<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">The intermodal yard and attached warehouse park would be developed about 50 miles outside the city and are part of a $170 million investment plan unveiled by the railroad. </div>

The intermodal yard and attached warehouse park would be developed about 50 miles outside the city and are part of a $170 million investment plan unveiled by the railroad.

Feature image

<div class="phx-topic">Canadian National (CN) said Wednesday it plans to invest $170 million in its Illinois rail operations, including the development of a long-planned logistics park outside of Chicago. CN said that along with track maintenance and other infrastructure projects in the state, the investment will go toward the construction of the “Chicago Logistics Hub,” a 900-acre development site about 50 miles outside Chicago. The site, located in the village of Channahon, will include an intermodal yard and a business park for warehouses, CN said in a statement. The railroad acquired the site when it bought the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway in 2009. CN has previously said that acquiring rail trackage outside of the metropolitan Chicago region provides an advantage in transit times of up to 48 hours relative to other Class I railroads. “Our continued infrastructure investment in Illinois will help strengthen the resiliency and efficiency of our network across the state,” CN Chief Executive Tracy Robinson said in the statement. Earlier this year, CN completed a project to extend siding track for four miles in the Chicago area to improve fluidity and railcar capacity in the region. The $54 million siding project was part of CN’s 2024 capital budget in the state, including $15 million for containers and yard equipment and $10 million for its other intermodal hubs. CN is expected to break ground on the new hub this year, according to the village of Channahon, with the project scheduled to be completed in late 2027 or early 2028. Contact Michael Angell at <a href="mailto:michael.angell@spglobal.com">michael.angell@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

Canadian National (CN) said Wednesday it plans to invest $170 million in its Illinois rail operations, including the development of a long-planned logistics park outside of Chicago. CN said that along with track maintenance and other infrastructure projects in the state, the investment will go toward the construction of the “Chicago Logistics Hub,” a 900-acre development site about 50 miles outside Chicago. The site, located in the village of Channahon, will include an intermodal yard and a business park for warehouses, CN said in a statement. The railroad acquired the site when it bought the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway in 2009. CN has previously said that acquiring rail trackage outside of the metropolitan Chicago region provides an advantage in transit times of up to 48 hours relative to other Class I railroads. “Our continued infrastructure investment in Illinois will help strengthen the resiliency and efficiency of our network across the state,” CN Chief Executive Tracy Robinson said in the statement. Earlier this year, CN completed a project to extend siding track for four miles in the Chicago area to improve fluidity and railcar capacity in the region. The $54 million siding project was part of CN’s 2024 capital budget in the state, including $15 million for containers and yard equipment and $10 million for its other intermodal hubs. CN is expected to break ground on the new hub this year, according to the village of Channahon, with the project scheduled to be completed in late 2027 or early 2028. Contact Michael Angell at michael.angell@spglobal.com .

Surface

Intermodal providers

Rail News

Canadian National to move forward on new Chicago-area logistics hub

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">ACP Administrator Ricaurte Vásquez Morales says developing the terminal would help ease the concerns of ocean carriers that the canal’s existing container terminals are concentrated among a handful of operators. </div>

ACP Administrator Ricaurte Vásquez Morales says developing the terminal would help ease the concerns of ocean carriers that the canal’s existing container terminals are concentrated among a handful of operators.

<div class="phx-topic">The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) could build and operate a long-stalled container terminal as part of a wider logistics hub development near Panama City on the Atlantic Ocean side of the canal, the authority’s top executive says. ACP Administrator Ricaurte Vásquez Morales told the Journal of Commerce the move would help allay ocean carrier concerns that the canal’s existing container terminals are concentrated among a handful of operators, thus affecting the canal’s neutrality and competitiveness. ACP intends that the 5 million-TEU Corozal Container Terminal should be a common-user facility, open to all container lines. “We are studying the possibility of reactivating a project where the Panama Canal Authority would develop a logistics hub, which would include various terminals, within the canal area that safeguards neutrality for the canal and all of the shipping companies navigating the waterway,” Vásquez said. That comes as worries about market dominance have emerged since Hong Kong conglomerate CK Hutchison <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/hutchison-inks-228-billion-deal-to-sell-majority-of-port-holdings-to-blackrock-til-5955819">agreed to a $23 billion preliminary deal in March</a> to sell its global port interests outside China to a consortium of BlackRock and Terminal Investment Limited (TiL). TiL is the terminals division of Mediterranean Shipping Co. and already has a presence in Panama’s terminals sector through its partnership with investment company Notarc Management Group (NMG) to develop the $1.4 billion Panama Colon Container Port (PCCP). TiL/NMG took over the project in 2022 after the Panama Maritime Authority canceled an earlier agreement with a Chinese consortium led by Hong Kong/China shipping and port group Landbridge for alleged non-compliance. “To be clear, the concessions made to port operators, including that of Panama Ports Company owned by Hutchinson, lie fully in the hands of the Panamanian government and are not within the purview of the Panama Canal Authority,” Vasquez said. “However, we are aware of the concerns surrounding a capacity concentration that our shipping clients anticipate with the current proposal on the table.” Details of the logistics hub, including the container terminals, will be given at an ACP briefing on June 19. <h3>Political intrigue </h3>The ACP selected four terminal operators in 2016 to bid for a concession to build and operate the Corozal terminal. The project has been in abeyance since 2017 after none of the four, which included APM Terminals, Singapore’s PSA International and CMA CGM’s Terminal Line, submitted a bid, according to then-ACP administrator Jorge Quijano. Neither TiL nor NMG responded to requests for comment this week from the Journal of Commerce. MSC, already the world’s biggest container line in terms of capacity, will also emerge as the largest global terminal operator with throughput volumes of almost 120 million TEUs based on 2023 figures, according to estimates from maritime consultancy Drewry. Hutchison has confirmed that TiL is the lead partner in the planned acquisition. The BlackRock-TiL deal comprises two agreements. The first covers the sale of Panama Ports Company (PPC), in which Hutchison has a 90% stake and operates Balboa and Christobal container terminals at either end of the canal; the second comprises Hutchison’s 80% stake in Hutchison Port Holdings, which controls its non-China terminals. Together, these cover a total of 43 ports with 199 berths in 23 countries. But the deal, particularly the sale of the Panama ports, is caught <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/beijing-issues-warning-over-hutchisons-proposed-sale-of-panama-ports-company-5962910">in the crosshairs of a geopolitical wrangle between the US and China</a>. Semi-official commentators in China have voiced opposition to the sale on the grounds of China’s national and security interests, while China’s anti-trust regulator is probing the sale partly on national security grounds. At the same time, the Trump administration has vowed to take back control of the canal to curb what it says is China’s control of cargo through the waterway. Panama legal officials are also probing the way Panama Ports Company secured an extension to its 25-year concession to operate the Balboa and Christobal terminals in 2021 for possible irregularities. The Panama government and PPC have denied any wrongdoing. There are currently five operators with terminals along the canal. Aside from Hutchison’s PPC, other firms with facilities are Taiwan’s Evergreen Marine, which operates Colon Container Terminal; PSA International, which controls the PSA Panama International Terminal at Rodman; SSA Marine, which operates the Manzanillo International Terminal at Colon; and TiL/NMG with the PCCP. Contact Keith Wallis at <a href="mailto:keithwallis@hotmail.com">keithwallis@hotmail.com</a>. </div>

The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) could build and operate a long-stalled container terminal as part of a wider logistics hub development near Panama City on the Atlantic Ocean side of the canal, the authority’s top executive says. ACP Administrator Ricaurte Vásquez Morales told the Journal of Commerce the move would help allay ocean carrier concerns that the canal’s existing container terminals are concentrated among a handful of operators, thus affecting the canal’s neutrality and competitiveness. ACP intends that the 5 million-TEU Corozal Container Terminal should be a common-user facility, open to all container lines. “We are studying the possibility of reactivating a project where the Panama Canal Authority would develop a logistics hub, which would include various terminals, within the canal area that safeguards neutrality for the canal and all of the shipping companies navigating the waterway,” Vásquez said. That comes as worries about market dominance have emerged since Hong Kong conglomerate CK Hutchison agreed to a $23 billion preliminary deal in March to sell its global port interests outside China to a consortium of BlackRock and Terminal Investment Limited (TiL). TiL is the terminals division of Mediterranean Shipping Co. and already has a presence in Panama’s terminals sector through its partnership with investment company Notarc Management Group (NMG) to develop the $1.4 billion Panama Colon Container Port (PCCP). TiL/NMG took over the project in 2022 after the Panama Maritime Authority canceled an earlier agreement with a Chinese consortium led by Hong Kong/China shipping and port group Landbridge for alleged non-compliance. “To be clear, the concessions made to port operators, including that of Panama Ports Company owned by Hutchinson, lie fully in the hands of the Panamanian government and are not within the purview of the Panama Canal Authority,” Vasquez said. “However, we are aware of the concerns surrounding a capacity concentration that our shipping clients anticipate with the current proposal on the table.” Details of the logistics hub, including the container terminals, will be given at an ACP briefing on June 19. Political intrigue The ACP selected four terminal operators in 2016 to bid for a concession to build and operate the Corozal terminal. The project has been in abeyance since 2017 after none of the four, which included APM Terminals, Singapore’s PSA International and CMA CGM’s Terminal Line, submitted a bid, according to then-ACP administrator Jorge Quijano. Neither TiL nor NMG responded to requests for comment this week from the Journal of Commerce. MSC, already the world’s biggest container line in terms of capacity, will also emerge as the largest global terminal operator with throughput volumes of almost 120 million TEUs based on 2023 figures, according to estimates from maritime consultancy Drewry. Hutchison has confirmed that TiL is the lead partner in the planned acquisition. The BlackRock-TiL deal comprises two agreements. The first covers the sale of Panama Ports Company (PPC), in which Hutchison has a 90% stake and operates Balboa and Christobal container terminals at either end of the canal; the second comprises Hutchison’s 80% stake in Hutchison Port Holdings, which controls its non-China terminals. Together, these cover a total of 43 ports with 199 berths in 23 countries. But the deal, particularly the sale of the Panama ports, is caught in the crosshairs of a geopolitical wrangle between the US and China . Semi-official commentators in China have voiced opposition to the sale on the grounds of China’s national and security interests, while China’s anti-trust regulator is probing the sale partly on national security grounds. At the same time, the Trump administration has vowed to take back control of the canal to curb what it says is China’s control of cargo through the waterway. Panama legal officials are also probing the way Panama Ports Company secured an extension to its 25-year concession to operate the Balboa and Christobal terminals in 2021 for possible irregularities. The Panama government and PPC have denied any wrongdoing. There are currently five operators with terminals along the canal. Aside from Hutchison’s PPC, other firms with facilities are Taiwan’s Evergreen Marine, which operates Colon Container Terminal; PSA International, which controls the PSA Panama International Terminal at Rodman; SSA Marine, which operates the Manzanillo International Terminal at Colon; and TiL/NMG with the PCCP. Contact Keith Wallis at keithwallis@hotmail.com .

Maritime

Port News

Port infrastructure

International ports

Panama Canal mulls developing Corozal to allay neutrality fears over Hutchison deal

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Liners have enjoyed the higher rates and profits that come from external market shocks, but it’s fair to wonder how sustainable that is, writes Peter Tirschwell.</div>

Liners have enjoyed the higher rates and profits that come from external market shocks, but it’s fair to wonder how sustainable that is, writes Peter Tirschwell.

