<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Forward’s chief legal officer will take over as interim CEO as Tom Schmitt exits following a contentious legal battle with Omni Logistics.</div>

Forward’s chief legal officer will take over as interim CEO as Tom Schmitt exits following a contentious legal battle with Omni Logistics.

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<div>Forward Air CEO Tom Schmitt has left the company, the expedited less-than-truckload (LTL) said Wednesday, less than two weeks after the closing of Forward’s acquisition of global freight forwarder Omni Logistics. Forward’s Chief Legal Officer Michael Hance will take over as interim CEO while Chris Ruble, the company’s COO since 2018, has been named president and COO. “Now is the right time to initiate a search for our next CEO to lead Forward during the next phase of our growth and evolution,” George Mayes, a director who was appointed independent chairman, said in a statement. Schmitt had been president, chairman...

Forward Air CEO Tom Schmitt has left the company, the expedited less-than-truckload (LTL) said Wednesday, less than two weeks after the closing of Forward’s acquisition of global freight forwarder Omni Logistics. Forward’s Chief Legal Officer Michael Hance will take over as interim CEO while Chris Ruble, the company’s COO since 2018, has been named president and COO. “Now is the right time to initiate a search for our next CEO to lead Forward during the next phase of our growth and evolution,” George Mayes, a director who was appointed independent chairman, said in a statement. Schmitt had been president, chairman and CEO of Forward since 2018 and previously worked for DB Schenker and Canadian transportation firm Purolator. Schmitt’s departure follows the merger of Forward Air and Omni Logistics, a deal completed Jan. 26 after a tortuous courtroom battle. Schmitt championed the merger when it was proposed last August, but later opposed the combination after activist investors came out against the deal. During his tenure at Forward Air, Schmitt played a pivotal role in the company’s transition from a purely airport-to-airport ground-air express carrier to a more multifaceted transportation operator, with traditional LTL, expedited truckload, drayage and final-mile divisions. But he often clashed with activist investors who opposed diversification efforts, believing they reduced shareholder value. Forward Air’s stock price plunged when the merger with Omni Logistics was announced in August, and investors, led by activist investor group Ancora Alternatives, called for Schmitt’s departure. Forward’s stock traded at $104.02 per share Aug. 10, the day the merger was announced, and closed at $43.49 per share late Wednesday. Contact William B. Cassidy at bill.cassidy@spglobal.com .

Trucking News

Surface

Forward Air ousts CEO Schmitt after completing Omni merger

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">As damage from Helene and Milton is being tallied, logistics experts say the storms won’t do much to accelerate spot and contract truckload pricing in the long term. </div>

As damage from Helene and Milton is being tallied, logistics experts say the storms won’t do much to accelerate spot and contract truckload pricing in the long term.

