The premium rate that importers had been paying to ship Asian imports through the US East Coast has dropped considerably over the past few months, allowing the spread between East and West coast spot rates to narrow to pre-pandemic levels.

Spread between East, West coast ocean spot rates returns to pre-pandemic levels  

Senior Editor

An expedited linehaul service using team drivers will cut transit times connecting Pitt Ohio’s eastern territory with California within three days. 

Pitt Ohio, Daylight to expedite LTL freight from eastern US to West Coast

US Class I railroads are taking steps to address quality-of-life issues for their employees, including reducing on-call positions, avoiding furloughs, and introducing more flexible working structures.

US railroads looking to mend fences with labor after trying 2022

A long-time ro/ro executive with Wallenius Wilhelmsen will shift his focus to container BCOs in a new position with the Georgia Ports Authority.  

Ro/ro executive Batista joins GPA as port gears up for expansion  

Associate Editor

A Federal Maritime Commission member’s attempt to force marine terminals and ocean carriers to share more data under OSRA-22 has ended with the normalization of the ocean freight market.

FMC commissioner drops bid to use OSRA-22 for emergency data sharing 

The promise of economic improvement in the second half of this year and 2024 has LTL trucking companies adding terminals, doors, and services despite the current slowdown.

US LTL carriers look past downturn by expanding for next rebound

A classification system that considers the full requirements and costs of service providers, and is constantly being adapted to new realities, is the best system available, writes the vice president of classification for the National Motor Freight Traffic Association.

Why the NMFC system has stood the test of time

While a few carriers such as ABF Freight and FedEx Freight have rolled out dimensional pricing, and others have expressed the desire to do so, they have largely overlooked the reasons for shippers’ reluctance to switch to dimensional rates.

Surface

Time to wean the LTL industry off the NMFC model 

Senior Technology Editor

Scrutiny over Flexport’s job cuts earlier this month points to a long-term issue for the venture-backed logistics company: a perceived lack of identity in a market that has long been skeptical of its differentiation.

Big Flexport layoffs offer potential clue to its future identity 

Even as weak economic conditions prevail during the annual service contract negotiating cycle, it does not automatically mean shippers will be driving the hardest possible bargains with newly vulnerable carriers. 

Ocean shippers may ‘pay up’ for secure capacity despite weak market

With an increased focus by importers on geopolitics and “friend-shoring,” carriers are shifting an increasing volume of deep-sea vessel capacity away to Vietnam — and away from China.

Vietnam sees surge in deep-sea vessel capacity amid trade sourcing shift

Shippers are generally willing to share in the cost of reducing carbon emissions, but they worry a lack of transparency in pass-through charges could allow shipping lines to continue burning fossil fuels.

Pass-through fees could disincentivize carriers from decarbonizing: shippers 

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Spread between East, West coast ocean spot rates returns to pre-pandemic levels

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