<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">“While we are working on a solution, we do not have an update on expected resumption of services.”</div>

“While we are working on a solution, we do not have an update on expected resumption of services.”

<div>Trucks line up to enter Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust as its busiest terminal copes with the impacts of the cyberattack.Shippers at Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) are scrambling to connect their cargo after the <a>June 27 cyberattack</a> on Maersk Group’s global systems left the APM Terminals (APMT) facility in India’s busiest container gateway in <a>total disarray</a>.“While we are working on a solution, we do not have an update on expected resumption of services,” Gateway Terminals India, or APMT Mumbai, said in its latest advisory to customers.The company said terminal gates continue to remain closed to all export traffic, but efforts...

Trucks line up to enter Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust as its busiest terminal copes with the impacts of the cyberattack. Shippers at Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) are scrambling to connect their cargo after the June 27 cyberattack on Maersk Group’s global systems left the APM Terminals (APMT) facility in India’s busiest container gateway in total disarray . “While we are working on a solution, we do not have an update on expected resumption of services,” Gateway Terminals India, or APMT Mumbai, said in its latest advisory to customers. The company said terminal gates continue to remain closed to all export traffic, but efforts are underway to restart the release of import cargo through manual processes. “Traffic movement is being monitored by dedicated teams and trade is requested to keep trucks off the roads to avoid congestion,” the notice stated. The company previously told truckers and container freight station services providers in the harbor to temporarily halt container movements to the terminal. APMT Mumbai, which loads roughly 40 percent of the containers passing through JNPT, did not return JOC.com’s requests for updates Thursday. The Ministry of Shipping on Thursday said National Cyber Security Coordinator Gulshan Rai is marshalling forces in the port to help the private terminal restore operations. “The IT [information technology] team of AP Moller-Maersk together with IT companies in the country are working to restore the IT infrastructure at the earliest and resume cargo operations, but restoration of their infrastructure is linked with restoration of their global IT systems.” The statement also said additional parking space for trucks has been allocated to avoid traffic snarls, and that authorities are coordinating with the other terminals operated by JNPT and DP World to accommodate vessels impacted by the APMT closure. Thanks to that government intervention and proactive measures to regulate truck flows, landside congestion at JNPT has not so far reached crisis proportions such as during past labor troubles tied to outsourced rubber-tire gantry crane operations at private terminals, local shipping sources told JOC.com. In the meantime, the Maersk Group in a global press release maintained that the impacts of system outages have been contained and that it is working toward technical recovery. “We are collaborating with IT experts, including national cyber-crime agencies and IT industry leaders, to reinstate services safely and without further disruption. All Maersk Line vessels continue to be under control, employees are safe, and communication to crew and management on-board is functioning,” the statement said. Still, the disruption is a major setback for JNPT as customs authorities there have been vigorously working to further accelerate direct port delivery shipments as part of a larger government program to reduce logistics costs with dwell time reductions. Separately, APMT told JOC.com that its Pipavav terminal is operational, but at a slower pace. “This [cyber] attack has not had any major impact on the company at this point in time.” APMT Inland Services’ warehousing infrastructure at JNPT and Dadri, near Delhi, have also been affected by the systems collapse.

Logistics Technology News

International ports

APMT Mumbai still closed as authorities work to aid shippers

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Despite record import volumes in August, marine terminals at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are experiencing minimal congestion, with elevated rail container dwell times the only problem area.</div>

Despite record import volumes in August, marine terminals at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are experiencing minimal congestion, with elevated rail container dwell times the only problem area.

