<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">The average cost savings for a shipper choosing intermodal rail over truckload was consistent during 2023 and should be relatively unchanged at least through the first quarter, according to the latest Journal of Commerce Intermodal Savings Index.</div>

The average cost savings for a shipper choosing intermodal rail over truckload was consistent during 2023 and should be relatively unchanged at least through the first quarter, according to the latest Journal of Commerce Intermodal Savings Index.

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<div>Intermodal shippers in the US saved 27% in their annual contracts by shipping via domestic intermodal rail rather than by truck in the fourth quarter, according to the latest Journal of Commerce<a>Intermodal Savings Index (ISI)</a>. The figure is nearly on par with the discount in Q4 2022 and consistent with the historical average. Shippers will likely continue to save about 25% to 27% for the foreseeable future as neither truckload nor rail contracts are showing signs of inflation. In the spot market, an average shipper saved about 17.5% using domestic intermodal in the fourth quarter, up from 14.8% a year...

Intermodal shippers in the US saved 27% in their annual contracts by shipping via domestic intermodal rail rather than by truck in the fourth quarter, according to the latest Journal of Commerce Intermodal Savings Index (ISI) . The figure is nearly on par with the discount in Q4 2022 and consistent with the historical average. Shippers will likely continue to save about 25% to 27% for the foreseeable future as neither truckload nor rail contracts are showing signs of inflation. In the spot market, an average shipper saved about 17.5% using domestic intermodal in the fourth quarter, up from 14.8% a year ago. However, the last three months of each year tend to have higher index values because trucking rates rise between Thanksgiving and Christmas while rail rates do not as last-minute shipments require the speed of trucks. Contract truckload rates fell to $2.05 per mile in December from $2.12 at the end of September, while contract rail rates declined to $1.54 per mile from $1.60 over the same period. Spot truckload rates ended the fourth quarter at $2.08 per mile from $2.05 in late September, although the average was only $2.03 at the end of November, indicating a holiday bump. Spot intermodal rates fell from $1.75 per mile to $1.72 during the same three-month period. The contract ISI averaged 126.6 in the fourth quarter, down 0.2% year over year, and was slightly below the five-year average of 126.7. The spot ISI averaged 117.5 in Q4, up 2.3% from the same period a year ago and above the five-year average of 114.8.  The indexes measure how much money a shipper should save on 120 modally competitive US lanes. There are two indexes, one for the spot market and one for the contract market; index values are measured from a neutral base of 100. Values greater than 100 indicate intermodal is cheaper, while values less than 100 indicate trucking is cheaper. The higher the value, the more money intermodal saves an average shipper.   All index values correspond to percentages, which means the value of 126.7 signifies an average US shipper saved 26.6% on an intermodal contract versus a truckload contract. And 117.5 signifies a 17.5% savings comparing the intermodal and spot truckload markets.   On a rolling 12-month basis as of Dec. 31, the contract ISI was 125.8, while the spot ISI was 115.6. Those figures are a glimpse into what a shipper saved over the last year, which is relevant because most intermodal contracts are valid for 12 months. The index assumes distribution centers are located less than 20 minutes away from the rail terminal at origin and destination. If the distribution center is an hour or more away, then it could significantly reduce the savings calculated in the index. Expect more of the same ahead It’s unlikely the average shipper will see a major change in savings using rail in the first quarter. Knight-Swift Transportation said on a Jan. 24 earnings call that while it has no room to lower rates further , there is also no sign that pricing leverage has swung back toward carriers. Intermodal provider J.B. Hunt Transport Services said it’s unlikely intermodal rates will rise until at least the second half of 2024 , while rivals Hub Group and Schneider National said rates cannot fall further and that there isn’t enough demand to unstack the thousands of containers sitting idle across the US. Jason Miller, associate professor of logistics at Michigan State University and a Journal of Commerce analyst, predicts the contract ISI and spot ISI will be relatively steady for the next three months. Miller uses autoregressive integrated moving averages to produce a forward three-month index forecast.   Miller forecasts the contract ISI will remain near 126 in the first quarter, in line with the average in the second half of 2023. He believes the spot ISI will average 118 in the first quarter. Fuel is the one variable that is often hard to predict, and unanticipated shifts in diesel prices affect the actual index values. Miller told the Journal of Commerce that another important factor for his forecast will be how the US Federal Reserve handles interest rates in 2024. “As we move through the first quarter into the second, there is little reason to expect the needed surge in demand that would be necessary to drive up truckload spot rates and, in turn, set off an inflationary cycle for contract truckload rates and spot intermodal rates,” Miller said. “As such, shippers and carriers have reason to expect the current pricing dynamics to hold in the short term.” The good news for North American shippers is that intermodal service has shown stronger metrics than in 2022. The average intermodal train speed was 30.6 miles per hour in the fourth quarter, according to the US Surface Transportation Board, up from 30.1 miles per hour during the same period in 2022. During an average week in the fourth quarter, 20 intermodal trains were held outside a terminal or crew change point among the four US-based Class I railroads, down from 36 trains during the same period in 2022. The data behind the contract ISI and spot ISI is available to Journal of Commerce subscribers with a Gold-tier subscription.   Contact Ari Ashe at ari.ashe@spglobal.com .