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<div class="phx-topic">The damage caused by hurricanes Helene and Milton will take months to fully repair, but the impact on freight markets and truckload pricing will not be as great as initially believed, logistics experts told the Journal of Commerce. “We will see an immediate increase in relief activity, and that will drive an inbound spot market surge” in the areas affected by Helene and Milton, Andy Dyer, CEO at Atlanta-based third-party logistics provider (3PL) AFS Logistics, said in an interview Thursday. However, despite <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/back-to-back-hurricanes-roil-us-truck-spot-market-pushing-up-rates-5745302">increases in spot market pricing</a> for dry-van, refrigerated and flatbed tractor-trailers last week, Dyer doesn’t believe relief efforts from the back-to-back hurricanes will siphon off enough trucks to drive up spot pricing beyond the battered Southeast. “With utmost compassion for all the individuals affected, the regions where these hurricanes hit are consumption markets, not production markets,” unlike Houston, which was flooded by Hurricane Harvey in 2017, Dyer said. ”I don’t see this as the beginning of a long-term freight-rate recovery” similar to the one seen in 2017 after Harvey and Hurricane Irma struck Texas and Florida within a month of each other,” he said. “It’s what everybody wants, but this isn’t it.” Dyer was joined by others who rejected a simple comparison between the back-to-back hurricanes of 2017 and this year’s Helene and Milton. “We were already in a bullish truckload spot market when Harvey struck [in August 2017], with freight volumes rising,” said Jason Miller, the Eli Broad professor of supply chain management at Michigan State University and a Journal of Commerce analyst. The current spot market is still traveling along a pricing bottom reached more than a year ago. “I don’t see these hurricanes as being the thing that shifts the freight market in a substantial manner,” Miller said. <h3>Short-term impact </h3>The bulk of the pricing impact will be felt in the immediate post-storm period as relief supplies head south, said David Spencer, vice president of market intelligence at Arrive Logistics, a 3PL in Austin, Texas. But a temporary pricing surge will eventually fade, he said. “While, in some cases, these storms may have been enough to disrupt routing guides, current market fundamentals, including a large contract-to-spot rate spread, should not result in much more than a short-lived surge in demand,” Spencer said. He said he does not expect year-over-year spot rate increases higher than 5% in the fourth quarter. An uptick in pricing may still constrain the overall market by keeping excess capacity on the road. “The recent spot rate volatility could actually work to help keep carriers on the brink of failure in the market longer due to increased spot opportunities,” he said. Spencer expects the increase in dry-van contract rates to reach a peak of 4% to 6% in the fourth quarter of 2025, while spot rates will reach a peak increase of 11% to 13% in the third quarter. <h3>Absorbing capacity </h3>Storm recovery efforts will command a significant amount of truck capacity, but there is more truck capacity available in 2024 than there was after the 2017 hurricanes. “We are still oversupplied to the tune of 100,000 to 120,000 carrier authorities,” Kendra Tucker, CEO of Truckstop.com, said at the Journal of Commerce 2024 Inland Distribution Conference last week. New entrants flooded the market from 2020 through 2022 and the number of carriers with active operating authorities has dropped since then, but “it’s still too many, just given the level of volume that we’ve got,” Tucker said. Kent Williams of Averitt, a less-than-truckload (LTL) and truckload carrier based in Cookeville, Tenn., is slightly more optimistic. “I think the impact of the hurricanes will move the needle on capacity,” although not by much, he told the Journal of Commerce. “I don’t think we’ll go all of a sudden from excess capacity and depressed rates to a market reset,” he said. “We may move closer to a balance in supply and demand.” Capacity can tighten even if trucks aren’t taken out of the market, Williams pointed out. “We’ve had to change routes and transit times because what was once doable under the driver hours of service rules is no longer doable,” he said. For example, LTL truck drivers who used to take Interstate 40 between Charlotte, NC, and Nashville are now rerouting through Atlanta, adding hours and miles to their trip. “That hasn’t affected our service standards between Charlotte and Nashville, but some routes to points on the perimeter can no longer be serviced the next day,” Williams said. Contact William B. Cassidy at <a href="mailto:bill.cassidy@spglobal.com">bill.cassidy@spglobal.com</a>.</div>

