<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">The race among providers to provide the dominant and trusted US load board is ramping up and further fueled by growing concerns about freight theft. </div>

The race among providers to provide the dominant and trusted US load board is ramping up and further fueled by growing concerns about freight theft.

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<div class="phx-topic">Highway, a provider of truckload carrier identity software, on Monday said it has launched a digital freight marketplace composed entirely of carriers verified and brokers vetted by its product, as it attempts to create a closed exchange for truckload freight in a market beset by rising levels of freight fraud and theft. The new marketplace, called the Trusted Freight Exchange (TFX), ostensibly places Highway into the world of existing load board providers, where DAT Freight &amp; Analytics and Truckstop.con are the two most widely used products. The exchange will tie Highway’s vetting tools with rating, payment and credit tools from freight-focused financial firm Triumph. Highway has built a fast-growing business around allowing freight brokers to verify the identity of carriers they use, primarily to steer clear of freight theft and fraud. In just three years since its founding, Highway has grown to more than 1,000 customers, including 70 of the top 100 US brokers. Highway’s software has generally been used to vet transactions that occur on public load boards, where it’s been historically difficult to police carriers. As cargo theft and fraud have spiraled in the last few years, Highway’s products have been in demand. The decision to provide a way to transact within the product is the next evolution of its product. “From the beginning, our goal was simple: build a secure, transparent platform to move freight,” Highway CEO Jordan Graft, formerly CEO at Triumph, said in a statement. “We’re eliminating the fraud and fragmentation of traditional load boards and creating a digital freight exchange defined by trust.” As Highway ventures into the load board space, Truckstop.com in late July said it is providing a new feature that allows brokers to efficiently build proprietary, pre-vetted carrier networks. The product, Truckstop Private Loads, is aiming to provide brokers with a marketplace tool that has more innate trust than its public load board. "We understand the daily pressures brokers face to find trusted capacity quickly and the frustration and lost time carriers experience switching between public and private loads," Truckstop.com CEO Scott Moscrip, who in June <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/truckstop-begins-strategic-realignment-names-founder-as-interim-ceo-6020214">returned to head the company he founded</a>, said in a July statement about the private load boards. Brokers that post on Truckstop Private Loads can send those loads to Truckstop’s public load board of verified carriers as needed to expand their network and cover the load, the company said in the statement. Both Truckstop, through its 2022 <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/truckstop-acquires-freight-matching-platform-to-target-high-quality-carriers-5201888">acquisition of carrier compliance platform Registry Monitoring Insurance Services</a> (RMIS), and DAT, through a focus on <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/dat-adds-in-house-factoring-services-with-latest-acquisition-6005462">internal carrier verification technology</a>, are cognizant of the ongoing threat cargo theft and fraud play in their public marketplaces. Blurring lines The blurring of lines between traditional load board operators and providers of payment, rate benchmarking, and carrier identification products has accelerated the past few years, as various entities try to create well-rounded marketplaces that allow brokers and carriers to do multiple tasks within one platform. To that end, Triumph, primarily known as a financial services provider to the truckload industry, has expanded into market intelligence through its <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/triumph-acquires-broker-focused-pricing-technology-provider-greenscreensai-5951484">February acquisition of Greenscreens.ai</a>, while DAT has acquired visibility, payment and factoring, and transaction automation tools through acquisitions of Trucker Tools, Outgo, and <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/dat-acquiring-convoy-automation-platform-from-flexport-6051850">Convoy over the past nine months</a>. Truckstop itself entered the factoring sector by <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/truckstopcom-acquires-truckload-factoring-service-denim-6065710">acquiring Denim on Aug. 19</a>. Contact Eric Johnson at <a href="mailto:eric.johnson@spglobal.com">eric.johnson@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

Highway, a provider of truckload carrier identity software, on Monday said it has launched a digital freight marketplace composed entirely of carriers verified and brokers vetted by its product, as it attempts to create a closed exchange for truckload freight in a market beset by rising levels of freight fraud and theft. The new marketplace, called the Trusted Freight Exchange (TFX), ostensibly places Highway into the world of existing load board providers, where DAT Freight & Analytics and Truckstop.con are the two most widely used products. The exchange will tie Highway’s vetting tools with rating, payment and credit tools from freight-focused financial firm Triumph. Highway has built a fast-growing business around allowing freight brokers to verify the identity of carriers they use, primarily to steer clear of freight theft and fraud. In just three years since its founding, Highway has grown to more than 1,000 customers, including 70 of the top 100 US brokers. Highway’s software has generally been used to vet transactions that occur on public load boards, where it’s been historically difficult to police carriers. As cargo theft and fraud have spiraled in the last few years, Highway’s products have been in demand. The decision to provide a way to transact within the product is the next evolution of its product. “From the beginning, our goal was simple: build a secure, transparent platform to move freight,” Highway CEO Jordan Graft, formerly CEO at Triumph, said in a statement. “We’re eliminating the fraud and fragmentation of traditional load boards and creating a digital freight exchange defined by trust.” As Highway ventures into the load board space, Truckstop.com in late July said it is providing a new feature that allows brokers to efficiently build proprietary, pre-vetted carrier networks. The product, Truckstop Private Loads, is aiming to provide brokers with a marketplace tool that has more innate trust than its public load board. "We understand the daily pressures brokers face to find trusted capacity quickly and the frustration and lost time carriers experience switching between public and private loads," Truckstop.com CEO Scott Moscrip, who in June returned to head the company he founded , said in a July statement about the private load boards. Brokers that post on Truckstop Private Loads can send those loads to Truckstop’s public load board of verified carriers as needed to expand their network and cover the load, the company said in the statement. Both Truckstop, through its 2022 acquisition of carrier compliance platform Registry Monitoring Insurance Services (RMIS), and DAT, through a focus on internal carrier verification technology , are cognizant of the ongoing threat cargo theft and fraud play in their public marketplaces. Blurring lines The blurring of lines between traditional load board operators and providers of payment, rate benchmarking, and carrier identification products has accelerated the past few years, as various entities try to create well-rounded marketplaces that allow brokers and carriers to do multiple tasks within one platform. To that end, Triumph, primarily known as a financial services provider to the truckload industry, has expanded into market intelligence through its February acquisition of Greenscreens.ai , while DAT has acquired visibility, payment and factoring, and transaction automation tools through acquisitions of Trucker Tools, Outgo, and Convoy over the past nine months . Truckstop itself entered the factoring sector by acquiring Denim on Aug. 19 . Contact Eric Johnson at eric.johnson@spglobal.com .

Transport, Trade and Regulation News

Logistics Technology News

Truck brokers

Truckload

Highway latest entry in load board sector amid cargo crime rise

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Automobile carriers have benefitted from falling charter rates to meet growing outbound vehicle moves from Asia. </div>

Automobile carriers have benefitted from falling charter rates to meet growing outbound vehicle moves from Asia.

<div class="phx-topic">Significantly reduced tariffs on US vehicle imports haven’t hurt the car carrier market which continued to see record exports from Asia in the second quarter, shipping executives said. Vehicle carrier operators including Wallenius Wilhelmsen and Höegh Autoliners have benefited from falls in vessel charter rates, enabling them to lease vessels for short periods at more competitive rates to handle the surge in Asian vehicle exports, they said. Andreas Enger, Höegh Autoliners chief executive, said clarity over US tariffs on vehicle imports including a significant reduction to 15% from at least 25% “has stabilized the market” compared with the uncertainty seen in the first quarter. “It has created a situation where the disruption of near-term trade flows is small or virtually non-existent,” Enger told an online interim results briefing Friday. But while tariffs have been agreed no date has yet been announced for when they will be implemented on imports from South Korea, Japan and the European Union. Consequently, he added, “it would be naïve to believe that higher tariffs, higher fees and higher cost of transportation will not impact the market longer-term. But right now, we are at the situation where things have stabilized and we have strong current performance and have a strong outlook,” Enger said. He said revisions to the US Trade Representative port fee proposals for car carriers - which were switched June 6 from a vessel capacity levy to a tonnage tax - have also benefited operators. That reduced Höegh Autoliners annual bill from an estimated $70 million to about $30 million, Enger said. While operators continue to fight the proposal, Enger said Höegh is working on capacity planning and management of trades and customers to mitigate the impact. That came as Wallenius Wilhelmsen and Höegh saw a strong rebound in vehicle exports from Asia in the second quarter. Wilhelmsen said volumes were up 13% to around 14 million cubic meters in Q2 from the first quarter although at a similar level to the second quarter last year in an interim results briefing on Aug. 12. Höegh said its export volumes from Asia rose 5% quarter-over-quarter to a record 2 million cubic meters in Q2 but 47% from 1.4 million cubic meters in the second quarter last year. <h3>Export imbalance increasing </h3>Both Höegh and Wilhelmsen reiterated the widening imbalance in vehicle exports from Asia with those from Europe and the US in the first half which is creating a shortage of capacity from Asia. Both carriers said they have taken advantage of the fall in car carrier charter rates, caused by the influx of new ships, to hire vessels either for a single voyage or up to three months to enable them to meet the demand surge. The cost a one-year charter of a 6,500-CEU (car equivalent unit) vessel fell from $115,000 per day in January 2024 to $45,000 per day this month, British shipbroker Clarksons said on a commentary on Aug. 15. Both companies expected third quarter earnings to match those of the two previous quarters. But they are more cautious about prospects next year even though long-term contracts, including at least $300 million worth of new deals signed recently, meant they have more than 80% of their shipping capacity covered in 2026. “We still think this year will be a strong year but it’s too early to call 2026,” Kristoffersen said. Wilhelmsen saw second quarter net profit climb 28% to $403 million compared with $315 million in the same period in the year prior although this included a $135 million gain from the sale of its MIRRAT vehicle logistics business in Australia. Excluding this gain, net profit would have been up 8% to $268 million. Revenue was unchanged at $1.35 billion of which shipping contributed $1 billion. Höegh Autoliners also posted a strong second quarter with net profit of $123 million on revenues of $367 million. While net profit was down from $174 million in Q2 last year that included a $39 million tax gain. Revenue was $341 million in the second quarter last year. Contact Keith Wallis at <a href="keithwallis@hotmail.com">keithwallis@hotmail.com</a>. </div>

Significantly reduced tariffs on US vehicle imports haven’t hurt the car carrier market which continued to see record exports from Asia in the second quarter, shipping executives said. Vehicle carrier operators including Wallenius Wilhelmsen and Höegh Autoliners have benefited from falls in vessel charter rates, enabling them to lease vessels for short periods at more competitive rates to handle the surge in Asian vehicle exports, they said. Andreas Enger, Höegh Autoliners chief executive, said clarity over US tariffs on vehicle imports including a significant reduction to 15% from at least 25% “has stabilized the market” compared with the uncertainty seen in the first quarter. “It has created a situation where the disruption of near-term trade flows is small or virtually non-existent,” Enger told an online interim results briefing Friday. But while tariffs have been agreed no date has yet been announced for when they will be implemented on imports from South Korea, Japan and the European Union. Consequently, he added, “it would be naïve to believe that higher tariffs, higher fees and higher cost of transportation will not impact the market longer-term. But right now, we are at the situation where things have stabilized and we have strong current performance and have a strong outlook,” Enger said. He said revisions to the US Trade Representative port fee proposals for car carriers - which were switched June 6 from a vessel capacity levy to a tonnage tax - have also benefited operators. That reduced Höegh Autoliners annual bill from an estimated $70 million to about $30 million, Enger said. While operators continue to fight the proposal, Enger said Höegh is working on capacity planning and management of trades and customers to mitigate the impact. That came as Wallenius Wilhelmsen and Höegh saw a strong rebound in vehicle exports from Asia in the second quarter. Wilhelmsen said volumes were up 13% to around 14 million cubic meters in Q2 from the first quarter although at a similar level to the second quarter last year in an interim results briefing on Aug. 12. Höegh said its export volumes from Asia rose 5% quarter-over-quarter to a record 2 million cubic meters in Q2 but 47% from 1.4 million cubic meters in the second quarter last year. Export imbalance increasing Both Höegh and Wilhelmsen reiterated the widening imbalance in vehicle exports from Asia with those from Europe and the US in the first half which is creating a shortage of capacity from Asia. Both carriers said they have taken advantage of the fall in car carrier charter rates, caused by the influx of new ships, to hire vessels either for a single voyage or up to three months to enable them to meet the demand surge. The cost a one-year charter of a 6,500-CEU (car equivalent unit) vessel fell from $115,000 per day in January 2024 to $45,000 per day this month, British shipbroker Clarksons said on a commentary on Aug. 15. Both companies expected third quarter earnings to match those of the two previous quarters. But they are more cautious about prospects next year even though long-term contracts, including at least $300 million worth of new deals signed recently, meant they have more than 80% of their shipping capacity covered in 2026. “We still think this year will be a strong year but it’s too early to call 2026,” Kristoffersen said. Wilhelmsen saw second quarter net profit climb 28% to $403 million compared with $315 million in the same period in the year prior although this included a $135 million gain from the sale of its MIRRAT vehicle logistics business in Australia. Excluding this gain, net profit would have been up 8% to $268 million. Revenue was unchanged at $1.35 billion of which shipping contributed $1 billion. Höegh Autoliners also posted a strong second quarter with net profit of $123 million on revenues of $367 million. While net profit was down from $174 million in Q2 last year that included a $39 million tax gain. Revenue was $341 million in the second quarter last year. Contact Keith Wallis at keithwallis@hotmail.com .