Intermodal providers

Intermodal savings held steady in Q4, in line with long-term averages

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">The Biden administration is targeting textile and apparel goods moving via a duty-free program by proposing tariffs while seeking more data on sub-$800 shipments. </div>

The Biden administration is targeting textile and apparel goods moving via a duty-free program by proposing tariffs while seeking more data on sub-$800 shipments.

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<div class="phx-topic">The Biden administration on Friday said it would be taking steps to target apparel and textile imports using the so-called “de minimis” exemption and called on Congress to pass legislation that would rein in the volume of duty-free packages entering the US. The White House is proposing rulemaking that would apply section 301 tariffs to de minimis shipments, a part of US trade law that allows single shipments valued at less than $800 to move duty-free and with fewer data submission requirements. Currently, section 301 tariffs cover approximately 40% of US imports from China, including 70% of Chinese textile and apparel imports to the US. “Some e-commerce platforms and other foreign sellers circumvent these tariffs by shipping items from China to the United States claiming the de minimis exemption,” the White House said in a statement. “If finalized, these goods would no longer be eligible for the de minimis exemption.” The actions come amid intensifying scrutiny over a flood of de minimis shipments pouring into the US. The volume of such shipments doubled in the first half of 2024, according to a dashboard maintained by US Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The dashboard shows that more than 87% of de minimis shipments move via air to the US, with most of the remainder going by truckload and a small portion going via ocean. Aside from seeking to curtail apparel and textile products using the de minimis exemption, the proposed rulemaking seeks to access more information on the shippers and receivers of goods. That includes a proposal to require specific, additional data for de minimis shipments, including the 10-digit tariff classification number and the person claiming the de minimis exemption, to “improve targeting of de minimis shipments and facilitate expedited clearance of lawful de minimis shipments,” the White House said. “These new requirements would help CBP protect consumers from goods that do not meet regulatory health and safety standards and protect US businesses from unfair competition against imported goods that would otherwise be charged duties or restricted from entry,” the White House added. A separate part of the rulemaking would require importers of consumer products to file Certificates of Compliance (CoC) electronically with CBP and the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), including for de minimis shipments. Aside from its own efforts to stymie de minimis volume, the Biden administration also said Congress should prioritize legislation that would exclude from de minimis eligibility import-sensitive products, specifically textile and apparel products. Contact Eric Johnson at <a href="mailto:eric.johnson@spglobal.com">eric.johnson@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

The Biden administration on Friday said it would be taking steps to target apparel and textile imports using the so-called “de minimis” exemption and called on Congress to pass legislation that would rein in the volume of duty-free packages entering the US. The White House is proposing rulemaking that would apply section 301 tariffs to de minimis shipments, a part of US trade law that allows single shipments valued at less than $800 to move duty-free and with fewer data submission requirements. Currently, section 301 tariffs cover approximately 40% of US imports from China, including 70% of Chinese textile and apparel imports to the US. “Some e-commerce platforms and other foreign sellers circumvent these tariffs by shipping items from China to the United States claiming the de minimis exemption,” the White House said in a statement. “If finalized, these goods would no longer be eligible for the de minimis exemption.” The actions come amid intensifying scrutiny over a flood of de minimis shipments pouring into the US. The volume of such shipments doubled in the first half of 2024, according to a dashboard maintained by US Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The dashboard shows that more than 87% of de minimis shipments move via air to the US, with most of the remainder going by truckload and a small portion going via ocean. Aside from seeking to curtail apparel and textile products using the de minimis exemption, the proposed rulemaking seeks to access more information on the shippers and receivers of goods. That includes a proposal to require specific, additional data for de minimis shipments, including the 10-digit tariff classification number and the person claiming the de minimis exemption, to “improve targeting of de minimis shipments and facilitate expedited clearance of lawful de minimis shipments,” the White House said. “These new requirements would help CBP protect consumers from goods that do not meet regulatory health and safety standards and protect US businesses from unfair competition against imported goods that would otherwise be charged duties or restricted from entry,” the White House added. A separate part of the rulemaking would require importers of consumer products to file Certificates of Compliance (CoC) electronically with CBP and the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), including for de minimis shipments. Aside from its own efforts to stymie de minimis volume, the Biden administration also said Congress should prioritize legislation that would exclude from de minimis eligibility import-sensitive products, specifically textile and apparel products. Contact Eric Johnson at eric.johnson@spglobal.com .