Feature image

<div class="phx-topic">Industry stakeholders are pointing to minimal supply chain disruption at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach this peak season despite record import volumes, thanks to warehouses throughout Southern California being able to keep churning freight through their facilities. During the height of COVID-related supply chain chaos in 2021-22, warehouses were unable to gear up for import surges and became a major bottleneck in the regional supply chain. That triggered chassis shortages, congested marine terminals and vessel bunching outside the ports. But a steady flow of imports this spring and summer has helped warehouse operators to maintain staffing and equipment at peak performance levels, said Scott Weiss, vice president of technical sales-warehouse and distribution services for North America at A.P. Moller Maersk. “There used to be much more seasonality to imports. Now it’s more spread out,” Weiss told the Journal of Commerce. “Warehouses like when it’s spread out.” “The reason why we are fluid (today) is because the warehouses are keeping up,” Sal Ferrigno, vice president of SSA Marine, which operates three container terminals in Long Beach, told the Journal of Commerce. Unlike during the pandemic when warehouses could not find enough workers, those facilities appear to be fully staffed today, Ferrigno said. The Los Angeles-Long Beach port complex, which accounts for almost 50% of US imports from Asia, handled an all-time high of 849,806 TEUs of Asian imports in August, up 23.7% year over year and about 16% higher than both August 2021 and 2022, according to PIERS, a Journal of Commerce sister product within S&amp;P Global. <h3>Near-dock surge yards a safety valve </h3>Marine terminal operators say there are several additional developments since the pandemic that are fostering improved supply chain fluidity, notably the access to more near-dock “surge” yards that provide temporary storage for inbound containers until they are needed at the warehouses or put on trains headed eastbound. This frees up space at the terminals to handle a continuous discharge of import containers and prevents a backlog of ships in the harbor. “We’re definitely seeing more container dray-offs today,” said Sepehr Matinifar, vice president of logistics services at the Wonderful Company, a developer of industrial and storage space in Southern California. Major retailers such as Amazon and Walmart are heavy users of the near-dock storage yards, he said. Mario Cordero, executive director of the Port of Long Beach, cited the port’s Pier S overflow yard that is helping to keep dwell times for containers that are trucked from the terminals below three days. According to the Pacific Merchant Shipping Association (PMSA), which tracks container dwell times, the average dwell time in the port complex in August for containers leaving by truck was 2.95 days. That’s up from 2.81days in July, but was the 10th consecutive month of sub-three-day dwells since October 2023, according to PMSA. <div class="wrapper-narrow"><dynamic-object type="jocchartid" resource-id="155dedc1-99f2-4adf-a449-1c9ab2510f95"></dynamic-object></div>When marine terminals are fluid, vessels move immediately to berth and depart on schedule after they have been worked. That prevents the backlogs that developed during COVID-19, which reached <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/trans-pac-vessel-reliability-ticked-higher-in-march-on-us-west-east-coasts-5243041">a record 109 container ships in January 2022</a>, according to the Marine Exchange of Southern California. The Marine Exchange reported that a record 67 container ships are scheduled to arrive in the LA-LB port complex this week. “Vessels and cargo arriving, departing and shifting around the ports of LA and LB continue to move normally with no labor delays and ample labor,” said Kip Louttit, executive director of the Marine Exchange. The post-COVID environment was also marked by excessive off-terminal chassis dwell times as chassis-container units sat idle in warehouse yards or on the streets waiting for space to open at the warehouses. Chassis street dwells during and immediately after COVID <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/la-port-expects-imports-to-surge-further-in-q2-5205950">spiked to more than 10 days</a>, according to the Pool of Pools, which is managed by the three largest intermodal equipment providers (IEPs) in Southern California. According to the Pool of Pools, the average street dwell time for 40-foot chassis as of Thursday was 5.9 days. That is below the seven-day-plus dwell times that can contribute to port congestion and reduce chassis availability in the LA-LB harbor area. Another reason why there is no significant chassis shortage today is that a number of drayage operators serving the ports now own or lease chassis, which reduces their dependence on shared containers in the Pool of Pools and promotes a more efficient use of chassis, according to Matt Schrap, CEO of the Harbor Trucking Association. <h3>Rail container dwell times still excessive </h3>The only sector of the Southern California supply chain that continues to register below-par performance is intermodal rail. The average dwell time of rail containers on the Los Angeles-Long Beach marine terminals in August was 8.2 days, up from 5.66 days in July and the highest since November 2022. “There are some rail container backlogs now,” said Alan McCorkle, president of Yusen Terminals in Los Angeles. “We’ve had to activate one of our two near-dock areas to handle the rail container backlog.” Rail industry analyst Lawrence Gross, president and founder of Gross Transportation, said record volumes play a major role in the surge of long-dwelling rail containers at the ports. He said that according to the Association of American Railroads, last week was the busiest for North American intermodal rail since June 2021, and inland point intermodal (IPI) traffic is projected to remain strong at least through October. “If the volumes stay this strong for that long, then I think there will unavoidably be some problems. Congestion, but not a meltdown,” said Gross, also a Journal of Commerce analyst. BNSF Railway had its busiest week for IPI moves in the week before Labor Day, and new record volumes are forecasted for the coming two weeks, said Jon Gabriel, BNSF’s vice president for innovation, service design and network strategy. Contact Bill Mongelluzzo at bill.mongelluzzo@spglobal.com </div>