Ro/ro cargo

US tariff deals on vehicle imports stabilizing car carrier market: Höegh

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">The joint BNSF/CSX services come as rivals Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern have agreed to an $85 billion deal that would create the first transcontinental railroad, if approved by federal regulators.</div>

The joint BNSF/CSX services come as rivals Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern have agreed to an $85 billion deal that would create the first transcontinental railroad, if approved by federal regulators.

<div class="phx-topic">BNSF Railway and CSX Transportation are adding new joint intermodal routes linking the US West Coast to the Southeast, a competitive counterpunch to Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern (NS) as they seek federal approval for their <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/up-looks-to-create-first-coast-to-coast-railroad-with-85-billion-ns-deal-6052288">proposed merger</a>. BNSF and CSX said Friday they will launch bi-directional trains from Southern California to Charlotte, North Carolina, and to Jacksonville, Florida, supplementing their existing joint service to Atlanta. They also announced a new service that will connect Phoenix and Atlanta, opening an intermodal option in a lane long dominated by truckload carriers. The three new trains will travel via BNSF to the jointly-operated BNSF/CSX Fairburn terminal in Georgia, where CSX will take over and haul the cargo to Charlotte and Jacksonville. “This collaboration between BNSF and CSX demonstrates the power of partnership, delivering greater flexibility, efficiency and value for our customers,” Jon Gabriel, BNSF’s group vice president of consumer products, which includes intermodal, said in a statement. In addition, the two railroads announced new international intermodal trains connecting Kansas City with the Port of New York and New Jersey and the Port of Virginia. That comes after Virginia recently saw <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/norfolk-southern-to-drop-international-intermodal-service-on-many-usec-lanes-5993642">NS pulling out</a> of rail service to Memphis. Ocean containers will be routed on CSX to Chicago, then onto Kansas City via BNSF. The joint BNSF/CSX services come as their rivals, UP and NS, have agreed to a deal that would create the first transcontinental railroad, if approved by federal regulators. UP and NS are expected to file their formal application in early 2026; a decision by regulators could come in mid-2027. The proposed UP-NS coupling has drawn notice in the investor community, with activist investor Ancora Holdings writing a scathing letter to CSX on Aug. 6 urging it to pursue its own merger or face a proxy battle. Ancora, which has mounted unsuccessful battles against C.H. Robinson Worldwide and Norfolk Southern, attacked CSX CEO Joe Hinrichs and his management team, calling them “junior varsity executives.” “The [CSX] board needs to announce in the near term that it is working with identified third-party advisors to explore a range of merger options,” Ancora wrote in the letter, shared with the media this week. “Shareholders cannot afford more missteps as CSX plays catch-up in the rail consolidation race.” <h3>Single-line services </h3>BNSF and CSX have operated a direct intermodal service between Southern California and CSX’s Fairburn terminal for nearly two decades, bypassing busy interchanges in Chicago, Memphis and New Orleans, which often add a day or more to transit times. The service functions more like a single-line railroad, with only crew changes along the way. Replicating that model to Charlotte and Jacksonville with a switchover in Atlanta may serve as an important lever to show that an official BNSF-CSX merger is unnecessary. There are significant growth opportunities on the Charlotte and Jacksonville lanes. A total of more than 150,000 domestic intermodal containers move bi-directionally each year between Southern California and Atlanta, according to a Journal of Commerce analysis of data from the US Surface Transportation Board. About 80,000 containers move each year between Southern California and Charlotte, and approximately 55,000 between Southern California and Jacksonville. Those volumes highlight the growth potential in the new lanes, although Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern hold a transit time advantage from Southern California to Atlanta and Jacksonville using the Meridian Speedway through Mississippi, which runs faster than the BNSF-CSX service. Contact Ari Ashe at <a href="mailto:ari.ashe@spglobal.com">ari.ashe@spglobal.com</a>.</div>

BNSF Railway and CSX Transportation are adding new joint intermodal routes linking the US West Coast to the Southeast, a competitive counterpunch to Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern (NS) as they seek federal approval for their proposed merger . BNSF and CSX said Friday they will launch bi-directional trains from Southern California to Charlotte, North Carolina, and to Jacksonville, Florida, supplementing their existing joint service to Atlanta. They also announced a new service that will connect Phoenix and Atlanta, opening an intermodal option in a lane long dominated by truckload carriers. The three new trains will travel via BNSF to the jointly-operated BNSF/CSX Fairburn terminal in Georgia, where CSX will take over and haul the cargo to Charlotte and Jacksonville. “This collaboration between BNSF and CSX demonstrates the power of partnership, delivering greater flexibility, efficiency and value for our customers,” Jon Gabriel, BNSF’s group vice president of consumer products, which includes intermodal, said in a statement. In addition, the two railroads announced new international intermodal trains connecting Kansas City with the Port of New York and New Jersey and the Port of Virginia. That comes after Virginia recently saw NS pulling out of rail service to Memphis. Ocean containers will be routed on CSX to Chicago, then onto Kansas City via BNSF. The joint BNSF/CSX services come as their rivals, UP and NS, have agreed to a deal that would create the first transcontinental railroad, if approved by federal regulators. UP and NS are expected to file their formal application in early 2026; a decision by regulators could come in mid-2027. The proposed UP-NS coupling has drawn notice in the investor community, with activist investor Ancora Holdings writing a scathing letter to CSX on Aug. 6 urging it to pursue its own merger or face a proxy battle. Ancora, which has mounted unsuccessful battles against C.H. Robinson Worldwide and Norfolk Southern, attacked CSX CEO Joe Hinrichs and his management team, calling them “junior varsity executives.” “The [CSX] board needs to announce in the near term that it is working with identified third-party advisors to explore a range of merger options,” Ancora wrote in the letter, shared with the media this week. “Shareholders cannot afford more missteps as CSX plays catch-up in the rail consolidation race.” Single-line services BNSF and CSX have operated a direct intermodal service between Southern California and CSX’s Fairburn terminal for nearly two decades, bypassing busy interchanges in Chicago, Memphis and New Orleans, which often add a day or more to transit times. The service functions more like a single-line railroad, with only crew changes along the way. Replicating that model to Charlotte and Jacksonville with a switchover in Atlanta may serve as an important lever to show that an official BNSF-CSX merger is unnecessary. There are significant growth opportunities on the Charlotte and Jacksonville lanes. A total of more than 150,000 domestic intermodal containers move bi-directionally each year between Southern California and Atlanta, according to a Journal of Commerce analysis of data from the US Surface Transportation Board. About 80,000 containers move each year between Southern California and Charlotte, and approximately 55,000 between Southern California and Jacksonville. Those volumes highlight the growth potential in the new lanes, although Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern hold a transit time advantage from Southern California to Atlanta and Jacksonville using the Meridian Speedway through Mississippi, which runs faster than the BNSF-CSX service. Contact Ari Ashe at ari.ashe@spglobal.com .

North-American rail

Rail News

BNSF, CSX unveil new joint intermodal lanes in aftermath of UP-NS merger

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Tariff-related surges in US-bound freight from Mexico have abated, but truck volumes in July partially recovered from a second-quarter decline, according to new data. </div>

Tariff-related surges in US-bound freight from Mexico have abated, but truck volumes in July partially recovered from a second-quarter decline, according to new data.

<div class="phx-topic">Soft freight demand and uncertainty over US tariffs are dampening cross-border truck trade with Mexico, with total northbound truck crossings climbing just 0.3% year over year in July after declining 2.2% on an annualized basis <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/us-shippers-ride-ebb-and-flow-of-mexican-cross-border-freight-demand-6022699">in the second quarter</a>. Data from the US Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) shows that northbound truck traffic at the three largest US border crossings — Laredo and El Paso/Ysleta in Texas, and Otay Mesa in Southern California — fell 3.2% in July from the same month in 2024. Sequentially, each of those border crossings made volume gains in July from June, but only the combined El Paso and Ysleta crossings showed an annualized increase, with northbound crossings rising 1.8% year over year in July and 3.4% in the second quarter. Laredo, the largest US land port of entry, saw northbound traffic rise 1.6% to 253,425 trucks in July from June, but volume was still lower than in March, when US-bound trucks from Mexico surged 14.3% from February after a tariff deadline was extended. On an annualized basis, Laredo’s truck count was down 2.8% in July after falling 3.1% in the second quarter and 1.8% in the first quarter. For the first half of 2025, northbound truck volume through Laredo dropped 2.5% year over year to 1.49 million trucks. The overall trend is linked to generally soft demand in the US and the dissipation of tariff-related freight surges from Mexico as freight pulled forward ahead of changing tariff deadlines fills warehouses and saturates supply chains, logistics executives said. “As much as companies would like to pull forward major inventories, there just isn’t enough slack in supply chains to make any major moves,” Jordan Dewart, president of Redwood Mexico, a division of Redwood Logistics, told the Journal of Commerce. Combined, the eight largest US-Mexico border crossings — which handled 91.4% of US-bound truck traffic from Mexico in July — saw northbound trucks rise 0.8% last month from a year earlier after 2.1% annualized decline in the second quarter, according to BTS data. <h3>‘Panic-pushing’ freight </h3>The data for July and the first half of 2025 reflects a market skewed by the threat of <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/tariff-related-disruption-spreading-as-us-shippers-pause-plans-5989017">high tariffs on US imports</a>. US tariffs on goods from Mexico were announced in February and were supposed to take effect in March but <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/disrupted-cross-border-freight-shipping-braces-for-us-tariffs-5974787">have been postponed several times</a>. The US has imposed a 25% tariff on imports from Mexico not compliant with the US-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement since April. S&amp;P Global Market Intelligence estimates a 14.7% effective US tariff rate on Mexican imports for 2025, falling to 11% next year. On July 31, the White House paused 30% tariffs on Mexico’s non-trade agreement-compliant exports to the US until Oct. 29. That gave US importers sourcing in Mexico a breather but didn’t clear the smoke of uncertainty still blanketing US-Mexico trade. “I’d almost say that uncertainty is the new norm, and people have been panic-pushing inventory downstream,” Frank McGuigan, executive chairman of Transport Capacity Services (TCS), a cross-border logistics provider, told the Journal of Commerce. McGuigan, the former CEO of Transplace and former president and COO of Uber Freight, founded TCS last year. Uber Freight acquired Transplace in 2021. Ben Enriquez, another Uber Freight and Transplace Veteran, was named CEO of TCS on Tuesday. “Many of our customers are in a waiting mode,” Enriquez told the Journal of Commerce. “Freight is still flowing, but everyone is still waiting for the next announcement [from the White House].” “If I’m in procurement, I’m planning for multiple scenarios,” he said. <h3>Bilateral trade rising </h3>Six of the eight largest US-Mexico truck crossings saw northbound truck counts drop between 0.8% (Nogales) and 12.8% (Otay Mesa) from a year earlier in the second quarter. But July saw gains in Brownsville, Nogales, El Paso/Ysleta and Eagle Pass. Eagle Pass, Texas, broke the mold with a 51.7% increase in US-bound trucks in the quarter, followed by a 73.7% annualized gain in July. The number of trucks crossing the border in one direction doesn’t directly reflect the value of US-Mexico trade by truck. Additional BTS data shows the value of that trade, in both directions, rising 6.3% to $318 billion in the first six months of 2025. The value of bilateral cross-border trade by truck rose 6.2% year over year in July to $53.5 billion, according to the BTS. That value soared 14.6% to $55.6 billion in March after the White House extended a tariff deadline — the same period in which truck numbers swelled. Third-party logistics companies, including TCS, Echo Global Logistics, Redwood, and C.H. Robinson Worldwide, have ramped up investment in Mexico and along the US-Mexico border. J.B. Hunt Transport Services is expanding its cross-border intermodal service. “Companies are trying to figure out how to up their production in Mexico,” said Troy Ryley, president of Echo’s Mexico unit. “We have a furniture client who wants to triple their production out of Mexico because most of their freight is from Asia.” Echo on Wednesday said it has received certification as a third-party logistics provider in the Department of Homeland Security’s Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (CTPAT) program. Security is a top priority for cross-border shippers, Echo said. Truckload carrier Landstar System bucked the investment trend by putting its intra-Mexico truckload subsidiary, Landstar Metro, up for sale, as per an Aug. 13 Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Landstar purchased the Mexican trucking company in 2017. The sale won’t affect Landstar’s cross-border US-Mexico operations, the company said. Still, cross-border business with both Mexico and Canada underperformed Landstar’s domestic US business in the second quarter, the company said in its earnings report. Current sluggishness and tariff-related ebbs and spikes won’t dampen long-term prospects for investment and trade with Mexico, TCS’ McGuigan said. Long term, “there will continue to be a shift [in manufacturing] from Asia to this hemisphere,” he said. Contact William B. Cassidy at <a href="mailto://bill.cassidy@spglobal.com">bill.cassidy@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