Transport, Trade and Regulation News

White House takes aim at growing threat of ‘de minimis’ imports

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">It’s a play by carriers to tempt NVOs with a reopened annual contract that, while higher than the deal they signed last spring, is still below current spot rates that have fallen from an early-summer peak.</div>

It’s a play by carriers to tempt NVOs with a reopened annual contract that, while higher than the deal they signed last spring, is still below current spot rates that have fallen from an early-summer peak.

<div class="phx-topic">Ocean carriers in the eastbound trans-Pacific are increasingly confident that a rate war can be avoided through the Lunar New Year period when many factories in Asia will close for about two weeks beginning in late January. They are concerned, however, that spot rates may not rebound as they normally do in the spring because carriers are scheduled to add at least <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/container-shipping-still-has-an-overcapacity-problem-but-its-far-from-insurmountable-5234357">1.6 million TEUs of new capacity to the global fleet in 2024–25.</a>As a result, non-vessel-operating common carriers (NVOs) say some liners have approached them with offers to renegotiate their 2024–25 fixed rate, also known as named account contracts, most of which are set to expire on April 30. It’s a play by carriers to tempt NVOs with a reopened annual contract that, while higher than the deal they signed last spring, is still below current spot rates that have fallen from an early-summer peak. “We’ve had a couple of carriers approach us with that offer,” said Kurt McElroy, executive vice president of the NVO Kerry Apex. Current NVO named account rates range from about $1,600 to about $2,000 per FEU. If the NVO agrees to pay an additional $1,000 per FEU, carriers are offering to lock in the new rate through the contract expiration date of April 30. This would give NVOs a hedge if imports increase and they exceed their fixed rate allocations. When that happened in June, NVOs were paying freight-all-kinds (FAK) rates in excess of $6,000 per FEU. Terms and conditions of the contract, such as increasing the minimum quantity commitments (MQCs), are usually negotiable, McElroy said. Jon Monroe, who serves as an adviser to NVOs, said forwarders could use the contract re-negotiation as an opportunity to increase their MQCs and lock in the fixed rates for the next six months. In other words, if the named account rate is $2,000 per FEU to the West Coast and the NVO agrees to pay $3,000 and possibly increase the MQC, the NVO will have locked in a favorable fixed rate for the life of the contract, Monroe said. However, an opposite scenario could also play out, according to Rachel Shames, vice president for pricing and procurement at the NVO CV International. If FAK rates tumble, as they did this January, the NVO would save money by just paying the FAK rate. “There’s a good chance [FAK] rates will keep falling,” Shames said. “You have to look at what your risks are. Nobody knows what the last six months of these contracts will look like.” <h3>Frontloading for spring ‘25 </h3>Meanwhile, the frontloading of spring ‘25 merchandise by retailers could lift US import volumes from Asia during the normally slack months of November and December and prevent a collapse of spot rates later this year in the eastbound trans-Pacific, forwarders say. Imports of merchandise linked to Valentine’s Day and spring activities that would normally begin shipping in December should start moving two months earlier in October, said James Caradonna, executive vice president of the forwarder M&amp;R Spedag Group. That’s a similar cadence to year-end holiday merchandise that began arriving at US ports in June this year rather than in August. “The entire 12-month cycle is shifting several months earlier,” Caradonna told the Journal of Commerce. “There’s almost no ‘normal’ now,” said Shames, noting that carriers this year began levying <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/loading-worries-drive-early-peak-season-frenzy-on-eastbound-trans-pacific-5192196">peak season surcharges (PSSs) in June</a> rather than in August, traditionally the beginning of the peak shipping season. Carriers are likewise optimistic about import volumes from Asia in the fourth quarter. The eastbound trans-Pacific “still looks pretty healthy from our perspective, between now and the end of the year,” George Goldman, president and CEO at CMA CGM North America, told the Journal of Commerce. “The reality is there was more cargo in the system than we all anticipated.” <h3>Normal cadence disrupted </h3>The normal seasonal cadence on the Asia-North American trades has been disrupted by longshore labor, geopolitical conflicts and weather-related events dating back to last fall. The threat of a <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/port-employers-urge-ila-to-return-to-contract-talks-5723976">strike by the International Longshoremen’s Association</a> against maritime employers along the East and Gulf coasts was a dominant factor in forcing retailers to frontload fall and year-end holiday merchandise this past spring. The labor threat <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/canadian-rail-workers-back-on-job-after-failed-challenge-to-binding-arbitration-5712234">extended to the Canadian rail industry as well.</a><a href="https://www.joc.com/article/maersk-to-resume-panama-canal-transits-on-oc1-service-as-vessel-restrictions-ease-5225404">Drought restrictions along the Panama Canal</a> have been a factor, as are the ongoing attacks by Houthi militants <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/container-shipping-market-continues-to-be-reset-by-ongoing-red-sea-crisis-5713700">on vessels transiting the Red Sea</a> that forced most container carriers to re-route vessels around the southern tip of Africa, adding time and cost to all-water services that would have gone through the Suez Canal. Freight rates in the eastbound trans-Pacific have been fluctuating all year. The spot rate from Asia to the West Coast spiked to $8,133 per FEU in early July after a series of general rate increases (GRIs) but is now down to $4,500 per FEU, according to Platts, a Journal of Commerce sister company within S&amp;P Global. The East Coast spot rate surged to $10,133 per FEU on July 5 but has fallen to $5,600 per FEU, according to Platts. Amid the rising rates, carriers this <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/asia-uswc-spot-rates-edge-lower-as-new-capacity-takes-edge-off-overheated-market-5192314">year launched or re-instated 10 services from Asia to the West Coast</a>. Liners are also <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/carriers-to-deploy-extra-loaders-to-los-angeles-long-beach-amid-import-surge-5714861">running 28 single-voyage extra-loader vessels</a> to the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach — 14 to each port — in September and October. As a result, NVOs say they are encountering no space limitations to the West Coast. <div class="wrapper-narrow"><dynamic-object type="jocchartid" resource-id="e7a65aab-9aac-4f07-9b74-1793746c01ef"></dynamic-object></div>“We’re getting all of the space we need,” Caradonna said. Vessel capacity has been tight to the East Coast, but since most of the holiday season merchandise was shipped from Asian load ports before Sept. 1, NVOs said space is now opening on the all-water services on the trade lane. Contact Bill Mongelluzzo at <a href="mailto:bill.mongelluzzo@spglobal.com ">bill.mongelluzzo@spglobal.com</a>.</div>

