<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">UPS reported a record $1.22 billion net profit in the fourth quarter that was 9.3 percent better than the same quarter the year before and came on healthy gains in U.S.</div>

UPS reported a record $1.22 billion net profit in the fourth quarter that was 9.3 percent better than the same quarter the year before and came on healthy gains in U.S.

<div>UPS reported a record $1.22 billion net profit in the fourth quarter that was 9.3 percent better than the same quarter the year before and came on healthy gains in U.S. domestic package demand and pricing.UPS also raised its earnings outlook for 2012, saying profit improvement will outpace &amp;ldquo;modest improvement in the U.S.&amp;rsquo; economy.&amp;rdquo;The fourth-quarter profit, before including a change in pension accounting the company announced last week, brought <a>UPS&amp;rsquo;s earnings for the full year to $4.2 billion</a>, 20.8 percent better than the net profit in 2011.The growth was especially strong in UPS's core U.S. parcel market, where the company...

UPS reported a record $1.22 billion net profit in the fourth quarter that was 9.3 percent better than the same quarter the year before and came on healthy gains in U.S. domestic package demand and pricing. UPS also raised its earnings outlook for 2012, saying profit improvement will outpace &ldquo;modest improvement in the U.S.&rsquo; economy.&rdquo; The fourth-quarter profit, before including a change in pension accounting the company announced last week, brought UPS&rsquo;s earnings for the full year to $4.2 billion , 20.8 percent better than the net profit in 2011. The growth was especially strong in UPS's core U.S. parcel market, where the company saw a 3.8 percent improvement in domestic package volume in the fourth quarter over the same quarter a year ago and a 7.3 percent gain in revenue, to $8.6 billion. The biggest gain came in deferred air service &mdash; the cheaper alternative to overnight delivery &mdash; where volume grew 12.3 percent and revenue jumped 15.2 percent. That domestic growth is most likely the result of broad trends toward e-commerce, which retail industry analysts say far outpaced sales growth in conventional stores during the 2011 holiday season. That&rsquo;s likely one reason UPS is raising its outlook for 2012. The carrier raised its profit guidance 9 percent to 15 percent over its previous projections Overall revenue grew 5.6 percent in the fourth quarter to $14.17 billion. For the full year, UPS counted $53.1 billion in revenue last year, 7.2 percent better than 2010. The company showed relatively firm pricing , with yield up 3.4 percent on domestic delivery services while growing 2 percent on international package operations.

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UPS Reports Record Profit, Raises Outlook

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Trucking industry attorneys say last week’s decision by the Supreme Court is likely to intensify scrutiny of carrier selection practices and insurance coverage.</div>

Trucking industry attorneys say last week’s decision by the Supreme Court is likely to intensify scrutiny of carrier selection practices and insurance coverage.

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<div class="phx-topic">The unanimous <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/supreme-court-ruling-strips-broker-protection-linked-to-carrier-safety-6220667">Supreme Court ruling</a> allowing certain state-level negligence claims against freight brokers is expected to increase pressure on motor carriers to carry higher insurance limits and could eventually contribute to higher transportation costs, trucking attorneys say. The May 14 decision in Montgomery v. Caribe Transports LLC held that freight brokers are not shielded from some state personal injury lawsuits, potentially expanding liability exposure for intermediaries that arrange truck freight. Attorneys on both sides of the trucking industry said the ruling is likely to intensify scrutiny of carrier selection practices and insurance coverage. “A lot of brokers are going to go to their trucking companies and say, ‘You’ve been running loads with $1 million worth of insurance. Since we’re exposed, you can cause a lot more than $1 million worth of damage,’” Ed Leonard, a partner at San Diego law firm Tyson &amp; Mendes, which represents trucking companies in civil litigation, said. Leonard told the Journal of Commerce that brokers are likely to require higher liability coverage from carriers moving freight, particularly smaller operators with marginal safety records. “They’re going to be asking these trucking companies to buy more insurance,” he said. “This is going to cost more money to get things done.” The ruling could also tighten trucking capacity if higher insurance premiums force some smaller fleets and owner-operators to exit the market, Leonard said. That could place additional upward pressure on freight rates at a time when parts of the trucking industry are already navigating labor and regulatory disruptions. <h3>‘A big deal’ </h3>Plaintiff attorneys, meanwhile, said the decision gives crash victims a significant new legal avenue by allowing brokers to be named in lawsuits involving serious injuries and fatalities. “These major trucking accidents result in deaths, amputations and traumatic brain injuries, and this opens the door to brokers, making them a viable defendant,” said Edward Bassett, a partner at Mirick Law and former president of the Association of Plaintiff Interstate Trucking Lawyers of America. “Whether you are popping champagne or Diet Coke at plaintiff firms, this is a big deal.” Bassett said brokers are likely to more carefully scrutinize the carriers they hire, rather than selecting providers primarily on price. “They’re going to start looking carefully at the carriers they hire and not just the cheaper ones,” he said. “They’re being held responsible if they hire fly-by-night companies.” The case decided by the Supreme Court last week stemmed from a 2017 crash in Illinois involving truck driver Shawn Montgomery, who suffered catastrophic injuries and lost a leg after his parked tractor-trailer was struck by another truck. The Supreme Court ruled Montgomery could pursue claims against freight broker C.H. Robinson, which arranged the shipment. Montgomery’s attorneys argued that carrier Caribe Transport II had a poor safety record and that the broker should share liability for hiring it. C.H. Robinson argued that because trucking companies are federally licensed and regulated, brokers should be shielded from state negligence claims tied to carrier safety. The court disagreed, concluding that federal transportation law does not broadly preempt those claims. <h3>Federal data under scrutiny </h3>The decision could renew debate over trucking insurance minimums, which have remained largely unchanged since the Reagan administration. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) currently requires minimum liability coverage ranging from $750,000 to $5 million depending on the type of freight being hauled. Since 1985, Congress has repeatedly considered raising those thresholds or indexing them to inflation, but those efforts have stalled. FMCSA studies have suggested current minimums may be insufficient to cover catastrophic crashes and rising medical costs. Industry groups, however, have argued most claims settle below existing coverage requirements and that raising insurance mandates would disproportionately hurt small and midsize carriers by increasing operating costs. “We think it’s a bad decision. We had to be defending these cases before and we’ll be defending them after,” said Nathaniel Saylor, a partner at transportation law firm Scopelitis, Garvin, Light, Hanson &amp; Feary. “The question in these cases before the jury will always be, what is reasonable care. That standard was the standard yesterday and tomorrow as well. Nothing has changed regarding the broker’s duty. But the temperature is up on this issue, and you can expect the plaintiff bar will be pursuing these cases very aggressively.” Saylor said one major issue going forward will be the reliability of FMCSA safety data used by brokers to evaluate carriers, because critics of the system have said the information can be incomplete or outdated. “Brokers are dealing with carriers authorized by the federal government to operate,” Saylor said. “If brokers can be liable, we should at least make sure brokers have the right information available. How is the broker supposed to know that one carrier is more or less safe than another? “More information is good, and it helps,” he added. “With that information, FMCSA can identify unsafe carriers, remove them from the market and ensure the available capacity is safer.” Contact Dan Ronan at <a href="mailto:contactdanronan@gmail.com">contactdanronan@gmail.com</a>. </div>

