JOC.com | Container shipping and trade news and analysis

Tech providers urge broader vision for ‘visibility’

The definition of visibility is stretching beyond container or truck tracking to bundle more supply chain activities.

First signs of Asia-Europe low-sulfur surcharges emerge

Shippers on the Asia-Europe trades are starting to see how container shipping’s switch to low-sulfur fuel will impact their freight rates.

Tech providers seen missing shipper needs

“We don’t think about our supply chain as a collection of technologies, but as processes,” Abir Thakurta, vice president of global supply chain for the Atlanta-based furniture retailer, said in a keynote address to the conference. “For us, it’s about supply chain performance. I’m interested in outcomes. If you’re a technology provider, think outcomes, not solutions.”

VC funds fuel logistics innovation, but fail to disrupt

So much of the discussion around international logistics technology is focused on so-called disruptors and the vast amounts of money behind them, but the reality is that disruption isn’t where the action is taking place.

Trans-Pac spot decline bodes ill for peak volumes

The failure of Sept. 1 general rate increase to hold may indicate that earlier predictions of a weak peak season were correct.

Previous Pause Next

Empower your team with a Group Subscription to JOC.com.

Essential Reads

LA-LB port terminals: Empty containers only peak season challenge

Terminals at the Los Angeles-Long Beach port complex are performing consistently better than they did last winter, when warehouses in Southern California were overwhelmed by the front-loading of imports that resulted from the Trump administration’s tariffs on imports from China.

Shippers delaying US truck drivers longer: survey

Truck drivers are being detained longer during pickups and deliveries, cutting into their driving time and adding to shipping costs, despite efforts by “shippers of choice” to speed those drivers through their gates, a study by the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) finds.

Low-sulfur surcharge scope eludes Asia-Europe shippers

Far more widespread demand for low-sulfur fuel will be required before prices stabilize enough for shippers to factor in the impact on Asia-Europe contracted rate levels.

UP nixes plan to fine trucks for missed appointments

Union Pacific Railroad has dropped its plan to levy fines against trucking companies for canceling or missing ingate reservations to enter intermodal ramps in California, Oregon, and Washington.

2M Asia-Europe service suspension signals weak market

For the second consecutive year, Maersk and MSC have withdrawn the AE2/Swan Asia-Europe service in a bid to match capacity with slack demand.

JOC Shipping & Logistics Pricing Hub

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

Container | US Surface Transport

Subscribe Now

News by Sector

Maritime News

More trans-Pacific carriers to levy interim IMO surcharges in November

Carriers intend to be compensated for higher fuel costs they incur during this interim period before permanent floating LSFO surcharges covering their entire fleet take effect Jan. 1. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com.

Shippers in the trans-Pacific should brace for a confusing fourth quarter as carriers in October file low-sulfur fuel surcharges customers will have to pay in November and December. Those interim fees will be replaced by permanent floating surcharges effective Jan. 1.

Larger container lines squeezing intra-Asia carriers

Schedule reliability for niche intra-Asia carriers ranged from 75 percent to 90 percent in July, according to data from Sea-Intelligence. Photo credit: Igor Grochev / Shutterstock.com.

The larger container ships global carriers are starting to deploy in intra-Asia trades are putting pressure on specialist feeder lines already dealing with bad weather, port congestion, and shifting trade patterns.

Worst-case Brexit scenario exposes deep logistics risks

The dangers of exiting the EU without a deal were brutally spelled out by the UK government in a confidential report made public this week. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com.

A government report on the worst case Brexit scenario outlines the damage that could be in store should the UK leave the European Union without a deal.

NVO share of US imports from Asia down slightly

NVO share of US imports from Asia in the first half of 2019 fell to 43.7 percent from 44.8 percent in 2018. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com.

With capacity plentiful and spot rates softening, NVOs’ share of US imports from Asia in the first half of 2019 edged lower after having increased steadily the previous five years.

Trucking News

Trucking Logistics

Saia expands as LTL truckers navigate softer market

Saia will open two terminals in New York and one in Western Pennsylvania this month. Photo credit: Ari Ashe/JOC.com.

Multiregional LTL carrier Saia adds three new terminals in the Northeast and expands in Philadelphia amid a market giving off mixed signals.

NY-NJ truckers wary of port appointment system expansion

Trucks entering the gates of GCT Bayonne, which is preparing to expand the period in which truckers will need an appointment to enter the terminal's gates. Photo credit: Hugh R. Morley.

Expanding an appointment system in the Port of New York and New Jersey could hamper the ability of truckers to pick up cargo, according to the head of the largest drayage group operating at the port.

Amazon intermodal move doesn’t worry Schneider

Schneider is not concerned about Amazon's order of 250 Prime-branded containers and believes it has an important role with the e-commerce giant. Photo credit: Ari Ashe/JOC.com.

