fortune sailed to Europe. Contact Keith Wallis at <a href="mailto:keithwallis@hotmail.com">keithwallis@hotmail.com</a>.</div>

Soaring vehicle exports from Asia, especially China, are creating a widening trade imbalance between west and eastbound shipments that major car carrier operators are finding challenging to manage, senior shipping executives say. This imbalance is likely to worsen in part due to US tariff polices as Asian vehicle makers, especially those in China and South Korea, continue to gain market share at the expense of US and European manufacturers, according to Wallenius Wilhelmsen CEO Lasse Kristoffersen. Highlighting the imbalance, Kristoffersen said 13.4 million light vehicles were exported from China, South Korea and Japan last year compared with 2.7 million exported from the US, Europe and the UK, quoting motor industry statistics. While vehicle exports from Asia have increased 66% since 2019, they dropped 23% in the same period from the US, Europe and the UK, he added. Consequently, the imbalance in light vehicle shipments between east and west has surged 132% since 2019, from 4.6 million to 10.7 million last year, Kristoffersen said. Asian exports on the rise Erik Lewenhaupt, managing director of car carrier operator Stena Glovis, said vehicle exports from Europe and the US have been relatively flat at about 2.8 million units per year since 2020. The recovery in vehicle shipments over the last few years is due to the rise in exports from Asia, he told the Journal of Commerce. Kristoffersen said the structural shift in growing exports from Asia will be “escalated by US tariff policies.” Vehicle makers in Asia are expected to seek alternative export markets amid a possible drop in US sales after the Trump administration imposed 25% tariffs on all vehicle and component imports except those from China, which face tariffs of 30%. Reciprocal tariffs of 10% imposed by China make vehicle imports from the US more expensive. “When we talk to executives from Volvo, Mercedes or others they don’t know where they will produce cars, they don’t know where they will send them, and they don’t know how many they’ll send,” Kristoffersen said during a first-quarter results briefing in May. “They need help to have a flexible, fully integrated supply chain.” Kristoffersen said Wilhelmsen is less affected than some of its competitors. “We have a better book of business going back [to Asia] than others,” he said. Imbalanced utilization prompts trade rethink Despite this, Wilhelmsen and other carriers are facing higher trade inefficiency, lower fleet utilization and a growing need for ballast voyages where ships return to Asia empty or partially loaded. For Wilhelmsen, this resulted in a drop in cargo volumes in the first quarter to 12.7 million cubic meters, the lowest for the company since the third quarter of 2020, when it carried 11.9 million cubic meters. Other carriers, including Japan’s “K” Line and Norway’s Höegh Autoliners, agreed that vehicle exports from Asia are outpacing those from Europe and the US, leading them to adapt various strategies in response to those challenges. “For our return voyages to Japan, we manage the impact of this imbalance by carrying vehicles exported from Europe and the US and implementing efficient vessel allocation strategies,” a “K” Line spokesperson told the Journal of Commerce. “K” Line said it also triangulates vehicle, high-and-heavy and breakbulk cargoes between different markets to avoid costly ballast voyages with ships sailing empty or partially loaded direct to Japan from the US or Europe. Höegh Autoliners said it has diversified its network, loading vehicles and other cargo in 13 main areas and discharging cargo in 17 key markets last year. While Japan, China and South Korea accounted for 35% of loaded cargo volumes last year, followed by Europe with 26%, ports in the Caribbean, Central America, Europe, the Gulf region and Oceania were the main discharge areas. Höegh said its agile network allowed rapid adjustments to shifting volume and market conditions. Making shifts in Europe While not addressing the trade imbalance directly, carriers said they have adapted to the changing market conditions, especially in Europe. Japan’s NYK Line said it was awarded a 27-year concession by the Spanish port of Barcelona on May 7 to develop a finished vehicle logistics terminal with a capacity to handle 180,000 vehicles a year starting from 2027. “NYK aims to position the port of Barcelona as an international hub for finished-vehicle logistics, catering for current and future demands in the western Mediterranean and North African regions,” the carrier said in a statement announcing the deal. The new facility will augment at least four similar finished vehicle terminals NYK operates at Zeebrugge and Antwerp in Belgium, Port Said in Egypt and Yarimca, Turkey. Cosco Shipping Car Carriers is also expanding in Europe, signing several agreements to develop shipping links and import facilities as Chinese vehicle manufacturers move to transport vehicles on China-controlled tonnage. The carrier signed a deal with Germany’s BLG Logistics to develop BLG AutoTerminal Bremerhaven as the main port of entry for Cosco’s vehicle shipments to Germany and a central hub for imports to Scandinavia, the Baltic states and central and eastern Europe. Cosco also teamed up with Piraeus, Greece-headquartered roll-on/roll-off (ro/ro) ship operator Neptune Lines to cooperate on vehicle shipments on Mediterranean, Black Sea and North Africa routes. That comes as Chinese vehicle manufacturers are deploying increasingly bigger vessels on export trades in competition with traditional operators such as Wilhelmsen and Höegh. Anji Logistics, part of Shanghai-based vehicle maker SAIC Motors, deployed the world’s biggest car carrier, the 9,500-vehicle capacity Anji Ansheng, on its maiden voyage to Europe in May. Electric vehicle maker BYD is also developing is fleet, launching the 9,200-car equivalent unit (CEU) BYD Shenzhen, which left on its maiden voyage to Brazil in May. Geely Jisu Logistics, part of Geely Auto that owns Volvo, also deployed its first car carrier in May when the 7,000-CEU Jisu Fortune sailed to Europe. Contact Keith Wallis at keithwallis@hotmail.com .