The unanimous Supreme Court ruling allowing certain state-level negligence claims against freight brokers is expected to increase pressure on motor carriers to carry higher insurance limits and could eventually contribute to higher transportation costs, trucking attorneys say. The May 14 decision in Montgomery v. Caribe Transports LLC held that freight brokers are not shielded from some state personal injury lawsuits, potentially expanding liability exposure for intermediaries that arrange truck freight. Attorneys on both sides of the trucking industry said the ruling is likely to intensify scrutiny of carrier selection practices and insurance coverage. “A lot of brokers are going to go to their trucking companies and say, ‘You’ve been running loads with $1 million worth of insurance. Since we’re exposed, you can cause a lot more than $1 million worth of damage,’” Ed Leonard, a partner at San Diego law firm Tyson & Mendes, which represents trucking companies in civil litigation, said. Leonard told the Journal of Commerce that brokers are likely to require higher liability coverage from carriers moving freight, particularly smaller operators with marginal safety records. “They’re going to be asking these trucking companies to buy more insurance,” he said. “This is going to cost more money to get things done.” The ruling could also tighten trucking capacity if higher insurance premiums force some smaller fleets and owner-operators to exit the market, Leonard said. That could place additional upward pressure on freight rates at a time when parts of the trucking industry are already navigating labor and regulatory disruptions. ‘A big deal’ Plaintiff attorneys, meanwhile, said the decision gives crash victims a significant new legal avenue by allowing brokers to be named in lawsuits involving serious injuries and fatalities. “These major trucking accidents result in deaths, amputations and traumatic brain injuries, and this opens the door to brokers, making them a viable defendant,” said Edward Bassett, a partner at Mirick Law and former president of the Association of Plaintiff Interstate Trucking Lawyers of America. “Whether you are popping champagne or Diet Coke at plaintiff firms, this is a big deal.” Bassett said brokers are likely to more carefully scrutinize the carriers they hire, rather than selecting providers primarily on price. “They’re going to start looking carefully at the carriers they hire and not just the cheaper ones,” he said. “They’re being held responsible if they hire fly-by-night companies.” The case decided by the Supreme Court last week stemmed from a 2017 crash in Illinois involving truck driver Shawn Montgomery, who suffered catastrophic injuries and lost a leg after his parked tractor-trailer was struck by another truck. The Supreme Court ruled Montgomery could pursue claims against freight broker C.H. Robinson, which arranged the shipment. Montgomery’s attorneys argued that carrier Caribe Transport II had a poor safety record and that the broker should share liability for hiring it. C.H. Robinson argued that because trucking companies are federally licensed and regulated, brokers should be shielded from state negligence claims tied to carrier safety. The court disagreed, concluding that federal transportation law does not broadly preempt those claims. Federal data under scrutiny The decision could renew debate over trucking insurance minimums, which have remained largely unchanged since the Reagan administration. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) currently requires minimum liability coverage ranging from $750,000 to $5 million depending on the type of freight being hauled. Since 1985, Congress has repeatedly considered raising those thresholds or indexing them to inflation, but those efforts have stalled. FMCSA studies have suggested current minimums may be insufficient to cover catastrophic crashes and rising medical costs. Industry groups, however, have argued most claims settle below existing coverage requirements and that raising insurance mandates would disproportionately hurt small and midsize carriers by increasing operating costs. “We think it’s a bad decision. We had to be defending these cases before and we’ll be defending them after,” said Nathaniel Saylor, a partner at transportation law firm Scopelitis, Garvin, Light, Hanson & Feary. “The question in these cases before the jury will always be, what is reasonable care. That standard was the standard yesterday and tomorrow as well. Nothing has changed regarding the broker’s duty. But the temperature is up on this issue, and you can expect the plaintiff bar will be pursuing these cases very aggressively.” Saylor said one major issue going forward will be the reliability of FMCSA safety data used by brokers to evaluate carriers, because critics of the system have said the information can be incomplete or outdated. “Brokers are dealing with carriers authorized by the federal government to operate,” Saylor said. “If brokers can be liable, we should at least make sure brokers have the right information available. How is the broker supposed to know that one carrier is more or less safe than another? “More information is good, and it helps,” he added. “With that information, FMCSA can identify unsafe carriers, remove them from the market and ensure the available capacity is safer.” Contact Dan Ronan at contactdanronan@gmail.com .