Industry stakeholders are pointing to minimal supply chain disruption at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach this peak season despite record import volumes, thanks to warehouses throughout Southern California being able to keep churning freight through their facilities. During the height of COVID-related supply chain chaos in 2021-22, warehouses were unable to gear up for import surges and became a major bottleneck in the regional supply chain. That triggered chassis shortages, congested marine terminals and vessel bunching outside the ports. But a steady flow of imports this spring and summer has helped warehouse operators to maintain staffing and equipment at peak performance levels, said Scott Weiss, vice president of technical sales-warehouse and distribution services for North America at A.P. Moller Maersk. “There used to be much more seasonality to imports. Now it’s more spread out,” Weiss told the Journal of Commerce. “Warehouses like when it’s spread out.” “The reason why we are fluid (today) is because the warehouses are keeping up,” Sal Ferrigno, vice president of SSA Marine, which operates three container terminals in Long Beach, told the Journal of Commerce. Unlike during the pandemic when warehouses could not find enough workers, those facilities appear to be fully staffed today, Ferrigno said. The Los Angeles-Long Beach port complex, which accounts for almost 50% of US imports from Asia, handled an all-time high of 849,806 TEUs of Asian imports in August, up 23.7% year over year and about 16% higher than both August 2021 and 2022, according to PIERS, a Journal of Commerce sister product within S&P Global. Near-dock surge yards a safety valve Marine terminal operators say there are several additional developments since the pandemic that are fostering improved supply chain fluidity, notably the access to more near-dock “surge” yards that provide temporary storage for inbound containers until they are needed at the warehouses or put on trains headed eastbound. This frees up space at the terminals to handle a continuous discharge of import containers and prevents a backlog of ships in the harbor. “We’re definitely seeing more container dray-offs today,” said Sepehr Matinifar, vice president of logistics services at the Wonderful Company, a developer of industrial and storage space in Southern California. Major retailers such as Amazon and Walmart are heavy users of the near-dock storage yards, he said. Mario Cordero, executive director of the Port of Long Beach, cited the port’s Pier S overflow yard that is helping to keep dwell times for containers that are trucked from the terminals below three days. According to the Pacific Merchant Shipping Association (PMSA), which tracks container dwell times, the average dwell time in the port complex in August for containers leaving by truck was 2.95 days. That’s up from 2.81days in July, but was the 10th consecutive month of sub-three-day dwells since October 2023, according to PMSA. When marine terminals are fluid, vessels move immediately to berth and depart on schedule after they have been worked. That prevents the backlogs that developed during COVID-19, which reached a record 109 container ships in January 2022 , according to the Marine Exchange of Southern California. The Marine Exchange reported that a record 67 container ships are scheduled to arrive in the LA-LB port complex this week. “Vessels and cargo arriving, departing and shifting around the ports of LA and LB continue to move normally with no labor delays and ample labor,” said Kip Louttit, executive director of the Marine Exchange. The post-COVID environment was also marked by excessive off-terminal chassis dwell times as chassis-container units sat idle in warehouse yards or on the streets waiting for space to open at the warehouses. Chassis street dwells during and immediately after COVID spiked to more than 10 days , according to the Pool of Pools, which is managed by the three largest intermodal equipment providers (IEPs) in Southern California. According to the Pool of Pools, the average street dwell time for 40-foot chassis as of Thursday was 5.9 days. That is below the seven-day-plus dwell times that can contribute to port congestion and reduce chassis availability in the LA-LB harbor area. Another reason why there is no significant chassis shortage today is that a number of drayage operators serving the ports now own or lease chassis, which reduces their dependence on shared containers in the Pool of Pools and promotes a more efficient use of chassis, according to Matt Schrap, CEO of the Harbor Trucking Association. Rail container dwell times still excessive The only sector of the Southern California supply chain that continues to register below-par performance is intermodal rail. The average dwell time of rail containers on the Los Angeles-Long Beach marine terminals in August was 8.2 days, up from 5.66 days in July and the highest since November 2022. “There are some rail container backlogs now,” said Alan McCorkle, president of Yusen Terminals in Los Angeles. “We’ve had to activate one of our two near-dock areas to handle the rail container backlog.” Rail industry analyst Lawrence Gross, president and founder of Gross Transportation, said record volumes play a major role in the surge of long-dwelling rail containers at the ports. He said that according to the Association of American Railroads, last week was the busiest for North American intermodal rail since June 2021, and inland point intermodal (IPI) traffic is projected to remain strong at least through October. “If the volumes stay this strong for that long, then I think there will unavoidably be some problems. Congestion, but not a meltdown,” said Gross, also a Journal of Commerce analyst. BNSF Railway had its busiest week for IPI moves in the week before Labor Day, and new record volumes are forecasted for the coming two weeks, said Jon Gabriel, BNSF’s vice president for innovation, service design and network strategy. Contact Bill Mongelluzzo at bill.mongelluzzo@spglobal.com

Maritime

Container Shipping News

Port News

North American ports

Marine terminals

Supply chain

Southern California supply chain fluid despite surging import volumes

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">While there are still regulatory hurdles to clear, a spokesperson for DSV told the Journal of Commerce the combined company “will continue under the DSV brand” going forward.</div>

While there are still regulatory hurdles to clear, a spokesperson for DSV told the Journal of Commerce the combined company “will continue under the DSV brand” going forward.