The damage caused by hurricanes Helene and Milton will take months to fully repair, but the impact on freight markets and truckload pricing will not be as great as initially believed, logistics experts told the Journal of Commerce. “We will see an immediate increase in relief activity, and that will drive an inbound spot market surge” in the areas affected by Helene and Milton, Andy Dyer, CEO at Atlanta-based third-party logistics provider (3PL) AFS Logistics, said in an interview Thursday. However, despite increases in spot market pricing for dry-van, refrigerated and flatbed tractor-trailers last week, Dyer doesn’t believe relief efforts from the back-to-back hurricanes will siphon off enough trucks to drive up spot pricing beyond the battered Southeast. “With utmost compassion for all the individuals affected, the regions where these hurricanes hit are consumption markets, not production markets,” unlike Houston, which was flooded by Hurricane Harvey in 2017, Dyer said. ”I don’t see this as the beginning of a long-term freight-rate recovery” similar to the one seen in 2017 after Harvey and Hurricane Irma struck Texas and Florida within a month of each other,” he said. “It’s what everybody wants, but this isn’t it.” Dyer was joined by others who rejected a simple comparison between the back-to-back hurricanes of 2017 and this year’s Helene and Milton. “We were already in a bullish truckload spot market when Harvey struck [in August 2017], with freight volumes rising,” said Jason Miller, the Eli Broad professor of supply chain management at Michigan State University and a Journal of Commerce analyst. The current spot market is still traveling along a pricing bottom reached more than a year ago. “I don’t see these hurricanes as being the thing that shifts the freight market in a substantial manner,” Miller said. Short-term impact The bulk of the pricing impact will be felt in the immediate post-storm period as relief supplies head south, said David Spencer, vice president of market intelligence at Arrive Logistics, a 3PL in Austin, Texas. But a temporary pricing surge will eventually fade, he said. “While, in some cases, these storms may have been enough to disrupt routing guides, current market fundamentals, including a large contract-to-spot rate spread, should not result in much more than a short-lived surge in demand,” Spencer said. He said he does not expect year-over-year spot rate increases higher than 5% in the fourth quarter. An uptick in pricing may still constrain the overall market by keeping excess capacity on the road. “The recent spot rate volatility could actually work to help keep carriers on the brink of failure in the market longer due to increased spot opportunities,” he said. Spencer expects the increase in dry-van contract rates to reach a peak of 4% to 6% in the fourth quarter of 2025, while spot rates will reach a peak increase of 11% to 13% in the third quarter. Absorbing capacity Storm recovery efforts will command a significant amount of truck capacity, but there is more truck capacity available in 2024 than there was after the 2017 hurricanes. “We are still oversupplied to the tune of 100,000 to 120,000 carrier authorities,” Kendra Tucker, CEO of Truckstop.com, said at the Journal of Commerce 2024 Inland Distribution Conference last week. New entrants flooded the market from 2020 through 2022 and the number of carriers with active operating authorities has dropped since then, but “it’s still too many, just given the level of volume that we’ve got,” Tucker said. Kent Williams of Averitt, a less-than-truckload (LTL) and truckload carrier based in Cookeville, Tenn., is slightly more optimistic. “I think the impact of the hurricanes will move the needle on capacity,” although not by much, he told the Journal of Commerce. “I don’t think we’ll go all of a sudden from excess capacity and depressed rates to a market reset,” he said. “We may move closer to a balance in supply and demand.” Capacity can tighten even if trucks aren’t taken out of the market, Williams pointed out. “We’ve had to change routes and transit times because what was once doable under the driver hours of service rules is no longer doable,” he said. For example, LTL truck drivers who used to take Interstate 40 between Charlotte, NC, and Nashville are now rerouting through Atlanta, adding hours and miles to their trip. “That hasn’t affected our service standards between Charlotte and Nashville, but some routes to points on the perimeter can no longer be serviced the next day,” Williams said. Contact William B. Cassidy at bill.cassidy@spglobal.com .

Truckload

Truck brokers

Hurricanes not seen as truckload pricing catalyst despite relief demand

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">The move comes after two UK government officials sharply criticized the March 2022 mass layoffs at DP World subsidiary P&amp;O Ferries while launching new legislation to protect seafarer rights.</div>

The move comes after two UK government officials sharply criticized the March 2022 mass layoffs at DP World subsidiary P&O Ferries while launching new legislation to protect seafarer rights.