Trucking News

Transport, Trade and Regulation News

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Truck brokers

Surface

‘Montgomery’ ruling likely to raise pressure on trucking insurance, broker vetting

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Paul Bird will be the next chief executive of the Montreal Port Authority as the gateway looks to his infrastructure expertise amid a major expansion project.</div>

Paul Bird will be the next chief executive of the Montreal Port Authority as the gateway looks to his infrastructure expertise amid a major expansion project.

<div class="phx-topic">The Port of Montreal is bringing back former commercial officer Paul Bird as its new chief executive, citing his experience with large-scale projects as the port embarks on its biggest expansion ever. The Montreal Port Authority (MPA) said in a statement Friday that Bird will take over as president and chief executive on June 8. Bird, who had been with the MPA since June 2020, had left to pursue new professional opportunities, the MPA said in March. Much of Bird’s previous tenure at the MPA involved helping shepherd through development of the Contrecoeur marine terminal project, which <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/montreal-expands-to-handle-container-growth-5212062">had been proposed back in 2015</a>. It faced several delays <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/montreal-relaunches-search-process-for-contrecoeur-terminal-operator-5204826">as the port faced difficulties in finding operating partners</a> willing to help finance the project. The MPA has since <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/montreal-port-gets-federal-funds-for-mega-terminal-after-operators-balk-at-risk-5222977">agreed to handle the underwater work at Contrecoeur</a>, with the help of <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/quebec-provides-new-funding-for-proposed-montreal-terminal-citing-us-trade-tensions-5947783">government funding</a> and a recently secured C$1.16 billion loan from the Canada Infrastructure Bank. Citing Bird’s degree in geology and his previous experience with global steel producer ArcelorMittal, the MPA said it was important to have someone with infrastructure experience to develop Contrecoeur, expected to come online in 2030. “Building on significant achievements during his six years at the Port of Montreal, [Bird] is fully committed to contributing actively to the commissioning of the Contrecoeur terminal and to the continued development of new markets,” Nathalie Pilon, chair of the MPA’s board of directors, said in the statement. Contact Michael Angell at <a href="mailto:michael.angell@spglobal.com">michael.angell@spglobal.com</a>.</div>

The Port of Montreal is bringing back former commercial officer Paul Bird as its new chief executive, citing his experience with large-scale projects as the port embarks on its biggest expansion ever. The Montreal Port Authority (MPA) said in a statement Friday that Bird will take over as president and chief executive on June 8. Bird, who had been with the MPA since June 2020, had left to pursue new professional opportunities, the MPA said in March. Much of Bird’s previous tenure at the MPA involved helping shepherd through development of the Contrecoeur marine terminal project, which had been proposed back in 2015 . It faced several delays as the port faced difficulties in finding operating partners willing to help finance the project. The MPA has since agreed to handle the underwater work at Contrecoeur , with the help of government funding and a recently secured C$1.16 billion loan from the Canada Infrastructure Bank. Citing Bird’s degree in geology and his previous experience with global steel producer ArcelorMittal, the MPA said it was important to have someone with infrastructure experience to develop Contrecoeur, expected to come online in 2030. “Building on significant achievements during his six years at the Port of Montreal, [Bird] is fully committed to contributing actively to the commissioning of the Contrecoeur terminal and to the continued development of new markets,” Nathalie Pilon, chair of the MPA’s board of directors, said in the statement. Contact Michael Angell at michael.angell@spglobal.com .

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North American ports

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Port of Montreal’s former commercial chief to return as CEO

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Vancouver and Prince Rupert recorded solid year-over-year gains in the eastbound trans-Pacific as they focused on improving their intermodal efficiency to the interior of Canada and the US.</div>

Vancouver and Prince Rupert recorded solid year-over-year gains in the eastbound trans-Pacific as they focused on improving their intermodal efficiency to the interior of Canada and the US.