<div class="phx-topic">It’s become a pattern that most ocean carriers are privately all too happy to accept, even at the expense of frustrated customers. The pattern is this: External shocks wreak havoc, system-wide capacity is effectively withdrawn due to port congestion, longer transits or re-deployed tonnage, and rates and profits go up. <div class="wrapper-narrow float-right-element"><img src="/images/phoenix/6023285_0.1.jpg"></img></div>For carriers that had struggled for decades, these recent problems — beginning with the COVID-19 pandemic and continuing with the Red Sea, Panama Canal, tariffs and growing global port congestion — are good problems to have. But how long can it last? And what happens when the party’s over? The private view of carriers – that customers contributed to their years in financial purgatory – makes them minimally sympathetic to the impact, and increasingly willing to do their part to hit the brakes on capacity. Carriers went from having virtually no ability 25 years ago to pull capacity to embracing slow steaming, idling, blank sailings, and in the case of some carriers, buying versus chartering and thus controlling tonnage. Carriers “do not want to change the practices of [port] omissions, slow steaming, cut-and-runs, demurrage and detention,” said one knowledgeable observer of carriers. “They like disruptions and are not eager to move to a model where cargo is delivered as booked.” Years such as 2024 and now 2025, which were supposed to be awash in red ink for carriers, suddenly became profitable. But carriers must wonder how sustainable the “disruptive” model is. <h3>Carriers may soon need to be competitive </h3>The weakness is obvious. The pandemic could well have been a fluke, a once-in-a-century catastrophe; the Red Sea could reopen at any time and the US and China are taking steps toward a trade truce. Port congestion and its impact on end-to-end capacity could ease as global growth, including trade growth, slows due to US tariffs. And all the while overcapacity looms thanks to a massive ordering spree during and since the pandemic. JP Morgan noted last month that “industry dynamics remain unfavorable given structural oversupply, despite near-term disruption boosting short-term rates.” Thus, carriers could soon be facing a market where they will need to be competitive. Price is a given as rates will find a level commensurate with supply and demand. But what about service? In a purely commoditized market, rates alone are enough to attract cargo. But what if there is meaningful differentiation in schedule reliability beyond the few niche carriers such as Matson, UWL/Swire and Tailwind whose franchise is based on reliability? Regional Asian carriers serving mostly a forwarder market tell us they feel no pressure to improve schedule reliability, other than to avoid embarrassment when reliability rankings are published. Other carriers have long been only somewhat concerned about reliability, understanding that shippers are diverse, with a great many prioritizing price over transit time, and options are few as carriers consolidate. <h3>Gemini as a model </h3>But not all think this way. Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd in their Gemini Cooperation alliance have tacked away from the fleet with an offering that, instead of relying on disruption for profits, aligns their interests with that of customers. If it works, it won’t simply be price, trade lane presence or longstanding partnerships that determine where shippers direct their cargo. It will be results. That point is being made more loudly following the initial success of the hub-and-spoke-based Gemini in hitting its 90% reliability goal; it was 90.7% in March and April, including both origin and destination arrivals, according to Sea-Intelligence Maritime Analysis. “The effect of Gemini is really interesting,” industry veteran Per Starup Sennicksen wrote recently on LinkedIn. “Many old timers, who condemned the hub-and-spoke network model, will have to change their opinions.” Is the wider industry taking notice? With Gemini still young, it is premature to say whether it’s influencing other carriers. But carriers plowing investment into terminals on a global basis show the need for greater end-to-end control; that is the lynchpin of Gemini that is based on Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd’s control of hub ports. “I can’t say we’ve seen any real effort from competing alliances and carriers to up their game, from a purely operational angle,” said Simon Sundboell, CEO of eeSea, which monitors carrier schedule reliability. “The delays are still significant, and the last-minute changes and volatility are observable to anyone.” However, he added: “What I can confirm, though, is that we’ve had real interest in understanding the reliability methodology and numbers from several of the major carriers in just the past two months, as well as from cargo owners and logistics providers. So it’s on the radar out there.” Maersk is wasting no time in showing how its service is differentiated. “We are now sitting at a reliability level that we haven’t been able to see as an industry for a very long time,” Maersk North America President Charles van der Steen told the Journal of Commerce in late May. “There is a dynamic where we can see the opportunity in the not-too-distant future to start thinking about leveraging ocean freight to the benefit of our broader supply chain, taking inventory out, reducing cycle times, et cetera.” Could it be that out of the chaos of the past five years, real value will emerge? Contact Peter Tirschwell at <a href="mailto:peter.tirschwell@spglobal.com">peter.tirschwell@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

It’s become a pattern that most ocean carriers are privately all too happy to accept, even at the expense of frustrated customers. The pattern is this: External shocks wreak havoc, system-wide capacity is effectively withdrawn due to port congestion, longer transits or re-deployed tonnage, and rates and profits go up. For carriers that had struggled for decades, these recent problems — beginning with the COVID-19 pandemic and continuing with the Red Sea, Panama Canal, tariffs and growing global port congestion — are good problems to have. But how long can it last? And what happens when the party’s over? The private view of carriers – that customers contributed to their years in financial purgatory – makes them minimally sympathetic to the impact, and increasingly willing to do their part to hit the brakes on capacity. Carriers went from having virtually no ability 25 years ago to pull capacity to embracing slow steaming, idling, blank sailings, and in the case of some carriers, buying versus chartering and thus controlling tonnage. Carriers “do not want to change the practices of [port] omissions, slow steaming, cut-and-runs, demurrage and detention,” said one knowledgeable observer of carriers. “They like disruptions and are not eager to move to a model where cargo is delivered as booked.” Years such as 2024 and now 2025, which were supposed to be awash in red ink for carriers, suddenly became profitable. But carriers must wonder how sustainable the “disruptive” model is. Carriers may soon need to be competitive The weakness is obvious. The pandemic could well have been a fluke, a once-in-a-century catastrophe; the Red Sea could reopen at any time and the US and China are taking steps toward a trade truce. Port congestion and its impact on end-to-end capacity could ease as global growth, including trade growth, slows due to US tariffs. And all the while overcapacity looms thanks to a massive ordering spree during and since the pandemic. JP Morgan noted last month that “industry dynamics remain unfavorable given structural oversupply, despite near-term disruption boosting short-term rates.” Thus, carriers could soon be facing a market where they will need to be competitive. Price is a given as rates will find a level commensurate with supply and demand. But what about service? In a purely commoditized market, rates alone are enough to attract cargo. But what if there is meaningful differentiation in schedule reliability beyond the few niche carriers such as Matson, UWL/Swire and Tailwind whose franchise is based on reliability? Regional Asian carriers serving mostly a forwarder market tell us they feel no pressure to improve schedule reliability, other than to avoid embarrassment when reliability rankings are published. Other carriers have long been only somewhat concerned about reliability, understanding that shippers are diverse, with a great many prioritizing price over transit time, and options are few as carriers consolidate. Gemini as a model But not all think this way. Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd in their Gemini Cooperation alliance have tacked away from the fleet with an offering that, instead of relying on disruption for profits, aligns their interests with that of customers. If it works, it won’t simply be price, trade lane presence or longstanding partnerships that determine where shippers direct their cargo. It will be results. That point is being made more loudly following the initial success of the hub-and-spoke-based Gemini in hitting its 90% reliability goal; it was 90.7% in March and April, including both origin and destination arrivals, according to Sea-Intelligence Maritime Analysis. “The effect of Gemini is really interesting,” industry veteran Per Starup Sennicksen wrote recently on LinkedIn. “Many old timers, who condemned the hub-and-spoke network model, will have to change their opinions.” Is the wider industry taking notice? With Gemini still young, it is premature to say whether it’s influencing other carriers. But carriers plowing investment into terminals on a global basis show the need for greater end-to-end control; that is the lynchpin of Gemini that is based on Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd’s control of hub ports. “I can’t say we’ve seen any real effort from competing alliances and carriers to up their game, from a purely operational angle,” said Simon Sundboell, CEO of eeSea, which monitors carrier schedule reliability. “The delays are still significant, and the last-minute changes and volatility are observable to anyone.” However, he added: “What I can confirm, though, is that we’ve had real interest in understanding the reliability methodology and numbers from several of the major carriers in just the past two months, as well as from cargo owners and logistics providers. So it’s on the radar out there.” Maersk is wasting no time in showing how its service is differentiated. “We are now sitting at a reliability level that we haven’t been able to see as an industry for a very long time,” Maersk North America President Charles van der Steen told the Journal of Commerce in late May. “There is a dynamic where we can see the opportunity in the not-too-distant future to start thinking about leveraging ocean freight to the benefit of our broader supply chain, taking inventory out, reducing cycle times, et cetera.” Could it be that out of the chaos of the past five years, real value will emerge? Contact Peter Tirschwell at peter.tirschwell@spglobal.com .

Container lines

Carriers ride wave of ‘disruptive’ operating model, but for how long?

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Organic growth in the logistics business is hard to find with the global economy slowing and trade heavily disrupted by US tariffs, so forwarders have moved into acquisition mode. </div>

Organic growth in the logistics business is hard to find with the global economy slowing and trade heavily disrupted by US tariffs, so forwarders have moved into acquisition mode.

<div class="phx-topic">The completion of Danish forwarder DSV’s $16.25 billion all-cash acquisition of DB Schenker in April may have captured the headlines, but there is vigorous M&amp;A activity among second-tier forwarders searching for inorganic growth in a tariff-disrupted and slowing global economy. Valuations have come down from the sky-high levels reached after the pandemic and now forwarders are either making strategic takeovers or actively seeking acquisitions to grow scale, plug holes in networks or expand into new markets. “The market is soft and organic growth is hard to come by now, so inorganic growth may be the best option,” said Marc Iampieri, global co-leader of logistics and transportation at business advisory firm AlixPartners. “Freight forwarders will survive this short-term challenge, and the strongest will end up with more market share and better solutions to squeeze some of the smaller ones out,” Iampieri told the Journal of Commerce Wednesday. A European forwarder making international takeover moves is Dachser, headquartered in Kempten, Germany. Burkhard Eling, CEO of the family-owned company, said the forwarder has made eight acquisitions within the last two years that have brought in $1 billion in revenue. “There will be more to come, that’s for sure,” he told the Journal of Commerce in an interview. “Last year we had 5% organic growth plus 8% unorganic growth from the acquisitions.” Eling noted that the markets outside Europe were growing faster than those inside the continent and that was the focus of Dachser’s acquisition campaign. “We want to build up a global groupage network in air and sea logistics that enables us to serve markets in and out of Europe as well as in America and Asia, focusing on high value products in verticals such as tech, fashion, sports, equipment and DIY, where we have a big presence,” he said. <h3>Aggressive expansion strategy </h3>Another European forwarder that is highly active in the M&amp;A department is Denmark-based Scan Global Logistics. Rene Bergerling, senior director of business management in Europe, Middle East and Africa at Scan, said 30 countries have been added to its controlled network in the past few years. “In our industry, big is beautiful and customers expect us to have our own offices globally and have end-to-end control of their cargo that minimizes their risk,” Bergerling told the Journal of Commerce. “We are continuously searching for companies that match our DNA and have the right people, because we are up against the big guys and finding the right people is very important,” he added. Expanding capabilities and strengthening its customer base was behind Toll Group’s acquisition of Transolve Global, an Australian-based specialist in international freight forwarding of wine, bulk liquids and perishables. Terms of the deal were not disclosed after it was finalized last week, but Suhail Qureshi, interim president of Toll Global Forwarding, gave an indication of the M&amp;A price point Toll has set for takeovers. “aFrom a size perspective, we’re owned by Japan Post, which is fairly large, so we’re not restricted in terms of size, although probably a sweet spot would be a company with revenue of around $250 to $300 million,” Qureshi said. “We are looking globally and not restricting ourselves to a particular geography, and our key focus areas right now are Germany and the Netherlands in Europe, plus Southeast Asia and the US,” he added. Qureshi said Toll’s M&amp;A strategy was to target companies that had expertise in a specific area or key vertical, such as food and wine, healthcare, technology and industrials. <h3>Logistics providers plugging holes, expanding networks </h3>Some notable targeted acquisitions from smaller forwarders recently were Illinois-headquartered AIT Worldwide Logistics’ agreement in January to take over St. Louis-based forwarder Krupp Trucking, which specializes in the transportation of high-value goods. Also in January, Arizona-based Q Logistics Holdings made a $1.2 billion offer for Dubai-headquartered Aramex, which has a global presence in express delivery and e-commerce. In February, Japan Post acquired integrated logistics provider Tonami Holdings for $630 million. Hellmann Worldwide Logistics, based in Osnabrück, Germany, acquired full ownership of Los-Angeles-based HPL Apollo in February, strengthening the global forwarder’s position in the perishable logistics market and expanding its footprint in the US and Latin America. Also in February, another German forwarder, Arvato, acquired US-based third-party logistics provider Carbel and Florida-headquartered United Customs Services, growing its US reach into e-commerce and strengthening capabilities in fashion, beauty and lifestyle logistics. Despite the many acquisitions being made by smaller forwarders, AlixPartners’ Iampieri noted that in the heavily disrupted global trading environment, securing finance was not always easy. “Financial buyers are afraid of the tariff risks and have the option of passing on this [forwarding] industry,” he said. “Financing is tough now for all buyers, but more so for financial buyers that must convince lenders to believe the tariff risks are small.” Contact Greg Knowler at <a href="mailto:greg.knowler@spglobal.com">greg.knowler@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