Soft freight demand and uncertainty over US tariffs are dampening cross-border truck trade with Mexico, with total northbound truck crossings climbing just 0.3% year over year in July after declining 2.2% on an annualized basis in the second quarter . Data from the US Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) shows that northbound truck traffic at the three largest US border crossings — Laredo and El Paso/Ysleta in Texas, and Otay Mesa in Southern California — fell 3.2% in July from the same month in 2024. Sequentially, each of those border crossings made volume gains in July from June, but only the combined El Paso and Ysleta crossings showed an annualized increase, with northbound crossings rising 1.8% year over year in July and 3.4% in the second quarter. Laredo, the largest US land port of entry, saw northbound traffic rise 1.6% to 253,425 trucks in July from June, but volume was still lower than in March, when US-bound trucks from Mexico surged 14.3% from February after a tariff deadline was extended. On an annualized basis, Laredo’s truck count was down 2.8% in July after falling 3.1% in the second quarter and 1.8% in the first quarter. For the first half of 2025, northbound truck volume through Laredo dropped 2.5% year over year to 1.49 million trucks. The overall trend is linked to generally soft demand in the US and the dissipation of tariff-related freight surges from Mexico as freight pulled forward ahead of changing tariff deadlines fills warehouses and saturates supply chains, logistics executives said. “As much as companies would like to pull forward major inventories, there just isn’t enough slack in supply chains to make any major moves,” Jordan Dewart, president of Redwood Mexico, a division of Redwood Logistics, told the Journal of Commerce. Combined, the eight largest US-Mexico border crossings — which handled 91.4% of US-bound truck traffic from Mexico in July — saw northbound trucks rise 0.8% last month from a year earlier after 2.1% annualized decline in the second quarter, according to BTS data. ‘Panic-pushing’ freight The data for July and the first half of 2025 reflects a market skewed by the threat of high tariffs on US imports . US tariffs on goods from Mexico were announced in February and were supposed to take effect in March but have been postponed several times . The US has imposed a 25% tariff on imports from Mexico not compliant with the US-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement since April. S&P Global Market Intelligence estimates a 14.7% effective US tariff rate on Mexican imports for 2025, falling to 11% next year. On July 31, the White House paused 30% tariffs on Mexico’s non-trade agreement-compliant exports to the US until Oct. 29. That gave US importers sourcing in Mexico a breather but didn’t clear the smoke of uncertainty still blanketing US-Mexico trade. “I’d almost say that uncertainty is the new norm, and people have been panic-pushing inventory downstream,” Frank McGuigan, executive chairman of Transport Capacity Services (TCS), a cross-border logistics provider, told the Journal of Commerce. McGuigan, the former CEO of Transplace and former president and COO of Uber Freight, founded TCS last year. Uber Freight acquired Transplace in 2021. Ben Enriquez, another Uber Freight and Transplace Veteran, was named CEO of TCS on Tuesday. “Many of our customers are in a waiting mode,” Enriquez told the Journal of Commerce. “Freight is still flowing, but everyone is still waiting for the next announcement [from the White House].” “If I’m in procurement, I’m planning for multiple scenarios,” he said. Bilateral trade rising Six of the eight largest US-Mexico truck crossings saw northbound truck counts drop between 0.8% (Nogales) and 12.8% (Otay Mesa) from a year earlier in the second quarter. But July saw gains in Brownsville, Nogales, El Paso/Ysleta and Eagle Pass. Eagle Pass, Texas, broke the mold with a 51.7% increase in US-bound trucks in the quarter, followed by a 73.7% annualized gain in July. The number of trucks crossing the border in one direction doesn’t directly reflect the value of US-Mexico trade by truck. Additional BTS data shows the value of that trade, in both directions, rising 6.3% to $318 billion in the first six months of 2025. The value of bilateral cross-border trade by truck rose 6.2% year over year in July to $53.5 billion, according to the BTS. That value soared 14.6% to $55.6 billion in March after the White House extended a tariff deadline — the same period in which truck numbers swelled. Third-party logistics companies, including TCS, Echo Global Logistics, Redwood, and C.H. Robinson Worldwide, have ramped up investment in Mexico and along the US-Mexico border. J.B. Hunt Transport Services is expanding its cross-border intermodal service. “Companies are trying to figure out how to up their production in Mexico,” said Troy Ryley, president of Echo’s Mexico unit. “We have a furniture client who wants to triple their production out of Mexico because most of their freight is from Asia.” Echo on Wednesday said it has received certification as a third-party logistics provider in the Department of Homeland Security’s Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (CTPAT) program. Security is a top priority for cross-border shippers, Echo said. Truckload carrier Landstar System bucked the investment trend by putting its intra-Mexico truckload subsidiary, Landstar Metro, up for sale, as per an Aug. 13 Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Landstar purchased the Mexican trucking company in 2017. The sale won’t affect Landstar’s cross-border US-Mexico operations, the company said. Still, cross-border business with both Mexico and Canada underperformed Landstar’s domestic US business in the second quarter, the company said in its earnings report. Current sluggishness and tariff-related ebbs and spikes won’t dampen long-term prospects for investment and trade with Mexico, TCS’ McGuigan said. Long term, “there will continue to be a shift [in manufacturing] from Asia to this hemisphere,” he said. Contact William B. Cassidy at bill.cassidy@spglobal.com .

Trucking News

Surface

US-Mexico truck crossings rose marginally in July amid sluggish demand

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Truck Parking Club commissioned a report to quantify the truck parking problem facing drivers and what costs trickle down to the rest of the industry. </div>

Truck Parking Club commissioned a report to quantify the truck parking problem facing drivers and what costs trickle down to the rest of the industry.

<div class="phx-topic">Truck Parking Club and veteran trucking analyst Noel Perry estimate that the US truckload industry incurs unexpected costs of more than $100 billion annually due to inefficiencies caused by a lack of adequate parking for drivers. Their report published this week, <a href="https://truckparkingclub.com/research">North American Logistics Basics: Heavy Duty Truck Parking</a>, takes a stab at calculating the scope of the problem, primarily by categorizing the types of stops drivers make and the facilities they use to park and comparing that with the number of commercial parking spots available to drivers. The report found there is a massive shortfall in available spots. Out of approximately 23.4 million spaces at 4.5 million locations, which include truck stops, rest stops, carrier yards, shipper yards, retail stores and restaurants, only approximately 638,000 spaces are publicly available and appropriate for truck parking. That accounts for just 30% of the required capacity. “So, about seven of 10 en route truckers who need a place to rest use informal spaces,” the report said. Truck Parking Club, which operates a marketplace between carriers and facilities looking to monetize available parking spaces, commissioned the study to get a handle on the challenge facing the industry. A lack of guaranteed parking space for drivers causes them to incur costs, the report asserts — from driving in a different direction to secure a space to not fully using their hours of service for fear of not finding a space when their driving time expires — that carriers either have to absorb the costs or pass them along to broker or shipper customers. The report also describes how available time slots, and not actual parking spaces, are the metric most important to drivers, as a slot refers to a window of time that a parking space is available. “When trucks need 14.5 million parking slots every working day, even small inefficiencies add up to big numbers,” the report said. “Frequently, truckers have to venture off route to find parking, especially for rest stops. If a driver generates 15 miles of circuity for each rest stop, the annual cost to the carrier is $13,047.” With the average driver incurring those circuity costs one-third of the time when searching for rest parking, the annual cost to the industry for rest stop circuity is $37.7 billion, the report estimates. <h3>Relevance for shippers </h3>The report delves into details around why specific facilities are better equipped than others to accommodate parking and the different types of stops drivers make, which can vary in length from a few minutes to a few days. The truck parking issue also has direct relevance for shippers, as many operate private fleets or depend on dedicated fleets that serve their needs directly. Truck Parking Club executives told the Journal of Commerce in July that some fleets think strategically about ensuring drivers have parking available to them but most essentially hand that responsibility off to the driver. Truck Parking Club landed an investment in July from CAT Scale, North America’s largest truck scale weighing network, to <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/parking-platform-uses-business-growth-to-target-truckload-fleet-inefficiency-6046754">build out the list of locations in its marketplace</a>. Contact Eric Johnson at <a href="mailto:eric.johnson@spglobal.com">eric.johnson@spglobal.com</a>.</div>

Truck Parking Club and veteran trucking analyst Noel Perry estimate that the US truckload industry incurs unexpected costs of more than $100 billion annually due to inefficiencies caused by a lack of adequate parking for drivers. Their report published this week, North American Logistics Basics: Heavy Duty Truck Parking , takes a stab at calculating the scope of the problem, primarily by categorizing the types of stops drivers make and the facilities they use to park and comparing that with the number of commercial parking spots available to drivers. The report found there is a massive shortfall in available spots. Out of approximately 23.4 million spaces at 4.5 million locations, which include truck stops, rest stops, carrier yards, shipper yards, retail stores and restaurants, only approximately 638,000 spaces are publicly available and appropriate for truck parking. That accounts for just 30% of the required capacity. “So, about seven of 10 en route truckers who need a place to rest use informal spaces,” the report said. Truck Parking Club, which operates a marketplace between carriers and facilities looking to monetize available parking spaces, commissioned the study to get a handle on the challenge facing the industry. A lack of guaranteed parking space for drivers causes them to incur costs, the report asserts — from driving in a different direction to secure a space to not fully using their hours of service for fear of not finding a space when their driving time expires — that carriers either have to absorb the costs or pass them along to broker or shipper customers. The report also describes how available time slots, and not actual parking spaces, are the metric most important to drivers, as a slot refers to a window of time that a parking space is available. “When trucks need 14.5 million parking slots every working day, even small inefficiencies add up to big numbers,” the report said. “Frequently, truckers have to venture off route to find parking, especially for rest stops. If a driver generates 15 miles of circuity for each rest stop, the annual cost to the carrier is $13,047.” With the average driver incurring those circuity costs one-third of the time when searching for rest parking, the annual cost to the industry for rest stop circuity is $37.7 billion, the report estimates. Relevance for shippers The report delves into details around why specific facilities are better equipped than others to accommodate parking and the different types of stops drivers make, which can vary in length from a few minutes to a few days. The truck parking issue also has direct relevance for shippers, as many operate private fleets or depend on dedicated fleets that serve their needs directly. Truck Parking Club executives told the Journal of Commerce in July that some fleets think strategically about ensuring drivers have parking available to them but most essentially hand that responsibility off to the driver. Truck Parking Club landed an investment in July from CAT Scale, North America’s largest truck scale weighing network, to build out the list of locations in its marketplace . Contact Eric Johnson at eric.johnson@spglobal.com .

Truck parking a $100 billion inefficiency issue for US truckload industry: report

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Fiori joined NYK Line (North America) in 1990 as executive vice president with a mandate to grow the newly formed liner agency and position it closer to US-based BCOs.</div>

Fiori joined NYK Line (North America) in 1990 as executive vice president with a mandate to grow the newly formed liner agency and position it closer to US-based BCOs.

<div class="phx-topic">Dodd W. Fiori, a larger-than-life figure in an earlier container shipping era who led the US agency of NYK Line, died Aug. 16. He was 82. At the height of his career in the 1990s, Fiori was executive vice president of Japanese carrier NYK Line (North America) Inc., a job in which he personified the high-profile, influential and charismatic US leader of foreign ocean carriers. It’s a role that has largely disappeared as carrier headquarters have assumed greater control over their far-flung operations. Fiori joined NYK Line (North America) in 1990 as executive vice president after stints at Seatrain and APL. The job came with a mandate to grow the newly formed North American liner agency with a view toward being closer to US beneficial cargo owners (BCOs) and independent from the traditional centralized headquarters, top-down management style typical of ocean carriers at the time. When Fiori arrived at NYK, the carrier, whose liner business was consolidated into Ocean Network Express (ONE) in 2017, along with those of two other major Japanese carriers, was investing in and adding capacity in the trans-Pacific with a focus on capturing rapidly growing manufacturing output in Japan, Taiwan, South Korea and, later, China. It was a heady time, with independent or non-conference carriers such as Evergreen Marine, Hanjin, Hyundai Merchant Marine and Yang Ming rapidly gaining market share at the expense of the traditionally dominant US-flag carriers American President Lines and Sea-Land Service Inc., which were operating in the Asia-North America Eastbound Rate Agreement (ANERA) and its westbound counterpart the TWRA, both of which disbanded in 1999. Fiori later served as president of the freight consolidation and handling unit of Pacer Global Logistics, a unit of Pacer International. “His larger-than-life personality and sense of humor put him in the forefront of US-based executives, never shy to give opinions and criticism but also acknowledging loyalty and good performance,” said Mike Divirgilio, who worked under Fiori at NYK. According to Divirgilio, in the late 90s as the liner industry was under pressure that eventually led to the collapse of the conference system and the 1998 Ocean Shipping Reform Act, Fiori, in order to protect carriers’ anti-trust immunity, was one of the key influencers seeking to project a positive image and the necessity of what the liner industry meant to US foreign trade. This led to the creation of the World Shipping Council in 2000 as the advocate for liner carriers. Contact Peter Tirschwell at <a href="mailto:peter.tirschwell@spglobal.com">peter.tirschwell@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

Dodd W. Fiori, a larger-than-life figure in an earlier container shipping era who led the US agency of NYK Line, died Aug. 16. He was 82. At the height of his career in the 1990s, Fiori was executive vice president of Japanese carrier NYK Line (North America) Inc., a job in which he personified the high-profile, influential and charismatic US leader of foreign ocean carriers. It’s a role that has largely disappeared as carrier headquarters have assumed greater control over their far-flung operations. Fiori joined NYK Line (North America) in 1990 as executive vice president after stints at Seatrain and APL. The job came with a mandate to grow the newly formed North American liner agency with a view toward being closer to US beneficial cargo owners (BCOs) and independent from the traditional centralized headquarters, top-down management style typical of ocean carriers at the time. When Fiori arrived at NYK, the carrier, whose liner business was consolidated into Ocean Network Express (ONE) in 2017, along with those of two other major Japanese carriers, was investing in and adding capacity in the trans-Pacific with a focus on capturing rapidly growing manufacturing output in Japan, Taiwan, South Korea and, later, China. It was a heady time, with independent or non-conference carriers such as Evergreen Marine, Hanjin, Hyundai Merchant Marine and Yang Ming rapidly gaining market share at the expense of the traditionally dominant US-flag carriers American President Lines and Sea-Land Service Inc., which were operating in the Asia-North America Eastbound Rate Agreement (ANERA) and its westbound counterpart the TWRA, both of which disbanded in 1999. Fiori later served as president of the freight consolidation and handling unit of Pacer Global Logistics, a unit of Pacer International. “His larger-than-life personality and sense of humor put him in the forefront of US-based executives, never shy to give opinions and criticism but also acknowledging loyalty and good performance,” said Mike Divirgilio, who worked under Fiori at NYK. According to Divirgilio, in the late 90s as the liner industry was under pressure that eventually led to the collapse of the conference system and the 1998 Ocean Shipping Reform Act, Fiori, in order to protect carriers’ anti-trust immunity, was one of the key influencers seeking to project a positive image and the necessity of what the liner industry meant to US foreign trade. This led to the creation of the World Shipping Council in 2000 as the advocate for liner carriers. Contact Peter Tirschwell at peter.tirschwell@spglobal.com .