<div class="phx-topic">The Western Canadian ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert are enhancing their presence in the Asia-North America trade by building on their intermodal advantages in serving the interior of North America, resulting in an increase in imports in the first quarter while their western US counterparts recorded a first-quarter import decline. Containerized imports moving through Vancouver in the first quarter increased 9% year over year, while imports in Prince Rupert grew 7.8%, according to data from Sea-Intelligence Maritime Analysis. Vancouver, Canada’s largest container gateway, serves both the interior of Canada and the US Midwest with direct inland point intermodal (IPI) service. The most obvious advantage this gives Vancouver over US West Coast ports is that “rail costs are significantly lower from Vancouver to the Midwest than from any US port,” Cliff Stewart, vice president of operations for the Vancouver-Fraser Port Authority, told the Journal of Commerce. The rail passage route through the Canadian Rockies to the North American interior is at a much lower altitude than through the US Rocky Mountains, Stewart explained. “It just takes a whole lot less fuel to move a train from Vancouver to Chicago than it does to move a train from either Los Angeles-Long Beach, Northern California or the Puget Sound area,” he said. The Trump administration’s tariffs that were levied on imports from Asia a year ago do not generally influence retailers on how to route their goods because importers must pay the tariffs regardless of whether the containers move through a US or Canadian port, Stewart said. But the tariffs do influence some retailers, namely big-box stores that have outlets in both countries. Those retailers had been shipping their Canadian-destined merchandise as a subcomponent of US shipments from common origins in Asia. The containers entered a US West Coast port, and then the Canadian freight was broken out and moved by truck into Canada. Those big box retailers are now choosing to ship their Canadian freight through Vancouver or Prince Rupert so the Canadian freight is not subject to a US duty, Stewart said. “There’s some repatriation of Canadian-destined cargo back to Canadian ports,” he acknowledged. <h3>US-destined import share declining </h3>That’s not to say that British Columbia ports are growing by focusing only on US-destined cargo. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. The port’s records show that US-destined imports as a percentage of Vancouver’s total import volumes have declined steadily from about 25% in 2010 to about 8% today, Stewart said. Rather, the BC ports are focusing even more on attracting import and export cargo to and from Canada’s interior. “Canada is certainly where the growth is coming from,” said Stewart. Still, some high-volume retailers and importers of high-value merchandise are saving money by shipping through the British Columbia ports to avoid other costs, such as the US Harbor Maintenance Tax, he said. Vancouver has also been attracting cargo destined for the Canadian interior that was moving through Montreal and Halifax before the <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/maersk-mulls-potential-red-sea-return-as-hopes-rise-over-us-iran-deal-6217039">attacks on vessels transiting the Red Sea began more than two years ago</a>, effectively closing the Suez routing and forcing shipowners to take the longer, costlier route around the southern tip of Africa. “It’s cheaper now to come through Vancouver and then rail it to central Canada,” Stewart said. Prince Rupert is likewise experiencing steady growth this year. “We have seen a sustained recovery in all imports compared to previous years,” the port authority said in a statement. This is especially true compared with the first quarter of 2025, when volumes were softer as reconfigured alliances and service strings affected carriers’ arrival schedules, the port said. Prince Rupert, which is also working to <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/prince-rupert-promoting-transload-operations-to-improve-logistics-efficiency-5937532">attract more export cargo as well as imports</a>, is developing an intermodal center close to the port to improve intermodal efficiency. The LinX facility is scheduled to open in 2027. <h3>Sharp declines in NWSA </h3>While Vancouver and Prince Rupert saw their import volumes increase in the first quarter, imports declined by 3.6% in Los Angeles, 5.6% in Long Beach, and 6.8% in Oakland, according to Sea-Intelligence. The Northwest Seaport Alliance of Seattle and Tacoma (NWSA) was especially hard-hit, with first-quarter imports declining 18% year over year. For more than a decade now, US West Coast ports have been losing market share of US imports from Asia to ports along the East and Gulf coasts, given their location closer to major population centers in the eastern half of the country where two-thirds of the US population resides. Still, that share can shift considerably from month to month based on market dynamics and seasonality. In March, the West Coast had a market share of 53.2% for US imports from Asia, with the East Coast at 37.8% and the Gulf Coast at 9%, according to PIERS, a sister product of the Journal of Commerce within S&amp;P Global. For April, the shares had moved significantly, with the West Coast jumping to 61.9%, the East Coast falling to 30.5%, and the Gulf slipping to 7.6%. The West Coast’s share last month was the highest since last June. <div class="wrapper-narrow"><dynamic-object type="jocchartid" resource-id="14122523-b515-4dea-a851-1389ef954bcd"></dynamic-object></div>Competition among US West Coast ports for imports from Asia has become a battle of internal competition, with Los Angeles-Long Beach capitalizing on the steep losses in the NWSA, said Mike Jacob, president of the Pacific Merchant Shipping Association (PMSA). PMSA represents shipping lines and USWC terminal operators on regulatory issues. “You’re looking at an amazing amount of consolidation in Southern California,” Jacob told the Journal of Commerce. Carriers and railroads seek density in freight volumes. Carriers continue to deploy the bulk of their assets in Southern California, which has not only a much larger local population, but also offers intermodal services to most regions to the east, including Dallas, Kansas City, Chicago, Columbus, and Atlanta. Intermodal services from the NWSA are limited primarily to Chicago and the Midwest, Jacob said. “LA-LB isn’t just attempting to claw back market share from the East and Gulf coast ports,” he said. “They’re at the same time consolidating volumes from across the entire West Coast.” In order to stem its loss of cargo and return to growth, Jacob believes the NWSA must double down on its investments in intermodal infrastructure and focus on promoting more efficient, lower-cost IPI service. For its part, the NWSA said it is taking PMSA’s admonition to invest in infrastructure and intermodal efficiency seriously. “The market share trends PMSA has documented are real and we are investing accordingly — in terminal infrastructure, increased intermodal efficiency and aggressive efforts to attract and retain services,” the NWSA said in a statement to the Journal of Commerce. “We are not complacent about our long-term competitive position and instead are doubling down on our best-in-class service and port investment.” Contact Bill Mongelluzzo at <a href="mailto:bill.mongelluzzo@spglobal.com">bill.mongelluzzo@spglobal.com</a>.</div>