<div class="phx-topic">Dubai-headquartered port operator DP World has postponed plans to announce a major expansion of its London Gateway container terminal following criticism earlier this week by senior British government officials of a DP World subsidiary, P&amp;O Ferries. Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, DP World group chairman and CEO, was to announce plans to build two additional berths at London Gateway, part of a £1 billion ($1.3 billion), 10-year expansion of the port, at an investment summit in London Monday. The two berths are the final phase of the six-berth terminal. But bin Sulayem ordered the cancellation of Monday’s announcement and a review of DP World’s investment at London Gateway, television news outlet Sky News reported Friday. He also cancelled plans to attend the meeting, organized by the UK government, to which hundreds of business leaders and investors have been invited as part of efforts to lure more investment to the UK, Sky News said. DP World declined to comment.The move by DP World comes as work is nearing completion on London Gateway’s $460 million fourth berth, which is due to become fully operational early next year and boost container handling capacity by about 1 million TEUs, to 3.4 million TEUs a year. Bin Sulayem’s anger follows comments made Wednesday by two UK government officials, Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner and Transport Secretary Louise Haigh, against P&amp;O Ferries when the government launched new legislation to protect seafarer rights. The new labor laws are intended to avoid a repeat of March 2022 when P&amp;O Ferries sacked nearly 800 sea staff and replaced them with agency workers in an attempt to staunch continuing losses. “What we saw with P&amp;O Ferries was an outrageous example of manipulation by an employer and exactly why we’re taking bold action to improve job security in the UK,” Rayner said while commenting on the new seafarer laws. Describing P&amp;O Ferries as a “rogue operator,” Haigh added: “The mass sacking by P&amp;O Ferries was a national scandal which can never be allowed to happen again. These measures will make sure it doesn’t.” The layoffs were strongly criticized and led to a temporary halt in ferry services between England and Rotterdam and England and Calais in France while agency staff were recruited. Under the new laws, which take effect Dec. 1, seafarers will be paid a minimum wage while shipping firms planning to dismiss 20 or more employees will be legally required to notify the government or face potential prosecution or an unlimited fine. Contact Keith Wallis at <a href="mailto:keithwallis@hotmail.com">keithwallis@hotmail.com</a>. </div>

Dubai-headquartered port operator DP World has postponed plans to announce a major expansion of its London Gateway container terminal following criticism earlier this week by senior British government officials of a DP World subsidiary, P&O Ferries. Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, DP World group chairman and CEO, was to announce plans to build two additional berths at London Gateway, part of a £1 billion ($1.3 billion), 10-year expansion of the port, at an investment summit in London Monday. The two berths are the final phase of the six-berth terminal. But bin Sulayem ordered the cancellation of Monday’s announcement and a review of DP World’s investment at London Gateway, television news outlet Sky News reported Friday. He also cancelled plans to attend the meeting, organized by the UK government, to which hundreds of business leaders and investors have been invited as part of efforts to lure more investment to the UK, Sky News said. DP World declined to comment. The move by DP World comes as work is nearing completion on London Gateway’s $460 million fourth berth, which is due to become fully operational early next year and boost container handling capacity by about 1 million TEUs, to 3.4 million TEUs a year. Bin Sulayem’s anger follows comments made Wednesday by two UK government officials, Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner and Transport Secretary Louise Haigh, against P&O Ferries when the government launched new legislation to protect seafarer rights. The new labor laws are intended to avoid a repeat of March 2022 when P&O Ferries sacked nearly 800 sea staff and replaced them with agency workers in an attempt to staunch continuing losses. “What we saw with P&O Ferries was an outrageous example of manipulation by an employer and exactly why we’re taking bold action to improve job security in the UK,” Rayner said while commenting on the new seafarer laws. Describing P&O Ferries as a “rogue operator,” Haigh added: “The mass sacking by P&O Ferries was a national scandal which can never be allowed to happen again. These measures will make sure it doesn’t.” The layoffs were strongly criticized and led to a temporary halt in ferry services between England and Rotterdam and England and Calais in France while agency staff were recruited. Under the new laws, which take effect Dec. 1, seafarers will be paid a minimum wage while shipping firms planning to dismiss 20 or more employees will be legally required to notify the government or face potential prosecution or an unlimited fine. Contact Keith Wallis at keithwallis@hotmail.com .