The completion of Danish forwarder DSV’s $16.25 billion all-cash acquisition of DB Schenker in April may have captured the headlines, but there is vigorous M&A activity among second-tier forwarders searching for inorganic growth in a tariff-disrupted and slowing global economy. Valuations have come down from the sky-high levels reached after the pandemic and now forwarders are either making strategic takeovers or actively seeking acquisitions to grow scale, plug holes in networks or expand into new markets. “The market is soft and organic growth is hard to come by now, so inorganic growth may be the best option,” said Marc Iampieri, global co-leader of logistics and transportation at business advisory firm AlixPartners. “Freight forwarders will survive this short-term challenge, and the strongest will end up with more market share and better solutions to squeeze some of the smaller ones out,” Iampieri told the Journal of Commerce Wednesday. A European forwarder making international takeover moves is Dachser, headquartered in Kempten, Germany. Burkhard Eling, CEO of the family-owned company, said the forwarder has made eight acquisitions within the last two years that have brought in $1 billion in revenue. “There will be more to come, that’s for sure,” he told the Journal of Commerce in an interview. “Last year we had 5% organic growth plus 8% unorganic growth from the acquisitions.” Eling noted that the markets outside Europe were growing faster than those inside the continent and that was the focus of Dachser’s acquisition campaign. “We want to build up a global groupage network in air and sea logistics that enables us to serve markets in and out of Europe as well as in America and Asia, focusing on high value products in verticals such as tech, fashion, sports, equipment and DIY, where we have a big presence,” he said. Aggressive expansion strategy Another European forwarder that is highly active in the M&A department is Denmark-based Scan Global Logistics. Rene Bergerling, senior director of business management in Europe, Middle East and Africa at Scan, said 30 countries have been added to its controlled network in the past few years. “In our industry, big is beautiful and customers expect us to have our own offices globally and have end-to-end control of their cargo that minimizes their risk,” Bergerling told the Journal of Commerce. “We are continuously searching for companies that match our DNA and have the right people, because we are up against the big guys and finding the right people is very important,” he added. Expanding capabilities and strengthening its customer base was behind Toll Group’s acquisition of Transolve Global, an Australian-based specialist in international freight forwarding of wine, bulk liquids and perishables. Terms of the deal were not disclosed after it was finalized last week, but Suhail Qureshi, interim president of Toll Global Forwarding, gave an indication of the M&A price point Toll has set for takeovers. “aFrom a size perspective, we’re owned by Japan Post, which is fairly large, so we’re not restricted in terms of size, although probably a sweet spot would be a company with revenue of around $250 to $300 million,” Qureshi said. “We are looking globally and not restricting ourselves to a particular geography, and our key focus areas right now are Germany and the Netherlands in Europe, plus Southeast Asia and the US,” he added. Qureshi said Toll’s M&A strategy was to target companies that had expertise in a specific area or key vertical, such as food and wine, healthcare, technology and industrials. Logistics providers plugging holes, expanding networks Some notable targeted acquisitions from smaller forwarders recently were Illinois-headquartered AIT Worldwide Logistics’ agreement in January to take over St. Louis-based forwarder Krupp Trucking, which specializes in the transportation of high-value goods. Also in January, Arizona-based Q Logistics Holdings made a $1.2 billion offer for Dubai-headquartered Aramex, which has a global presence in express delivery and e-commerce. In February, Japan Post acquired integrated logistics provider Tonami Holdings for $630 million. Hellmann Worldwide Logistics, based in Osnabrück, Germany, acquired full ownership of Los-Angeles-based HPL Apollo in February, strengthening the global forwarder’s position in the perishable logistics market and expanding its footprint in the US and Latin America. Also in February, another German forwarder, Arvato, acquired US-based third-party logistics provider Carbel and Florida-headquartered United Customs Services, growing its US reach into e-commerce and strengthening capabilities in fashion, beauty and lifestyle logistics. Despite the many acquisitions being made by smaller forwarders, AlixPartners’ Iampieri noted that in the heavily disrupted global trading environment, securing finance was not always easy. “Financial buyers are afraid of the tariff risks and have the option of passing on this [forwarding] industry,” he said. “Financing is tough now for all buyers, but more so for financial buyers that must convince lenders to believe the tariff risks are small.” Contact Greg Knowler at greg.knowler@spglobal.com .

Container Shipping News

Forwarding

Targeted takeovers drive M&A activity among smaller global forwarders

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">A widening spread between the West and East coasts comes as carriers have added fresh capacity, especially to Southern California, to take advantage of what had been a sharp jump in demand and rates following the US pause on higher tariffs against China.</div>

A widening spread between the West and East coasts comes as carriers have added fresh capacity, especially to Southern California, to take advantage of what had been a sharp jump in demand and rates following the US pause on higher tariffs against China.

<div class="phx-topic">Spot ocean rates on the eastbound trans-Pacific are diverging sharply this week, with prices to the US West Coast softening amid a fresh capacity injection and the East Coast market still showing strength. Rates to the West Coast were $5,700 per FEU as of June 9, down 6% on the week, according to Platts, a sister company of the Journal of Commerce within S&amp;P Global. East Coast rates, meanwhile, were up 4% at $7,400 per FEU. The $1,700 spread between the coasts is the widest variance since late January and comes as ocean carriers have moved capacity to Asia-West Coast routes to take advantage of what had been <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/pause-on-tariffs-prompts-us-retailers-to-upgrade-summer-import-forecast-6022230">a sharp jump in demand and rates following the 90-day pause</a> announced May 12 by the Trump administration on higher tariffs against China. “The rates for cargo coming into the Pacific Southwest are going down, but pricing to the US East Coast is actually going up,” Stephen A. Nothdurft, vice president of sales for North America at the forwarder MOL Consolidation Services, told the Journal of Commerce. “It’s due to all of these extra-loaders and services returning into rotation [to Los Angeles-Long Beach].” The spot rate variance between the two coasts is capacity-driven, Nothdurft said. “It’s a bit of an indication that the so-called ‘normal’ differential of $1,000 is all really based on supply and demand,” he said. <div class="wrapper-narrow"><dynamic-object type="jocchartid" resource-id="e8c13a3e-9f5a-412f-8741-adbf5e1a7779"></dynamic-object></div>A carrier executive told the Journal of Commerce that carriers have been “way too aggressive” in <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/ocean-carriers-bring-in-more-trans-pacific-container-services-amid-rate-surge-6012725">adding capacity to the West Coast</a>, especially Southern California. Vessels leaving Asia for Los Angeles-Long Beach have been “half-full,” driving spot rates lower, the executive said. He added that despite what the indexes say, the spot rates that are actually moving cargo today to the Southern California gateway are $4,000 to $5,000 per FEU. <h3>East Coast volumes to build, then taper quickly </h3>A second carrier executive expects volumes will build to the East Coast in the coming weeks because retailers there must ship their holiday merchandise soon in order to have goods on the store shelves for the Black Friday sales on the day after Thanksgiving. “The volumes are going to be there,” the source said, adding carriers in the coming weeks are likely to add capacity to key East Coast gateways such as New York-New Jersey and Savannah. Despite the uncertainty over tariffs that is likely to continue into July for most Asian countries and into August for China, retailers importing through East Coast ports have to finalize their year-end holiday orders with factories in Asia and ship the merchandise soon, said Kevin Parkerson, an industry consultant and former logistics manager at national retailers. “For the East Coast, the deadline is early August,” Parkerson said. Forwarders say that with the extensive frontloading of product that has already taken place, it is likely the increased imports through the East Coast will taper off by late July. “Time will tell, but I’m not 100% confident in the East Coast extending its imports for very long,” said Jason Cook, CEO of Ardent Global Logistics. 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>

Spot ocean rates on the eastbound trans-Pacific are diverging sharply this week, with prices to the US West Coast softening amid a fresh capacity injection and the East Coast market still showing strength. Rates to the West Coast were $5,700 per FEU as of June 9, down 6% on the week, according to Platts, a sister company of the Journal of Commerce within S&P Global. East Coast rates, meanwhile, were up 4% at $7,400 per FEU. The $1,700 spread between the coasts is the widest variance since late January and comes as ocean carriers have moved capacity to Asia-West Coast routes to take advantage of what had been a sharp jump in demand and rates following the 90-day pause announced May 12 by the Trump administration on higher tariffs against China. “The rates for cargo coming into the Pacific Southwest are going down, but pricing to the US East Coast is actually going up,” Stephen A. Nothdurft, vice president of sales for North America at the forwarder MOL Consolidation Services, told the Journal of Commerce. “It’s due to all of these extra-loaders and services returning into rotation [to Los Angeles-Long Beach].” The spot rate variance between the two coasts is capacity-driven, Nothdurft said. “It’s a bit of an indication that the so-called ‘normal’ differential of $1,000 is all really based on supply and demand,” he said. A carrier executive told the Journal of Commerce that carriers have been “way too aggressive” in adding capacity to the West Coast , especially Southern California. Vessels leaving Asia for Los Angeles-Long Beach have been “half-full,” driving spot rates lower, the executive said. He added that despite what the indexes say, the spot rates that are actually moving cargo today to the Southern California gateway are $4,000 to $5,000 per FEU. East Coast volumes to build, then taper quickly A second carrier executive expects volumes will build to the East Coast in the coming weeks because retailers there must ship their holiday merchandise soon in order to have goods on the store shelves for the Black Friday sales on the day after Thanksgiving. “The volumes are going to be there,” the source said, adding carriers in the coming weeks are likely to add capacity to key East Coast gateways such as New York-New Jersey and Savannah. Despite the uncertainty over tariffs that is likely to continue into July for most Asian countries and into August for China, retailers importing through East Coast ports have to finalize their year-end holiday orders with factories in Asia and ship the merchandise soon, said Kevin Parkerson, an industry consultant and former logistics manager at national retailers. “For the East Coast, the deadline is early August,” Parkerson said. Forwarders say that with the extensive frontloading of product that has already taken place, it is likely the increased imports through the East Coast will taper off by late July. “Time will tell, but I’m not 100% confident in the East Coast extending its imports for very long,” said Jason Cook, CEO of Ardent Global Logistics. Contact Laura Robb at laura.robb@spglobal.com .Contact Bill Mongelluzzo at bill.mongelluzzo@spglobal.com .

Trans-Pacific

North American ports

Asia-USWC spot rates weakening as vessel overcapacity takes hold

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">The railroad said the higher fees, which are temporary, are meant to keep terminals fluid amid the higher volume of imports expected to land in the US over the coming weeks.</div>

The railroad said the higher fees, which are temporary, are meant to keep terminals fluid amid the higher volume of imports expected to land in the US over the coming weeks.

<div class="phx-topic">Norfolk Southern Railway (NS) will temporarily increase storage fees on cargo owners who do not retrieve their containers promptly, a measure the railroad says is intended to preserve terminal fluidity amid an expected surge in freight volume. The higher storage fees, a form of demurrage, will apply to ocean containers available for pickup beginning July 7. NS said the storage fees will be rolled back to current levels once port activity slows down. Domestic intermodal loads are not affected. Under the fee structure, ocean containers left more than two days beyond the free-time window will incur daily penalties of $200 per day, double the standard $100 rate. The fee rises to $300 after six days, up from the usual $200. An importer that leaves a container at an NS terminal for seven days beyond the free-time allowance would pay $1,500 per box, compared with $900 under the standard storage scale. The free-time window won’t change. In major terminals, the shipper has the day of notification plus an additional 24 hours to get the container out without penalties. If NS notifies the shipper after 5 p.m. local time, the next calendar day is treated as the start of the free-time period. <h3>‘Well-positioned’ to handle volume surge </h3>Meanwhile, NS’ intermodal network has been steady so far this year. The railroad’s intermodal traffic, both international and domestic containers, was up 3.5% through the end of May compared with the first five months of last year, according to data from the Association of American Railroads. “If we have any kind of surge that folks have been talking about, we’re well-positioned to handle it,” Jason Zampi, NS’ CFO, said Tuesday at a Wells Fargo investors conference. <div class="wrapper-narrow"><dynamic-object type="jocchartid" resource-id="46372146-c5b4-4ec6-b12b-784cbc5611a9"></dynamic-object></div>NS’ Intermodal Service Z-score, as measured by the Journal of Commerce, has hovered near zero, indicating service levels remain close to long-term norms dating back to 2017. The metric compares intermodal train speeds, intermodal trains holding, and loaded intermodal railcars idling for more than 48 hours each week with the railroad’s own historical averages, as reported to the US Surface Transportation Board. Intermodal train speeds have been faster than the long-term average in 12 of the first 22 weeks, while the number of loaded intermodal railcars sitting idle for more than 48 hours was evenly split — 11 weeks above average, 11 below. NS in January introduced a <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/norfolk-southern-launches-appointment-system-at-landers-terminal-5934009">mandatory appointment system</a> at its Landers terminal in Chicago for retrieving ocean containers from terminal stacks. The new system may face its most significant test yet in the coming weeks. Contact Ari Ashe at <a href="mailto:ari.ashe@spglobal.com">ari.ashe@spglobal.com</a>.</div>