Ocean carriers in the eastbound trans-Pacific are increasingly confident that a rate war can be avoided through the Lunar New Year period when many factories in Asia will close for about two weeks beginning in late January. They are concerned, however, that spot rates may not rebound as they normally do in the spring because carriers are scheduled to add at least 1.6 million TEUs of new capacity to the global fleet in 2024–25. As a result, non-vessel-operating common carriers (NVOs) say some liners have approached them with offers to renegotiate their 2024–25 fixed rate, also known as named account contracts, most of which are set to expire on April 30. It’s a play by carriers to tempt NVOs with a reopened annual contract that, while higher than the deal they signed last spring, is still below current spot rates that have fallen from an early-summer peak. “We’ve had a couple of carriers approach us with that offer,” said Kurt McElroy, executive vice president of the NVO Kerry Apex. Current NVO named account rates range from about $1,600 to about $2,000 per FEU. If the NVO agrees to pay an additional $1,000 per FEU, carriers are offering to lock in the new rate through the contract expiration date of April 30. This would give NVOs a hedge if imports increase and they exceed their fixed rate allocations. When that happened in June, NVOs were paying freight-all-kinds (FAK) rates in excess of $6,000 per FEU. Terms and conditions of the contract, such as increasing the minimum quantity commitments (MQCs), are usually negotiable, McElroy said. Jon Monroe, who serves as an adviser to NVOs, said forwarders could use the contract re-negotiation as an opportunity to increase their MQCs and lock in the fixed rates for the next six months. In other words, if the named account rate is $2,000 per FEU to the West Coast and the NVO agrees to pay $3,000 and possibly increase the MQC, the NVO will have locked in a favorable fixed rate for the life of the contract, Monroe said. However, an opposite scenario could also play out, according to Rachel Shames, vice president for pricing and procurement at the NVO CV International. If FAK rates tumble, as they did this January, the NVO would save money by just paying the FAK rate. “There’s a good chance [FAK] rates will keep falling,” Shames said. “You have to look at what your risks are. Nobody knows what the last six months of these contracts will look like.” Frontloading for spring ‘25 Meanwhile, the frontloading of spring ‘25 merchandise by retailers could lift US import volumes from Asia during the normally slack months of November and December and prevent a collapse of spot rates later this year in the eastbound trans-Pacific, forwarders say. Imports of merchandise linked to Valentine’s Day and spring activities that would normally begin shipping in December should start moving two months earlier in October, said James Caradonna, executive vice president of the forwarder M&R Spedag Group. That’s a similar cadence to year-end holiday merchandise that began arriving at US ports in June this year rather than in August. “The entire 12-month cycle is shifting several months earlier,” Caradonna told the Journal of Commerce. “There’s almost no ‘normal’ now,” said Shames, noting that carriers this year began levying peak season surcharges (PSSs) in June rather than in August, traditionally the beginning of the peak shipping season. Carriers are likewise optimistic about import volumes from Asia in the fourth quarter. The eastbound trans-Pacific “still looks pretty healthy from our perspective, between now and the end of the year,” George Goldman, president and CEO at CMA CGM North America, told the Journal of Commerce. “The reality is there was more cargo in the system than we all anticipated.” Normal cadence disrupted The normal seasonal cadence on the Asia-North American trades has been disrupted by longshore labor, geopolitical conflicts and weather-related events dating back to last fall. The threat of a strike by the International Longshoremen’s Association against maritime employers along the East and Gulf coasts was a dominant factor in forcing retailers to frontload fall and year-end holiday merchandise this past spring. The labor threat extended to the Canadian rail industry as well. Drought restrictions along the Panama Canal have been a factor, as are the ongoing attacks by Houthi militants on vessels transiting the Red Sea that forced most container carriers to re-route vessels around the southern tip of Africa, adding time and cost to all-water services that would have gone through the Suez Canal. Freight rates in the eastbound trans-Pacific have been fluctuating all year. The spot rate from Asia to the West Coast spiked to $8,133 per FEU in early July after a series of general rate increases (GRIs) but is now down to $4,500 per FEU, according to Platts, a Journal of Commerce sister company within S&P Global. The East Coast spot rate surged to $10,133 per FEU on July 5 but has fallen to $5,600 per FEU, according to Platts. Amid the rising rates, carriers this year launched or re-instated 10 services from Asia to the West Coast . Liners are also running 28 single-voyage extra-loader vessels to the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach — 14 to each port — in September and October. As a result, NVOs say they are encountering no space limitations to the West Coast. “We’re getting all of the space we need,” Caradonna said. Vessel capacity has been tight to the East Coast, but since most of the holiday season merchandise was shipped from Asian load ports before Sept. 1, NVOs said space is now opening on the all-water services on the trade lane. Contact Bill Mongelluzzo at bill.mongelluzzo@spglobal.com .