Container Shipping News

Container lines

Maritime

Dodd Fiori, ex-NYK North America executive, dead at 82

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">There are measures carriers can take around the edges, but if they really want to take control of supply — and thus price — collectively sidelining some high-caliber tonnage is the standout solution, writes Jeremy Masters. </div>

There are measures carriers can take around the edges, but if they really want to take control of supply — and thus price — collectively sidelining some high-caliber tonnage is the standout solution, writes Jeremy Masters.

<div class="phx-topic">The laws of supply and demand dictate that prices will move in accordance with the relativity of the two. Container carriers can marginally move the dial between what is containerized and what is bulk or breakbulk by offering very attractive (low contribution) rates. An innovative product — for example, Gemini Cooperation’s high reliability network or an express service — might lure some air freight to sea freight. For the most part, however, carriers have very little control over demand. The key price lever that carriers have is slot supply, and current fundamentals point to heavy surplus, even as diversions around southern Africa continue. Are the carriers, then, sprinting to the edge of the cliff with newbuild deliveries, fresh orders, second-hand buying and chartering of what little spare capacity is left, followed by a freefall? Or do they at least have a parachute to slow down their momentum? There are some things they can do to help themselves in trades with overcapacity. <h3>Pushing pause </h3>The most obvious and dramatic way would be to park ships. To be impactful, that would mean collectively taking out multiple strings rather than tinkering with single strings or blank sailings. Understandably, there is a mental block in the big east-west trades when it comes to parking high-capacity, high-value, newer ships. But if the carriers get supply even minimally below demand, the economics are massively in their favor. Let's assume that, in the Asia-to-Europe trade, each consortium (for these purposes, Mediterranean Shipping Co. would be considered a consortium) ties up one string of ultra-large container vessels (ULCVs) that was forecasted to make a minimal contribution to fixed cost because of declining rates. If, because of removing these strings, freight rates were a very conservative $500 per TEU higher on average on the headhaul than they would have been, based on 20,000 TEU per week and 50 weeks, all consortiums would accumulate an additional $500,000 million per annum on all remaining loops. There would be, of course, some incremental lay-up costs, but other costs would remain similar. Parking some $3 billion worth of assets per consortium is easier in theory than in practice, especially for those carriers who need to justify some heavy investments to their boards. If the carriers accept that drastic action is required, however, and there is enough collective action — not orchestrated action, of course, in contravention of competition rules — then the results will be dramatically better, and the ships will be readily available for an upturn. <h3>Beyond parking </h3>Are there less capacity-eating measures that carriers could undertake? The catalyst for a major dive in multi-trade rates would be a return to the Red Sea and Suez Canal for Asia-to-Europe strings, but it's unlikely that we will go overnight from high-risk Red Sea transits to totally safe ones. Given the disruption and risk — for carriers and their clients — of moving all strings back to the Red Sea only to find that further issues arise, it would be entirely justifiable to keep some strings moving around the Cape of Good Hope. Big beneficial cargo owners (BCOs) and forwarders/non-vessel operating common carriers (NVOCCs) have — forcefully — adjusted to the Cape routing. And while there is higher on-the-water inventory cost, the weekly pipeline of arrivals are established. They would naturally lean towards the faster Red Sea routing, but at the same time, would want to strenuously avoid a situation where production lines are stopped or shelves empty because they have put all their eggs in the Red Sea basket that has turned bad again. This may be counterintuitive, given more expensive ship systems around the Cape, but carriers could also implement two-tier pricing to re-enforce this prudence — essentially, a premium for Red Sea risk or a deficit for longer transits, whichever you prefer. Slow-steaming is another area of capacity control where a systematic approach could eat up more capacity. This means not just applying it in over-tonnaged trades, but in all trades. Tonnage can then be moved from trades where there is oversupply to those that are short because of slow-steaming. Finally, there is the scrapping of older vessels. If we look at carriers' desire to hold onto bigger, newer assets and their purchase of relatively old smaller tonnage to run regional and feeder networks, this does not look to be a particularly encouraging area for capacity shedding. There are measures the carriers can take around the edges, but if they really want to take control of supply – and thus price – collectively sidelining some high-caliber tonnage is the standout solution. Contact Jeremy Masters at <a href="mailto:jeremy@shippingmastershk.com">jeremy@shippingmastershk.com</a>. </div>

The laws of supply and demand dictate that prices will move in accordance with the relativity of the two. Container carriers can marginally move the dial between what is containerized and what is bulk or breakbulk by offering very attractive (low contribution) rates. An innovative product — for example, Gemini Cooperation’s high reliability network or an express service — might lure some air freight to sea freight. For the most part, however, carriers have very little control over demand. The key price lever that carriers have is slot supply, and current fundamentals point to heavy surplus, even as diversions around southern Africa continue. Are the carriers, then, sprinting to the edge of the cliff with newbuild deliveries, fresh orders, second-hand buying and chartering of what little spare capacity is left, followed by a freefall? Or do they at least have a parachute to slow down their momentum? There are some things they can do to help themselves in trades with overcapacity. Pushing pause The most obvious and dramatic way would be to park ships. To be impactful, that would mean collectively taking out multiple strings rather than tinkering with single strings or blank sailings. Understandably, there is a mental block in the big east-west trades when it comes to parking high-capacity, high-value, newer ships. But if the carriers get supply even minimally below demand, the economics are massively in their favor. Let's assume that, in the Asia-to-Europe trade, each consortium (for these purposes, Mediterranean Shipping Co. would be considered a consortium) ties up one string of ultra-large container vessels (ULCVs) that was forecasted to make a minimal contribution to fixed cost because of declining rates. If, because of removing these strings, freight rates were a very conservative $500 per TEU higher on average on the headhaul than they would have been, based on 20,000 TEU per week and 50 weeks, all consortiums would accumulate an additional $500,000 million per annum on all remaining loops. There would be, of course, some incremental lay-up costs, but other costs would remain similar. Parking some $3 billion worth of assets per consortium is easier in theory than in practice, especially for those carriers who need to justify some heavy investments to their boards. If the carriers accept that drastic action is required, however, and there is enough collective action — not orchestrated action, of course, in contravention of competition rules — then the results will be dramatically better, and the ships will be readily available for an upturn. Beyond parking Are there less capacity-eating measures that carriers could undertake? The catalyst for a major dive in multi-trade rates would be a return to the Red Sea and Suez Canal for Asia-to-Europe strings, but it's unlikely that we will go overnight from high-risk Red Sea transits to totally safe ones. Given the disruption and risk — for carriers and their clients — of moving all strings back to the Red Sea only to find that further issues arise, it would be entirely justifiable to keep some strings moving around the Cape of Good Hope. Big beneficial cargo owners (BCOs) and forwarders/non-vessel operating common carriers (NVOCCs) have — forcefully — adjusted to the Cape routing. And while there is higher on-the-water inventory cost, the weekly pipeline of arrivals are established. They would naturally lean towards the faster Red Sea routing, but at the same time, would want to strenuously avoid a situation where production lines are stopped or shelves empty because they have put all their eggs in the Red Sea basket that has turned bad again. This may be counterintuitive, given more expensive ship systems around the Cape, but carriers could also implement two-tier pricing to re-enforce this prudence — essentially, a premium for Red Sea risk or a deficit for longer transits, whichever you prefer. Slow-steaming is another area of capacity control where a systematic approach could eat up more capacity. This means not just applying it in over-tonnaged trades, but in all trades. Tonnage can then be moved from trades where there is oversupply to those that are short because of slow-steaming. Finally, there is the scrapping of older vessels. If we look at carriers' desire to hold onto bigger, newer assets and their purchase of relatively old smaller tonnage to run regional and feeder networks, this does not look to be a particularly encouraging area for capacity shedding. There are measures the carriers can take around the edges, but if they really want to take control of supply – and thus price – collectively sidelining some high-caliber tonnage is the standout solution. Contact Jeremy Masters at jeremy@shippingmastershk.com .

Ocean carriers are not helpless when it comes to managing capacity

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">The introduction of containerized shipping to Michigan presents an opportunity to reinforce the domestic maritime industrial base.</div>

The introduction of containerized shipping to Michigan presents an opportunity to reinforce the domestic maritime industrial base.

<div class="phx-topic">For decades, international containerized freight from Michigan and the broader Midwest has been routed through distant US coastal gateways such as New York, Norfolk and Savannah, or Canadian ports such as Halifax and Montreal. Export-side users have included automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), steel and chemical producers and agricultural shippers, while imports have consisted of tier 1 suppliers, machinery and equipment distributors and retail or e-commerce consolidators. These routes were not chosen for efficiency or cost. They were imposed by federal restrictions that have for decades prevented containerized freight from entering or exiting the Great Lakes by vessel. US Customs today does not permit such movements through Michigan because no facility in the state meets the required federal standards for security and processing. That is about to change. In 2026, the Port of Monroe will activate the first SAFE Port Act-compliant international container terminal in the Great Lakes, along with a new roll-on/roll-off (ro/ro) platform that complements existing vessel berths, dual Class I rail access and proximity to interstate highways and Midwest manufacturing. Together, these assets position Monroe as a fully integrated inland gateway for containerized trade and high-value industrial logistics. Conservatively, 1 million to 2 million TEUs of oceangoing cargo are generated annually from the Great Lakes’ industrial core, according to port estimates. This includes high-value shipments from sectors such as automotive, machinery, chemicals and electronics. Rather than projecting future throughput volumes, the Port of Monroe is focused on establishing a lawful and functioning corridor, allowing the market to respond. The goal is to restore balance, provide carriers with a practical entry point and give shippers a logistics option that should have existed decades ago. The terminal at Monroe will be available to operators who recognize the value of establishing service in an underserved but strategically positioned market. The automotive industry, in particular, stands to benefit. With production concentrated in the Midwest and export demand on the rise, direct vessel service from Monroe reduces complexity and supports just-in-time inventory models. Monroe offers a new point of connection between Midwest production and global markets, serving as a strategic outlet for general containerized freight and, more uniquely, for the direct shipment of new vehicles via ro/ro or in containers. Resilience has become a defining priority for today’s logistics networks. The March 2024 collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, a critical ro/ro and vehicle export hub, exposed the system’s fragility. Overnight, cargo flows were disrupted, schedules were delayed and shippers were forced to reroute at significant cost. Inland ports such as the Port of Monroe offer a hedge against that kind of single-point failure. <h3>‘Manageable’ constraints </h3>Do the Great Lakes have constraints? Yes, but they are manageable. The annual three-month winter closure of the St. Lawrence Seaway is predictable and published well in advance, allowing cargo owners and carriers to plan accordingly. Intra-lake shipping continues throughout the winter, particularly with ice-class vessels. Recent climate trends indicate shorter freeze periods and milder conditions, which are gradually increasing intralake shipping capacity during the winter months. Other northern regions facing even harsher winter conditions have demonstrated what is possible. The Baltic Sea offers a relevant example. Despite a smaller economic footprint and more severe ice conditions, Baltic ports remain active year-round through the use of ice-capable vessels and integrated multimodal infrastructure. There is no reason the Great Lakes, now that the regulatory path has been cleared, should not do the same and make a comparable contribution to North American trade resilience. Unlike coastal gateways, which face sudden disruptions from hurricanes, labor action and infrastructure failures, the risks on the Great Lakes are stable and foreseeable. That reliability offers a competitive advantage for shippers navigating global volatility. But infrastructure alone is not enough. What is required is a shift in mindset. Federal freight policy must treat the Great Lakes as a fully integrated corridor. Carriers need to revisit assumptions about vessel size and routing patterns. Shippers will now be able to prioritize proximity, reliability and carbon performance rather than adhering to legacy paths shaped by outdated restrictions. The introduction of containerized shipping to Michigan presents an opportunity to reinforce the domestic maritime industrial base. Supporting inland container movement by vessel can drive demand for US-built ships, sustain skilled shipyard jobs, and expand the national maritime workforce. This is not just a logistics upgrade. It is a long-term investment in national capacity, employment, and competitiveness. This is a practical opportunity to enhance the national freight system using inland infrastructure that is efficient, cost-effective and underutilized. Monroe stands ready to serve shippers, carriers and policymakers seeking flexible, durable solutions. The Great Lakes have always had the potential to support containerized trade. Now that the path is open, the Port of Monroe is prepared to deliver. Capt. Paul C. LaMarre III is also director of the Port of Monroe in Michigan. Contact him at <a href="mailto:plamarre@portofmonroe.com">plamarre@portofmonroe.com</a>. </div>