Norfolk Southern Railway (NS) will temporarily increase storage fees on cargo owners who do not retrieve their containers promptly, a measure the railroad says is intended to preserve terminal fluidity amid an expected surge in freight volume. The higher storage fees, a form of demurrage, will apply to ocean containers available for pickup beginning July 7. NS said the storage fees will be rolled back to current levels once port activity slows down. Domestic intermodal loads are not affected. Under the fee structure, ocean containers left more than two days beyond the free-time window will incur daily penalties of $200 per day, double the standard $100 rate. The fee rises to $300 after six days, up from the usual $200. An importer that leaves a container at an NS terminal for seven days beyond the free-time allowance would pay $1,500 per box, compared with $900 under the standard storage scale. The free-time window won’t change. In major terminals, the shipper has the day of notification plus an additional 24 hours to get the container out without penalties. If NS notifies the shipper after 5 p.m. local time, the next calendar day is treated as the start of the free-time period. ‘Well-positioned’ to handle volume surge Meanwhile, NS’ intermodal network has been steady so far this year. The railroad’s intermodal traffic, both international and domestic containers, was up 3.5% through the end of May compared with the first five months of last year, according to data from the Association of American Railroads. “If we have any kind of surge that folks have been talking about, we’re well-positioned to handle it,” Jason Zampi, NS’ CFO, said Tuesday at a Wells Fargo investors conference. NS’ Intermodal Service Z-score, as measured by the Journal of Commerce, has hovered near zero, indicating service levels remain close to long-term norms dating back to 2017. The metric compares intermodal train speeds, intermodal trains holding, and loaded intermodal railcars idling for more than 48 hours each week with the railroad’s own historical averages, as reported to the US Surface Transportation Board. Intermodal train speeds have been faster than the long-term average in 12 of the first 22 weeks, while the number of loaded intermodal railcars sitting idle for more than 48 hours was evenly split — 11 weeks above average, 11 below. NS in January introduced a mandatory appointment system at its Landers terminal in Chicago for retrieving ocean containers from terminal stacks. The new system may face its most significant test yet in the coming weeks. Contact Ari Ashe at ari.ashe@spglobal.com .

North-American rail

Norfolk Southern will raise container storage fees ahead of expected surge

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">As agricultural exports enter their traditional peak season, it is prudent to be proactive now — while there is still an empty container supply extant in North America. </div>

As agricultural exports enter their traditional peak season, it is prudent to be proactive now — while there is still an empty container supply extant in North America.

<div class="phx-topic">“Where Have All the Flowers Gone?” is a folk song written by American singer-songwriter Pete Seeger. Legend has it that he wrote it while on an airplane to play at Oberlin College, one of the few locations willing to defy the McCarthy hiring blacklist imposed on him. Subsequently, the song became a mainstay of the anti-war movement during the Vietnam War and has been covered by many artists and in many languages. The song utilizes the image of flowers and the cycle of life to depict the cyclical and destructive nature of war. And while I recognize that applying this metaphor to our industry’s cyclicality may be a step too far, I believe that the plaintive refrain, “Oh when will you/we ever learn; Oh, when will you/we ever learn?” certainly applies. In today’s transportation industry, there are very few of us that can remember the days of regulation when we struggled in an economy beset by stagflation. President Jimmy Carter then liberated our sector with deregulation. Because regulation — by design — was intended to ensure excess capacity, two decades of halcyon growth followed as this capacity was redeployed to productive applications. Along with globalization and outsourcing, logistics and supply chain management became industries in their own right, and intermodal was a key driver. However, about 25 years ago, the “free” capacity unleashed by deregulation had been consumed and growth needed to be supported by investment. Coincidentally, these changes took place against the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attack. A bipartisan blue-ribbon commission was established, and three years later, they released their report. The findings were extensive. The government was not prepared and did not know how to respond. Problems with intelligence collection, analysis, sharing across agencies, and a lack of coordination among federal agencies exacerbated the challenges. In fact, the whole structure represented a maze of siloed and disaggregated responsibilities. When I read the report, I was struck by the potential for a future commission assembled to write many of the same findings about the transportation network in our country. I actually wrote a white paper in 2004 claiming that it would be unnecessary to convene an investigation of the inevitable supply chain meltdown because it was already written. All that was necessary was to take the 9/11 report and replace “national security” with “supply chain.” <h3>COVID-19 drove changes </h3>Of course, our industry did nothing to address these structural shortcomings and muddled on until COVID-19 struck. At that time, it seemed that our entire industry adopted the “4C” excuse — everything was the fault of COVID, China, Congestion and Chassis. Everyone was surprised that such a terrible fate could befall our industry. Even worse, our industry seemed to be represented by our least qualified spokespeople and most of the media had no idea of basic facts. Somehow, we all survived that mess. Many of the problems impacted the entire network. The maelstrom of detention and demurrage bills gave rise to the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022 (OSRA-22). It increased the authority of the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) to promote the growth and development of US exports through an ocean transportation system that is competitive, efficient and economical. Beyond its mandate addressing complaints about detention and demurrage charges, OSRA-22 prohibits common ocean carriers, marine terminal operators or ocean transportation intermediaries from unreasonably refusing cargo space when available or resorting to other unfair or unjustly discriminatory methods. These protections were welcomed by the export community. However, we have to recognize that a complaint process after the fact may be insufficient to provide adequate protection if there is no effective remedy available. At times of high demand (and rates) for imports from Asia to North America, ocean carriers frequently evacuate all containers as soon as their import cargo is devanned. This moots the question of available space because there may be vessel space — but no empty containers.  As agricultural exports enter their traditional peak season, we believe that it is prudent to be proactive now, while there is still an empty container supply extant in North America. The Agriculture Transportation Coalition convenes June 16 for its annual meeting. I am sure Executive Director Peter Friedmann will have this high on the agenda; we do not want to be wondering where all the containers have gone. Contact Ted Prince at <a href="mailto:ted@tricitiesintermodal.com">ted@tricitiesintermodal.com</a>.</div>

“Where Have All the Flowers Gone?” is a folk song written by American singer-songwriter Pete Seeger. Legend has it that he wrote it while on an airplane to play at Oberlin College, one of the few locations willing to defy the McCarthy hiring blacklist imposed on him. Subsequently, the song became a mainstay of the anti-war movement during the Vietnam War and has been covered by many artists and in many languages. The song utilizes the image of flowers and the cycle of life to depict the cyclical and destructive nature of war. And while I recognize that applying this metaphor to our industry’s cyclicality may be a step too far, I believe that the plaintive refrain, “Oh when will you/we ever learn; Oh, when will you/we ever learn?” certainly applies. In today’s transportation industry, there are very few of us that can remember the days of regulation when we struggled in an economy beset by stagflation. President Jimmy Carter then liberated our sector with deregulation. Because regulation — by design — was intended to ensure excess capacity, two decades of halcyon growth followed as this capacity was redeployed to productive applications. Along with globalization and outsourcing, logistics and supply chain management became industries in their own right, and intermodal was a key driver. However, about 25 years ago, the “free” capacity unleashed by deregulation had been consumed and growth needed to be supported by investment. Coincidentally, these changes took place against the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attack. A bipartisan blue-ribbon commission was established, and three years later, they released their report. The findings were extensive. The government was not prepared and did not know how to respond. Problems with intelligence collection, analysis, sharing across agencies, and a lack of coordination among federal agencies exacerbated the challenges. In fact, the whole structure represented a maze of siloed and disaggregated responsibilities. When I read the report, I was struck by the potential for a future commission assembled to write many of the same findings about the transportation network in our country. I actually wrote a white paper in 2004 claiming that it would be unnecessary to convene an investigation of the inevitable supply chain meltdown because it was already written. All that was necessary was to take the 9/11 report and replace “national security” with “supply chain.” COVID-19 drove changes Of course, our industry did nothing to address these structural shortcomings and muddled on until COVID-19 struck. At that time, it seemed that our entire industry adopted the “4C” excuse — everything was the fault of COVID, China, Congestion and Chassis. Everyone was surprised that such a terrible fate could befall our industry. Even worse, our industry seemed to be represented by our least qualified spokespeople and most of the media had no idea of basic facts. Somehow, we all survived that mess. Many of the problems impacted the entire network. The maelstrom of detention and demurrage bills gave rise to the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022 (OSRA-22). It increased the authority of the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) to promote the growth and development of US exports through an ocean transportation system that is competitive, efficient and economical. Beyond its mandate addressing complaints about detention and demurrage charges, OSRA-22 prohibits common ocean carriers, marine terminal operators or ocean transportation intermediaries from unreasonably refusing cargo space when available or resorting to other unfair or unjustly discriminatory methods. These protections were welcomed by the export community. However, we have to recognize that a complaint process after the fact may be insufficient to provide adequate protection if there is no effective remedy available. At times of high demand (and rates) for imports from Asia to North America, ocean carriers frequently evacuate all containers as soon as their import cargo is devanned. This moots the question of available space because there may be vessel space — but no empty containers.  As agricultural exports enter their traditional peak season, we believe that it is prudent to be proactive now, while there is still an empty container supply extant in North America. The Agriculture Transportation Coalition convenes June 16 for its annual meeting. I am sure Executive Director Peter Friedmann will have this high on the agenda; we do not want to be wondering where all the containers have gone. Contact Ted Prince at ted@tricitiesintermodal.com .

Supply chain

Act now before we wonder where all the containers have gone

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">The Trump administration’s tariff policy is yet another milestone that has shaken the US economy over the past 60 years, writes Ted Prince. </div>

The Trump administration’s tariff policy is yet another milestone that has shaken the US economy over the past 60 years, writes Ted Prince.

<div class="phx-topic">Since the announcement of reciprocal tariffs on so-called “Liberation Day” last month, we have been bombarded by conflicting predictions of the possible benefits and disasters that may befall our country, our economy and our industry. What I find interesting is that the history of the past 60 years seems to have been forgotten. While there are many important dates, I will focus on four. <h3>Yanqui go home! </h3>I would start in April 1965, when President Lyndon Johnson deployed the Marines and 82nd Airborne to the Dominican Republic to quell a civil war that broke out after a military junta. While the intervention was intended to protect US nationals, mission creep led to the deployment of over 22,000 American troops. While the invasion successfully reinstalled a conservative government, it increased distrust of the US. At the same time, companies such as Hewlett Packard were rolling out a continuous pipeline of electronic innovations. Their intention was to near-shore manufacturing in Latin America; however, the prevalence of “Yanqui Go Home!” made them look elsewhere. Japan and then the “Four Tigers” (Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea) became the factory sites instead. The Vietnam War had become the first containerized war, and plentiful equipment was available to load back to the US. While electronics required factories, much of the manufacturing was cottage industries. For example, importers of blue jeans were buying from hundreds of small vendors. Ocean carrier consolidators would send pickup trucks into the New Territories to pick up loose articles of clothing (some which no doubt had been made in China) for consolidation at their facilities adjacent to the Kwai Tsing container terminals. <h3>Voluntary restraint </h3>In May 1981, with the American auto industry mired in recession, Japanese car makers agreed to “voluntary export restraint,” which limited exports of passenger cars to the US. However, at the same time, they implemented a strategy of “transplants,” whereby cars were assembled in the US. Some might consider this an example of “reshoring;” however, it is not that simple. Initially, the plants were built in Japan, then disassembled, shipped to the US, and reassembled. Most of the parts (CKD: cars knocked down) came from Japan, so actual US content — other than labor — was minimal. Over time, suppliers proliferated along Interstates 65 and 75 to support these plants. However, many of these were also Japanese transplants. Some were joint ventures with US partners, but many were just US subsidiaries of Japanese manufacturers. Barry Bluestone and Bennett Harrison described this phenomenon in their 1982 work, “The Deindustrialization of America: Plant Closings, Community Abandonment, and the Dismantling of Basic Industry.” They pointed out the irony that the Japanese were successfully investing in US industrial sectors that scarcely a decade ago were said to be declining, uncompetitive, and suffering from deindustrialization. <h3>The Plaza Accord </h3>The Plaza Accord in September 1985 effectively devalued the dollar against other major currencies. Initially, the US trade deficit worsened, as imports rose in price with a devalued dollar. However, the devaluation made US exports cheaper for its trading partners to purchase, which grew the market in goods and services — which are unaccounted for in the current administration’s calculation. <h3>China and the WTO </h3>Finally, in 2001, China joined the World Trade Organization (WTO). What followed was a massive dislocation in trade as China built world-class factories and world-class ports to ship goods throughout the world. Some of those factories have since relocated to nations with cheaper labor. However, a whole ecosystem of suppliers has grown up that supports the manufacturing and assembly of sophisticated products. China’s development took over 30 years. It was no shortcut. It was also the result of extensive industrial policy similar to what Japan and the Four Tigers had done previously. Most importantly, these policies did not deviate for decades and supported a long-term strategy whereby investment could be made with confidence. Our current politics are such that it is impossible to invest in today’s doctrine because it may no longer be applicable by the time the factory opens in three to eight years. In the past 30 years, trade has increased dramatically as a share of gross domestic product (GDP). However, while most economists believe that this has been good for the economy, the general public’s outlook is less sanguine. In large part, this is because trade’s impacts can vary widely: localized changes in jobs (both gains and losses) and reduced prices of goods and services. Freight is inextricably linked to trade. It has transformed our industry. We will no doubt have a ringside seat to the policy that is evolving. Contact Ted Prince at <a href="mailto:ted@tricitiesintermodal.com">ted@tricitiesintermodal.com</a>. </div>