<div class="phx-topic">The DB Schenker brand that two years ago celebrated its 150th anniversary will be absorbed by DSV, which last week acquired the Essen, Germany-based company for €14.3 billion ($15.9 billion). While there are <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/union-government-hurdles-ahead-in-dsvs-16-billion-takeover-of-db-schenker-5727281">still regulatory hurdles to clear</a> — and reports of rival bidder CVC Capital Partners urging DB Schenker to reconsider its intention to sell to the Denmark-based forwarder — a spokesperson for DSV told the Journal of Commerce that “going forward, the combined company will continue under the DSV brand.” That’s a path followed by the three major acquisitions DSV has made over the past decade — <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/dsv-buys-uti-for-135-billion-5205537">acquiring UTi in 2015</a> for $1.35 billion, <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/newly-combined-dsv-panalpina-targets-trans-pacific-trade-5226703">Panalpina in 2019</a> for $4.6 billion and <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/size-equals-value-in-fragmented-market-dsvs-andersen-5248808">Agility’s Global Integrated Logistics (GIL) in 2021</a> for $4.2 billion. Schenker &amp; Co. was founded in 1872 by Gottfried Schenker in Vienna and has developed into a global forwarder with approximately 75,000 employees. A combined DSV-DB Schenker entity will have close to 150,000 employees around the world with a 50/50 split. The size of the workforce featured prominently during takeover negotiations, with the final two bidders both pledging to limit redundancies. DSV included social commitments to DB Schenker jobs in the acquisition agreement as well as a pledge to invest €1 billion in Germany over the next three to five years, “which will contribute to ensuring long-term growth and job creation.” DSV noted in its acquisition statement last week that Germany “will be a key market for DSV with a substantial impact on the future organization.” The forwarder said “various central functions” of DB Schenker would remain in Germany, including the Schenker head office in Essen. Michael Clover, head of commercial development at consultancy Transport Intelligence (Ti), said DSV’s commitment to Germany in the final bidding stages appears to have been made to get the deal over the line with the federal government, while the jobs guarantee was aimed at placating German unions. “The German logistics industry is obviously enormous, but with German manufacturing down at the moment logistics growth is struggling in the country,” Clover told the Journal of Commerce. “Ti forecasts show that German freight forwarding will grow at a compound annual growth rate [CAGR] of 3.2% from 2023 to 2028, contract logistics at a CAGR of 1% and road freight at a 1.5%,” he added. “So, you could argue that the commitment to Germany for the next two years was all about securing the deal rather than about the growth opportunities in Germany.” Germany’s United Services Union, known as ver.di, had a wait-and-see attitude when contacted by the Journal of Commerce after the deal was signed last week. “For us, it is essential that as many jobs as possible are retained at the end of the sales process,” a union spokesperson said. <h3>World’s largest forwarder </h3>In global revenue terms, a combined DSV-DB Schenker will be the world’s largest forwarder with revenue of $39.3 billion based on 2023 results, according to DSV. Figures by market research firm Armstrong &amp; Associates put DHL Global Forwarding in second place globally at $33.8 billion and Kuehne + Nagel third with $31.6 billion. In terms of global ocean volume, Kuehne + Nagel remains at the top with 4.34 million TEUs against DSV-DB Schenker’s 4.30 million TEUs, with DHL Global Forwarding third at 3 million TEUs. DSV-DB Schenker is clearly ahead in air freight volume, handling a combined 2.45 million tons in 2023 against Kuehne + Nagel’s 1.9 million tons and DHL Global Forwarding’s 1.67 million tons. While the three Europe-based companies dominate the global forwarding market, it is a different picture on the trans-Pacific. Through the first eight months of this year, Kuehne + Nagel held the largest ocean market share of the three European forwarders, at 3.01% and 180,049 TEUs, but that was only good enough for fourth place, according to data from PIERS, a sister company of the Journal of Commerce within S&amp;P Global. California-based Kerry Apex led with a 5.21% share of the trans-Pacific market and volume of 312,195 TEUs. After the first eight months of 2024, DSV was at 21st place on the trans-Pacific with 53,193 TEUs and 0.89% of the market. The latest available data for DB Schenker is for January to August 2023, when it handled just 6,167 TEUs. “The combined entity will be a large player on the trans-Pacific, and this will be a benefit of the deal to help get DSV more exposure to this key trade lane, but not the driving rationale,” Clover noted. Contact Greg Knowler at <a href="mailto:greg.knowler@spglobal.com">greg.knowler@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