Container Shipping News

Container lines

Trans-Pacific

Maritime

Some carriers seek to reopen 2024–25 fixed-rate contracts in trans-Pac: NVOs

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">DSV knocked the unions’ preferred bidder, private equity firm CVC Capital Partners, out of the race, but the forwarder’s bid now needs approval from the German parliament.</div>

DSV knocked the unions’ preferred bidder, private equity firm CVC Capital Partners, out of the race, but the forwarder’s bid now needs approval from the German parliament.

<div class="phx-topic">German transport unions and the country’s parliament are the remaining obstacles to Danish forwarder DSV finalizing its €14.3 billion ($15.9 billion) acquisition of DB Schenker that was announced Friday. The agreement will go to the Supervisory Board of Deutsche Bahn, DB Schenker’s parent company, which is expected to be a formality. But the deal also needs to go before the German federal government, where concerns over job losses after the takeover mean the final decision from the Bundestag parliament is no rubber stamp.Those concerns last week brought DB Schenker employees out on the streets in major centers around Germany in protest, with the United Services Union, known as ver.di, campaigning over the past few weeks in favor of a competing bid from private equity firm CVC Capital Partners.“For us, it is essential that as many jobs as possible are retained at the end of the sales process,” a ver.di spokesperson told the Journal of Commerce Friday. “The transaction has not yet been completed as important decisions of the supervisory board of the Deutsche Bahn and the budget committee of the Bundestag are still pending,” the spokesman added.The union and government are sensitive to job losses as Germany’s export-driven economy stagnates and large industrial sectors such as chemicals and automotives face plant closures.All major acquisitions come with cuts in headcount, and DSV’s huge takeovers have been no exception. DSV acquired 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. As the acquisitions were integrated into DSV, significant job losses were reported, although DSV has contested a 2023 research report that put the redundancies at 45%.A combined DSV-DB Schenker entity will have close to 150,000 employees around the world with about a 50:50 split; both DSV and Deutsche Bahn have insisted no jobs will be lost, at least initially. <h3>Sweetening the pot</h3>To sweeten its bid and placate both the unions and the German government, 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 has entered social undertakings in relation to the employees of Schenker in Germany, which will apply for two years after closing,” DSV said in a statement.With the job protections in place and expected business growth, Deutsche Bahn even anticipated that in five years the combined organization would have more employees in Germany than DB Schenker and DSV have today.In a move to further reassure unions and the federal government, Deutsche Bahn said in a statement Friday that Germany “will become an even more important market in the new organization” with central functions to be retained, including those at DB Schenker’s head office in the German city of Essen.The transaction is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2025 once all regulatory approvals have been obtained. Until the closing of the transaction, DSV and DB Schenker will remain two separate companies conducting business as usual.Proceeds from the sale will remain entirely within the loss-making DB Group and will be used to reduce the rail operator’s significant debt burden.The acquisition will turn DSV into the world’s largest forwarder, with the addition of DB Schenker’s air and sea business taking the combined container handling to 4.3 million TEUs, with 2.4 million metric tons of air freight.DB Schenker will add 8.5 million square meters of warehousing capacity to DSV’s portfolio, with the combined space totaling 17.5 million square meters across 60 countries.Contact Greg Knowler at <a href="mailto:greg.knowler@spglobal.com">greg.knowler@spglobal.com</a>.</div>