Since the announcement of reciprocal tariffs on so-called “Liberation Day” last month, we have been bombarded by conflicting predictions of the possible benefits and disasters that may befall our country, our economy and our industry. What I find interesting is that the history of the past 60 years seems to have been forgotten. While there are many important dates, I will focus on four. Yanqui go home! I would start in April 1965, when President Lyndon Johnson deployed the Marines and 82nd Airborne to the Dominican Republic to quell a civil war that broke out after a military junta. While the intervention was intended to protect US nationals, mission creep led to the deployment of over 22,000 American troops. While the invasion successfully reinstalled a conservative government, it increased distrust of the US. At the same time, companies such as Hewlett Packard were rolling out a continuous pipeline of electronic innovations. Their intention was to near-shore manufacturing in Latin America; however, the prevalence of “Yanqui Go Home!” made them look elsewhere. Japan and then the “Four Tigers” (Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea) became the factory sites instead. The Vietnam War had become the first containerized war, and plentiful equipment was available to load back to the US. While electronics required factories, much of the manufacturing was cottage industries. For example, importers of blue jeans were buying from hundreds of small vendors. Ocean carrier consolidators would send pickup trucks into the New Territories to pick up loose articles of clothing (some which no doubt had been made in China) for consolidation at their facilities adjacent to the Kwai Tsing container terminals. Voluntary restraint In May 1981, with the American auto industry mired in recession, Japanese car makers agreed to “voluntary export restraint,” which limited exports of passenger cars to the US. However, at the same time, they implemented a strategy of “transplants,” whereby cars were assembled in the US. Some might consider this an example of “reshoring;” however, it is not that simple. Initially, the plants were built in Japan, then disassembled, shipped to the US, and reassembled. Most of the parts (CKD: cars knocked down) came from Japan, so actual US content — other than labor — was minimal. Over time, suppliers proliferated along Interstates 65 and 75 to support these plants. However, many of these were also Japanese transplants. Some were joint ventures with US partners, but many were just US subsidiaries of Japanese manufacturers. Barry Bluestone and Bennett Harrison described this phenomenon in their 1982 work, “The Deindustrialization of America: Plant Closings, Community Abandonment, and the Dismantling of Basic Industry.” They pointed out the irony that the Japanese were successfully investing in US industrial sectors that scarcely a decade ago were said to be declining, uncompetitive, and suffering from deindustrialization. The Plaza Accord The Plaza Accord in September 1985 effectively devalued the dollar against other major currencies. Initially, the US trade deficit worsened, as imports rose in price with a devalued dollar. However, the devaluation made US exports cheaper for its trading partners to purchase, which grew the market in goods and services — which are unaccounted for in the current administration’s calculation. China and the WTO Finally, in 2001, China joined the World Trade Organization (WTO). What followed was a massive dislocation in trade as China built world-class factories and world-class ports to ship goods throughout the world. Some of those factories have since relocated to nations with cheaper labor. However, a whole ecosystem of suppliers has grown up that supports the manufacturing and assembly of sophisticated products. China’s development took over 30 years. It was no shortcut. It was also the result of extensive industrial policy similar to what Japan and the Four Tigers had done previously. Most importantly, these policies did not deviate for decades and supported a long-term strategy whereby investment could be made with confidence. Our current politics are such that it is impossible to invest in today’s doctrine because it may no longer be applicable by the time the factory opens in three to eight years. In the past 30 years, trade has increased dramatically as a share of gross domestic product (GDP). However, while most economists believe that this has been good for the economy, the general public’s outlook is less sanguine. In large part, this is because trade’s impacts can vary widely: localized changes in jobs (both gains and losses) and reduced prices of goods and services. Freight is inextricably linked to trade. It has transformed our industry. We will no doubt have a ringside seat to the policy that is evolving. Contact Ted Prince at ted@tricitiesintermodal.com .

Transport, Trade and Regulation News

A history lesson while we watch current US trade policy unfold

S&P Global Platts editors engaging with market participants to assess the current value of freight-all-kinds (FAK) rates on major container trades produce container spot rates. The rates include bunker adjustment factors, general rate increases and emergency rare restoration. They also include low-sulfur fuel, equipment imbalance and repositioning surcharges. The rates exclude terminal handling, port security, overweight container, delivery, and detention and demurrage charges. [Platts](https://www.spglobal.com/commodityinsights)

North Asia to US West and East Coast container spot rates (Platts)

Platts North Asia to US East and West Coasts Weekly Gateway

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Cargo landing at the country’s ports in July will be 20% higher than the forecast made just last month by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates. </div>

Cargo landing at the country’s ports in July will be 20% higher than the forecast made just last month by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.

<div class="phx-topic">US retailers on Monday significantly upgraded import projections through August amid the temporary pauses in effect on the so-called reciprocal tariffs implemented by the Trump administration. Cargo landing at the country’s ports in July will be 20% higher than the <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/us-retailers-project-first-year-over-year-import-cut-in-19-months-as-tariffs-bite-6001817">forecast made in May</a> by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Hackett Associates. Their June Global Port Tracker (GPT) shows the first upgrade to US import projections since February, before the first round of tariffs were announced in April. “Tariff reductions will lead to a surge in imports in June through August as importers take advantage of the various 90-day pauses,” Hackett Associates Founder Ben Hackett said. A pause on higher tariffs on most of the US’ trading partners is in effect until July 9, while the pause on the 145% tariff on imports from China is due to expire Aug. 14. The GPT’s updated forecast calls for July US imports of 2.13 million TEUs — up 20.3% from last month’s GPT but still well below the 2.32 million TEUs brought in during July 2024. Retailers expect August imports to reach 1.98 million TEUs, up 8.8% from May’s forecast. “[Shippers] are now looking to get those orders and cargo moving in order <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/ocean-carriers-bring-in-more-trans-pacific-container-services-amid-rate-surge-6012725">to bring as much merchandise</a> into the country as they can before the reciprocal tariff and additional China tariff pauses end in July and August,” said Jonathan Gold, NRF’s vice president for Supply Chain and Customs Policy. June import projections were also upgraded from the May GPT, with retailers expecting 17.5% higher volumes at 2.01 million TEUs. Preliminary May volumes of 1.91 million TEUs are expected to be 5.5% higher than forecast last month. <h3>A soft Q4 </h3>But the summer surge is expected to end given the uncertainty over what will happen once the temporary tariff reprieves expire. Retailers slightly downgraded import expectations for September to 1.78 million TEUs, which would also be a 21.6% drop compared with the year-ago month. And in its initial forecast for October, the GPT projects imports of 1.8 million TEUs, almost 20% lower than October 2024. “The peak for the winter holidays will come early this year, making it simultaneous with the peak for the back-to-school season,” Hackett said. “If higher tariffs are not delayed again, we can expect the final four months of the year to see declining volumes of imports.” The updated forecast brings the first-half projection for US imports to 12.54 million TEUs, up 3.4% from expectations made in May and 3.7% higher than actual first-half 2024 volumes. The GPT is published monthly using import data collected from 13 ports on the US East, West and Gulf coasts. Contact Laura Robb at <a href="mailto:Laura.Robb@spglobal.com">laura.robb@spglobal.com</a>.  </div>

US retailers on Monday significantly upgraded import projections through August amid the temporary pauses in effect on the so-called reciprocal tariffs implemented by the Trump administration. Cargo landing at the country’s ports in July will be 20% higher than the forecast made in May by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Hackett Associates. Their June Global Port Tracker (GPT) shows the first upgrade to US import projections since February, before the first round of tariffs were announced in April. “Tariff reductions will lead to a surge in imports in June through August as importers take advantage of the various 90-day pauses,” Hackett Associates Founder Ben Hackett said. A pause on higher tariffs on most of the US’ trading partners is in effect until July 9, while the pause on the 145% tariff on imports from China is due to expire Aug. 14. The GPT’s updated forecast calls for July US imports of 2.13 million TEUs — up 20.3% from last month’s GPT but still well below the 2.32 million TEUs brought in during July 2024. Retailers expect August imports to reach 1.98 million TEUs, up 8.8% from May’s forecast. “[Shippers] are now looking to get those orders and cargo moving in order to bring as much merchandise into the country as they can before the reciprocal tariff and additional China tariff pauses end in July and August,” said Jonathan Gold, NRF’s vice president for Supply Chain and Customs Policy. June import projections were also upgraded from the May GPT, with retailers expecting 17.5% higher volumes at 2.01 million TEUs. Preliminary May volumes of 1.91 million TEUs are expected to be 5.5% higher than forecast last month. A soft Q4 But the summer surge is expected to end given the uncertainty over what will happen once the temporary tariff reprieves expire. Retailers slightly downgraded import expectations for September to 1.78 million TEUs, which would also be a 21.6% drop compared with the year-ago month. And in its initial forecast for October, the GPT projects imports of 1.8 million TEUs, almost 20% lower than October 2024. “The peak for the winter holidays will come early this year, making it simultaneous with the peak for the back-to-school season,” Hackett said. “If higher tariffs are not delayed again, we can expect the final four months of the year to see declining volumes of imports.” The updated forecast brings the first-half projection for US imports to 12.54 million TEUs, up 3.4% from expectations made in May and 3.7% higher than actual first-half 2024 volumes. The GPT is published monthly using import data collected from 13 ports on the US East, West and Gulf coasts. Contact Laura Robb at laura.robb@spglobal.com . 

Pause on tariffs prompts US retailers to upgrade summer import forecast

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">TRAC Intermodal, DCLI and FlexiVan Leasing began unstacking chassis shortly after the Trump administration last month announced a 90-day pause on the 145% tariffs on Chinese imports.</div>

TRAC Intermodal, DCLI and FlexiVan Leasing began unstacking chassis shortly after the Trump administration last month announced a 90-day pause on the 145% tariffs on Chinese imports.

<div class="phx-topic">As an expected wave of imports from China begins arriving at US ports in the coming weeks, the country’s three largest marine chassis providers say they are pulling idle equipment from storage, inspecting and repairing units, and repositioning chassis to key inland hubs to avoid a repeat of the shortages seen during the pandemic. TRAC Intermodal, DCLI and FlexiVan Leasing, the US’ top three lessors by fleet size, respectively, began unstacking chassis shortly after the Trump administration last month announced a 90-day pause on the 145% tariffs on Chinese imports. TRAC owns more than 200,000 marine chassis, while DCLI has about 140,000 units and FlexiVan about 120,000. None of the companies disclosed the number of chassis they’ve taken out of long-term storage, but each said the total is in the “tens of thousands.” “Our current utilization, our working fleet, is rather soft,” said Val Noel, chief operating officer of TRAC. “But we think this could be a little bit like a tsunami, and we want to have extra capacity to make sure we don’t have any service disruptions.” TRAC will focus on repairing and positioning chassis in Chicago, Dallas and Memphis. Noel said chassis placed into Memphis can be redeployed to Kansas City, St. Louis and Omaha, if necessary, while chassis in Chicago can be redirected to the Ohio Valley. DCLI began unstacking equipment in Southern California days after the tariff pause announcement and has since expanded the process to inland locations including Chicago, Dallas and Memphis. “We have safety stocks in place in key markets and are working with our vendors to ensure we have the repair capacity necessary to respond to this demand,” said Mike O’Malley, DCLI’s senior vice president of government and public relations. FlexiVan, which is exiting Southern California’s Pool of Pools, has focused on ensuring chassis availability for its core partner, Ocean Network Express (ONE). “[We are] working continuously to get pool chassis into a ready to use condition and fleeted into our private pool for ONE and other customers,” Flexi said in a statement to the Journal of Commerce. FlexiVan in late April opened its new private chassis pool serving the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, with FlexiVan Pool “designed to enhance our service capabilities for carriers and customers.” <h3>Getting repairs done now </h3>The chassis providers emphasized that pulling equipment out of long-term storage is not a one-day process. Units stacked for months, sometimes years, must undergo full inspections and safety checks, and in many cases, minor repairs before they are roadworthy. It can take several weeks to check lighting systems, brake lines, tires and structural components that can rust, corrode or suffer other weather-related fatigue. Technicians must also be available in sufficient numbers, and often work overtime, to meet repair deadlines. DCLI said it’s better prepared than during the pandemic because it did not significantly scale back repair operations with repair vendors when the market softened. DCLI said it learned how important it is to keep mechanics working even as volumes soften because widespread layoffs require rehiring and training later, which makes it difficult to complete repairs before a cargo surge. As a result, DCLI believes it can quickly inspect, repair and certify idle chassis without having to rebuild labor capacity from scratch. <h3>Communication is key </h3>Knowing when and where to deploy repaired units is crucial to prevent equipment shortages. Chassis providers rely on cargo forecasts from ocean carriers, railroads and shippers and data from the US Department of Transportation’s Freight Logistics Optimization Works (FLOW) initiative to position chassis ahead of surges. Under normal conditions, imports going to secondary cities such as Cincinnati, Columbus or St. Louis can be part of a block within a larger train to Chicago or Kansas City. During a surge, however, those cities may receive dedicated trains with double or triple the usual number of containers, flooding local terminals and straining chassis availability. “That’s one of the things that has beaten us in the past,” Noel acknowledged. “Normally a city might get a 3,000-foot block of containers, and during a surge it’s a 10,000-foot train. Both of our western roads (BNSF Railway and Union Pacific Railroad) have been super in partnering with us, letting us know what’s coming so we can be prepared.” The landscape has also changed in recent years in ways that may increase supply chain resiliency. More trucking companies and cargo owners now operate private chassis fleets, reducing their reliance on shared pool equipment. Railroads have also adjusted terminal operations, placing more import containers into grounded stacks, allowing cargo owners to retrieve loads using their own equipment and easing pressure on the public pools managed by DCLI, TRAC, and FlexiVan. Contact Ari Ashe at <a href="mailto:ari.ashe@spglobal.com">ari.ashe@spglobal.com</a>.</div>