For decades, international containerized freight from Michigan and the broader Midwest has been routed through distant US coastal gateways such as New York, Norfolk and Savannah, or Canadian ports such as Halifax and Montreal. Export-side users have included automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), steel and chemical producers and agricultural shippers, while imports have consisted of tier 1 suppliers, machinery and equipment distributors and retail or e-commerce consolidators. These routes were not chosen for efficiency or cost. They were imposed by federal restrictions that have for decades prevented containerized freight from entering or exiting the Great Lakes by vessel. US Customs today does not permit such movements through Michigan because no facility in the state meets the required federal standards for security and processing. That is about to change. In 2026, the Port of Monroe will activate the first SAFE Port Act-compliant international container terminal in the Great Lakes, along with a new roll-on/roll-off (ro/ro) platform that complements existing vessel berths, dual Class I rail access and proximity to interstate highways and Midwest manufacturing. Together, these assets position Monroe as a fully integrated inland gateway for containerized trade and high-value industrial logistics. Conservatively, 1 million to 2 million TEUs of oceangoing cargo are generated annually from the Great Lakes’ industrial core, according to port estimates. This includes high-value shipments from sectors such as automotive, machinery, chemicals and electronics. Rather than projecting future throughput volumes, the Port of Monroe is focused on establishing a lawful and functioning corridor, allowing the market to respond. The goal is to restore balance, provide carriers with a practical entry point and give shippers a logistics option that should have existed decades ago. The terminal at Monroe will be available to operators who recognize the value of establishing service in an underserved but strategically positioned market. The automotive industry, in particular, stands to benefit. With production concentrated in the Midwest and export demand on the rise, direct vessel service from Monroe reduces complexity and supports just-in-time inventory models. Monroe offers a new point of connection between Midwest production and global markets, serving as a strategic outlet for general containerized freight and, more uniquely, for the direct shipment of new vehicles via ro/ro or in containers. Resilience has become a defining priority for today’s logistics networks. The March 2024 collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, a critical ro/ro and vehicle export hub, exposed the system’s fragility. Overnight, cargo flows were disrupted, schedules were delayed and shippers were forced to reroute at significant cost. Inland ports such as the Port of Monroe offer a hedge against that kind of single-point failure. ‘Manageable’ constraints Do the Great Lakes have constraints? Yes, but they are manageable. The annual three-month winter closure of the St. Lawrence Seaway is predictable and published well in advance, allowing cargo owners and carriers to plan accordingly. Intra-lake shipping continues throughout the winter, particularly with ice-class vessels. Recent climate trends indicate shorter freeze periods and milder conditions, which are gradually increasing intralake shipping capacity during the winter months. Other northern regions facing even harsher winter conditions have demonstrated what is possible. The Baltic Sea offers a relevant example. Despite a smaller economic footprint and more severe ice conditions, Baltic ports remain active year-round through the use of ice-capable vessels and integrated multimodal infrastructure. There is no reason the Great Lakes, now that the regulatory path has been cleared, should not do the same and make a comparable contribution to North American trade resilience. Unlike coastal gateways, which face sudden disruptions from hurricanes, labor action and infrastructure failures, the risks on the Great Lakes are stable and foreseeable. That reliability offers a competitive advantage for shippers navigating global volatility. But infrastructure alone is not enough. What is required is a shift in mindset. Federal freight policy must treat the Great Lakes as a fully integrated corridor. Carriers need to revisit assumptions about vessel size and routing patterns. Shippers will now be able to prioritize proximity, reliability and carbon performance rather than adhering to legacy paths shaped by outdated restrictions. The introduction of containerized shipping to Michigan presents an opportunity to reinforce the domestic maritime industrial base. Supporting inland container movement by vessel can drive demand for US-built ships, sustain skilled shipyard jobs, and expand the national maritime workforce. This is not just a logistics upgrade. It is a long-term investment in national capacity, employment, and competitiveness. This is a practical opportunity to enhance the national freight system using inland infrastructure that is efficient, cost-effective and underutilized. Monroe stands ready to serve shippers, carriers and policymakers seeking flexible, durable solutions. The Great Lakes have always had the potential to support containerized trade. Now that the path is open, the Port of Monroe is prepared to deliver. Capt. Paul C. LaMarre III is also director of the Port of Monroe in Michigan. Contact him at plamarre@portofmonroe.com .

Supply chain

North American ports

Marine terminals

Port infrastructure

Michigan inland port offers new option for Great Lakes containerized freight

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 {valueY.formatNumber('#.0a')}
 Y-o-Y: {Annual_teus_change.formatNumber("##.#'%'")}

PIERS containerized US import and export volumes is the transportation industry’s largest US waterborne trade data set, covering all US ports. Every day, the PIERS team processes an average of about 60,000 bills of lading filed with US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and integrates this transactional trade data with standardized company details. PIERS contains US trade data going back to 2003. [PIERS](https://www.spglobal.com/marketintelligence/en/mi/products/piers.html)

US YTD container imports (PIERS)

PIERS US total imports volume last 10 years (YTD) (year-over-year change) Gateway

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Just over 7,000 TEUs of capacity is scheduled to be withdrawn through blank sailings in September even as carriers increase their deployed capacity by 2%.</div>

Just over 7,000 TEUs of capacity is scheduled to be withdrawn through blank sailings in September even as carriers increase their deployed capacity by 2%.

<div class="phx-topic">Rates on the trans-Atlantic westbound ocean trade — a route dominated by Gemini Cooperation and Mediterranean Shipping Co. — have been stuck at loss-making levels for weeks, yet carriers are showing little appetite for blank sailings to raise prices. Spot rates assessed by Platts, a sister company of the Journal of Commerce, are at $1,600 per FEU this week, far below the breakeven level ocean carriers say is near $2,100/FEU. Rates have lost only $100 since mid-May. While carriers on the North Europe-US East Coast route are scheduled to increase deployed capacity to 376,132 TEUs in September, up 2% compared with August, just 7,349 TEUs in capacity will be withdrawn via blank sailings, according to data from rate benchmarking platform Xeneta. However, Destine Ozuygur, product marketing manager for Xeneta, cautioned about reading too much into the low blank sailings levels. “Blanks used to be a standard measure against persistent demand deficit, but it’s also become a widely used tool for ad-hoc reliability management,” Ozuygur said. “Carriers are far more comfortable admitting them into schedules in the short term, and repealing them, than they used to be. “Regardless of the tariff or rate environment, we would naturally expect at least a few more blanks to trickle in over the coming weeks,” she added. <div class="wrapper-narrow"><dynamic-object type="jocchartid" resource-id="004f46ea-f9b5-4bd8-96be-a0146f19f1f0"></dynamic-object></div>The restructured ocean alliances have adjusted market share on the trans-Atlantic, leaving the trade lane dominated by MSC and Gemini partners Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd. Data from Alphaliner shows that after splitting from its 2M partner Maersk, MSC increased its Atlantic market share from 41.1% to 41.8% over the 12 months from July 2024 to July 2025. MSC now deploys a fleet of more than 500,000 TEUs between Europe and North America. Hapag-Lloyd remains the second-largest carrier in the trade, but its market share of 14.9% is significantly lower than the 19.6% share it held in July 2024. Hapag-Lloyd’s Gemini-partner Maersk increased its market share from 8.9% in July last year to 14.4% this year. “With the absence of both Ocean Alliance and Premier Alliance on this trade, reliability is largely left to Gemini, MSC and the non-alliances services,” said Ozuygur. Despite a lack of wider carrier representation, the present incumbents are not exactly setting reliability records. North Europe to US East Coast schedule reliability in July was 38%, a dismal level by any measure, although still a significant improvement on January’s 24%, Xeneta data showed. <div class="wrapper-narrow"><dynamic-object type="jocchartid" resource-id="face521b-d4c4-40cd-b809-f10a6707a371"></dynamic-object></div>Some of the blame can be attributed to ongoing European port congestion that slows vessel turnarounds, which, on the relatively short transits across the Atlantic, “adds another layer of constraint and reduces effective service frequency,” C.H. Robinson noted in a recent market update. <h3>Addressing a new tariff landscape </h3>The schedule reliability and capacity deployed through the rest of the year will likely depend on how demand shapes up in the new trans-Atlantic tariff landscape. In a July 27 deal, a 15% tariff was applied to most EU goods exported to the US instead of the 30% tariff President Donald Trump had previously threatened, <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/trans-atlantic-trade-dispute-averted-as-us-eu-reach-weekend-deal-6051144">averting a destructive trade war</a>. The deal included provisions for zero tariffs on certain US exports to the EU and left the door open for negotiations on further market access. Frontloading in June as US-EU trade tensions escalated saw North Europe to US East Coast volume grow 14.2% year over year to almost 200,000 TEUs, according to PIERS, a sister product of the Journal of Commerce within S&amp;P Global. It was short-lived, however, with July volume sliding to 198,750 TEUs. <div class="wrapper-narrow"><dynamic-object type="jocchartid" resource-id="808b5499-12f0-4682-8df3-9427d1d05738"></dynamic-object></div>Most observers believe the 15% tariff, while significantly higher than the pre-deal tariffs of about 4.8%, is not high enough to create a material change in shipper behavior on the trans-Atlantic. But Emily Stausbøll, senior analyst at Xeneta, said while 15% was more manageable than the threatened 30%, it was expected to keep demand muted considering frontloading in the second quarter has left fewer goods needing to be moved over the rest of the year. “We are still in a waiting period before we see the real effects of tariffs on prices and US consumer demand, with frontloading and retailers absorbing some of these extra costs,” Stausbøll told the Journal of Commerce. “But at some point, this will be passed on and should lower demand on this trade over the longer term.” The “wait-and-see” approach was also highlighted by an executive from one of the ocean carriers on the trans-Atlantic who said the market did not seem to have been heavily affected by the tariffs. “There have been clients taking a wait-and-see approach and others adding some shipments, but that is not having a major impact on the trade route, partly due to tariffs not being high enough to affect trade flows,” the carrier executive said, adding that the trade lane was expected to “settle without much change.” Xeneta’s Ozuygur agreed that shippers were taking a wait-and-see approach, noting that after the trade agreement, the trans-Atlantic was on a more stable and positive footing than during the volatile buildup to the deal. Contact Greg Knowler at <a href="mailto:greg.knowler@spglobal.com">greg.knowler@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