German transport unions and the country’s parliament are the remaining obstacles to Danish forwarder DSV finalizing its €14.3 billion ($15.9 billion) acquisition of DB Schenker that was announced Friday. The agreement will go to the Supervisory Board of Deutsche Bahn, DB Schenker’s parent company, which is expected to be a formality. But the deal also needs to go before the German federal government, where concerns over job losses after the takeover mean the final decision from the Bundestag parliament is no rubber stamp. Those concerns last week brought DB Schenker employees out on the streets in major centers around Germany in protest, with the United Services Union, known as ver.di, campaigning over the past few weeks in favor of a competing bid from private equity firm CVC Capital Partners. “For us, it is essential that as many jobs as possible are retained at the end of the sales process,” a ver.di spokesperson told the Journal of Commerce Friday. “The transaction has not yet been completed as important decisions of the supervisory board of the Deutsche Bahn and the budget committee of the Bundestag are still pending,” the spokesman added. The union and government are sensitive to job losses as Germany’s export-driven economy stagnates and large industrial sectors such as chemicals and automotives face plant closures. All major acquisitions come with cuts in headcount, and DSV’s huge takeovers have been no exception. DSV acquired 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. As the acquisitions were integrated into DSV, significant job losses were reported, although DSV has contested a 2023 research report that put the redundancies at 45%. A combined DSV-DB Schenker entity will have close to 150,000 employees around the world with about a 50:50 split; both DSV and Deutsche Bahn have insisted no jobs will be lost, at least initially. Sweetening the pot To sweeten its bid and placate both the unions and the German government, 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 has entered social undertakings in relation to the employees of Schenker in Germany, which will apply for two years after closing,” DSV said in a statement. With the job protections in place and expected business growth, Deutsche Bahn even anticipated that in five years the combined organization would have more employees in Germany than DB Schenker and DSV have today. In a move to further reassure unions and the federal government, Deutsche Bahn said in a statement Friday that Germany “will become an even more important market in the new organization” with central functions to be retained, including those at DB Schenker’s head office in the German city of Essen. The transaction is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2025 once all regulatory approvals have been obtained. Until the closing of the transaction, DSV and DB Schenker will remain two separate companies conducting business as usual. Proceeds from the sale will remain entirely within the loss-making DB Group and will be used to reduce the rail operator’s significant debt burden. The acquisition will turn DSV into the world’s largest forwarder, with the addition of DB Schenker’s air and sea business taking the combined container handling to 4.3 million TEUs, with 2.4 million metric tons of air freight. DB Schenker will add 8.5 million square meters of warehousing capacity to DSV’s portfolio, with the combined space totaling 17.5 million square meters across 60 countries. Contact Greg Knowler at greg.knowler@spglobal.com .

Forwarding

Supply chain

Union, government hurdles ahead in DSV’s $16 billion takeover of DB Schenker

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">A soft freight economy and improved shipper scheduling and loading procedures are contributing to a decline in driver detention time, the American Transportation Research Institute says in a new study.</div>

A soft freight economy and improved shipper scheduling and loading procedures are contributing to a decline in driver detention time, the American Transportation Research Institute says in a new study.