As an expected wave of imports from China begins arriving at US ports in the coming weeks, the country’s three largest marine chassis providers say they are pulling idle equipment from storage, inspecting and repairing units, and repositioning chassis to key inland hubs to avoid a repeat of the shortages seen during the pandemic. TRAC Intermodal, DCLI and FlexiVan Leasing, the US’ top three lessors by fleet size, respectively, began unstacking chassis shortly after the Trump administration last month announced a 90-day pause on the 145% tariffs on Chinese imports. TRAC owns more than 200,000 marine chassis, while DCLI has about 140,000 units and FlexiVan about 120,000. None of the companies disclosed the number of chassis they’ve taken out of long-term storage, but each said the total is in the “tens of thousands.” “Our current utilization, our working fleet, is rather soft,” said Val Noel, chief operating officer of TRAC. “But we think this could be a little bit like a tsunami, and we want to have extra capacity to make sure we don’t have any service disruptions.” TRAC will focus on repairing and positioning chassis in Chicago, Dallas and Memphis. Noel said chassis placed into Memphis can be redeployed to Kansas City, St. Louis and Omaha, if necessary, while chassis in Chicago can be redirected to the Ohio Valley. DCLI began unstacking equipment in Southern California days after the tariff pause announcement and has since expanded the process to inland locations including Chicago, Dallas and Memphis. “We have safety stocks in place in key markets and are working with our vendors to ensure we have the repair capacity necessary to respond to this demand,” said Mike O’Malley, DCLI’s senior vice president of government and public relations. FlexiVan, which is exiting Southern California’s Pool of Pools, has focused on ensuring chassis availability for its core partner, Ocean Network Express (ONE). “[We are] working continuously to get pool chassis into a ready to use condition and fleeted into our private pool for ONE and other customers,” Flexi said in a statement to the Journal of Commerce. FlexiVan in late April opened its new private chassis pool serving the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, with FlexiVan Pool “designed to enhance our service capabilities for carriers and customers.” Getting repairs done now The chassis providers emphasized that pulling equipment out of long-term storage is not a one-day process. Units stacked for months, sometimes years, must undergo full inspections and safety checks, and in many cases, minor repairs before they are roadworthy. It can take several weeks to check lighting systems, brake lines, tires and structural components that can rust, corrode or suffer other weather-related fatigue. Technicians must also be available in sufficient numbers, and often work overtime, to meet repair deadlines. DCLI said it’s better prepared than during the pandemic because it did not significantly scale back repair operations with repair vendors when the market softened. DCLI said it learned how important it is to keep mechanics working even as volumes soften because widespread layoffs require rehiring and training later, which makes it difficult to complete repairs before a cargo surge. As a result, DCLI believes it can quickly inspect, repair and certify idle chassis without having to rebuild labor capacity from scratch. Communication is key Knowing when and where to deploy repaired units is crucial to prevent equipment shortages. Chassis providers rely on cargo forecasts from ocean carriers, railroads and shippers and data from the US Department of Transportation’s Freight Logistics Optimization Works (FLOW) initiative to position chassis ahead of surges. Under normal conditions, imports going to secondary cities such as Cincinnati, Columbus or St. Louis can be part of a block within a larger train to Chicago or Kansas City. During a surge, however, those cities may receive dedicated trains with double or triple the usual number of containers, flooding local terminals and straining chassis availability. “That’s one of the things that has beaten us in the past,” Noel acknowledged. “Normally a city might get a 3,000-foot block of containers, and during a surge it’s a 10,000-foot train. Both of our western roads (BNSF Railway and Union Pacific Railroad) have been super in partnering with us, letting us know what’s coming so we can be prepared.” The landscape has also changed in recent years in ways that may increase supply chain resiliency. More trucking companies and cargo owners now operate private chassis fleets, reducing their reliance on shared pool equipment. Railroads have also adjusted terminal operations, placing more import containers into grounded stacks, allowing cargo owners to retrieve loads using their own equipment and easing pressure on the public pools managed by DCLI, TRAC, and FlexiVan. Contact Ari Ashe at ari.ashe@spglobal.com .

Drayage

US chassis providers getting equipment ready for US import surge

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">But a rise in demand for general cargo will not be enough to offset the sharp decline in e-commerce shipments that followed the US clampdown in May on low-value imports from China. </div>

But a rise in demand for general cargo will not be enough to offset the sharp decline in e-commerce shipments that followed the US clampdown in May on low-value imports from China.

<div class="phx-topic">MUNICH — Trans-Pacific air cargo demand is showing signs of recovery amid restocking efforts in the US, with airlines bringing back some of the freighter capacity that had been shifted out of the trade lane to serve strengthening general cargo markets. But the volume generated by seasonal tech product launches, semiconductors, perishables and pharma — and boosted by shippers being forced into the air <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/pause-in-tariff-hikes-drives-big-gains-in-trans-pacific-spot-rates-6017111">as China-US ocean space tightens</a> — will not replace the massive demand for e-commerce that filled dozens of freighters per day, according to Airbus. “E-commerce has been driving freight demand over the past years, and the big question out there is what’s going to happen to it,” Oliver von Tronchin, head of freighter marketing at the French aircraft manufacturer, told an Air Cargo Europe panel at the Transport Logistic exhibition this week. “What we are looking at is the change to the de minimis rule and the European equivalent, and if a $2.75 item is left with $100 flat fee from the US, people will not buy that item,” he added. After eliminating the duty-free exemption for low-value shipments from China valued at under $800 on May 2, the US on May 14 reduced the de minimis tariff on the low-value imports from 120% to 54%. Items sent via post from China to the US will be charged a flat fee of $100, regardless of value. The European Union is proposing a €2 handling fee for small parcels under €150 from China that would be paid by online retailers, such as Shein and Temu, but Brussels has not set an implementation date. In 2024, e-commerce shipments accounted for about 50% of China-to-US air freight volume, according to rate benchmarking platform Xeneta. Since the duty-free status of low-value Chinese imports was revoked in May, the volume has declined. The drop in trans-Pacific air freight is a leading factor in the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA’s) forecast of little to no growth in global air cargo volume for 2025, a huge climb down from the 12% jump in year over year demand in 2024. <h3>Challenge to match supply and demand </h3>Airlines are trying to match supply with demand, but those on the trans-Pacific are not being helped by the policy changes emanating from the White House. China-US tonnage in mid-May was down 25% year over year, with freighter capacity down 40%, according to Cargo Facts Consulting. As volume began to recover over the last two weeks, it encouraged carriers to bring back freighters, but with e-commerce demand muted, most of the returning lift was serving general cargo. C.H. Robinson noted in a market update this week that airlines were being cautious in adding capacity as demand recovers, with that balancing act expected to tighten available space and push rates higher throughout June, especially for non-priority shipments. The forwarder warned that end-of-quarter demand and tariff deadlines will likely create bottlenecks for last-minute bookings on China-US routes and advised shippers to explore alternate routes through Southeast Asia and book space two to three weeks in advance. The rising demand on the trans-Pacific can be seen in data from air cargo analyst Rotate, which shows an 11% increase in air cargo capacity on the Asia-North America route last week compared with the average capacity deployed over the previous four weeks. <div class="wrapper-narrow"><dynamic-object type="jocchartid" resource-id="d1642275-60f0-447f-84f8-8fd17fcb6d8f"></dynamic-object></div>China to US spot rates are rising in tandem with the increasing demand; as of June 1, they were up 14% from the first week of May at $4.31 per kilogram, according to Xeneta. Nadeem Sultan, senior vice president of cargo planning and freighters at Emirates SkyCargo, said general air freight volume was growing on Asia-North America but airlines remained in a holding pattern regarding the tariffs. “We are seeing that demand rise, but right now, everybody is waiting until mid-August when the 90-day pause in [China] tariffs ends to see what the permanent rule is going to be,” he said. “Depending on what the politicians say over the coming weeks, corporate companies are going to decide how high the risk is and whether they should be frontloading or not,” Sultan added. “But it is too early for them to make that decision now and I would say by the middle of July we will have more clarity.” <h3>E-commerce is ‘a way of life’ </h3>While e-commerce volume is currently under pressure, airlines and aircraft manufacturers at Air Cargo Europe were bullish on future air cargo demand. “Overall, e-commerce is still robust and will still be a sizable driver within air freight in the years ahead,” von Tronchin said. “It has become a way of life, and we’re used to that way of life, and I don’t think any of us are necessarily going to change it.” Jannie Davel, CEO of MSC Air Cargo, agreed, noting that e-commerce would remain a core component of air freight, and that the market would rebalance, although not to the high demand of the past. Davel added that shippers of general cargo were also adapting to changing trade flows as the tariffs forced Asian manufacturers to adjust production strategies. “We are seeing a lot of high-tech manufacturing shifting out of China to South Asia, so even if the tariffs are maintained, the trade will still be there,” he said. “It will maybe take some time to adjust, but then it will balance out.” The bullish view on air cargo demand was shared by Boeing and Airbus. Even with the US-China trade war roiling international markets and changing demand patterns, the plane makers have left their 20-year market forecasts unchanged. John Purdoch, director of product marketing of freighters at Boeing, said all the fundamentals in the market remained in place to support long-term growth. “Over the next 20 years, almost 3,000 new freighters will enter the market in all segments, and over 800 of those in the large, wide-body space,” Purdoch said. “We believe we are on a long-term growth path of 4% growth year over year for the next 20 years.” Von Tronchin said Airbus was “in the long-term game,” adding that the current disruptions to the market were temporary. “Our global market forecast is for 20 years, and as we saw in COVID-19 and after the financial crisis, air cargo has always come back to a trend of 3% to 4% growth per year,” he said. “Air cargo will remain a growth industry, independent of the short-term effects we are seeing.” Contact Greg Knowler at <a href="mailto:greg.knowler@spglobal.com">greg.knowler@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

