Associate Editor

The Federal Maritime Commission has exercised its first use of new legal authority under OSRA-22 requiring an ocean carrier to justify the reason behind levying a congestion surcharge against a shipper.

FMC order for MSC to justify congestion fee marks first under OSRA-22

Carriers on the trans-Atlantic find themselves in the curious position of adding capacity to the trade while at the same time having to blank sailings to maintain the supply-demand balance.

Sharp increase in capacity keeps trans-Atlantic rates under pressure 

With the extended port reach into India, carriers are looking to fill leftover capacity from Southeast Asia as primary market volumes slow and US sourcing within Asia diversifies beyond China, sources say.  

MSC extends Asia-USWC string to India as primary market demand wanes

As the size of China’s workforce declines and production challenges increase, US retailers are shifting to global sourcing strategies, with each sector looking for the business model that meets its particular requirements.

US retailers’ global sourcing strategy will take time to develop: analysts 

Senior Editor

Courier, trucking, and warehousing firms lost workers last month, but the seasonal surge and purge was more muted than expected, reflecting broader labor market resilience.

US transport providers lose fewer jobs than expected in January

The announced dissolution of the 2M Alliance raises the question of what additional large-scale dominoes might be toppling over in the next few years in the container shipping sector, writes analyst Lars Jensen.

End of 2M Alliance will set dominoes in motion across ocean shipping: analyst

After years of “trade and customs” functions being largely considered an afterthought in supply chain decisions, a shift is afoot that would correct that.

Supply Chain

Change under way to elevate ‘T&C’ functions to proper status in supply chain

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

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  

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 drops bid to use OSRA-22 for emergency data sharing 

Last year’s container surge prompted a harder look at information sharing for container availability and port operations, which New York-New Jersey marine terminals are responding to with new data.  



NY-NJ marine terminals offering up more data to improve truck flow 

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

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FMC order for MSC to justify congestion fee marks first under OSRA-22

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