Rates on the trans-Atlantic westbound ocean trade — a route dominated by Gemini Cooperation and Mediterranean Shipping Co. — have been stuck at loss-making levels for weeks, yet carriers are showing little appetite for blank sailings to raise prices. Spot rates assessed by Platts, a sister company of the Journal of Commerce, are at $1,600 per FEU this week, far below the breakeven level ocean carriers say is near $2,100/FEU. Rates have lost only $100 since mid-May. While carriers on the North Europe-US East Coast route are scheduled to increase deployed capacity to 376,132 TEUs in September, up 2% compared with August, just 7,349 TEUs in capacity will be withdrawn via blank sailings, according to data from rate benchmarking platform Xeneta. However, Destine Ozuygur, product marketing manager for Xeneta, cautioned about reading too much into the low blank sailings levels. “Blanks used to be a standard measure against persistent demand deficit, but it’s also become a widely used tool for ad-hoc reliability management,” Ozuygur said. “Carriers are far more comfortable admitting them into schedules in the short term, and repealing them, than they used to be. “Regardless of the tariff or rate environment, we would naturally expect at least a few more blanks to trickle in over the coming weeks,” she added. The restructured ocean alliances have adjusted market share on the trans-Atlantic, leaving the trade lane dominated by MSC and Gemini partners Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd. Data from Alphaliner shows that after splitting from its 2M partner Maersk, MSC increased its Atlantic market share from 41.1% to 41.8% over the 12 months from July 2024 to July 2025. MSC now deploys a fleet of more than 500,000 TEUs between Europe and North America. Hapag-Lloyd remains the second-largest carrier in the trade, but its market share of 14.9% is significantly lower than the 19.6% share it held in July 2024. Hapag-Lloyd’s Gemini-partner Maersk increased its market share from 8.9% in July last year to 14.4% this year. “With the absence of both Ocean Alliance and Premier Alliance on this trade, reliability is largely left to Gemini, MSC and the non-alliances services,” said Ozuygur. Despite a lack of wider carrier representation, the present incumbents are not exactly setting reliability records. North Europe to US East Coast schedule reliability in July was 38%, a dismal level by any measure, although still a significant improvement on January’s 24%, Xeneta data showed. Some of the blame can be attributed to ongoing European port congestion that slows vessel turnarounds, which, on the relatively short transits across the Atlantic, “adds another layer of constraint and reduces effective service frequency,” C.H. Robinson noted in a recent market update. Addressing a new tariff landscape The schedule reliability and capacity deployed through the rest of the year will likely depend on how demand shapes up in the new trans-Atlantic tariff landscape. In a July 27 deal, a 15% tariff was applied to most EU goods exported to the US instead of the 30% tariff President Donald Trump had previously threatened, averting a destructive trade war . The deal included provisions for zero tariffs on certain US exports to the EU and left the door open for negotiations on further market access. Frontloading in June as US-EU trade tensions escalated saw North Europe to US East Coast volume grow 14.2% year over year to almost 200,000 TEUs, according to PIERS, a sister product of the Journal of Commerce within S&P Global. It was short-lived, however, with July volume sliding to 198,750 TEUs. Most observers believe the 15% tariff, while significantly higher than the pre-deal tariffs of about 4.8%, is not high enough to create a material change in shipper behavior on the trans-Atlantic. But Emily Stausbøll, senior analyst at Xeneta, said while 15% was more manageable than the threatened 30%, it was expected to keep demand muted considering frontloading in the second quarter has left fewer goods needing to be moved over the rest of the year. “We are still in a waiting period before we see the real effects of tariffs on prices and US consumer demand, with frontloading and retailers absorbing some of these extra costs,” Stausbøll told the Journal of Commerce. “But at some point, this will be passed on and should lower demand on this trade over the longer term.” The “wait-and-see” approach was also highlighted by an executive from one of the ocean carriers on the trans-Atlantic who said the market did not seem to have been heavily affected by the tariffs. “There have been clients taking a wait-and-see approach and others adding some shipments, but that is not having a major impact on the trade route, partly due to tariffs not being high enough to affect trade flows,” the carrier executive said, adding that the trade lane was expected to “settle without much change.” Xeneta’s Ozuygur agreed that shippers were taking a wait-and-see approach, noting that after the trade agreement, the trans-Atlantic was on a more stable and positive footing than during the volatile buildup to the deal. Contact Greg Knowler at greg.knowler@spglobal.com .

Trans-Atlantic

Trans-Atlantic carriers limit capacity cuts despite ongoing rate weakness

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">The announcement of Leatherman’s expansion comes as MSC looks to bring in more trans-Atlantic services to call the terminal.</div>

The announcement of Leatherman’s expansion comes as MSC looks to bring in more trans-Atlantic services to call the terminal.

<div class="phx-topic">The Port of Charleston plans to add a second big ship berth to its Hugh K. Leatherman marine terminal, with the terminal’s main customer, Mediterranean Shipping Co., readying to bring new trans-Atlantic capacity to the port. The South Carolina State Ports Authority (SC Ports) said in a statement this week it began installing the test piles to ensure the integrity of a new 1,600-foot berth at Leatherman. The second berth, outfitted with five cranes, will allow the terminal to handle two super-post-Panamax vessels at once. SC Ports said it expects to complete the second berth by late 2026, bringing Leatherman’s capacity to about 1.6 million TEUs per year. The port’s board of directors approved an $88.5 million contract with Orion Marine Group for the preliminary work. Plans for a third berth at Leatherman, which would bring it to full capacity of 2.4 million TEUs, have yet to go forward. SC Ports said the cost of both the second and third berths could reach a total of $1.5 billion. In addition to the second berth, Leatherman will also be able to offer near-dock rail service with the opening of the Navy Base Intermodal Facility. SC Ports said it is in the process of commissioning six rail-mounted gantry cranes for that facility, which is expected to open by early 2026. <h3>MSC adds services </h3>Leatherman’s sole berth has seen usage rise quickly a little over a year after SC Ports and the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) settled <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/sc-ports-strikes-deal-with-ila-to-fully-open-leatherman-marine-terminal-5192280">a legal dispute that kept ocean carriers away from the terminal</a>. Leatherman handled 45 vessels in the second quarter, according to data from Sea-web, a sister company of the Journal of Commerce within S&amp;P Global. The second-quarter vessel count was up from 33 ships in the first quarter and 23 in the fourth quarter of 2024. Zim Shipping became <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/zim-becomes-first-carrier-to-commit-to-reopened-leatherman-terminal-5735909">the first carrier to provide weekly service into Leatherman</a> following its reopening, but it has since moved the service to Charleston’s other marine terminal. Now, Leatherman primarily handles MSC services from the Indian subcontinent and the Mediterranean. SC Ports said MSC will bring two additional trans-Atlantic services to Leatherman starting in September. Those include the “Albatros” service from Baltic ports and London’s Felixstowe, and the “Dragon” service between the Mediterranean and the US East Coast. Thanks to the presence of automakers and other high-value manufacturing in South Carolina, Charleston sees relatively steady freight volumes coming from Europe. Since the start of 2024, containerized imports from Europe into Charleston have averaged 89,125 TEUs per quarter, according to PIERS, a sister company of the Journal of Commerce within S&amp;P Global. Hapag-Lloyd carries the majority of the trans-Atlantic freight into Charleston, with its average quarterly volume near 29,590 TEUs, PIERS data shows. MSC is second with a quarterly average of 21,939 TEUs. Contact Michael Angell at <a href="mailto:michael.angell@spglobal.com">michael.angell@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

The Port of Charleston plans to add a second big ship berth to its Hugh K. Leatherman marine terminal, with the terminal’s main customer, Mediterranean Shipping Co., readying to bring new trans-Atlantic capacity to the port. The South Carolina State Ports Authority (SC Ports) said in a statement this week it began installing the test piles to ensure the integrity of a new 1,600-foot berth at Leatherman. The second berth, outfitted with five cranes, will allow the terminal to handle two super-post-Panamax vessels at once. SC Ports said it expects to complete the second berth by late 2026, bringing Leatherman’s capacity to about 1.6 million TEUs per year. The port’s board of directors approved an $88.5 million contract with Orion Marine Group for the preliminary work. Plans for a third berth at Leatherman, which would bring it to full capacity of 2.4 million TEUs, have yet to go forward. SC Ports said the cost of both the second and third berths could reach a total of $1.5 billion. In addition to the second berth, Leatherman will also be able to offer near-dock rail service with the opening of the Navy Base Intermodal Facility. SC Ports said it is in the process of commissioning six rail-mounted gantry cranes for that facility, which is expected to open by early 2026. MSC adds services Leatherman’s sole berth has seen usage rise quickly a little over a year after SC Ports and the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) settled a legal dispute that kept ocean carriers away from the terminal . Leatherman handled 45 vessels in the second quarter, according to data from Sea-web, a sister company of the Journal of Commerce within S&P Global. The second-quarter vessel count was up from 33 ships in the first quarter and 23 in the fourth quarter of 2024. Zim Shipping became the first carrier to provide weekly service into Leatherman following its reopening, but it has since moved the service to Charleston’s other marine terminal. Now, Leatherman primarily handles MSC services from the Indian subcontinent and the Mediterranean. SC Ports said MSC will bring two additional trans-Atlantic services to Leatherman starting in September. Those include the “Albatros” service from Baltic ports and London’s Felixstowe, and the “Dragon” service between the Mediterranean and the US East Coast. Thanks to the presence of automakers and other high-value manufacturing in South Carolina, Charleston sees relatively steady freight volumes coming from Europe. Since the start of 2024, containerized imports from Europe into Charleston have averaged 89,125 TEUs per quarter, according to PIERS, a sister company of the Journal of Commerce within S&P Global. Hapag-Lloyd carries the majority of the trans-Atlantic freight into Charleston, with its average quarterly volume near 29,590 TEUs, PIERS data shows. MSC is second with a quarterly average of 21,939 TEUs. Contact Michael Angell at michael.angell@spglobal.com .

Port News

Charleston’s Leatherman terminal eyes second berth by late 2026

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">The difficulties have led to transshipment delays and rolled cargo, which have caused increased yard density at some ports that has exacerbated delays, shipping sources say. </div>

The difficulties have led to transshipment delays and rolled cargo, which have caused increased yard density at some ports that has exacerbated delays, shipping sources say.

<div class="phx-topic">Tight feeder capacity between secondary ports in Asia and the region’s main transshipment hubs are hitting both exports from Asia and imports to the region from the US and Europe, forwarders and carriers say. Shippers are having to wait up to a month to secure space on some carriers serving Thailand and Indonesia, according to forwarders who spoke with the Journal of Commerce. The difficulties have led to transshipment delays and rolled cargo, which have caused increased yard density at some ports that has exacerbated delays, shipping sources say. The problems have been compounded by bad weather, including typhoons in China, carriers said. “For Thailand, cargo bookings must be made at least three to four weeks ahead,” a spokesperson for FIBS Logistics in Singapore said. “Most bookings for Indonesian cargo are only being accepted with a minimum lead time of two to three weeks.” The spokesperson said FIBS Logistics has been impacted by the delays on its own customer shipments, with even short-haul services affected. “We need to book two to three weeks in advance for cargo from Batam, Indonesia, for connections to the mother vessel in Singapore,” the source said. "These delays are largely due to feeder capacity shortages, which are impacting both exports and imports across Asia and resulting in cargo rolling.” Forwarder Rhenus Logistics said the feeder capacity shortages began in June and have been the result of a tariff-related cargo surge from Southeast Asia. “We have been experiencing some challenges with feeder capacity out of Southeast Asia over the past three months,” Scott Dudley, Rhenus’ head of ocean freight for North America, told the Journal of Commerce. “These challenges are mainly tied to carriers and alliances operating transshipment services out of Southeast Asia cargo origins.” <h3>Carriers being particular on US export choices </h3>The disruption at transshipment hubs, including those in Asia, has led carriers to pick and choose which export cargo from the US to accept. “If it’s a direct lane, they have a very high appetite,” said M. Can Fidan, executive vice president of business development at New York-based forwarder MTS Logistics. “If it’s a transshipment or if it is off their hub-and-spoke lanes, then they are not. “So, it’s a very interesting environment where carriers are actually looking for cargo on the export, but only looking for cargo that fits their shipping model, rather than a general area,” he added. A Hong Kong-based freight forwarder said it is fortunate the disruption largely comes after the cargo rush caused by shippers consigning shipments early to beat the Trump administration’s mid-August tariff deadline. “Transshipping cargo to and from second-tier markets like Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam is a mess right now, with cargo rolling and delays at the key hub ports,” the source said. “But it would be significantly worse if these countries hadn’t cut tariff deals with the US at the end of July.” <h3>Multiple-day delays </h3>Highlighting congestion and cargo delays at key Asian gateways, CMA CGM, Hapag-Lloyd and Kuehne + Nagel all reported disrupted operations at Singapore, Shanghai, Ningbo, Qingdao and Malaysia’s Port Klang in recent customer advisories. CMA CGM said it had up to 60,000 TEUs of transshipment cargo waiting at Singapore last week. “Overall yard density [in Singapore] is high — around 85% to 90% that is impacting overall operations productivity,” the carrier said in a trans-Pacific weekly update. CMA CGM said Singapore terminal operator PSA is rejecting port-in/port-out (PIPO) boxes and vessels that are discharging more containers than loading containers until yard density drops back to a normal level. Heavy berth congestion meant there was at least a two-day delay at all of PSA’s Singapore terminals, both CMA CGM and Kuehne + Nagel said. Shanghai is also heavily congested with a two- to three-day delay at the city center Waigaiqiao terminals and up to a four-day wait at the deepwater Yangshan terminals due to continuing disruption caused by the port’s closure during Typhoon Co-May at the end of July, carriers said. The typhoon was one of three tropical storms to disrupt port operations in eastern and southern China since mid-July. Hapag-Lloyd said vessels are having to wait up to three days to berth at Ningbo due to the bunching of vessels and up to two days at Qingdao. Contact Keith Wallis at <a href="mailto:keithwallis@hotmail.com">keithwallis@hotmail.com</a>. </div>