Container Shipping News

Port News

Marine terminals

International ports

Maritime

DP World postpones planned announcement of London Gateway expansion

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Carriers began pulling the charges shortly after the end of the strike was announced last week, while pressure to do so came even earlier from Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.</div>

Carriers began pulling the charges shortly after the end of the strike was announced last week, while pressure to do so came even earlier from Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

<div class="phx-topic">Ocean carriers have dropped ad hoc surcharges that were linked to last week’s short-lived longshore strike along the US East and Gulf coasts, adding downward pressure to freight rates that have fallen sharply in recent weeks. “The strike fees are dead,” one forwarder told the Journal of Commerce. Carriers began pulling the charges shortly after <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/ila-usmx-agree-on-new-wage-offer-and-contract-extension-that-reopens-ports-5741882">the end of the strike was announced on Oct. 3</a>. Pressure to do so came even earlier when Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg suggested that carriers withdraw any surcharges, saying that “no one should exploit a disruption for profit.” Liners began implementing surcharges on containers whose movement would be disrupted by the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) strike. Some of the fees were hefty — Ocean Network Express (ONE), for example, announced a “congestion” surcharge of up to $2,000 per FEU. ONE, CMA CGM and OOCL are among carriers who have withdrawn the surcharges. “The strike-related surcharges were cancelled relatively quickly considering the port operation situation at ports was better than initially expected,” said a carrier source. Added a second freight forwarder: “Contract holders are receiving cancellations of the surcharges. We had most of ours sent late last week and on Monday.” <div class="wrapper-narrow"><dynamic-object type="jocchartid" resource-id="e7a65aab-9aac-4f07-9b74-1793746c01ef"></dynamic-object></div>Spot rates for Asia to the East Coast were pegged at $4,300 per FEU this week, according to Platts, a sister company of the Journal of Commerce within S&amp;P Global. That’s down from $7,350 per FEU on Sept. 6. Ex-Asia cargo into the West Coast was assessed at $4,200 per FEU — marking the narrowest differential with the East Coast ever observed on the Platts index. For the second half of October, some sources have reported observing offers on the two lanes at total parity. Contact Laura Robb at <a href="mailto:laura.robb@spglobal.com">laura.robb@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

Ocean carriers have dropped ad hoc surcharges that were linked to last week’s short-lived longshore strike along the US East and Gulf coasts, adding downward pressure to freight rates that have fallen sharply in recent weeks. “The strike fees are dead,” one forwarder told the Journal of Commerce. Carriers began pulling the charges shortly after the end of the strike was announced on Oct. 3 . Pressure to do so came even earlier when Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg suggested that carriers withdraw any surcharges, saying that “no one should exploit a disruption for profit.” Liners began implementing surcharges on containers whose movement would be disrupted by the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) strike. Some of the fees were hefty — Ocean Network Express (ONE), for example, announced a “congestion” surcharge of up to $2,000 per FEU. ONE, CMA CGM and OOCL are among carriers who have withdrawn the surcharges. “The strike-related surcharges were cancelled relatively quickly considering the port operation situation at ports was better than initially expected,” said a carrier source. Added a second freight forwarder: “Contract holders are receiving cancellations of the surcharges. We had most of ours sent late last week and on Monday.” Spot rates for Asia to the East Coast were pegged at $4,300 per FEU this week, according to Platts, a sister company of the Journal of Commerce within S&P Global. That’s down from $7,350 per FEU on Sept. 6. Ex-Asia cargo into the West Coast was assessed at $4,200 per FEU — marking the narrowest differential with the East Coast ever observed on the Platts index. For the second half of October, some sources have reported observing offers on the two lanes at total parity. Contact Laura Robb at laura.robb@spglobal.com .