Ro/ro cargo

Car carriers shift gears to cope with east-west trade imbalances

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Truckload carriers told the Wells Fargo industrial conference their market is tightening slowly, but enforcement of cabotage and language rules may speed the process. </div>

Truckload carriers told the Wells Fargo industrial conference their market is tightening slowly, but enforcement of cabotage and language rules may speed the process.

<div class="phx-topic">Trucking executives are increasingly confident the freight market is approaching “equilibrium,” not due to higher demand but because they believe capacity is about to be cut faster by multiple factors, including tougher enforcement of US regulations. They’re looking for a lift — any lift — further off the bottom of a trucking downturn that has lasted three years, speakers told the 2025 Wells Fargo Industrials &amp; Materials Conference in Chicago this week. “I think that there’s fragileness in supply chains and the supply side and any little lift will start to be felt,” said Bradley W. Hicks, president of dedicated contract services at J.B. Hunt Transport Service, according to a transcript. “I think we’ll get back to net growth in the second half,” said Nicholas Hobbs, J.B. Hunt’s COO and president of highway and final-mile services. “I can’t guarantee it’s by the end of Q3 or if it’s in Q4, there’s timing that comes in,” Hobbs said. In terms of dedicated contracts, “we can sell a deal even today, and we might not start that location until November or December,” he said. Despite a soft economy, manufacturing contraction and the impact of US tariffs on China and Mexico, the truckload market is not that bad, if not yet “completely normal,” said Mark Rourke, CEO and president of Schneider National, according to a transcript. “The worst-case scenarios that were being bandied about haven’t played out,” he said. “We can certainly see a downturn in the West Coast volumes that we would normally see at this juncture,” Rourke said. “But there’s also a lot of bonded warehouse activity still starting to come inland.” Some of the slack in West Coast truckload volume has been taken up by volumes in the Midwest and Southwest and cross-border volumes to and from Mexico, he said, adding that, “domestic demand has been fairly steady, if unspectacular.” Although Rourke, Hicks and Hobbs believe truck capacity is tightening, shippers have told the Journal of Commerce they haven’t seen any tightness yet, noting they have no trouble finding a truck. <h3>ELP, cabotage enforcement </h3>But the trucking executives see new factors emerging beyond low rates and higher insurance premiums that could remove more capacity. In particular, they cite federal enforcement of the English-language requirement for interstate drivers and a potential crackdown on cabotage by foreign drivers operating in the US under B-1 visas. “It is a matter of how consistent and broad-based the enforcement is,” Rourke said. Under new guidelines from the US Department of Transportation (DOT) that take effect June 25, an inability to communicate in English with officials or read road signs will automatically lead to drivers being placed out of service. An inability to communicate through English has been a violation but not an out-of-service violation since 2016. In 2024, state police and federal inspectors handed out 9,510 English Language Proficiency (ELP) violations out of 1.06 million total driver violations. Six drivers were placed out of service in 2024 for their inability to read or speak English sufficiently, according to Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) data. The impact of the strict enforcement of the ELP rule has been “a little bit dismissed too much and particularly in certain geographies where that could have more concentration and [be more of an] issue than others,” Rourke said. The second issue is cabotage, in which foreign drivers illegally haul domestic loads in the US. “There’s a lot of noise really in the industry starting to spark about cabotage,” said Hobbs. “I think that’s a really big play on where cheap rates are coming from.” Documented data supporting that belief is hard to find, however. Even so, “just a mere threatening of enforcement drives change,” said Rourke. Contact William B. Cassidy at <a href="mailto:bill.cassidy@spglobal.com">bill.cassidy@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