The Western Canadian ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert are enhancing their presence in the Asia-North America trade by building on their intermodal advantages in serving the interior of North America, resulting in an increase in imports in the first quarter while their western US counterparts recorded a first-quarter import decline. Containerized imports moving through Vancouver in the first quarter increased 9% year over year, while imports in Prince Rupert grew 7.8%, according to data from Sea-Intelligence Maritime Analysis. Vancouver, Canada’s largest container gateway, serves both the interior of Canada and the US Midwest with direct inland point intermodal (IPI) service. The most obvious advantage this gives Vancouver over US West Coast ports is that “rail costs are significantly lower from Vancouver to the Midwest than from any US port,” Cliff Stewart, vice president of operations for the Vancouver-Fraser Port Authority, told the Journal of Commerce. The rail passage route through the Canadian Rockies to the North American interior is at a much lower altitude than through the US Rocky Mountains, Stewart explained. “It just takes a whole lot less fuel to move a train from Vancouver to Chicago than it does to move a train from either Los Angeles-Long Beach, Northern California or the Puget Sound area,” he said. The Trump administration’s tariffs that were levied on imports from Asia a year ago do not generally influence retailers on how to route their goods because importers must pay the tariffs regardless of whether the containers move through a US or Canadian port, Stewart said. But the tariffs do influence some retailers, namely big-box stores that have outlets in both countries. Those retailers had been shipping their Canadian-destined merchandise as a subcomponent of US shipments from common origins in Asia. The containers entered a US West Coast port, and then the Canadian freight was broken out and moved by truck into Canada. Those big box retailers are now choosing to ship their Canadian freight through Vancouver or Prince Rupert so the Canadian freight is not subject to a US duty, Stewart said. “There’s some repatriation of Canadian-destined cargo back to Canadian ports,” he acknowledged. US-destined import share declining That’s not to say that British Columbia ports are growing by focusing only on US-destined cargo. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. The port’s records show that US-destined imports as a percentage of Vancouver’s total import volumes have declined steadily from about 25% in 2010 to about 8% today, Stewart said. Rather, the BC ports are focusing even more on attracting import and export cargo to and from Canada’s interior. “Canada is certainly where the growth is coming from,” said Stewart. Still, some high-volume retailers and importers of high-value merchandise are saving money by shipping through the British Columbia ports to avoid other costs, such as the US Harbor Maintenance Tax, he said. Vancouver has also been attracting cargo destined for the Canadian interior that was moving through Montreal and Halifax before the attacks on vessels transiting the Red Sea began more than two years ago , effectively closing the Suez routing and forcing shipowners to take the longer, costlier route around the southern tip of Africa. “It’s cheaper now to come through Vancouver and then rail it to central Canada,” Stewart said. Prince Rupert is likewise experiencing steady growth this year. “We have seen a sustained recovery in all imports compared to previous years,” the port authority said in a statement. This is especially true compared with the first quarter of 2025, when volumes were softer as reconfigured alliances and service strings affected carriers’ arrival schedules, the port said. Prince Rupert, which is also working to attract more export cargo as well as imports , is developing an intermodal center close to the port to improve intermodal efficiency. The LinX facility is scheduled to open in 2027. Sharp declines in NWSA While Vancouver and Prince Rupert saw their import volumes increase in the first quarter, imports declined by 3.6% in Los Angeles, 5.6% in Long Beach, and 6.8% in Oakland, according to Sea-Intelligence. The Northwest Seaport Alliance of Seattle and Tacoma (NWSA) was especially hard-hit, with first-quarter imports declining 18% year over year. For more than a decade now, US West Coast ports have been losing market share of US imports from Asia to ports along the East and Gulf coasts, given their location closer to major population centers in the eastern half of the country where two-thirds of the US population resides. Still, that share can shift considerably from month to month based on market dynamics and seasonality. In March, the West Coast had a market share of 53.2% for US imports from Asia, with the East Coast at 37.8% and the Gulf Coast at 9%, according to PIERS, a sister product of the Journal of Commerce within S&P Global. For April, the shares had moved significantly, with the West Coast jumping to 61.9%, the East Coast falling to 30.5%, and the Gulf slipping to 7.6%. The West Coast’s share last month was the highest since last June. Competition among US West Coast ports for imports from Asia has become a battle of internal competition, with Los Angeles-Long Beach capitalizing on the steep losses in the NWSA, said Mike Jacob, president of the Pacific Merchant Shipping Association (PMSA). PMSA represents shipping lines and USWC terminal operators on regulatory issues. “You’re looking at an amazing amount of consolidation in Southern California,” Jacob told the Journal of Commerce. Carriers and railroads seek density in freight volumes. Carriers continue to deploy the bulk of their assets in Southern California, which has not only a much larger local population, but also offers intermodal services to most regions to the east, including Dallas, Kansas City, Chicago, Columbus, and Atlanta. Intermodal services from the NWSA are limited primarily to Chicago and the Midwest, Jacob said. “LA-LB isn’t just attempting to claw back market share from the East and Gulf coast ports,” he said. “They’re at the same time consolidating volumes from across the entire West Coast.” In order to stem its loss of cargo and return to growth, Jacob believes the NWSA must double down on its investments in intermodal infrastructure and focus on promoting more efficient, lower-cost IPI service. For its part, the NWSA said it is taking PMSA’s admonition to invest in infrastructure and intermodal efficiency seriously. “The market share trends PMSA has documented are real and we are investing accordingly — in terminal infrastructure, increased intermodal efficiency and aggressive efforts to attract and retain services,” the NWSA said in a statement to the Journal of Commerce. “We are not complacent about our long-term competitive position and instead are doubling down on our best-in-class service and port investment.” Contact Bill Mongelluzzo at  bill.mongelluzzo@spglobal.com .