<div class="phx-topic">Truck driver detention at shipper and consignee docks is decreasing, thanks in part to the soft freight market, but detention is still causing significant supply chain inefficiencies and costing drivers and trucking companies money, according to a new report. The American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) report, released this week, said the frequency of driver detention dropped 6.5 percentage points between 2014 and 2023. ATRI’s last detention study, released in 2019, <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/shippers-delaying-us-truck-drivers-longer-survey-5244159">found detention increasing</a>. The new study shows some trends reversing. “Significant detention of two hours or more became considerably less common, dropping by 11.4 percentage points between 2014 and 2023,” ATRI said in its report. Detention is commonly defined as holding a driver two hours beyond an agreed-upon dwell time. The percentage of drivers detained for more than four hours dropped from 7.7% in 2014 to 4.9% in 2023, after peaking at 9.4% in 2018, ATRI said. Still, the percentage of truckers held one to two hours beyond agreed dwell time rose from 24.5% in 2014 to 29.4% last year. But detention isn’t just a driver or carrier problem; it’s often a sign of upstream supply chain problems. And detention can spread inefficiencies across multiple shippers, tightening capacity, delaying freight deliveries and ultimately driving up shipping costs. The data collected by ATRI suggest shippers are doing a better job of moving truck drivers in and out of their facilities quickly, whether through increased use of drop-and-hook trailer pools, better dock and yard management or faster live loading and unloading. Less freight, however, also means less congestion at receiving and delivery locations and less detention time. Detention has historically peaked alongside demand for trucking services in years such as 2014, 2018, 2021 and 2022 — all trucking boom years. “We’ve seen shippers make some improvements even on appointment scheduling using software, but we are in a freight downturn, and that’s probably impacting the numbers,” said Alex Leslie, ATRI’s senior research associate and principal author of the study. <h3>A $3.6 billion unpaid bill </h3>Truck driver detention is a “cascading” problem, Leslie told the Journal of Commerce. Drivers, carriers, brokers and shippers are all affected when drivers and loads are detained. “It’s a tough problem because a lot of the onus falls on shippers, though not entirely,” he said. Truck drivers also are affected by detention before and after stops, often increasing their speed to reach a facility where they might be detained and then speeding to get to their next stop within their daily hours of service, he said. Although ATRI noted long-term improvement, truck drivers surveyed by the research institute still were detained in 39.3% of all stops last year. On average, drivers were detained in one out of 10 stops, the research organization said. That’s costing trucking firms $3.6 billion in direct, unrecovered expenses, ATRI said. Before the pandemic, ATRI’s estimate had been closer to $1 billion. The ATRI study, based on driver surveys and GPS data from more than one million trucks, found truckload drivers on average spend 173 hours in detention each year, or more than 15 days of hours-of-service driving time. ATRI put indirect annual productivity losses attributable to detention at $11.5 billion. As a result, “more trucks and drivers are needed to maintain the freight status quo because of detention,” ATRI said. Excess capacity in the truckload market may absorb lost productivity when demand is slack, but that could change quickly if demand rises. <h3>Regulatory attention </h3>The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), which has studied the driver detention since 2012, is also <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/us-regulators-digging-deeper-into-truck-driver-detention-data-5221695">returning to the problem</a>. The FMCSA launched a study of detention’s impact last year that is expected to be completed in 2025. A decade ago, FMCSA considered <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/fmcsa-chief-warns-us-shippers-dont-delay-drivers-5245226">regulatory solutions</a> to driver detention. Then-FMCSA Administrator Anne S. Ferro claimed detention contributed to safety problems, including speeding and the risk of accidents. This time, the agency is digging into data from electronic logging devices (ELDs) that were <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/elds-not-yet-denting-us-truck-detention-5231511">mandated in 2018</a>. The FMCSA study involves 80 carriers and 2,500 truck drivers. A non-rulemaking docket on the study was opened in August 2023 and updated in February. The FMCSA is looking for solutions it can offer to the private sector to reduce detention, but increased scrutiny on Capitol Hill could translate to legislative and regulatory action that affects how shippers manage detention and the loading and unloading of trailers. Contact William B. Cassidy at <a href="mailto:bill.cassidy@spglobal.com">bill.cassidy@spglobal.com</a>.</div>

Truck driver detention at shipper and consignee docks is decreasing, thanks in part to the soft freight market, but detention is still causing significant supply chain inefficiencies and costing drivers and trucking companies money, according to a new report. The American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) report, released this week, said the frequency of driver detention dropped 6.5 percentage points between 2014 and 2023. ATRI’s last detention study, released in 2019, found detention increasing . The new study shows some trends reversing. “Significant detention of two hours or more became considerably less common, dropping by 11.4 percentage points between 2014 and 2023,” ATRI said in its report. Detention is commonly defined as holding a driver two hours beyond an agreed-upon dwell time. The percentage of drivers detained for more than four hours dropped from 7.7% in 2014 to 4.9% in 2023, after peaking at 9.4% in 2018, ATRI said. Still, the percentage of truckers held one to two hours beyond agreed dwell time rose from 24.5% in 2014 to 29.4% last year. But detention isn’t just a driver or carrier problem; it’s often a sign of upstream supply chain problems. And detention can spread inefficiencies across multiple shippers, tightening capacity, delaying freight deliveries and ultimately driving up shipping costs. The data collected by ATRI suggest shippers are doing a better job of moving truck drivers in and out of their facilities quickly, whether through increased use of drop-and-hook trailer pools, better dock and yard management or faster live loading and unloading. Less freight, however, also means less congestion at receiving and delivery locations and less detention time. Detention has historically peaked alongside demand for trucking services in years such as 2014, 2018, 2021 and 2022 — all trucking boom years. “We’ve seen shippers make some improvements even on appointment scheduling using software, but we are in a freight downturn, and that’s probably impacting the numbers,” said Alex Leslie, ATRI’s senior research associate and principal author of the study. A $3.6 billion unpaid bill Truck driver detention is a “cascading” problem, Leslie told the Journal of Commerce. Drivers, carriers, brokers and shippers are all affected when drivers and loads are detained. “It’s a tough problem because a lot of the onus falls on shippers, though not entirely,” he said. Truck drivers also are affected by detention before and after stops, often increasing their speed to reach a facility where they might be detained and then speeding to get to their next stop within their daily hours of service, he said. Although ATRI noted long-term improvement, truck drivers surveyed by the research institute still were detained in 39.3% of all stops last year. On average, drivers were detained in one out of 10 stops, the research organization said. That’s costing trucking firms $3.6 billion in direct, unrecovered expenses, ATRI said. Before the pandemic, ATRI’s estimate had been closer to $1 billion. The ATRI study, based on driver surveys and GPS data from more than one million trucks, found truckload drivers on average spend 173 hours in detention each year, or more than 15 days of hours-of-service driving time. ATRI put indirect annual productivity losses attributable to detention at $11.5 billion. As a result, “more trucks and drivers are needed to maintain the freight status quo because of detention,” ATRI said. Excess capacity in the truckload market may absorb lost productivity when demand is slack, but that could change quickly if demand rises. Regulatory attention The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), which has studied the driver detention since 2012, is also returning to the problem . The FMCSA launched a study of detention’s impact last year that is expected to be completed in 2025. A decade ago, FMCSA considered regulatory solutions to driver detention. Then-FMCSA Administrator Anne S. Ferro claimed detention contributed to safety problems, including speeding and the risk of accidents. This time, the agency is digging into data from electronic logging devices (ELDs) that were mandated in 2018 . The FMCSA study involves 80 carriers and 2,500 truck drivers. A non-rulemaking docket on the study was opened in August 2023 and updated in February. The FMCSA is looking for solutions it can offer to the private sector to reduce detention, but increased scrutiny on Capitol Hill could translate to legislative and regulatory action that affects how shippers manage detention and the loading and unloading of trailers. Contact William B. Cassidy at bill.cassidy@spglobal.com .