Trucking executives are increasingly confident the freight market is approaching “equilibrium,” not due to higher demand but because they believe capacity is about to be cut faster by multiple factors, including tougher enforcement of US regulations. They’re looking for a lift — any lift — further off the bottom of a trucking downturn that has lasted three years, speakers told the 2025 Wells Fargo Industrials & Materials Conference in Chicago this week. “I think that there’s fragileness in supply chains and the supply side and any little lift will start to be felt,” said Bradley W. Hicks, president of dedicated contract services at J.B. Hunt Transport Service, according to a transcript. “I think we’ll get back to net growth in the second half,” said Nicholas Hobbs, J.B. Hunt’s COO and president of highway and final-mile services. “I can’t guarantee it’s by the end of Q3 or if it’s in Q4, there’s timing that comes in,” Hobbs said. In terms of dedicated contracts, “we can sell a deal even today, and we might not start that location until November or December,” he said. Despite a soft economy, manufacturing contraction and the impact of US tariffs on China and Mexico, the truckload market is not that bad, if not yet “completely normal,” said Mark Rourke, CEO and president of Schneider National, according to a transcript. “The worst-case scenarios that were being bandied about haven’t played out,” he said. “We can certainly see a downturn in the West Coast volumes that we would normally see at this juncture,” Rourke said. “But there’s also a lot of bonded warehouse activity still starting to come inland.” Some of the slack in West Coast truckload volume has been taken up by volumes in the Midwest and Southwest and cross-border volumes to and from Mexico, he said, adding that, “domestic demand has been fairly steady, if unspectacular.” Although Rourke, Hicks and Hobbs believe truck capacity is tightening, shippers have told the Journal of Commerce they haven’t seen any tightness yet, noting they have no trouble finding a truck. ELP, cabotage enforcement But the trucking executives see new factors emerging beyond low rates and higher insurance premiums that could remove more capacity. In particular, they cite federal enforcement of the English-language requirement for interstate drivers and a potential crackdown on cabotage by foreign drivers operating in the US under B-1 visas. “It is a matter of how consistent and broad-based the enforcement is,” Rourke said. Under new guidelines from the US Department of Transportation (DOT) that take effect June 25, an inability to communicate in English with officials or read road signs will automatically lead to drivers being placed out of service. An inability to communicate through English has been a violation but not an out-of-service violation since 2016. In 2024, state police and federal inspectors handed out 9,510 English Language Proficiency (ELP) violations out of 1.06 million total driver violations. Six drivers were placed out of service in 2024 for their inability to read or speak English sufficiently, according to Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) data. The impact of the strict enforcement of the ELP rule has been “a little bit dismissed too much and particularly in certain geographies where that could have more concentration and [be more of an] issue than others,” Rourke said. The second issue is cabotage, in which foreign drivers illegally haul domestic loads in the US. “There’s a lot of noise really in the industry starting to spark about cabotage,” said Hobbs. “I think that’s a really big play on where cheap rates are coming from.” Documented data supporting that belief is hard to find, however. Even so, “just a mere threatening of enforcement drives change,” said Rourke. Contact William B. Cassidy at bill.cassidy@spglobal.com .

Schneider, J.B. Hunt see US truck capacity shrinking in H2

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">While some markets grapple with the lingering effects of trade disputes and fluctuating demand, others are experiencing unprecedented growth driven by green initiatives, robust domestic infrastructure development and the necessities of defense. </div>

While some markets grapple with the lingering effects of trade disputes and fluctuating demand, others are experiencing unprecedented growth driven by green initiatives, robust domestic infrastructure development and the necessities of defense.