Container lines

Trans-Pacific

Longshore labor

Strike surcharges disappear as spot rates for US West, East coasts near parity

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Some have speculated that specific issues were raised that persuaded at least some of the carrier group CEOs to direct their representatives on the USMX to boost their offer of a pay increase.</div>

Some have speculated that specific issues were raised that persuaded at least some of the carrier group CEOs to direct their representatives on the USMX to boost their offer of a pay increase.

<div class="phx-topic"><div class="wrapper-narrow float-right-element"><img src="/images/phoenix/5747257_0.1.jpg"></img></div>If the Biden administration did indeed force the tentative contract deal ending last week’s longshore strike, how exactly did it happen? In other words, what did the White House chief of staff tell ocean carrier group CEOs on a conference call at 5:30 a.m. Washington time on Oct. 3 that within hours resulted in a substantial increase in the wage offer made to the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA), <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/ila-usmx-agree-on-new-wage-offer-and-contract-extension-that-reopens-ports-5741882">ending the strike after three days</a>?Some have speculated that specific issues were raised that persuaded at least some of the group CEOs to direct their representatives on the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) to boost their offer of a pay increase from 50% to 62% over the course of a new six-year contract. The White House has leverage to deploy, such as being able to increase scrutiny of or even reject foreign acquisitions of US marine terminals. The Department of Justice for decades has made no secret of its dislike of ocean shipping alliances, including the remnants of antitrust immunity, chiding any vote by the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) that allows massive vessel-sharing agreements to take effect rather than seeking a federal injunction to block them. <h3>Relief for White House, Harris campaign </h3>Whatever was said on the call was enough to get the wage increase offer high enough for the ILA to call off its strike and, to the relief of the White House and Kamala Harris, take the issue off the table as a liability for Democrats in the presidential campaign. <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2024/10/04/biden-white-house-harris-port-strike/">The Washington Post reported</a> that White House chief of staff Jeff Zients delivered a “stark ultimatum” to the carriers, saying he planned to inform President Joe Biden that a deal had been reached, even though the carriers had agreed to “no such thing.” In doing so, he placed the ball squarely in the carriers’ court to either go along with the “deal” Biden would soon announce to end the strike or to publicly contradict him. The latter was not an option. It would have put the carriers in the risky and ultimately impossible position of being an active player in the election just over a month before the vote. Refusing to give the ILA the raise it wanted to end the strike, with the result that the stoppage continued and economic damage piled up while Biden and the Harris campaign took the blame, could possibly, depending on how the cards fell, have resulted in the carriers themselves being blamed for determining the outcome of the election. That is the last thing a group of non-US based ocean carriers, who have few political friends in the US to begin with, would want. A senior carrier source said container lines would not want to be seen as meddling in any way in US politics. Taking the logic further, with Democrats making the case that the election of Donald Trump could spell the end of democracy in the US, getting anywhere near such a radioactive issue — if Trump prevailing was indeed the outcome — would be to step into dangerous territory indeed. Carriers wanted no part of it. <h3>Carriers live to fight another day </h3>In the end, they had no choice but to accept their fate by giving the union an historic wage increase and living to fight another day. That day could come soon enough; carriers have called the deal “provisional” pending resolution of other issues including automation, royalties and job jurisdiction that will still need to be negotiated ahead of the new Jan. 15 deadline. But the ILA at the very least got most of the increase it was seeking, validating a political strategy set into motion months ago by the union, which walked away from negotiations in June and never returned. Biden, in announcing the reopening of the ports, said “collective bargaining works.” But in reality, at no time since June — up to and including the moment the deal to end the strike was announced — did USMX and the ILA meet face to face despite repeated attempts by the USMX to do so. The ILA calculated correctly that Biden, an overtly pro-labor president, would never invoke the Taft-Hartley Act to force the union back to the table, which would have gone against his values and history and alienated organized labor in the heat of the presidential campaign. They also reasoned, correctly, that Biden and his team would bring intense pressure to bear on ocean carriers by conveniently assigning blame to them for any strike-related port congestion and inflation, as had been done during the pandemic. In the end of round one — pending resolution of the other issues — the winners were the union, the White House and the Harris campaign. The price will be paid by carriers and, to the extent they can pass the higher costs along, US importers and exporters. “I want to thank you for what you did for my union to help us achieve record wage success in negotiations [with the USMX],” ILA President Harold Daggett wrote to Biden on Oct. 7. “The ILA is grateful for your words and deeds.” Contact Peter Tirschwell at <a href="mailto:peter.tirschwell@spglobal.com">peter.tirschwell@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