Tight feeder capacity between secondary ports in Asia and the region’s main transshipment hubs are hitting both exports from Asia and imports to the region from the US and Europe, forwarders and carriers say. Shippers are having to wait up to a month to secure space on some carriers serving Thailand and Indonesia, according to forwarders who spoke with the Journal of Commerce. The difficulties have led to transshipment delays and rolled cargo, which have caused increased yard density at some ports that has exacerbated delays, shipping sources say. The problems have been compounded by bad weather, including typhoons in China, carriers said. “For Thailand, cargo bookings must be made at least three to four weeks ahead,” a spokesperson for FIBS Logistics in Singapore said. “Most bookings for Indonesian cargo are only being accepted with a minimum lead time of two to three weeks.” The spokesperson said FIBS Logistics has been impacted by the delays on its own customer shipments, with even short-haul services affected. “We need to book two to three weeks in advance for cargo from Batam, Indonesia, for connections to the mother vessel in Singapore,” the source said. "These delays are largely due to feeder capacity shortages, which are impacting both exports and imports across Asia and resulting in cargo rolling.” Forwarder Rhenus Logistics said the feeder capacity shortages began in June and have been the result of a tariff-related cargo surge from Southeast Asia. “We have been experiencing some challenges with feeder capacity out of Southeast Asia over the past three months,” Scott Dudley, Rhenus’ head of ocean freight for North America, told the Journal of Commerce. “These challenges are mainly tied to carriers and alliances operating transshipment services out of Southeast Asia cargo origins.” Carriers being particular on US export choices The disruption at transshipment hubs, including those in Asia, has led carriers to pick and choose which export cargo from the US to accept. “If it’s a direct lane, they have a very high appetite,” said M. Can Fidan, executive vice president of business development at New York-based forwarder MTS Logistics. “If it’s a transshipment or if it is off their hub-and-spoke lanes, then they are not. “So, it’s a very interesting environment where carriers are actually looking for cargo on the export, but only looking for cargo that fits their shipping model, rather than a general area,” he added. A Hong Kong-based freight forwarder said it is fortunate the disruption largely comes after the cargo rush caused by shippers consigning shipments early to beat the Trump administration’s mid-August tariff deadline. “Transshipping cargo to and from second-tier markets like Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam is a mess right now, with cargo rolling and delays at the key hub ports,” the source said. “But it would be significantly worse if these countries hadn’t cut tariff deals with the US at the end of July.” Multiple-day delays Highlighting congestion and cargo delays at key Asian gateways, CMA CGM, Hapag-Lloyd and Kuehne + Nagel all reported disrupted operations at Singapore, Shanghai, Ningbo, Qingdao and Malaysia’s Port Klang in recent customer advisories. CMA CGM said it had up to 60,000 TEUs of transshipment cargo waiting at Singapore last week. “Overall yard density [in Singapore] is high — around 85% to 90% that is impacting overall operations productivity,” the carrier said in a trans-Pacific weekly update. CMA CGM said Singapore terminal operator PSA is rejecting port-in/port-out (PIPO) boxes and vessels that are discharging more containers than loading containers until yard density drops back to a normal level. Heavy berth congestion meant there was at least a two-day delay at all of PSA’s Singapore terminals, both CMA CGM and Kuehne + Nagel said. Shanghai is also heavily congested with a two- to three-day delay at the city center Waigaiqiao terminals and up to a four-day wait at the deepwater Yangshan terminals due to continuing disruption caused by the port’s closure during Typhoon Co-May at the end of July, carriers said. The typhoon was one of three tropical storms to disrupt port operations in eastern and southern China since mid-July. Hapag-Lloyd said vessels are having to wait up to three days to berth at Ningbo due to the bunching of vessels and up to two days at Qingdao. Contact Keith Wallis at keithwallis@hotmail.com .

Asia-Europe

Trans-Pacific

Tight Asia feeder capacity causing disruption for export, import shippers

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At SSA Marine Mexico, we firmly believe that business development must go hand in hand with social and environmental well-being. Our vision is not solely focused on operating efficiently, but also on creating a meaningful and positive impact in the communities where we are present. Since 1995, we have reaffirmed this commitment through tangible actions that reflect our core values of responsibility, solidarity, and sustainability. <span class="joc_admin__inline-image joc_admin__inline-image-aspect-ratio-3_2 joc_admin__inline-image-position-left joc_admin__inline-image-size-medium" data-figure-size="medium" data-figure-position="left" data-figure-aspect-ratio="3:2"><img src="/content-assets/1752584535914_Photo%201.jpg" alt="" class="joc_admin__inline-image-inherit"> A Year of Major Achievements Over the past year, we allocated more than $107,000 USD to the implementation of 60 social and environmental projects, positively impacting over 7,800 people across various regions of Mexico. Each initiative was designed with a holistic approach, addressing key areas that contribute to long-term community development. Education: Laying the Foundation for the Future Education is one of the most powerful tools to promote social mobility and equitable development. At SSA Marine Mexico, we support academic initiatives that inspire and empower the next generation of leaders. One of our most impactful partnerships was with the University of Colima, where we sponsored the “Reto Camp” program. This initiative encourages university students to develop innovative solutions in the fields of sustainability, logistics, and port operations, offering them mentorship, tools, and real-world challenges to solve. In addition, we donated microscopes, school supplies, and educational materials to institutions in underserved communities, helping to improve the learning environment and provide students with the resources they need to succeed. Health and Sports: Promoting Wellness We believe that healthy communities are strong communities. We have supported several local sporting events and provided direct assistance to talented athletes, enabling them to pursue their passions and represent their regions with pride. Beyond sports, we also strengthened our collaboration with critical emergency response organizations such as the Mexican Red Cross and Civil Protection. Our contributions helped enhance their readiness and capabilities in times of crisis, ensuring better outcomes for those affected by emergencies. Supporting Vulnerable Groups: Reaching Those Who Need It Most A core part of our social responsibility efforts is directed toward supporting vulnerable populations. We have contributed to a range of initiatives focused on children, migrants, and at-risk families. These efforts included donations to orphanages and shelters, as well as support for the National Institute of Migration and grassroots organizations dedicated to protecting and empowering people facing adversity. By standing with those in need, we reinforce our commitment to inclusion and social justice, values that are central to our identity as a responsible company. <span class="joc_admin__inline-image joc_admin__inline-image-aspect-ratio-3_2 joc_admin__inline-image-position-left joc_admin__inline-image-size-medium" data-figure-size="medium" data-figure-position="left" data-figure-aspect-ratio="3:2"><img src="/content-assets/1752584944645_Photo%202.png" alt="" class="joc_admin__inline-image-inherit">Culture: Strengthening Community Identity Cultural identity is a key element in building resilient and united communities. At SSA Marine Mexico, we actively participate in the organization and sponsorship of cultural events that celebrate local traditions and foster civic pride. Working alongside port authorities and municipal governments, we helped bring music, art, and heritage to the forefront, creating spaces for community engagement and intercultural dialogue. Environment: Investing in the Planet Our commitment to sustainability goes beyond operations—it’s a philosophy that drives every decision we make. We have partnered with environmental institutions to carry out reforestation campaigns, beach cleanups, and conservation efforts. In collaboration with the Institute for the Environment, we supported initiatives aimed at decarbonization, biodiversity protection, and environmental education. By involving our employees and local volunteers in these actions, we also foster a culture of environmental stewardship throughout our organization and our surrounding communities. Innovation for a Sustainable Future Sustainability is not just about doing good—it’s also about doing things better. In 2024, we invested $22 million USD in the acquisition of 11 state-of-the-art E-RTG cranes. These electric rubber-tired gantry cranes represent a significant technological advancement in port equipment. Seven of them are already operating on clean electric energy, resulting in a reduction of nearly 4,000 tons of CO₂ emissions and improving operational efficiency by 7%. The remaining four cranes are fully compatible with future electrification, underscoring our long-term strategy to modernize our operations in an environmentally responsible way. This investment is part of a broader innovation roadmap that includes digitalization, automation, and cleaner energy sources—all designed to ensure that our ports continue to grow without compromising the health of our planet. Building a Better Tomorrow, Together At SSA Marine Mexico, we understand that sustainability is a shared and ongoing responsibility. True impact requires collaboration across sectors, long-term vision, and unwavering commitment. That is why we continue to work hand-in-hand with local authorities, non-profit organizations, universities, and our own employees to create solutions that are both scalable and sustainable. Our journey is far from over. In the years ahead, we will continue to deepen our community engagement, explore cleaner technologies, and strengthen the social fabric of the regions where we operate. Each initiative, no matter the size, is a step toward building a future where business success goes hand-in-hand with human and environmental prosperity. We are proud of what we have achieved in 2024, but we are even more excited about what lies ahead. SSA Marine Mexico — Moving the World, Caring for People and Planet. LINK: https://www.ssamarine.mx/

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<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">A sense of uncertainty — if not alarm — about future demand and tariff levels on China has slowed, and even paralyzed, some orders from small and medium-sized importers, four veteran forwarders told the Journal of Commerce.</div>

A sense of uncertainty — if not alarm — about future demand and tariff levels on China has slowed, and even paralyzed, some orders from small and medium-sized importers, four veteran forwarders told the Journal of Commerce.

<div class="phx-topic">The true toll of US tariffs on China is just beginning to be felt on the trans-Pacific. Months of frontloading that drove an earlier peak season have come to an end, and US retailers are pulling back on ordering for the rest of the year in the face of a slowing US economy and higher tariff costs. Shippers and consignees are also racking up stiffer demurrage and storage bills because demand uncertainty is slowing their pickup of containers from marine terminals. <div class="wrapper-narrow float-right-element"><img src="/images/phoenix/6065756_0.1.jpg"></img></div>A sense of uncertainty — if not alarm — about future demand and tariff levels on China has slowed, and even paralyzed, some orders from small and medium-sized importers, four veteran forwarders told the Journal of Commerce. While China bookings haven’t cratered as they did in April when the Trump administration temporarily raised the US tariff level to 145%, forwarders warn of a renewed weakness in the market caused by more than just the end of peak season. Laden volumes from Asia to the US in July surged to a six-month high as shippers moved product ahead of August tariff deadlines. And while US imports are forecast to be up 5.8% year over year in August, <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/us-retailers-project-big-year-over-year-import-declines-to-close-out-2025-6060323">according to the latest Global Port Tracker (GPT)</a>, the rest of the year looks dismal. Volumes from September through December are expected to be down at least 20% year over year each month. Granted, volumes were elevated last year due to the threat of a labor strike on the East and Gulf coasts, but the current malaise is more than just tough 2024 comparisons. Small importers in particular are finding it harder to eat higher tariff costs, hampering orders as they try to push price increases onto consumers or back onto suppliers. <h3>Importers passing prices to consumers </h3>An index measuring the likelihood of US small business owners to increase prices hit its highest level in July since March 2024, according to the National Federation of Independent Businesses. A US Census Bureau survey of all US businesses, excluding farms, came to a similar conclusion, with 34% of respondents in late July saying they would increase prices over the next six months. Two weeks earlier, that figure was 29%. Even Home Depot, the second-largest US importer as measured by volume in 2024, is having to increase prices modestly. The company told investors Tuesday that while it had pledged in May not to increase prices due to tariffs, the tariff levels have since increased. August tends to be a strong year for inbound volumes, but not this year, said one executive for a forwarder that serves big box importers and a top online retailer. Because of tariff uncertainty, the seasonality of the inbound trade “is out the window,” the source said. “We’re feeling the pinch,” he said. “I think we’ve got a couple rough months ahead.” <h3>Demurrage levels on the rise </h3>Customers importing lower-value goods have even begun abandoning containers as the cost of the tariffs outweighs what the items can be sold for. Even those who tapped bonded warehouse space face the prospect of no more reprieves in tariffs — and a hefty storage bill, the forwarder source said. Other customers are shifting toward origin-controlled cargo, in which the seller bears all shipping and customs costs until it delivers the goods to the buyer, he said. Rising demurrage levels at major US ports also speak to increased deterioration in the trans-Pacific market. Demurrage levels have been rising all year but spiked in July to an average of 8.1 days, up from 3.8 days in January, according to data from transportation management visibility software vendor GoComet. While shipper customers of GoComet say erratic vessel reliability is playing a role in higher demurrage bills, tariff uncertainty is the main driver. Beneficial cargo owners (BCOs) “are either rushing orders to get ahead of tariffs or, more critically, canceling orders while cargo is already on the water,” said Chitransh Sahai, CEO of GoComet. “This leaves them with containers at the destination that have to be held or rerouted, which directly results in demurrage.” Part of that uncertainty is that some importers aren’t confident that the 55% tariff rate agreed upon between the US and China in an initial framework of a trade deal won’t be adjusted again when the since-extended tariff truce expires Nov. 10, said another forwarder source, who predominantly serves Chinese exporters. That has led to dribs and drabs of replenishment. “Customers are doing crazy types of operations to sustain their businesses,” he said. “Some customers have [even] stopped ocean shipping and have gone to small parcel.” Contact Mark Szakonyi at <a href="mailto:mark.szakonyi@spglobal.com">mark.szakonyi@spglobal.com</a>.</div>

