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Falling US imports spell more trans-Pacific blankings

The seventh straight week of declining container spot rates and a 1 percent drop in US imports in January and February signal more blank sailings ahead in the eastbound trans-Pacific.

CSX rolling out truck reservation system

CSX Transportation is requiring shippers to book reservations for their truckers to return empty containers or drop off loaded boxes, which has gone smoothly in smaller markets but caused major concerns in Chicago, Memphis, and Nashville.

Pay hikes cut US driver turnover at big truck fleets

A 20-point second-half drop in driver turnover rates at large truckload carriers indicates aggressive wage increases attracted drivers in 2018, helping to reset capacity in the trucking market.

Cooling US project outlook spurs investment overseas

Slowing global growth and the US-China trade war are dampening the outlook for long-term investment in US project construction, shifting capital toward emerging markets.

Long Beach port optimizer decision raises data questions

Long Beach's dilemma over choosing a port information portal highlights questions of how much shipment information is needed to improve efficiency for BCOs and truckers and how much users will be willing to pay for that data.

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Essential Reads

BCOs: Schedule reliability more important than ever

In an era of minute-by-minute supply chain demand, ocean shippers say they need carriers to improve on-time performance, but carriers say it's not so simple.

Hapag-Lloyd CEO: Low-sulfur BAF simple, transparent

Contrary to what some BCOs believe, carrier pricing to account for higher low-sulfur fuel costs can be simple, transparent, and fair, Rolf Habben Jansen tells TPM19.

Maersk CEO charts course toward integrated offering

Soren Skou tells TPM19 Maersk's latest foray into integrated logistics will be more successful thanks to its dominant market share and widespread digitization throughout the container shipping industry.

US trucking market stuck in the ‘muddy middle’

With spot and contract rates moving in opposite directions, trucking providers tell TPM 2019 it’s difficult to predict exactly where the market is headed in 2019.

Carriers urged to focus on service, not overextend reach

Despite challenges with capacity and looming low-sulfur fuel costs, supply-demand economics points to balance — and profits — for container carriers in the short term, according to SeaIntelligence Consulting CEO Lars Jensen.

JOC Shipping & Logistics Pricing Hub

The pricing data found here allows shippers and transport providers to more accurately benchmark and forecast for their supply chains. The various spot prices and indices are collected from third-party sources and updated weekly, monthly and quarterly, depending on the data set.

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Falling US imports spell more trans-Pacific blankings

US imports from Asia fell just under 1 percent year over year to 2.73 million TEU in January-February, according to PIERS, a JOC.com sister product within IHS Markit. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com.

The seventh straight week of declining container spot rates and a 1 percent drop in US imports in January and February signal more blank sailings ahead in the eastbound trans-Pacific.

CMA CGM extends India rail reach

Rail hauls represent 25-30 percent of all container moves at Mundra port, well above the 15 percent share at Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT). Photo credit: Shutterstock.com.

The French ocean carrier’s latest intermodal offering aligns with its strategic goal of offering more integrated supply chain services, as well as an Indian government goal to convert more container cargo from truck to rail.

Maersk bullish on India trade growth

Container trade to and from India grew 6 percent year over year in the fourth quarter of 2018, with exports up 3 percent and imports up 9 percent, according to a recent Maersk Line report. Photo credit: Maersk Group (India).

Growing demand for manufacturing and refrigerated agricultural exports coupled with infrastructure upgrades and pro-trade reforms have made India one of the “top trading destinations” globally, according to the world’s largest container carrier.

Carriers tout value in containerized breakbulk

Carriers assess breakbulk or project cargo based on the vessels in rotation, space available, length and width of the cargo piece, terminals to be called, and other parameters. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com.

Strict schedules, predictable routes and prices, and commoditized handling have long made liner services attractive to breakbulk shippers, but project cargoes are a different story altogether.

Trucking News

Trucking Logistics

Pay hikes cut US driver turnover at big truck fleets

Driver turnover at large truckload carriers fell from 87 percent in the third quarter of 2018 to 78 percent in the fourth quarter, according to the American Trucking Associations (ATA). Photo credit: Shutterstock.com.

A 20-point second-half drop in driver turnover rates at large truckload carriers indicates aggressive wage increases attracted drivers in 2018, helping to reset capacity in the trucking market.

Nervous shippers eye YRC-Teamsters contract talks

YRC Freight and its regional subsidiaries handled a combined 20.5 million shipments in 2018. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com.

With the current labor agreement at YRC Worldwide expiring March 31, shippers are anxious for a new contract at one of the largest US LTL operators.

Reorganized, loss-making Roadrunner gets funding

An infusion of cash from a rights offering helped Roadrunner Transportation Systems survive. Now it needs to complete an ongoing restructuring. Photo credit: Roadrunner Transportation Systems.