Schneider National says it’s not worried about Amazon purchasing branded 53-foot containers because the intermodal provider believes only a small group of companies have the scale to insource.

DHL ties up with startups Convoy, Turvo

DHL Supply Chain customers will gain access to real-time pricing on available truckload carriers in freight broker Convoy’s network. Photo credit: Joerg Huettenhoelscher/Shutterstock.com.

DHL Supply Chain will connect with the truckload freight network of Seattle-based broker Convoy and San Francisco-based collaborative software provider Turvo, startups that have raised more than $355 million in combined funding.

Port News

India pushes JNPT productivity ahead of trade rankings

APM Terminals Mumbai (above), also known as Gateway Terminals (India), handles about 40 percent of JNPT's total throughput. Photo credit: APM Terminals Mumbai.

The Indian government wants JNPT stakeholders to substantially scale up cargo movements via direct port delivery and direct port entry modes ahead of new global trade rankings published by the World Bank.

Contship expands La Spezia gateway to Central Europe

Contship is an asset-based integrated transportation provider with its own trains, inland rail hubs, marine terminal, and last-mile overland shipment services at La Spezia (above). Photo credit: Shutterstock.com.

With barge and rail congestion at Northern European ports mounting, Contship, an asset-based, integrated, ocean-rail transportation provider, offers cargo interests in Central Europe and northern Italy an alternative gateway through the Port of La Spezia.

Savannah port pursues new terminal, bridge alternative

The height of the Talmadge Memorial Bridge caps the size of ships able to traverse the Savannah River at 16,000 TEU. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com.

Three announcements show how the fast-growing port of Savannah — with volume up 25 percent in the last three fiscal years — is making moves toward its goal of having 11 million TEU in annual capacity by 2035.

NY-NJ truckers wary of port appointment system expansion

Expanding an appointment system in the Port of New York and New Jersey could hamper the ability of truckers to pick up cargo, according to the head of the largest drayage group operating at the port.

Technology News

Technology

Technology smoothing logistics sourcing shifts

Older logistics outsourcing models are being replaced by collaboration among multiple partners on specific, high-priority projects as technology advances.

Blockchain platform TradeLens seeks ‘organizational identity’

The IBM- and Maersk-led blockchain container shipping platform TradeLens has enlisted Virginia-based Digital Bazaar in its efforts to establish "organizational identity" for its users. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com.

The adoption of blockchain-based container shipping software may depend on the efficacy of associated identity management and data security components.

DHL ties up with startups Convoy, Turvo

Change resistance hindering digitization in project logistics

The massive amount of data going back and forth between project shippers and their service providers has created an incentive to digitize, even if project cargo is inherently more complex — and therefore more difficult to automate — than conventional breakbulk or container shipping. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com.

Despite being incredibly complex and heavily reliant on personal relationships, certain elements of project cargo logistics can be streamlined through digitization.

Breakbulk News

Breakbulk

Philadelphia port expanding forest product capacity

A new warehouse under construction at the Port of Philadelphia is designed to enhance the growing interest in moving forestry cargo through the port. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com.

A shift in focus by the Tioga Marine Terminal (TMT) to handling forestry products five years ago has drawn enough business that the terminal and the Port of Philadelphia are now building a new $12 million, 100,000-square-foot warehouse to handle wood and paper products.

Jones Act hampers US offshore wind projects

To handle a growing offshore wind market, the US will need a fleet of specialized vessels and equipment comparable to Europe’s. Photo credit: Fred Olsen

The Jones Act requires that a US fleet build offshore wind farms, but that fleet does not exist as yet.

UHL, Ocean7 team up amid strengthening MPV/HL market

A workboat is lifted aboard a UHL ship in Nantong Harbor, China. Credit: UHL

Heavy-lift carriers open a shared office and will cooperate to offer more choices in a consolidating shipping segment.

M&A signals a healthier heavy transport sector

Mammoet’s purchase of UK-based ALE will merge the two largest heavy-lift operators worldwide, with more than $1.3 billion in combined revenue in 2018. Photo credit: ALE.

Consolidation through mergers and acquisitions among heavy-lift and project carriers and a rebound in demand in the mining and energy markets have the heavy transport sector “on the cusp of a boom,” according to industry executives.

Tech providers urge broader vision for ‘visibility’

First signs of Asia-Europe low-sulfur surcharges emerge

Tech providers seen missing shipper needs

VC funds fuel logistics innovation, but fail to disrupt

Trans-Pac spot decline bodes ill for peak volumes

News & Analysis

Essential Reads

JOC Shipping & Logistics Pricing Hub

News by Sector

Trucking News

Port News

Technology News

Breakbulk News

JOC Events

White Papers

Most Read Articles

Commentary

As the trade world turns ...

'Global trade management' boosts competitive edge

Webcasts

Podcasts