MUNICH — Trans-Pacific air cargo demand is showing signs of recovery amid restocking efforts in the US, with airlines bringing back some of the freighter capacity that had been shifted out of the trade lane to serve strengthening general cargo markets. But the volume generated by seasonal tech product launches, semiconductors, perishables and pharma — and boosted by shippers being forced into the air as China-US ocean space tightens — will not replace the massive demand for e-commerce that filled dozens of freighters per day, according to Airbus. “E-commerce has been driving freight demand over the past years, and the big question out there is what’s going to happen to it,” Oliver von Tronchin, head of freighter marketing at the French aircraft manufacturer, told an Air Cargo Europe panel at the Transport Logistic exhibition this week. “What we are looking at is the change to the de minimis rule and the European equivalent, and if a $2.75 item is left with $100 flat fee from the US, people will not buy that item,” he added. After eliminating the duty-free exemption for low-value shipments from China valued at under $800 on May 2, the US on May 14 reduced the de minimis tariff on the low-value imports from 120% to 54%. Items sent via post from China to the US will be charged a flat fee of $100, regardless of value. The European Union is proposing a €2 handling fee for small parcels under €150 from China that would be paid by online retailers, such as Shein and Temu, but Brussels has not set an implementation date. In 2024, e-commerce shipments accounted for about 50% of China-to-US air freight volume, according to rate benchmarking platform Xeneta. Since the duty-free status of low-value Chinese imports was revoked in May, the volume has declined. The drop in trans-Pacific air freight is a leading factor in the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA’s) forecast of little to no growth in global air cargo volume for 2025, a huge climb down from the 12% jump in year over year demand in 2024. Challenge to match supply and demand Airlines are trying to match supply with demand, but those on the trans-Pacific are not being helped by the policy changes emanating from the White House. China-US tonnage in mid-May was down 25% year over year, with freighter capacity down 40%, according to Cargo Facts Consulting. As volume began to recover over the last two weeks, it encouraged carriers to bring back freighters, but with e-commerce demand muted, most of the returning lift was serving general cargo. C.H. Robinson noted in a market update this week that airlines were being cautious in adding capacity as demand recovers, with that balancing act expected to tighten available space and push rates higher throughout June, especially for non-priority shipments. The forwarder warned that end-of-quarter demand and tariff deadlines will likely create bottlenecks for last-minute bookings on China-US routes and advised shippers to explore alternate routes through Southeast Asia and book space two to three weeks in advance. The rising demand on the trans-Pacific can be seen in data from air cargo analyst Rotate, which shows an 11% increase in air cargo capacity on the Asia-North America route last week compared with the average capacity deployed over the previous four weeks. China to US spot rates are rising in tandem with the increasing demand; as of June 1, they were up 14% from the first week of May at $4.31 per kilogram, according to Xeneta. Nadeem Sultan, senior vice president of cargo planning and freighters at Emirates SkyCargo, said general air freight volume was growing on Asia-North America but airlines remained in a holding pattern regarding the tariffs. “We are seeing that demand rise, but right now, everybody is waiting until mid-August when the 90-day pause in [China] tariffs ends to see what the permanent rule is going to be,” he said. “Depending on what the politicians say over the coming weeks, corporate companies are going to decide how high the risk is and whether they should be frontloading or not,” Sultan added. “But it is too early for them to make that decision now and I would say by the middle of July we will have more clarity.” E-commerce is ‘a way of life’ While e-commerce volume is currently under pressure, airlines and aircraft manufacturers at Air Cargo Europe were bullish on future air cargo demand. “Overall, e-commerce is still robust and will still be a sizable driver within air freight in the years ahead,” von Tronchin said. “It has become a way of life, and we’re used to that way of life, and I don’t think any of us are necessarily going to change it.” Jannie Davel, CEO of MSC Air Cargo, agreed, noting that e-commerce would remain a core component of air freight, and that the market would rebalance, although not to the high demand of the past. Davel added that shippers of general cargo were also adapting to changing trade flows as the tariffs forced Asian manufacturers to adjust production strategies. “We are seeing a lot of high-tech manufacturing shifting out of China to South Asia, so even if the tariffs are maintained, the trade will still be there,” he said. “It will maybe take some time to adjust, but then it will balance out.” The bullish view on air cargo demand was shared by Boeing and Airbus. Even with the US-China trade war roiling international markets and changing demand patterns, the plane makers have left their 20-year market forecasts unchanged. John Purdoch, director of product marketing of freighters at Boeing, said all the fundamentals in the market remained in place to support long-term growth. “Over the next 20 years, almost 3,000 new freighters will enter the market in all segments, and over 800 of those in the large, wide-body space,” Purdoch said. “We believe we are on a long-term growth path of 4% growth year over year for the next 20 years.” Von Tronchin said Airbus was “in the long-term game,” adding that the current disruptions to the market were temporary. “Our global market forecast is for 20 years, and as we saw in COVID-19 and after the financial crisis, air cargo has always come back to a trend of 3% to 4% growth per year,” he said. “Air cargo will remain a growth industry, independent of the short-term effects we are seeing.” Contact Greg Knowler at greg.knowler@spglobal.com .

Air Cargo

Signs of air cargo recovery on the trans-Pacific as freighter aircraft return

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The world of LTL is slow to embrace change. Business anachronisms permeate current supply chain processes. These vestiges of the way things used to work define the LTL freight transportation procurement process of many modern shippers.David Knuth, logistics specialist at IEWC, a global supplier of cable and wire based in Wisconsin, is happy to have modernized the RFP process, automating the entire LTL bidding procedure with Bid$ense, SMC³’s automated truckload and LTL freight transportation sourcing solution. But when prompted, he can still recall what once was.In his previous job, a large part of his duties were consumed by creating an intermodal bid package for carriers. In a spreadsheet, Knuth detailed the company’s volumes lane by lane, taking care to delete any errant keystrokes or misleading data. He would then email out the information to each carrier, taking time to respond to detailed technical questions about the spreadsheet data. Finally, he had to compile all the results, create an algorithm that would compare the carriers on each lane, and award the business.“It was a huge undertaking. It took about four months to do,” Knuth said of the old process. “It was almost a full-time job for that part of the year, every year.”In his new job at IEWC, he sat down with Bid$ense on day one and was amazed at the capabilities. Knuth had never before used a bid tool. SMC³’s latest versions of Bid$ense automate the process even further, taking truckload and LTL RFPs entirely online. The tool draws on RFP best-practices protocols to streamline the bidding communication process, enabling bidding carriers to respond accurately and promptly to shipper requests. The solution also does all the distribution work automatically, electronically submitting shipper bid data to carriers based on their actual service capabilities and performance records. Carriers are alerted with timely prompts for RFP deliverables, so shippers aren’t waiting by the phone for responses.Another benefit of automating the process is the data-cleansing assistance. When Knuth sent spreadsheets to carriers, data errors might cloud the bidding process; he might have to resend data or simply accept a price that did not truly reflect the costs of doing business. Data cleansing is incredibly beneficial, he said.The spreadsheet technique also made bidding analysis an onerous task. Since Bid$ense automates and streamlines the entire RFP process, intensive examination is now simple. SMC³ knows that each bid has more than one best outcome. With uniform responses from each carrier, shippers can quickly rank results and create an unlimited quantity of what-if scenarios to make the optimal procurement decision.Jesse Burnett of Central Garden &amp; Pet experiences many of the same benefits. Founded in 1980, Central Garden &amp; Pet has spent the last three decades growing from a small garden supply company to a provider of a range of products from dog chews and bird seed to soil supplements and natural insecticides. For much of its life, the company shipped these disparate goods via LTL and truckload carriers to retailers throughout the country, relying on each business unit to negotiate directly with their freight transportation providers. This arrangement worked fairly well for a small company, but as Central Garden &amp; Pet expanded, leadership decided to consolidate decision making.Burnett helped centralize the transportation decision making in 2015 with SMC³’s Bid$ense. Before Bid$ense, every business unit operated independently as far as negotiating with carriers.“There were a lot of different things just floating around,” he said. “We didn’t have master agreements in place; no national pricing at all. The pricing from carriers was just all over the place, depending on where you were.”The transformations he saw with Bid$ense were immediate. Burnett has been using the tool about every other year since its implementation at the company. Central Garden and Pet’s $19.6 million 2019 LTL bid saved the company just more than 9 percent when compared to its historical average. For Burnett, though, bid automation extends far beyond savings.“We knew that we weren’t getting the best pricing offer from our carriers just because nothing was centralized,” he continued. “We knew that if we combined everything from all these business units and paired it with one corporate offering, then it would drive some cost benefit with it.”When the company initially decided to centralize bid procurement, executives researched a number of different methodologies and technologies. In the end, though, Burnett found that Bid$ense was both widespread and well known, and that his carrier partners already knew how to use the application. Burnett also highlighted the data-cleansing process as a major benefit, saying the rigorous process ensures that carriers always return the best price.“It definitely has helped drive savings,” he said. “Any time you go out there and you drive that competitiveness with the carriers and they know they’re in a bid environment, it seems to sharpen their pencils.”Transportation procurement is an integral part of the modern supply chain. With Bid$ense, shippers can develop a strategic implementation plan that saves them time and money, but also helps them create strong relationships with their carrier partners. These carriers appreciate the solution’s data-cleansing process; when carriers receive a complete shipment history and future volume forecast, they don’t have to guess on pricing. Carriers that receive more data from shippers get a complete picture of that shipper’s freight, allowing them to accurately plan instead of simply preparing for the worst-case scenario. Clean data presented through an automated system can lead to both bigger shipment savings and a lasting partnership between carrier and customer.Whether customers are looking to streamline over-the-road transportation bidding by automating the RFP process or create an entirely new, centralized sourcing process, Bid$ense has the analytical horsepower to get the job done.SMC³ 2020 Customer Case Study

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Shippers save money, time with automated transportation bidding tools

If there’s one immutable truth in the world of logistics, it’s this: LTL is an inherently complex form of transportation. Tariffs, rates, DIM weights, transit times — it’s enough to confuse even seasoned logistics professionals. The solution to this knowledge gap has historically been on-the-job training or university supply chain education, but for a variety of reasons there is now a pressing need for third-party, remote LTL training that prepares logistics workers for transportation success. Global Scope Can Overlook Local Intricacies In the past, professionals looking to move into a supply chain career learned about the basics of supply chain from universities. However, many of these college supply chain programs are now global in scope, focusing on worldwide supply chain management instead of the intricacies of specialized domestic transportation. And even these programs, which used to be widespread, are becoming less common. LTL is not an industry of broad-brush strokes; supply chain professionals really need a pointillistic understanding of the logistics of LTL in order to excel in the industry. Accelerating Need for Dedicated LTL Education This lack of specified training put the onus on employers to prepare new hires with the LTL knowledge needed to do their jobs. Dedicated LTL study is a necessity, not a luxury. At the same time, changes in LTL and the broader supply chain world are accelerating. The reliance on e-commerce has ballooned since the start of the pandemic, and last-mile LTL shipments and related e-commerce strains on the supply chain won’t diminish once social distancing abates. That genie isn’t going back into the bottle. So supply chain employers need logistics workers that are fully versed in all aspects of the industry, ready to solve unique shipping and delivery problems based on their extensive supply chain knowledge But why care about LTL? It’s been reported that some shippers in today’s world are no longer concerned with what mode is used to ship their goods. A Multimodal Approach Ensures On-Time Delivery This mode agnosticism means supply chain stakeholders have to be well versed in all modes of transportation. As unforeseen weather events and other disruptions, such as protests, become more common, savvy logistics employees will need to be armed with familiarity of all modes, not just the most popular, to ensure that freight is delivered on time, without damage, and in the most financially expedient way possible. Offerings like SMC³’s LTL online education courses cover a wide range of topics from LTL basics and operations to more advanced concepts like pricing analytics and transportation law. The company also has plans to continually refresh content, adding new expert presenters and taking the feedback of students to make the courses even better as time goes on. Learn more about&nbsp;<a href="https://logisticstrainingcenter.com/smc3-courses/" rel="noreferrer" class="joc_admin__link">SMC³’s LTL Online Education program</a>&nbsp;and view the 2021 hybrid schedule, featuring live industry experts,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.smc3.com/onlinelearning2021/" rel="noreferrer" class="joc_admin__link">here.</a>

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Filling the Supply Chain Education Gap with LTL Education Courses

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<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">The terminal operator said it has reduced the inventory of rail-bound containers at its Elizabeth facility to about 1,600, down from about 4,000 in early May. </div>

The terminal operator said it has reduced the inventory of rail-bound containers at its Elizabeth facility to about 1,600, down from about 4,000 in early May.