If the Biden administration did indeed force the tentative contract deal ending last week’s longshore strike, how exactly did it happen? In other words, what did the White House chief of staff tell ocean carrier group CEOs on a conference call at 5:30 a.m. Washington time on Oct. 3 that within hours resulted in a substantial increase in the wage offer made to the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA), ending the strike after three days ? Some have speculated that specific issues were raised that persuaded at least some of the group CEOs to direct their representatives on the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) to boost their offer of a pay increase from 50% to 62% over the course of a new six-year contract. The White House has leverage to deploy, such as being able to increase scrutiny of or even reject foreign acquisitions of US marine terminals. The Department of Justice for decades has made no secret of its dislike of ocean shipping alliances, including the remnants of antitrust immunity, chiding any vote by the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) that allows massive vessel-sharing agreements to take effect rather than seeking a federal injunction to block them. Relief for White House, Harris campaign Whatever was said on the call was enough to get the wage increase offer high enough for the ILA to call off its strike and, to the relief of the White House and Kamala Harris, take the issue off the table as a liability for Democrats in the presidential campaign. The Washington Post reported that White House chief of staff Jeff Zients delivered a “stark ultimatum” to the carriers, saying he planned to inform President Joe Biden that a deal had been reached, even though the carriers had agreed to “no such thing.” In doing so, he placed the ball squarely in the carriers’ court to either go along with the “deal” Biden would soon announce to end the strike or to publicly contradict him. The latter was not an option. It would have put the carriers in the risky and ultimately impossible position of being an active player in the election just over a month before the vote. Refusing to give the ILA the raise it wanted to end the strike, with the result that the stoppage continued and economic damage piled up while Biden and the Harris campaign took the blame, could possibly, depending on how the cards fell, have resulted in the carriers themselves being blamed for determining the outcome of the election. That is the last thing a group of non-US based ocean carriers, who have few political friends in the US to begin with, would want. A senior carrier source said container lines would not want to be seen as meddling in any way in US politics. Taking the logic further, with Democrats making the case that the election of Donald Trump could spell the end of democracy in the US, getting anywhere near such a radioactive issue — if Trump prevailing was indeed the outcome — would be to step into dangerous territory indeed. Carriers wanted no part of it. Carriers live to fight another day In the end, they had no choice but to accept their fate by giving the union an historic wage increase and living to fight another day. That day could come soon enough; carriers have called the deal “provisional” pending resolution of other issues including automation, royalties and job jurisdiction that will still need to be negotiated ahead of the new Jan. 15 deadline. But the ILA at the very least got most of the increase it was seeking, validating a political strategy set into motion months ago by the union, which walked away from negotiations in June and never returned. Biden, in announcing the reopening of the ports, said “collective bargaining works.” But in reality, at no time since June — up to and including the moment the deal to end the strike was announced — did USMX and the ILA meet face to face despite repeated attempts by the USMX to do so. The ILA calculated correctly that Biden, an overtly pro-labor president, would never invoke the Taft-Hartley Act to force the union back to the table, which would have gone against his values and history and alienated organized labor in the heat of the presidential campaign. They also reasoned, correctly, that Biden and his team would bring intense pressure to bear on ocean carriers by conveniently assigning blame to them for any strike-related port congestion and inflation, as had been done during the pandemic. In the end of round one — pending resolution of the other issues — the winners were the union, the White House and the Harris campaign. The price will be paid by carriers and, to the extent they can pass the higher costs along, US importers and exporters. “I want to thank you for what you did for my union to help us achieve record wage success in negotiations [with the USMX],” ILA President Harold Daggett wrote to Biden on Oct. 7. “The ILA is grateful for your words and deeds.” Contact Peter Tirschwell at peter.tirschwell@spglobal.com .