Rail News

North-American rail

Intermodal providers

Western Canadian ports push IPI advantage to grow Q1 imports from Asia

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">New legislation passed by the US House will help fight cargo crime, but theft prevention starts with identity verification, experts told a Journal of Commerce webcast.</div>

New legislation passed by the US House will help fight cargo crime, but theft prevention starts with identity verification, experts told a Journal of Commerce webcast.

<div class="phx-topic">Logistics groups and executives are welcoming federal legislation that would help combat cargo crime, but warn that new laws are no “silver bullet” in the battle for supply chain security. Speakers on a Journal of Commerce webcast this week emphasized the need for freight shippers and brokers to verify the identities of truck drivers and motor carriers. Proactive verification of identities is a key step toward preventing cargo crime in the first place, before a theft takes place and law enforcement becomes involved, they said. “We’ve seen a lot of investment in carrier onboarding, and we haven’t seen as much on driver verification until recently,” Aqil Naeem, co-founder and CEO of technology company E3 Group, said during the webcast. His company launched a driver verification system last month. “There are really three tiers to the ID of anyone picking up a load: the dispatcher, the carrier and the actual driver,” Naeem said. “It would be a mistake to focus only on one layer.” Naeem spoke after the US House of Representatives easily <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/2853">passed the Combating Organized Retail Crime Act (CORCA) of 2025</a> on Tuesday. The bill would make it easier for federal and state authorities to prosecute cargo crimes. CORCA, which now goes before the Senate Judiciary Committee, would also establish a supply chain crime response center within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). That could foster greater coordination among federal and state agencies. “It’s a significant step in the right direction,” Jeff Tucker, CEO of logistics provider Tucker Company Worldwide, told the Journal of Commerce webcast. “The proof is going to be in the execution. What will the coordination look like?” <h3>Supreme Court ruling raises stakes </h3>On Thursday, the US Supreme Court ruled that federal law does not <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/knight-swift-making-safety-related-cuts-to-brokerage-fleet-6210440">automatically shield freight brokers</a> from accident lawsuits alleging they hired unsafe motor carriers. The unanimous decision in Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II is expected to focus more attention on verification and vetting throughout the supply chain, starting with brokers. That has implications for cargo security, as well as highway safety. “Brokers are best positioned to detect anomalies,” said Naeem. “But you can’t just point your finger exclusively at brokers if something goes wrong.” Fraud permeates every link in the supply chain, according to Tucker. “To suggest this issue is a broker problem is missing a huge point,” he said. “There’s fraud happening at the broker, carrier and shipper level. We recently experienced a fraudulent shipper, an imposter. Bad actors are trying to find a weak link.” Many brokers already go far beyond federal requirements when it comes to carrier vetting. Shippers are demanding greater security, Tucker said. “We had one recent RFP [request for proposal] which had 70 questions about our technology,” he said. Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/knight-swift-making-safety-related-cuts-to-brokerage-fleet-6210440">made deep cuts</a> in its pool of third-party brokerage carriers in the first quarter, targeting businesses that company officials said may be unsafe. Identifying and monitoring who is driving a brokered truck is a real challenge for brokers and shippers, Knight-Swift CEO Adam Miller said. “We’re anticipating that our customers are going to start being more concerned about this as this becomes more of a relevant issue,” he said. “We’re already seeing that.” Greater coordination, not just among agencies but among supply chain partners, is crucial, said Keith Lewis, vice president of operations at CargoNet, a Verisk company. “This is not a broker issue. This is an everybody involved in the supply chain issue,” Lewis said during the webcast. “Don’t look at the government as a silver bullet,” he added. “We already have cargo theft laws on the books. We need money to pay for enforcement.” Contact William B. Cassidy at <a href="mailto:bill.cassidy@spglobal.com">bill.cassidy@spglobal.com</a>.</div>