<div class="phx-topic">APM Terminals is looking to move a backlog of rail containers at its New Jersey facility stemming from the first wave of tariff-driven frontloading and the startup of the Gemini Cooperation alliance. US East Coast ports anticipate more waves of frontloading ahead, but their lesser exposure to China may mean only small surges, at best. APM said in a statement Wednesday that it has reduced the inventory of rail-bound containers at its Elizabeth terminal to about 1,600, from about 4,000 in early May. The heavy inventory resulted in dwell times for intermodal imports into the port reaching almost nine days by the end of May, according to data from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ), the highest in two years of data. Rail dwell is typically three to four days. The rail inventory had been growing through spring, with the PANYNJ reporting March and April import volumes that were the highest since September and October of 2024. The number of rail lifts for containers during April was the highest since October 2022. APM said the volumes were likely driven by <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/us-in-race-to-replenish-china-stocks-to-avoid-summer-shortages-maersk-ceo-6001159">shippers concerned about ever-changing US tariff policy</a>. APM also saw heavier volume with <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/apm-to-spend-500-million-to-enhance-cargo-handling-at-elizabeth-terminal-5969027">the start of vessel services offered through the Gemini Cooperation between Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd</a>, further adding to the backlog. APM is owned by Maersk. Along with APM extending shifts and operating hours at its rail yard, Norfolk Southern also added another daily train from Elizabeth to handle the added volume. APM anticipates that rail dwell should be back to normal by mid-to-late June. “As of early June, we have seen significant improvement in rail flow,” it said. “Average rail dwell times are improving daily with higher utilization of rail assets.” <h3>Surge, but not severe </h3>Lowering rail dwell will be critical in the coming weeks. At a recent update meeting convened by PANYNJ, multiple port stakeholders said they anticipate <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/china-us-ocean-bookings-surge-since-weekend-trade-deal-hapag-lloyd-6004653">a volume surge starting around the middle of June</a> that could last through much of summer. However, the degree of that surge could be tempered by the port’s lower exposure to freight from China. “While we do expect a surge, we don’t expect it to be as severe as other gateways since China accounts for about 25% of our volume,” the PANYNJ said in a statement to the Journal of Commerce. Nonetheless, the PANYNJ said area marine terminals are evacuating as much cargo as possible to make room for more imports and may extend gate hours or open on Saturdays as needed. The Shipping Association of New York and New Jersey (SANYNJ) said in a statement that it is balancing vacation requests from longshore workers with demand from marine terminals. Thanks to stricter terms around absenteeism negotiated in local union contracts, the SANYNJ said there should be fewer concerns about longshore workers not showing up as scheduled. Some terminals have also agreed to higher staffing levels for longshore workers in some crafts in return for productivity gains on each shift. Anticipating a buildup of empty containers that would reduce truck fluidity, the PANYNJ is looking for additional empty depot space around the port. Port Director Bethann Rooney asked ocean carriers in a May letter to “implement aggressive plans to evacuate accumulated empty containers and prioritize balancing containers in the port to ensure fluidity.” “During the last major cargo surge in 2022, empty containers remained in the port for extended periods of time, which limited the trucker’s ability to efficiently return empties,” Rooney said in the letter. “This contributed to significant congestion, chassis shortages, inefficient land use, and increased and unnecessary costs for our shared stakeholders and customers.” Ports America Chief Executive Matthew Leech told the Journal of Commerce that he expects multiple waves of container frontloading through summer. The first wave of freight trying to beat the April implementation of President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs — since paused — has already reached US ports and will recede shortly. But the next round of frontloading could pick up in mid-to-late June as importers from Europe try to get ahead of the July 9 delayed start of Trump’s 50% tariff against the European Union. After that, shippers from China have until mid-August before Trump’s 145% tariffs go back into effect. “We’re at the tail end of the first frontloading from early April,” Leech said. “Now with the other tariff reprieves, it could start to accelerate through mid-August.” Leech said the surge may be constrained by the availability of empty containers in Asia for imports. The cancellation of freight bookings from China immediately after the announcement of Trump’s tariffs meant a lot of containers were used to store goods. Leech estimated a backlog of some 500,000 containers packed for shipment but delayed due to tariffs. Now with those goods finally moving, any additional purchase orders will have to wait on those empty containers being returned to their origin, he added. “The surge is coming, but the issue is equipment availability,” Leech said. “There’s a significant inventory of empties that need to be returned.” <h3>Railroad expects surge </h3>Norfolk Southern (NS) said in a statement to the Journal of Commerce that it expects a “surge in traffic in the coming weeks.” After a crane outage last week at its Landers intermodal yard in Chicago, NS said all four cranes at Landers are currently running. The <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/ns-opening-lots-in-memphis-to-address-terminal-gridlock-5242669">additional space</a>, <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/norfolk-southern-adds-to-southeast-intermodal-capacity-with-new-cranes-5217288">increased crane capacity</a> and <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/norfolk-southern-debuts-atlanta-appointment-system-for-import-loads-5222077">appointment system</a> at its intermodal yards should be able to handle the surge, it said. “NS is in a strong position to manage through the anticipated volume fluctuations,” the railroad said. “We have taken the lessons we learned during past disruptions and will leverage them in the coming months.” Other East Coast ports, though, are taking concerns about a cargo surge in stride. A spokesperson for the Port of Virginia told the Journal of Commerce the terminals there are running at about 60% to 65% capacity, so there’s room for more imports. Moreover, China only represents about 20% of the port’s inbound volumes. A spokesperson for the South Carolina Ports Authority told the Journal of Commerce that while it does expect increased volumes from China, operations at Charleston are fluid. “We feel comfortable to handle what’s coming,” the spokesperson said. Contact Michael Angell at <a href="mailto:michael.angell@spglobal.com ">michael.angell@spglobal.com</a>.</div>

APM Terminals is looking to move a backlog of rail containers at its New Jersey facility stemming from the first wave of tariff-driven frontloading and the startup of the Gemini Cooperation alliance. US East Coast ports anticipate more waves of frontloading ahead, but their lesser exposure to China may mean only small surges, at best. APM said in a statement Wednesday that it has reduced the inventory of rail-bound containers at its Elizabeth terminal to about 1,600, from about 4,000 in early May. The heavy inventory resulted in dwell times for intermodal imports into the port reaching almost nine days by the end of May, according to data from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ), the highest in two years of data. Rail dwell is typically three to four days. The rail inventory had been growing through spring, with the PANYNJ reporting March and April import volumes that were the highest since September and October of 2024. The number of rail lifts for containers during April was the highest since October 2022. APM said the volumes were likely driven by shippers concerned about ever-changing US tariff policy . APM also saw heavier volume with the start of vessel services offered through the Gemini Cooperation between Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd , further adding to the backlog. APM is owned by Maersk. Along with APM extending shifts and operating hours at its rail yard, Norfolk Southern also added another daily train from Elizabeth to handle the added volume. APM anticipates that rail dwell should be back to normal by mid-to-late June. “As of early June, we have seen significant improvement in rail flow,” it said. “Average rail dwell times are improving daily with higher utilization of rail assets.” Surge, but not severe Lowering rail dwell will be critical in the coming weeks. At a recent update meeting convened by PANYNJ, multiple port stakeholders said they anticipate a volume surge starting around the middle of June that could last through much of summer. However, the degree of that surge could be tempered by the port’s lower exposure to freight from China. “While we do expect a surge, we don’t expect it to be as severe as other gateways since China accounts for about 25% of our volume,” the PANYNJ said in a statement to the Journal of Commerce. Nonetheless, the PANYNJ said area marine terminals are evacuating as much cargo as possible to make room for more imports and may extend gate hours or open on Saturdays as needed. The Shipping Association of New York and New Jersey (SANYNJ) said in a statement that it is balancing vacation requests from longshore workers with demand from marine terminals. Thanks to stricter terms around absenteeism negotiated in local union contracts, the SANYNJ said there should be fewer concerns about longshore workers not showing up as scheduled. Some terminals have also agreed to higher staffing levels for longshore workers in some crafts in return for productivity gains on each shift. Anticipating a buildup of empty containers that would reduce truck fluidity, the PANYNJ is looking for additional empty depot space around the port. Port Director Bethann Rooney asked ocean carriers in a May letter to “implement aggressive plans to evacuate accumulated empty containers and prioritize balancing containers in the port to ensure fluidity.” “During the last major cargo surge in 2022, empty containers remained in the port for extended periods of time, which limited the trucker’s ability to efficiently return empties,” Rooney said in the letter. “This contributed to significant congestion, chassis shortages, inefficient land use, and increased and unnecessary costs for our shared stakeholders and customers.” Ports America Chief Executive Matthew Leech told the Journal of Commerce that he expects multiple waves of container frontloading through summer. The first wave of freight trying to beat the April implementation of President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs — since paused — has already reached US ports and will recede shortly. But the next round of frontloading could pick up in mid-to-late June as importers from Europe try to get ahead of the July 9 delayed start of Trump’s 50% tariff against the European Union. After that, shippers from China have until mid-August before Trump’s 145% tariffs go back into effect. “We’re at the tail end of the first frontloading from early April,” Leech said. “Now with the other tariff reprieves, it could start to accelerate through mid-August.” Leech said the surge may be constrained by the availability of empty containers in Asia for imports. The cancellation of freight bookings from China immediately after the announcement of Trump’s tariffs meant a lot of containers were used to store goods. Leech estimated a backlog of some 500,000 containers packed for shipment but delayed due to tariffs. Now with those goods finally moving, any additional purchase orders will have to wait on those empty containers being returned to their origin, he added. “The surge is coming, but the issue is equipment availability,” Leech said. “There’s a significant inventory of empties that need to be returned.” Railroad expects surge Norfolk Southern (NS) said in a statement to the Journal of Commerce that it expects a “surge in traffic in the coming weeks.” After a crane outage last week at its Landers intermodal yard in Chicago, NS said all four cranes at Landers are currently running. The additional space , increased crane capacity and appointment system at its intermodal yards should be able to handle the surge, it said. “NS is in a strong position to manage through the anticipated volume fluctuations,” the railroad said. “We have taken the lessons we learned during past disruptions and will leverage them in the coming months.” Other East Coast ports, though, are taking concerns about a cargo surge in stride. A spokesperson for the Port of Virginia told the Journal of Commerce the terminals there are running at about 60% to 65% capacity, so there’s room for more imports. Moreover, China only represents about 20% of the port’s inbound volumes. A spokesperson for the South Carolina Ports Authority told the Journal of Commerce that while it does expect increased volumes from China, operations at Charleston are fluid. “We feel comfortable to handle what’s coming,” the spokesperson said. Contact Michael Angell at michael.angell@spglobal.com .

Marine terminals

APM clearing out New Jersey rail container backlog ahead of a summer surge

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Demand from Cargado’s freight broker customers to add US-Canada carriers to its vetted network led the company to move to the northern border. </div>

Demand from Cargado’s freight broker customers to add US-Canada carriers to its vetted network led the company to move to the northern border.

<div class="phx-topic">Cross-border load board provider Cargado on Monday said it has expanded into Canada to complement its existing marketplace for US-Mexico truckload freight. The expansion, driven by demand from its freight broker customers, gives brokers access to Cargado’s network of vetted cross-border carriers that operate between the US and Mexico. Cargado’s customers include eight of the top 10 US freight brokers and more than half of the top 100. “Canadian expansion was a highly requested feature among our customers,” Cargado CEO Matt Silver said in a statement. The company also released a new rate benchmarking feature Monday, Cargado Market Rates, that allows brokers to see current and historical lane-level pricing data to inform their quoting activity to shippers. The benchmarking tool is based on more than 35,000 historical bids and freight matches between brokers and carriers, Cargado Chief Technology Officer Rylan Hawkins said in the statement. Cargado is connected to more than 200 brokers and 900 carriers. Founded in April 2024 as a cross-border load board specialist, Cargado in April <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/mexico-potential-leads-investors-to-back-cross-border-load-board-5978223">landed a $12 million funding round</a> from investors to build out its invite-only product addressing the fast-growing US-Mexico freight market. The company has raised a total of $22 million from investors including LGVP, Conversion Capital, Assembly Ventures and RyderVentures. Silver previously <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/arrive-logistics-moves-into-cross-border-freight-with-forager-acquisition-5225326">sold the cross-border broker he founded</a>, Forager, to Arrive Logistics in 2022. Contact Eric Johnson at <a href="mailto:eric.johnson@spglobal.com">eric.johnson@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

Cross-border load board provider Cargado on Monday said it has expanded into Canada to complement its existing marketplace for US-Mexico truckload freight. The expansion, driven by demand from its freight broker customers, gives brokers access to Cargado’s network of vetted cross-border carriers that operate between the US and Mexico. Cargado’s customers include eight of the top 10 US freight brokers and more than half of the top 100. “Canadian expansion was a highly requested feature among our customers,” Cargado CEO Matt Silver said in a statement. The company also released a new rate benchmarking feature Monday, Cargado Market Rates, that allows brokers to see current and historical lane-level pricing data to inform their quoting activity to shippers. The benchmarking tool is based on more than 35,000 historical bids and freight matches between brokers and carriers, Cargado Chief Technology Officer Rylan Hawkins said in the statement. Cargado is connected to more than 200 brokers and 900 carriers. Founded in April 2024 as a cross-border load board specialist, Cargado in April landed a $12 million funding round from investors to build out its invite-only product addressing the fast-growing US-Mexico freight market. The company has raised a total of $22 million from investors including LGVP, Conversion Capital, Assembly Ventures and RyderVentures. Silver previously sold the cross-border broker he founded , Forager, to Arrive Logistics in 2022. Contact Eric Johnson at eric.johnson@spglobal.com .

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