North American ports

Behind-the-scenes White House arm twisting got ILA wage deal done

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Port officials say their facilities did not experience widespread flooding but are still being affected by power issues, adding that port tenants will make independent decisions on when to resume their operations.</div>

Port officials say their facilities did not experience widespread flooding but are still being affected by power issues, adding that port tenants will make independent decisions on when to resume their operations.

<div class="phx-topic">Most ports in Florida have returned to normal operations in the wake of Hurricane Milton, although Port Tampa Bay remained effectively shut Friday due to a lack of power. Tampa Bay port officials say the port did not experience widespread flooding but is still being affected by power issues, adding that port tenants will make independent decisions about when to resume their operations. Milton made landfall along the central Gulf Coast of Florida late Wednesday. “We are working with our fuel terminal operators to assess their facilities and learn when they will be able to return to service,” Port Tampa Bay said in an advisory posted on its website. “Our port fuel terminal partners have fuel ready to deploy to our region, but many remain without power. We are hopeful the fuel terminals can be re-established [Friday].” Officials with the Jacksonville Port Authority said Milton was not a significant weather event for them and reopened the Port of Jacksonville’s (Jaxport’s) main gates on Friday morning after completing a post-storm assessment of facilities. The Port of Miami, south of Milton’s path, reopened as scheduled on Thursday and has not seen any operational impacts nor has it hosted any diverted cargo vessels. Port Everglades also reopened on Thursday. “All waterside and landside restrictions were lifted by the U.S. Coast Guard [Thursday] morning,” the Port of Miami said in a statement to the Journal of Commerce. “There were only two days of cargo and cruise vessel traffic restrictions. Cargo yard container operations and rail operations remained open ... There are no diverted cargo vessels. No impacts.” Contact Laura Robb at <a href="mailto:Laura.Robb@spglobal.com">laura.robb@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

Most ports in Florida have returned to normal operations in the wake of Hurricane Milton, although Port Tampa Bay remained effectively shut Friday due to a lack of power. Tampa Bay port officials say the port did not experience widespread flooding but is still being affected by power issues, adding that port tenants will make independent decisions about when to resume their operations. Milton made landfall along the central Gulf Coast of Florida late Wednesday. “We are working with our fuel terminal operators to assess their facilities and learn when they will be able to return to service,” Port Tampa Bay said in an advisory posted on its website. “Our port fuel terminal partners have fuel ready to deploy to our region, but many remain without power. We are hopeful the fuel terminals can be re-established [Friday].” Officials with the Jacksonville Port Authority said Milton was not a significant weather event for them and reopened the Port of Jacksonville’s (Jaxport’s) main gates on Friday morning after completing a post-storm assessment of facilities. The Port of Miami, south of Milton’s path, reopened as scheduled on Thursday and has not seen any operational impacts nor has it hosted any diverted cargo vessels. Port Everglades also reopened on Thursday. “All waterside and landside restrictions were lifted by the U.S. Coast Guard [Thursday] morning,” the Port of Miami said in a statement to the Journal of Commerce. “There were only two days of cargo and cruise vessel traffic restrictions. Cargo yard container operations and rail operations remained open ... There are no diverted cargo vessels. No impacts.” Contact Laura Robb at laura.robb@spglobal.com .

Port Tampa Bay effectively shut due to power outage in aftermath of Milton

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

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Shippers save money, time with automated transportation bidding tools

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

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