The DB Schenker brand that two years ago celebrated its 150th anniversary will be absorbed by DSV, which last week acquired the Essen, Germany-based company for €14.3 billion ($15.9 billion). While there are still regulatory hurdles to clear — and reports of rival bidder CVC Capital Partners urging DB Schenker to reconsider its intention to sell to the Denmark-based forwarder — a spokesperson for DSV told the Journal of Commerce that “going forward, the combined company will continue under the DSV brand.” That’s a path followed by the three major acquisitions DSV has made over the past decade — acquiring UTi in 2015 for $1.35 billion, Panalpina in 2019 for $4.6 billion and Agility’s Global Integrated Logistics (GIL) in 2021 for $4.2 billion. Schenker & Co. was founded in 1872 by Gottfried Schenker in Vienna and has developed into a global forwarder with approximately 75,000 employees. A combined DSV-DB Schenker entity will have close to 150,000 employees around the world with a 50/50 split. The size of the workforce featured prominently during takeover negotiations, with the final two bidders both pledging to limit redundancies. DSV included social commitments to DB Schenker jobs in the acquisition agreement as well as a pledge to invest €1 billion in Germany over the next three to five years, “which will contribute to ensuring long-term growth and job creation.” DSV noted in its acquisition statement last week that Germany “will be a key market for DSV with a substantial impact on the future organization.” The forwarder said “various central functions” of DB Schenker would remain in Germany, including the Schenker head office in Essen. Michael Clover, head of commercial development at consultancy Transport Intelligence (Ti), said DSV’s commitment to Germany in the final bidding stages appears to have been made to get the deal over the line with the federal government, while the jobs guarantee was aimed at placating German unions. “The German logistics industry is obviously enormous, but with German manufacturing down at the moment logistics growth is struggling in the country,” Clover told the Journal of Commerce. “Ti forecasts show that German freight forwarding will grow at a compound annual growth rate [CAGR] of 3.2% from 2023 to 2028, contract logistics at a CAGR of 1% and road freight at a 1.5%,” he added. “So, you could argue that the commitment to Germany for the next two years was all about securing the deal rather than about the growth opportunities in Germany.” Germany’s United Services Union, known as ver.di, had a wait-and-see attitude when contacted by the Journal of Commerce after the deal was signed last week. “For us, it is essential that as many jobs as possible are retained at the end of the sales process,” a union spokesperson said. World’s largest forwarder In global revenue terms, a combined DSV-DB Schenker will be the world’s largest forwarder with revenue of $39.3 billion based on 2023 results, according to DSV. Figures by market research firm Armstrong & Associates put DHL Global Forwarding in second place globally at $33.8 billion and Kuehne + Nagel third with $31.6 billion. In terms of global ocean volume, Kuehne + Nagel remains at the top with 4.34 million TEUs against DSV-DB Schenker’s 4.30 million TEUs, with DHL Global Forwarding third at 3 million TEUs. DSV-DB Schenker is clearly ahead in air freight volume, handling a combined 2.45 million tons in 2023 against Kuehne + Nagel’s 1.9 million tons and DHL Global Forwarding’s 1.67 million tons. While the three Europe-based companies dominate the global forwarding market, it is a different picture on the trans-Pacific. Through the first eight months of this year, Kuehne + Nagel held the largest ocean market share of the three European forwarders, at 3.01% and 180,049 TEUs, but that was only good enough for fourth place, according to data from PIERS, a sister company of the Journal of Commerce within S&P Global. California-based Kerry Apex led with a 5.21% share of the trans-Pacific market and volume of 312,195 TEUs. After the first eight months of 2024, DSV was at 21st place on the trans-Pacific with 53,193 TEUs and 0.89% of the market. The latest available data for DB Schenker is for January to August 2023, when it handled just 6,167 TEUs. “The combined entity will be a large player on the trans-Pacific, and this will be a benefit of the deal to help get DSV more exposure to this key trade lane, but not the driving rationale,” Clover noted. Contact Greg Knowler at greg.knowler@spglobal.com .

Air Cargo Forwarder News

Forwarding

Trans-Pacific

DSV takeover signals end to 150 years of DB Schenker brand

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">The forwarder did not provide financial details, but CEO James Gagne told the Journal of Commerce the transaction puts SEKO on solid financial footing.</div>

The forwarder did not provide financial details, but CEO James Gagne told the Journal of Commerce the transaction puts SEKO on solid financial footing.

<div class="phx-topic">SEKO Logistics on Thursday confirmed it has reached a definitive agreement with its existing financial partners in a move to reinforce its financial position. The forwarder did not provide financial details or disclose which existing backers are involved, but CEO James Gagne told the Journal of Commerce the transaction puts SEKO on solid financial footing. “This recapitalization transaction strengthens our balance sheet and gives us capital to enhance our service offerings, further invest in our team, our network, and technology, and expand our global footprint,” he said. In a separate statement, Gagne noted that the ongoing freight recession has “impacted the entire market.” “…[B]y proactively addressing our balance sheet, we will be at the forefront of the industry and better equipped to navigate these challenges...,” he said. Private equity firm Ridgemont Equity Partners acquired a majority stake in SEKO in early 2021. North Carolina-based Ridgemont, a middle-market buyout and growth equity investor, took over as SEKO’s lead investor from Greenbriar Equity, a New York-based firm that retained a stake in the forwarder. The exact size of the ownership stakes in SEKO held by Ridgemont and Greenbriar were not disclosed at the time. The transaction announced Thursday, expected to close in the coming weeks, comes amid a flurry of acquisitions in the forwarding space, most notably <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/union-government-hurdles-ahead-in-dsvs-16-billion-takeover-of-db-schenker-5727281">DSV confirming Friday it is acquiring DB Schenker for $16 billion</a>. Earlier in September, <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/dp-world-adds-hong-kong-forwarder-to-growing-3pl-network-5717969">DP World acquired Hong Kong-based Cargo Services Far East</a>. In March, <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/msc-unit-secures-takeover-of-french-forwarder-clasquin-5244502">Mediterranean Shipping Company acquired French forwarder Clasquin</a>. Contact Eric Johnson at <a href="mailto:eric.johnson@spglobal.com">eric.johnson@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