The true toll of US tariffs on China is just beginning to be felt on the trans-Pacific. Months of frontloading that drove an earlier peak season have come to an end, and US retailers are pulling back on ordering for the rest of the year in the face of a slowing US economy and higher tariff costs. Shippers and consignees are also racking up stiffer demurrage and storage bills because demand uncertainty is slowing their pickup of containers from marine terminals. A sense of uncertainty — if not alarm — about future demand and tariff levels on China has slowed, and even paralyzed, some orders from small and medium-sized importers, four veteran forwarders told the Journal of Commerce. While China bookings haven’t cratered as they did in April when the Trump administration temporarily raised the US tariff level to 145%, forwarders warn of a renewed weakness in the market caused by more than just the end of peak season. Laden volumes from Asia to the US in July surged to a six-month high as shippers moved product ahead of August tariff deadlines. And while US imports are forecast to be up 5.8% year over year in August, according to the latest Global Port Tracker (GPT) , the rest of the year looks dismal. Volumes from September through December are expected to be down at least 20% year over year each month. Granted, volumes were elevated last year due to the threat of a labor strike on the East and Gulf coasts, but the current malaise is more than just tough 2024 comparisons. Small importers in particular are finding it harder to eat higher tariff costs, hampering orders as they try to push price increases onto consumers or back onto suppliers. Importers passing prices to consumers An index measuring the likelihood of US small business owners to increase prices hit its highest level in July since March 2024, according to the National Federation of Independent Businesses. A US Census Bureau survey of all US businesses, excluding farms, came to a similar conclusion, with 34% of respondents in late July saying they would increase prices over the next six months. Two weeks earlier, that figure was 29%. Even Home Depot, the second-largest US importer as measured by volume in 2024, is having to increase prices modestly. The company told investors Tuesday that while it had pledged in May not to increase prices due to tariffs, the tariff levels have since increased. August tends to be a strong year for inbound volumes, but not this year, said one executive for a forwarder that serves big box importers and a top online retailer. Because of tariff uncertainty, the seasonality of the inbound trade “is out the window,” the source said. “We’re feeling the pinch,” he said. “I think we’ve got a couple rough months ahead.” Demurrage levels on the rise Customers importing lower-value goods have even begun abandoning containers as the cost of the tariffs outweighs what the items can be sold for. Even those who tapped bonded warehouse space face the prospect of no more reprieves in tariffs — and a hefty storage bill, the forwarder source said. Other customers are shifting toward origin-controlled cargo, in which the seller bears all shipping and customs costs until it delivers the goods to the buyer, he said. Rising demurrage levels at major US ports also speak to increased deterioration in the trans-Pacific market. Demurrage levels have been rising all year but spiked in July to an average of 8.1 days, up from 3.8 days in January, according to data from transportation management visibility software vendor GoComet. While shipper customers of GoComet say erratic vessel reliability is playing a role in higher demurrage bills, tariff uncertainty is the main driver. Beneficial cargo owners (BCOs) “are either rushing orders to get ahead of tariffs or, more critically, canceling orders while cargo is already on the water,” said Chitransh Sahai, CEO of GoComet. “This leaves them with containers at the destination that have to be held or rerouted, which directly results in demurrage.” Part of that uncertainty is that some importers aren’t confident that the 55% tariff rate agreed upon between the US and China in an initial framework of a trade deal won’t be adjusted again when the since-extended tariff truce expires Nov. 10, said another forwarder source, who predominantly serves Chinese exporters. That has led to dribs and drabs of replenishment. “Customers are doing crazy types of operations to sustain their businesses,” he said. “Some customers have [even] stopped ocean shipping and have gone to small parcel.” Contact Mark Szakonyi at mark.szakonyi@spglobal.com .

Toll of US tariffs begins to emerge on unsettled trans-Pacific

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">US agriculture exporters say the ongoing trade standoff between Washington and Beijing has effectively shut them out of the key Chinese market, causing them to fear for their long-term survival.</div>

US agriculture exporters say the ongoing trade standoff between Washington and Beijing has effectively shut them out of the key Chinese market, causing them to fear for their long-term survival.

<div class="phx-topic">US exporters of soybeans and meat say they are losing key Chinese buyers due to high tariffs and are turning to President Donald Trump for relief. The 34% tariff China imposed in April is suppressing US containerized exports, Caleb Ragland, president of the American Soybean Association (ASA), said in a letter this week urging Trump to remove reciprocal duties on China, which also imposed a 32% tariff on US beef and a 57% levy on pork amid the trade standoff between Washington and Beijing. “US soybean farmers cannot survive a prolonged trade dispute with our largest customer,” Ragland said. Approximately 112,000 TEUs of US soybeans and meat were exported to China last year, down about 6% from 2023, according to PIERS, a sister company of the Journal of Commerce within S&amp;P Global. According to Mike Steenhoek, executive director of the Soy Transportation Coalition, the 34.07% duty rate for cargo into China is pushing American soybean exporters out of the global market. Between July 2024 and June 2025, the most recent data available, PIERS shows a total of 356,830 TEUs of soybeans exported from the US, up 7% compared with the previous 12-month period. Total US meat exports declined 3.5% to 402,610 TEUs during that time. The China tariffs on the US are a boon for Brazilian exporters of soybeans and meat who compete with the US for Chinese buyers. Most US soybean exports are shipped via bulk; the commodity is transported in containers when smaller volumes are ordered. Meat exports move exclusively through refrigerated containers. Since China’s implementation of tariffs on US exports, South American soybeans cost about 20% less than their US competition, according to the ASA. <h3>Export window closing </h3>Meanwhile, the window for US exporters to regain the Chinese market this year is closing. US soybeans are harvested from September to March. After March, China sources soybeans from Brazil until its season ends in September, when US exporters typically resume supply. “The window for US soybean exporters to sell and ship this fall’s harvest to China is rapidly closing,” Steenhoek told the Journal of Commerce. “If an agreement is not reached during the latest US-China three-month [tariff] pause, it will probably be too late for this fall’s harvest.” US meat exporters are facing similar challenges. Last year, China consumed 15% of US pork exports and 14% of US beef exports, said Joe Schuele, spokesperson for the US Meat Export Federation. In 2024, the US exported about 424,000 TEUs of meat, about 56,380 TEUs of which were destined for China. Also creating a problem is the fact that China failed to reauthorize exports from individual US beef plants in February and March when the five-year authorizations expired, further hindering US beef exporters. “We are all but shut out of the China market until those authorizations [for the individual beef plants] are renewed,” Schuele said. Thomas Eskesen, founder of reefer market consultant Eskesen Advisory, said given the ongoing tariff complications, US shippers need to look at new markets to sell their products. “[But] for this year, it’s almost too late to sort of just kind of plan like that,” Eskesen said Wednesday during a Journal of Commerce webcast. Contact Laura Robb at <a href="mailto:Laura.Robb@spglobal.com">laura.robb@spglobal.com</a>.  Contact Bill Mongelluzzo at <a href="mailto:bill.mongelluzzo@spglobal.com">bill.mongelluzzo@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

US exporters of soybeans and meat say they are losing key Chinese buyers due to high tariffs and are turning to President Donald Trump for relief. The 34% tariff China imposed in April is suppressing US containerized exports, Caleb Ragland, president of the American Soybean Association (ASA), said in a letter this week urging Trump to remove reciprocal duties on China, which also imposed a 32% tariff on US beef and a 57% levy on pork amid the trade standoff between Washington and Beijing. “US soybean farmers cannot survive a prolonged trade dispute with our largest customer,” Ragland said. Approximately 112,000 TEUs of US soybeans and meat were exported to China last year, down about 6% from 2023, according to PIERS, a sister company of the Journal of Commerce within S&P Global. According to Mike Steenhoek, executive director of the Soy Transportation Coalition, the 34.07% duty rate for cargo into China is pushing American soybean exporters out of the global market. Between July 2024 and June 2025, the most recent data available, PIERS shows a total of 356,830 TEUs of soybeans exported from the US, up 7% compared with the previous 12-month period. Total US meat exports declined 3.5% to 402,610 TEUs during that time. The China tariffs on the US are a boon for Brazilian exporters of soybeans and meat who compete with the US for Chinese buyers. Most US soybean exports are shipped via bulk; the commodity is transported in containers when smaller volumes are ordered. Meat exports move exclusively through refrigerated containers. Since China’s implementation of tariffs on US exports, South American soybeans cost about 20% less than their US competition, according to the ASA. Export window closing Meanwhile, the window for US exporters to regain the Chinese market this year is closing. US soybeans are harvested from September to March. After March, China sources soybeans from Brazil until its season ends in September, when US exporters typically resume supply. “The window for US soybean exporters to sell and ship this fall’s harvest to China is rapidly closing,” Steenhoek told the Journal of Commerce. “If an agreement is not reached during the latest US-China three-month [tariff] pause, it will probably be too late for this fall’s harvest.” US meat exporters are facing similar challenges. Last year, China consumed 15% of US pork exports and 14% of US beef exports, said Joe Schuele, spokesperson for the US Meat Export Federation. In 2024, the US exported about 424,000 TEUs of meat, about 56,380 TEUs of which were destined for China. Also creating a problem is the fact that China failed to reauthorize exports from individual US beef plants in February and March when the five-year authorizations expired, further hindering US beef exporters. “We are all but shut out of the China market until those authorizations [for the individual beef plants] are renewed,” Schuele said. Thomas Eskesen, founder of reefer market consultant Eskesen Advisory, said given the ongoing tariff complications, US shippers need to look at new markets to sell their products. “[But] for this year, it’s almost too late to sort of just kind of plan like that,” Eskesen said Wednesday during a Journal of Commerce webcast. Contact Laura Robb at laura.robb@spglobal.com .  Contact Bill Mongelluzzo at bill.mongelluzzo@spglobal.com .

Breakbulk News

Tariff battle suppressing Chinese market for US soybean, meat exports

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Domestic intermodal volumes have been stagnant on partner BNSF Railway out of Los Angeles, likely dulling the justification for the original $1,500 fee.</div>

Domestic intermodal volumes have been stagnant on partner BNSF Railway out of Los Angeles, likely dulling the justification for the original $1,500 fee.

<div class="phx-topic">More than a month after imposing a $1,500 peak season surcharge that frustrated some targeted shippers moving goods out of Southern California, J.B. Hunt Transport Services has cut the fee by nearly half, several customers told the Journal of Commerce. The surcharge is primarily directed at retailers moving holiday merchandise in the third quarter. In recent weeks, J.B. Hunt has lowered the fee to approximately $800 per container, according to several shippers who did not want to be identified. J.B. Hunt did not respond to a request for comment. “J.B. Hunt told us that they re-evaluated and were able to work with BNSF to more efficiently reposition capacity to Los Angeles for any surge,” one J.B. Hunt customer said. J.B. Hunt’s decision to lower its surcharge might be related to the volume of the domestic intermodal shipments it handles. BNSF Railway, its exclusive West Coast partner, has seen stronger gains in international intermodal shipments than in domestic shipments during a recent uptick in port volumes in Los Angeles and Long Beach. International shipments rose more than 20% last week in Southern California compared with two months ago, according to data provider RailState. But BNSF’s domestic intermodal has been largely flat since January. J.B. Hunt reported that transcontinental intermodal freight — i.e. anything originating or terminating on the West Coast — declined 1% year over year in the second quarter. Because J.B. Hunt is BNSF’s largest domestic intermodal customer, the data suggests much of the same for J.B. Hunt in the third quarter. <h3>UP implemented its own surcharge </h3>After J.B. Hunt’s <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/jb-hunt-hits-some-shippers-with-big-surcharges-in-southern-california-6043454">initial announcement</a>, competitors introduced their own surcharges ranging from $300 to $900 per container, including one by Union Pacific Railroad (UP) for shippers using non-asset brokers. <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/up-seeks-surcharges-amid-intermodal-volumes-surge-6062080">UP is charging</a> $300 per container on high-volume shippers and $500 per box on low-volume shippers on excess freight in Southern California. Union Pacific has posted stronger results, with domestic intermodal in Southern California up nearly 20% last week compared with two months ago, according to RailState. UP partners Hub Group and Schneider National described July demand in Southern California as robust during recent quarterly earnings calls. Even with the increase in volume, intermodal service out of Southern California has remained stable. Both BNSF and UP have reported faster train speeds, fewer trains being held and a decline in idle railcars compared with their weekly averages since 2017, according to the US Surface Transportation Board. Contact Ari Ashe at <a href="mailto:ari.ashe@spglobal.com">ari.ashe@spglobal.com</a>.</div>

More than a month after imposing a $1,500 peak season surcharge that frustrated some targeted shippers moving goods out of Southern California, J.B. Hunt Transport Services has cut the fee by nearly half, several customers told the Journal of Commerce. The surcharge is primarily directed at retailers moving holiday merchandise in the third quarter. In recent weeks, J.B. Hunt has lowered the fee to approximately $800 per container, according to several shippers who did not want to be identified. J.B. Hunt did not respond to a request for comment. “J.B. Hunt told us that they re-evaluated and were able to work with BNSF to more efficiently reposition capacity to Los Angeles for any surge,” one J.B. Hunt customer said. J.B. Hunt’s decision to lower its surcharge might be related to the volume of the domestic intermodal shipments it handles. BNSF Railway, its exclusive West Coast partner, has seen stronger gains in international intermodal shipments than in domestic shipments during a recent uptick in port volumes in Los Angeles and Long Beach. International shipments rose more than 20% last week in Southern California compared with two months ago, according to data provider RailState. But BNSF’s domestic intermodal has been largely flat since January. J.B. Hunt reported that transcontinental intermodal freight — i.e. anything originating or terminating on the West Coast — declined 1% year over year in the second quarter. Because J.B. Hunt is BNSF’s largest domestic intermodal customer, the data suggests much of the same for J.B. Hunt in the third quarter. UP implemented its own surcharge After J.B. Hunt’s initial announcement , competitors introduced their own surcharges ranging from $300 to $900 per container, including one by Union Pacific Railroad (UP) for shippers using non-asset brokers. UP is charging $300 per container on high-volume shippers and $500 per box on low-volume shippers on excess freight in Southern California. Union Pacific has posted stronger results, with domestic intermodal in Southern California up nearly 20% last week compared with two months ago, according to RailState. UP partners Hub Group and Schneider National described July demand in Southern California as robust during recent quarterly earnings calls. Even with the increase in volume, intermodal service out of Southern California has remained stable. Both BNSF and UP have reported faster train speeds, fewer trains being held and a decline in idle railcars compared with their weekly averages since 2017, according to the US Surface Transportation Board. Contact Ari Ashe at ari.ashe@spglobal.com .

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