Logistics groups and executives are welcoming federal legislation that would help combat cargo crime, but warn that new laws are no “silver bullet” in the battle for supply chain security. Speakers on a Journal of Commerce webcast this week emphasized the need for freight shippers and brokers to verify the identities of truck drivers and motor carriers. Proactive verification of identities is a key step toward preventing cargo crime in the first place, before a theft takes place and law enforcement becomes involved, they said. “We’ve seen a lot of investment in carrier onboarding, and we haven’t seen as much on driver verification until recently,” Aqil Naeem, co-founder and CEO of technology company E3 Group, said during the webcast. His company launched a driver verification system last month. “There are really three tiers to the ID of anyone picking up a load: the dispatcher, the carrier and the actual driver,” Naeem said. “It would be a mistake to focus only on one layer.” Naeem spoke after the US House of Representatives easily passed the Combating Organized Retail Crime Act (CORCA) of 2025 on Tuesday. The bill would make it easier for federal and state authorities to prosecute cargo crimes. CORCA, which now goes before the Senate Judiciary Committee, would also establish a supply chain crime response center within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). That could foster greater coordination among federal and state agencies. “It’s a significant step in the right direction,” Jeff Tucker, CEO of logistics provider Tucker Company Worldwide, told the Journal of Commerce webcast. “The proof is going to be in the execution. What will the coordination look like?” Supreme Court ruling raises stakes On Thursday, the US Supreme Court ruled that federal law does not automatically shield freight brokers from accident lawsuits alleging they hired unsafe motor carriers. The unanimous decision in Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II is expected to focus more attention on verification and vetting throughout the supply chain, starting with brokers. That has implications for cargo security, as well as highway safety. “Brokers are best positioned to detect anomalies,” said Naeem. “But you can’t just point your finger exclusively at brokers if something goes wrong.” Fraud permeates every link in the supply chain, according to Tucker. “To suggest this issue is a broker problem is missing a huge point,” he said. “There’s fraud happening at the broker, carrier and shipper level. We recently experienced a fraudulent shipper, an imposter. Bad actors are trying to find a weak link.” Many brokers already go far beyond federal requirements when it comes to carrier vetting. Shippers are demanding greater security, Tucker said. “We had one recent RFP [request for proposal] which had 70 questions about our technology,” he said. Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings made deep cuts in its pool of third-party brokerage carriers in the first quarter, targeting businesses that company officials said may be unsafe. Identifying and monitoring who is driving a brokered truck is a real challenge for brokers and shippers, Knight-Swift CEO Adam Miller said. “We’re anticipating that our customers are going to start being more concerned about this as this becomes more of a relevant issue,” he said. “We’re already seeing that.” Greater coordination, not just among agencies but among supply chain partners, is crucial, said Keith Lewis, vice president of operations at CargoNet, a Verisk company. “This is not a broker issue. This is an everybody involved in the supply chain issue,” Lewis said during the webcast. “Don’t look at the government as a silver bullet,” he added. “We already have cargo theft laws on the books. We need money to pay for enforcement.” Contact William B. Cassidy at bill.cassidy@spglobal.com .

Trucking labor

Verify supply chain IDs, starting with drivers: logistics experts

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">SC Ports’ board of directors voted Friday to approve a design project to determine how to convert part of a 210-acre parcel next to the North Charleston Terminal into a car carrier operation. </div>

SC Ports’ board of directors voted Friday to approve a design project to determine how to convert part of a 210-acre parcel next to the North Charleston Terminal into a car carrier operation.