SEKO Logistics on Thursday confirmed it has reached a definitive agreement with its existing financial partners in a move to reinforce its financial position. The forwarder did not provide financial details or disclose which existing backers are involved, but CEO James Gagne told the Journal of Commerce the transaction puts SEKO on solid financial footing. “This recapitalization transaction strengthens our balance sheet and gives us capital to enhance our service offerings, further invest in our team, our network, and technology, and expand our global footprint,” he said. In a separate statement, Gagne noted that the ongoing freight recession has “impacted the entire market.” “…[B]y proactively addressing our balance sheet, we will be at the forefront of the industry and better equipped to navigate these challenges...,” he said. Private equity firm Ridgemont Equity Partners acquired a majority stake in SEKO in early 2021. North Carolina-based Ridgemont, a middle-market buyout and growth equity investor, took over as SEKO’s lead investor from Greenbriar Equity, a New York-based firm that retained a stake in the forwarder. The exact size of the ownership stakes in SEKO held by Ridgemont and Greenbriar were not disclosed at the time. The transaction announced Thursday, expected to close in the coming weeks, comes amid a flurry of acquisitions in the forwarding space, most notably DSV confirming Friday it is acquiring DB Schenker for $16 billion . Earlier in September, DP World acquired Hong Kong-based Cargo Services Far East . In March, Mediterranean Shipping Company acquired French forwarder Clasquin . Contact Eric Johnson at eric.johnson@spglobal.com .

SEKO secures fresh financial backing amid prolonged forwarding industry slump

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Eight straight months of double-digit volume growth and a massive increase in trans-Pacific and Asia-Europe e-commerce volumes, mostly shipped from China by air, has left air cargo capacity in short supply.</div>

Eight straight months of double-digit volume growth and a massive increase in trans-Pacific and Asia-Europe e-commerce volumes, mostly shipped from China by air, has left air cargo capacity in short supply.

<div class="phx-topic">A strike-driven surge in demand for air cargo capacity if ports along the US East and Gulf coasts are shut down from Oct. 1 would come at the worst possible time for an air freight sector that is preparing for a strong peak season with capacity already severely limited. Eight straight months of double-digit growth and a massive increase in trans-Pacific and Asia-Europe e-commerce volumes this year, mostly shipped from China by air, have kept rates elevated and encouraged airlines <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/lure-of-robust-asian-peak-season-a-magnet-for-air-cargo-capacity-5728658">to shift freighter capacity from other trades</a> to the booming ex-Asia markets. Angel Rodriguez, president of ASF Air, said a port strike in the US would quickly create a backlog in shipments of “artificial or unplanned air freight” that would typically have moved by ocean. “Now consider this occurring during the busiest season for air freight with the increased demand for e-commerce, holiday season around the corner and new product launches such as smart phones, all fighting for the same capacity from similar markets,” Rodriguez told the Journal of Commerce. Air freight rates out of China to the US and Europe have been elevated all year with e-commerce volume dominating shipments and longer ship voyages around southern Africa to avoid the Red Sea shifting urgent freight from ocean to the air. Load factors in August were at 87% on Asia-North America and 86% on both the Asia-Europe and Asia-Middle East routes, meaning they are effectively full. Air freight rates are being pushed up by a wide supply-demand imbalance, with supply growth in August increasing 2% year over year while demand was up 11%, according to rate benchmarking platform Xeneta. Data from the Baltic Air Index (BAI) shows that rates for the week ending Sept. 16 from China to the US were up 30% year over year at $5.87 per kilogram and China to Europe up 28%, at $4.10/kg. <h3>Scramble for space </h3>Airline executives estimate the top four Chinese e-commerce platforms use 150 freighters per day to move online orders to destination markets, most of that capacity contracted directly with airlines. That is leaving forwarders serving traditional air freight customers scrambling to find space in an ever-tightening market. Alberto Mathia, regional head of air freight for the Americas at Hellmann Worldwide Logistics, said capacity was a growing issue and that air freight rates, especially from Asia, were already rising, regardless of a potential port strike in the US. “Capacity will become even tighter as passenger flights may reduce after the summer schedule, creating additional challenges for already limited air capacity due to e-commerce from Asia and Red Sea diversions,” Mathia said. Rodriguez said shippers should already be discussing contingency plans with their service providers to identify solutions to keep production lines moving undisturbed. “Many of our clients at ASF have already started looking at full and part charters to have a safety stock in the unfortunate event that a strike does indeed occur,” he said. Charter rates are also rising sharply, however, with reports of a return freighter flight on the Europe-South America trade lane recently contracted for more than $1 million. <h3>‘Storm coming’ to China export markets </h3>Niall van de Wouw, chief air freight officer at Xeneta, said the air cargo industry was facing “an extremely challenging year-end peak season,” when volumes traditionally increase in the run up to Christmas and New Year. “There is a storm coming to the outbound China air freight market,” he warned. “Shippers need to take action now and have a clear plan in place for when the storm hits, such as working with their vendor to minimize the use of spot market capacity, which will likely come at spiraling costs.” While a port strike along the US East and Gulf coasts will impact air cargo exports from China, the trans-Atlantic air freight market could be hit hard, said Glyn Hughes, director general of The International Air Cargo Association (Tiaca). “To satisfy the demand, much of which is driven by e-commerce, air cargo freighter operators have been repositioning freighters to serve these high demand-Asian markets,” Hughes told the Journal of Commerce. “This has resulted in some trans-Atlantic freighter operations being stopped. “If the...port strike goes ahead then some cargo will undoubtedly need to move by air, but capacity will be in short supply,” he added. “There will also be an expected reduction in passenger belly capacity as winter schedules may also see reduced services.” However, the tight capacity will push up air cargo rates, and Hughes said this could lead to airlines moving freighters back to the trans-Atlantic market. “But I think the capacity challenge will act as a form of volume restriction, and I wouldn’t expect to see cargo facilities [in the US] being overrun with air cargo volume,” he added. Contact Greg Knowler at <a href="mailto:greg.knowler@spglobal.com">greg.knowler@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