<div class="phx-topic">From stalled steel mills in Sweden to booming infrastructure in India and an unexpected surge in defense logistics across Europe, project cargo specialists are adapting to a new industrial demand world order. Regional variations and emerging trends are shaping the movement of vital industrial components. While some markets grapple with the lingering effects of trade disputes and fluctuating demand, others are experiencing unprecedented growth driven by green initiatives, robust domestic infrastructure development and the necessities of defense. In Sweden, a comparatively small but heavily industrialized market, the impact of international trade policies resonates deeply. Speaking to the Journal of Commerce, Jonas Landhage, global project manager/team leader at freight forwarder Begoma, said that his home country “follows the bigger markets,” leaving it susceptible to global shifts, particularly US tariffs. “Since the tariffs from the US, everything is more or less on hold, both incoming and outgoing cargo,” he said. That uncertainty has stalled significant domestic projects, including large industrial steel mills that are waiting for a clearer trade outlook. “It’s a confusing time for everyone, and it makes everyone be a little bit afraid to do project cargo moves,” Landhage said. Finland, Sweden’s neighbor, presents a dual market scenario, according to Marianne Blechingberg, managing director of project cargo at forwarder Hacklin Oy. Blechingberg highlighted the green transition as a significant driver of project cargo in Finland. “Green transition companies are growing and growing, and they have a lot of cargo to ship,” she said. Conversely, traditional heavy industries in Finland face a different reality. After a 10-year boom, those traditional industries have reached saturation, which has led to significant adjustments. “Now all of a sudden, this market is full, and orders have diminished drastically,” Blechingberg said. <h3>Concerns for current projects </h3>In Spain, Franco Ribechini, project director at Barcelona-based forwarder Del Corona &amp; Scardigli Spain (DCS Group), acknowledged that project moves are still happening, yet expressed concern for future projects amid geopolitical tensions. “Companies that are already performing projects have seen their budgets increase a lot,” he told the Journal of Commerce, adding those shippers are moving project cargo “as soon as possible” under the shadow of strained international relations. If existing tensions between Spain and the US, mainly over foreign policy disagreements, do not ease, shippers already committed to projects will have no option but to accept a large increase in their budget, Ribechini warned. More positively, energy production is identified by Ribechini as a resilient sector. “Energy production — whether related to green energy or not — is still needed, especially in West and South African countries, and South America,” he said. “Here, shippers are bidding for projects, and those projects are developing very quickly.” India, meanwhile, has not taken its foot of the gas with industrial projects. Nilesh Sinha, director at New Delhi-based project cargo forwarder Procam, described the country’s project outlook as “very, very positive.” Sinha broke down the Indian market into two key drivers: internal infrastructure requirements and meeting global project demand. He sees current global challenges as an opportunity for India to fill gaps, highlighting the country’s focus on energy efficiency and carbon emissions. “India and China are the two countries who contribute the maximum to carbon emissions, so there is an opportunity there,” Sinha said. Meanwhile, an unexpected but growing project cargo segment has also emerged in Europe: the defense industry. Blechingberg highlighted its critical importance for Europe, especially due to the war in Ukraine. “This is creating opportunity for freight forwarders,” she said. Contact Carly Fields at <a href="mailto:carly.fields@spglobal.com">carly.fields@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

From stalled steel mills in Sweden to booming infrastructure in India and an unexpected surge in defense logistics across Europe, project cargo specialists are adapting to a new industrial demand world order. Regional variations and emerging trends are shaping the movement of vital industrial components. While some markets grapple with the lingering effects of trade disputes and fluctuating demand, others are experiencing unprecedented growth driven by green initiatives, robust domestic infrastructure development and the necessities of defense. In Sweden, a comparatively small but heavily industrialized market, the impact of international trade policies resonates deeply. Speaking to the Journal of Commerce, Jonas Landhage, global project manager/team leader at freight forwarder Begoma, said that his home country “follows the bigger markets,” leaving it susceptible to global shifts, particularly US tariffs. “Since the tariffs from the US, everything is more or less on hold, both incoming and outgoing cargo,” he said. That uncertainty has stalled significant domestic projects, including large industrial steel mills that are waiting for a clearer trade outlook. “It’s a confusing time for everyone, and it makes everyone be a little bit afraid to do project cargo moves,” Landhage said. Finland, Sweden’s neighbor, presents a dual market scenario, according to Marianne Blechingberg, managing director of project cargo at forwarder Hacklin Oy. Blechingberg highlighted the green transition as a significant driver of project cargo in Finland. “Green transition companies are growing and growing, and they have a lot of cargo to ship,” she said. Conversely, traditional heavy industries in Finland face a different reality. After a 10-year boom, those traditional industries have reached saturation, which has led to significant adjustments. “Now all of a sudden, this market is full, and orders have diminished drastically,” Blechingberg said. Concerns for current projects In Spain, Franco Ribechini, project director at Barcelona-based forwarder Del Corona & Scardigli Spain (DCS Group), acknowledged that project moves are still happening, yet expressed concern for future projects amid geopolitical tensions. “Companies that are already performing projects have seen their budgets increase a lot,” he told the Journal of Commerce, adding those shippers are moving project cargo “as soon as possible” under the shadow of strained international relations. If existing tensions between Spain and the US, mainly over foreign policy disagreements, do not ease, shippers already committed to projects will have no option but to accept a large increase in their budget, Ribechini warned. More positively, energy production is identified by Ribechini as a resilient sector. “Energy production — whether related to green energy or not — is still needed, especially in West and South African countries, and South America,” he said. “Here, shippers are bidding for projects, and those projects are developing very quickly.” India, meanwhile, has not taken its foot of the gas with industrial projects. Nilesh Sinha, director at New Delhi-based project cargo forwarder Procam, described the country’s project outlook as “very, very positive.” Sinha broke down the Indian market into two key drivers: internal infrastructure requirements and meeting global project demand. He sees current global challenges as an opportunity for India to fill gaps, highlighting the country’s focus on energy efficiency and carbon emissions. “India and China are the two countries who contribute the maximum to carbon emissions, so there is an opportunity there,” Sinha said. Meanwhile, an unexpected but growing project cargo segment has also emerged in Europe: the defense industry. Blechingberg highlighted its critical importance for Europe, especially due to the war in Ukraine. “This is creating opportunity for freight forwarders,” she said. Contact Carly Fields at carly.fields@spglobal.com .

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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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