Completion of a $450 million rights offering will keep Roadrunner’s LTL and truckload capacity on the road as the operator attempts to rebuild its business.

Warehousing, courier hiring leads US transport sector

The continuing demand for truck drivers, warehouse workers, and couriers underscores the health of e-commerce and the industrial economy in the United States. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com.

Warehousing and storage companies increased employment a healthy 7 percent in February, outpacing overall US employment growth of 1.6 percent.

Port News

ILA president seeks third term

Harold Daggett's reelection bid comes just over a year after the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) and the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) agreed to a new six-year master contract prohibiting operators from deploying automated terminal equipment. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com.

Harold Daggett, leader of the East and Gulf coast longshore labor union, is seeking a third term just over a year after striking a coastwide master contract with employers banning automated terminals.

MSC wants full control to turn around Gioia Tauro

Medcenter Container Terminal in the Italian port of Gioia Tauro has an annual capacity of 4.2 million TEU, but the port has struggled to arrest declining volume following the departure of Maersk Line in 2017. Photo credit: MCT

The Geneva-based carrier may soon be the sole owner of Gioia Tauro's container terminal, and its only customer, which could make it difficult to arrest declining volume at the transshipment hub.

CMA CGM extends India rail reach

China backing to fuel Trieste competition with Piraeus

The port of Trieste recorded a container throughput of 1.4 million TEU in 2018, a year-over-year increase of 8 percent. Photo credit: The port of Trieste.

If Italy signs up to Beijing's Belt and Road Initiative as expected, it will open the way for Trieste to become China's gateway to southern Europe.

Technology News

Technology

BlackBerry sensor aimed at asset-based LSPs

BlackBerry's Radar H2 asset tracking product is designed to help logistics providers improve utilization of trailers, containers, and chassis, among other things. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com.

The technology provider, best known as a pioneer smartphone maker, is doubling down on its investment in sensor-based freight transportation asset tracking using its legacy location and battery technology.

Is logistics finally ready for APIs?

Speakers at the TPM 2019 Conference in Long Beach last week said they are seeing adoption of application programming interfaces (APIs) in shipping accelerate. Photo credit: Caught in the Moment Photography.

Carriers and 3PLs are using application programming interfaces (APIs) to connect with customers and software vendors to create broader ecosystems of data and functionality than can exist through EDI, email, and flat file sharing.

Blockchain slow-steaming into container shipping

“Blockchain is the highway system, but you don’t have lights and lanes. Those are the standards you need,” CargoSmart chief commercial officer Lionel Louie told TPM19.

Blockchain technology has the potential to disrupt multiple industries, but potential use cases in shipping are still a few years away, panelists tell the TPM 2019 Conference in Long Beach.

Interoperability key to widespread container tracking

Prices for connected sensors in container shipping have come down in recent years, but widespread adoption is necessary to bring them down even further. Photo credit: Caught in the Moment Photography.

Using connected devices to track container cargo shipments could transform the industry, but much of their value will remain unrealized if the systems they feed can't communicate with one another.

Breakbulk News

Breakbulk

Cooling US project outlook spurs investment overseas

Major oil and gas projects were down about 30 percent in 2018, as the offshore sector faced increasing competition from onshore shale and renewables. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com.

Slowing global growth and the US-China trade war are dampening the outlook for long-term investment in US project construction, shifting capital toward emerging markets.

Carriers tout value in containerized breakbulk

Strict schedules, predictable routes and prices, and commoditized handling have long made liner services attractive to breakbulk shippers, but project cargoes are a different story altogether.

Carriers of all stripes chase breakbulk cargo

While some traditional breakbulk cargoes have shifted to container and roll-on/roll-off ships, much of it continues to move in multipurpose/heavylift (MPV/HL) vessels. Photo credit: SAL.

When demand is high, container and ro-ro carriers tend to stay in their own cargo “lanes,” but in leaner times, competition for project and breakbulk freight intensifies.

Charters mitigate megaproject cargo risk

Due to the size of megaproject cargo, pieces may require individualized lift plans and/or special fittings and fastenings, and for the most part can only be handled by multipurpose/heavylift (MPV/HL) vessels. Photo credit: AAL.

Megaproject logistics, which often involves moving huge pieces of equipment through remote ports, brings with it a unique set of risks and challenges that traditional liner carriers simply aren't equipped to handle.

Falling US imports spell more trans-Pacific blankings

CSX rolling out truck reservation system

Pay hikes cut US driver turnover at big truck fleets

Cooling US project outlook spurs investment overseas

Long Beach port optimizer decision raises data questions

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