A strike-driven surge in demand for air cargo capacity if ports along the US East and Gulf coasts are shut down from Oct. 1 would come at the worst possible time for an air freight sector that is preparing for a strong peak season with capacity already severely limited. Eight straight months of double-digit growth and a massive increase in trans-Pacific and Asia-Europe e-commerce volumes this year, mostly shipped from China by air, have kept rates elevated and encouraged airlines to shift freighter capacity from other trades to the booming ex-Asia markets. Angel Rodriguez, president of ASF Air, said a port strike in the US would quickly create a backlog in shipments of “artificial or unplanned air freight” that would typically have moved by ocean. “Now consider this occurring during the busiest season for air freight with the increased demand for e-commerce, holiday season around the corner and new product launches such as smart phones, all fighting for the same capacity from similar markets,” Rodriguez told the Journal of Commerce. Air freight rates out of China to the US and Europe have been elevated all year with e-commerce volume dominating shipments and longer ship voyages around southern Africa to avoid the Red Sea shifting urgent freight from ocean to the air. Load factors in August were at 87% on Asia-North America and 86% on both the Asia-Europe and Asia-Middle East routes, meaning they are effectively full. Air freight rates are being pushed up by a wide supply-demand imbalance, with supply growth in August increasing 2% year over year while demand was up 11%, according to rate benchmarking platform Xeneta. Data from the Baltic Air Index (BAI) shows that rates for the week ending Sept. 16 from China to the US were up 30% year over year at $5.87 per kilogram and China to Europe up 28%, at $4.10/kg. Scramble for space Airline executives estimate the top four Chinese e-commerce platforms use 150 freighters per day to move online orders to destination markets, most of that capacity contracted directly with airlines. That is leaving forwarders serving traditional air freight customers scrambling to find space in an ever-tightening market. Alberto Mathia, regional head of air freight for the Americas at Hellmann Worldwide Logistics, said capacity was a growing issue and that air freight rates, especially from Asia, were already rising, regardless of a potential port strike in the US. “Capacity will become even tighter as passenger flights may reduce after the summer schedule, creating additional challenges for already limited air capacity due to e-commerce from Asia and Red Sea diversions,” Mathia said. Rodriguez said shippers should already be discussing contingency plans with their service providers to identify solutions to keep production lines moving undisturbed. “Many of our clients at ASF have already started looking at full and part charters to have a safety stock in the unfortunate event that a strike does indeed occur,” he said. Charter rates are also rising sharply, however, with reports of a return freighter flight on the Europe-South America trade lane recently contracted for more than $1 million. ‘Storm coming’ to China export markets Niall van de Wouw, chief air freight officer at Xeneta, said the air cargo industry was facing “an extremely challenging year-end peak season,” when volumes traditionally increase in the run up to Christmas and New Year. “There is a storm coming to the outbound China air freight market,” he warned. “Shippers need to take action now and have a clear plan in place for when the storm hits, such as working with their vendor to minimize the use of spot market capacity, which will likely come at spiraling costs.” While a port strike along the US East and Gulf coasts will impact air cargo exports from China, the trans-Atlantic air freight market could be hit hard, said Glyn Hughes, director general of The International Air Cargo Association (Tiaca). “To satisfy the demand, much of which is driven by e-commerce, air cargo freighter operators have been repositioning freighters to serve these high demand-Asian markets,” Hughes told the Journal of Commerce. “This has resulted in some trans-Atlantic freighter operations being stopped. “If the...port strike goes ahead then some cargo will undoubtedly need to move by air, but capacity will be in short supply,” he added. “There will also be an expected reduction in passenger belly capacity as winter schedules may also see reduced services.” However, the tight capacity will push up air cargo rates, and Hughes said this could lead to airlines moving freighters back to the trans-Atlantic market. “But I think the capacity challenge will act as a form of volume restriction, and I wouldn’t expect to see cargo facilities [in the US] being overrun with air cargo volume,” he added. Contact Greg Knowler at greg.knowler@spglobal.com .