<div class="phx-topic">The Port of Charleston wants to convert land previously set aside for containers at its northern marine terminal into a car carrier operation, a move the port says better aligns with the state’s major shippers and helps it more quickly monetize its physical assets. The board of directors for the South Carolina Ports Authority (SC Ports) voted Friday to approve a design project to determine how to convert part of a 210-acre parcel next to the North Charleston Terminal into a roll-on/roll-off (ro/ro) operation. <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/sc-ports-lands-deal-seeks-to-make-north-charleston-ready-for-bigger-ships-5244603">The site of the former WestRock paper mill was purchased in 2024</a> by SC Ports for $105 million. The parcel would have doubled the current footprint of the North Charleston Terminal, the smallest of SC Ports’ three container terminals and home mostly to its north-south and trans-Atlantic services. The total WestRock site was expected to bring North Charleston Terminal to 5 million TEUs in capacity. SC Ports said in a statement following the vote that it still expects to bring North Charleston Terminal to 3.4 million TEU, but that will require a bridge raising. In the interim, the move positions Charleston to better serve the state’s automotive manufacturers, which include BMW, Mercedes, and Volvo, SC Ports said. “We made a commitment to the market and board and all our stakeholders that we would focus our infrastructure and capital spending on immediate revenue-generating opportunities,” SC Ports Chief Executive Micah Mallace told the Journal of Commerce Friday. “We want to use the full extent of our real estate portfolio to generate new business.” The design contract will consider how much of the parcel will be devoted to ro/ro cargo, including upgraded tracks for autorack rail cars. SC Ports said it expects the design and demolition process to occur this summer. Initial construction on the site could start in January 2027, with a goal of 2028 completion. At his first state of the port address last October, Mallace said Charleston needs to get “<a href="https://www.joc.com/article/new-charleston-ceo-seeks-to-regain-container-growth-momentum-6104583">extra aggressive</a>” in the types of services it offers customers after it <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/charleston-looking-for-retailer-shippers-to-revive-ports-growth-6199290">lost market share in container freight</a> and as <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/charleston-slows-railyard-development-amid-insufficient-shipper-demand-6164158">it grapples with previous capital spending decisions</a> that have left the port looking for a faster return on its investments. While the expansion of the North Charleston Terminal for ultra-large container ships would require raising the Don Holt Bridge spanning the Cooper River, car carriers would be able to reach the terminal with the bridge’s current clearance. SC Ports’ fiscal 2025 financial report shows the port had 705 acres of undeveloped land at its various terminals and inland ports. <h3>Columbus terminal will be freed up </h3>The move to develop a ro/ro site would provide more room at SC Ports’ Columbus Street Terminal, which primarily handles the port’s ro/ro and breakbulk cargo, which accounted for $24.4 million in SC Ports’ operating revenue for fiscal 2025, a little under 6% of total revenue. Columbus Street handled 165,949 vehicles in fiscal 2025, down 21% from the year prior. Hurricane Debby hit Charleston in August 2024, causing flooding throughout its downtown, including the Columbus Street terminal, which sits at the convergence of the Cooper and Wando rivers in Charleston harbor. SC Ports said in its fiscal 2025 financial statement that BMW filed a claim for flood damage during the storm. Contact Michael Angell at <a href="mailto:michael.angell@spglobal.com">michael.angell@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

The Port of Charleston wants to convert land previously set aside for containers at its northern marine terminal into a car carrier operation, a move the port says better aligns with the state’s major shippers and helps it more quickly monetize its physical assets. The board of directors for the South Carolina Ports Authority (SC Ports) voted Friday to approve a design project to determine how to convert part of a 210-acre parcel next to the North Charleston Terminal into a roll-on/roll-off (ro/ro) operation. The site of the former WestRock paper mill was purchased in 2024 by SC Ports for $105 million. The parcel would have doubled the current footprint of the North Charleston Terminal, the smallest of SC Ports’ three container terminals and home mostly to its north-south and trans-Atlantic services. The total WestRock site was expected to bring North Charleston Terminal to 5 million TEUs in capacity. SC Ports said in a statement following the vote that it still expects to bring North Charleston Terminal to 3.4 million TEU, but that will require a bridge raising. In the interim, the move positions Charleston to better serve the state’s automotive manufacturers, which include BMW, Mercedes, and Volvo, SC Ports said. “We made a commitment to the market and board and all our stakeholders that we would focus our infrastructure and capital spending on immediate revenue-generating opportunities,” SC Ports Chief Executive Micah Mallace told the Journal of Commerce Friday. “We want to use the full extent of our real estate portfolio to generate new business.” The design contract will consider how much of the parcel will be devoted to ro/ro cargo, including upgraded tracks for autorack rail cars. SC Ports said it expects the design and demolition process to occur this summer. Initial construction on the site could start in January 2027, with a goal of 2028 completion. At his first state of the port address last October, Mallace said Charleston needs to get “ extra aggressive ” in the types of services it offers customers after it lost market share in container freight and as it grapples with previous capital spending decisions that have left the port looking for a faster return on its investments. While the expansion of the North Charleston Terminal for ultra-large container ships would require raising the Don Holt Bridge spanning the Cooper River, car carriers would be able to reach the terminal with the bridge’s current clearance. SC Ports’ fiscal 2025 financial report shows the port had 705 acres of undeveloped land at its various terminals and inland ports. Columbus terminal will be freed up The move to develop a ro/ro site would provide more room at SC Ports’ Columbus Street Terminal, which primarily handles the port’s ro/ro and breakbulk cargo, which accounted for $24.4 million in SC Ports’ operating revenue for fiscal 2025, a little under 6% of total revenue. Columbus Street handled 165,949 vehicles in fiscal 2025, down 21% from the year prior. Hurricane Debby hit Charleston in August 2024, causing flooding throughout its downtown, including the Columbus Street terminal, which sits at the convergence of the Cooper and Wando rivers in Charleston harbor. SC Ports said in its fiscal 2025 financial statement that BMW filed a claim for flood damage during the storm. Contact Michael Angell at michael.angell@spglobal.com .

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