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Limited air freight capacity available for US port strike-driven cargo shift

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Port users are concerned that if the technology and infrastructure needed to support a zero-emission environment is not built out, the industry’s only recourse will be to cap cargo volumes at Los Angeles and Long Beach.</div>

Port users are concerned that if the technology and infrastructure needed to support a zero-emission environment is not built out, the industry’s only recourse will be to cap cargo volumes at Los Angeles and Long Beach.

<div class="phx-topic">Shippers, transportation interests and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) are urging the mayors of Los Angeles and Long Beach to lead the effort against the implementation of new regional air emissions rules they say will cap cargo growth at the largest US port complex. In a letter dated Sept. 17 and sent to Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson, some 200 port stakeholders said the ambitious plan by the regional South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD) to adopt a so-called Port Independent Source Rule (ISR) would fail to achieve the goal of a zero-emission port environment without first building the electric and hydrogen fuel infrastructure needed to fuel trucks, cargo-handling equipment and vessel operations. “There is broad agreement among stakeholders that it would be more effective and productive to forego a Port ISR and instead focus on an infrastructure and streamlined permitting program to support current and future needs related to zero-emission infrastructure and equipment,” the letter said. Port users are concerned that if the technology and infrastructure needed to support a zero-emission environment is not built out, the industry’s only recourse will be to cap cargo volumes, which would limit the annual number of vessel, truck and rail movements in the Los Angeles-Long Beach port complex and at warehouses throughout Southern California that are served by port traffic. That was echoed by the Pacific Merchant Shipping Association (PMSA), which represents terminal operators and shipping lines on the West Coast. “Without necessary infrastructure, the proposed Port ISR would result in a cap on cargo volumes and ultimately punish ports, marine terminal operators and supply chain workers who have already worked hard to reduce diesel pollution by 90%,” PMSA said in a statement Wednesday. An existing regulatory framework from the US Environmental Protection Agency and California Air Resources Board (CARB) already limits emissions from cargo-handling equipment, trucks, locomotives, vessels and other port users, said Thomas Jelenic, PMSA’s vice president. “We have the regulations in place,” Jelenic told the Journal of Commerce Wednesday. “It doesn’t make sense to duplicate the Rail ISR and existing CARB requirements.” The AQMD board last month approved the Rail ISR and the regulatory agency has said it will focus on the Port ISR in the first quarter of 2025, according to Michele Grubbs, another PMSA vice president. Contact Bill Mongelluzzo at <a href="mailto:bill.mongelluzzo@spglobal.com">bill.mongelluzzo@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

Shippers, transportation interests and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) are urging the mayors of Los Angeles and Long Beach to lead the effort against the implementation of new regional air emissions rules they say will cap cargo growth at the largest US port complex. In a letter dated Sept. 17 and sent to Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson, some 200 port stakeholders said the ambitious plan by the regional South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD) to adopt a so-called Port Independent Source Rule (ISR) would fail to achieve the goal of a zero-emission port environment without first building the electric and hydrogen fuel infrastructure needed to fuel trucks, cargo-handling equipment and vessel operations. “There is broad agreement among stakeholders that it would be more effective and productive to forego a Port ISR and instead focus on an infrastructure and streamlined permitting program to support current and future needs related to zero-emission infrastructure and equipment,” the letter said. Port users are concerned that if the technology and infrastructure needed to support a zero-emission environment is not built out, the industry’s only recourse will be to cap cargo volumes, which would limit the annual number of vessel, truck and rail movements in the Los Angeles-Long Beach port complex and at warehouses throughout Southern California that are served by port traffic. That was echoed by the Pacific Merchant Shipping Association (PMSA), which represents terminal operators and shipping lines on the West Coast. “Without necessary infrastructure, the proposed Port ISR would result in a cap on cargo volumes and ultimately punish ports, marine terminal operators and supply chain workers who have already worked hard to reduce diesel pollution by 90%,” PMSA said in a statement Wednesday. An existing regulatory framework from the US Environmental Protection Agency and California Air Resources Board (CARB) already limits emissions from cargo-handling equipment, trucks, locomotives, vessels and other port users, said Thomas Jelenic, PMSA’s vice president. “We have the regulations in place,” Jelenic told the Journal of Commerce Wednesday. “It doesn’t make sense to duplicate the Rail ISR and existing CARB requirements.” The AQMD board last month approved the Rail ISR and the regulatory agency has said it will focus on the Port ISR in the first quarter of 2025, according to Michele Grubbs, another PMSA vice president. Contact Bill Mongelluzzo at bill.mongelluzzo@spglobal.com .

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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

SMC3rates_shutterstock_5247046.jpg

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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