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Truck driver detention by US shippers decreasing, but costs rising: study

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">The report aims to bolster the case for heightened cyber-security efforts at US ports, which the congressmen who authored the report say are vulnerable to Chinese espionage. </div>

The report aims to bolster the case for heightened cyber-security efforts at US ports, which the congressmen who authored the report say are vulnerable to Chinese espionage.

<div class="phx-topic">China’s leading ship-to-shore crane maker — which has strong ties to the country’s military — pressured US port customers to allow remote monitoring of cranes that contained pre-installed cellular modems, according to a new Congressional report. The report aims to bolster the case for heightened cyber-security efforts at US ports, which the congressmen who authored the report say are vulnerable to Chinese espionage. House Republicans Mark Green of Tennessee, Carlos Gimenez of Florida and John Moolenaar of Michigan, who are members of various committees charged with homeland and maritime security, issued a joint report Thursday about the heavy reliance of US ports on cranes manufactured by Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries (ZPMC), which has a nearly 80% market share of US ship-to-shore cranes. The report said US ports and terminal operators are “pressured” by ZPMC to provide remote access to the company’s cranes after purchase. Not allowing remote access to the cranes, which is ostensibly aimed at providing diagnostics for maintenance, “is difficult for customers who are looking to get the lowest price or guarantee a robust warranty policy,” the report said. ZPMC “has repeatedly requested remote access to its STS cranes operating at various US ports, with a particular focus on those located on the West Coast,” the report said, noting West Coast ports would play a vital role in supplying Taiwan if a conflict breaks out with China. ZPMC cranes also typically come pre-installed with cellular modems for collecting usage data, the report said. The modems are even installed when a customer declines remote diagnostic and monitoring services as part of their procurement contract, the report explained, adding that ZPMC itself claims it does not install the modems. “These modems — although not necessary for the operation of the cranes — created an obscure method to collect information, and bypass firewalls in a manner that could potentially disrupt port operations,” the report said. “The exact identity of those responsible for installing the modems, while likely ZPMC, remains unclear.” <h2>Ties to China’s military </h2>The report highlighted the close ties that ZPMC and other state-owned enterprises such as Cosco Shipping and China Merchants Group has to China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA). ZPMC, whose parent company is involved in the construction of military bases in the South China Sea, provided a heavy-lift ship that the PLA used in a maritime exercise, according to the congressional report. ZPMC’s cranes are also manufactured near a site where the PLA builds its most advanced warships, the report said, adding that ZPMC is required to comply with a Chinese law that allows the government to request any corporate data. The report follows hearings that House security committees conducted last year about the vulnerabilities of US ports to Chinese espionage. In the wake of those hearings, US ports were required to submit cybersecurity plans to the US Coast Guard, while the Maritime Administration warned ports about the risk of Chinese-made cranes. Along with ongoing monitoring of Chinese port cranes in the US, the report’s authors recommended fostering a homegrown crane manufacturer. In response to the earlier hearings on the matter, <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/white-house-counters-risk-of-chinese-port-cranes-with-20-billion-for-us-sourcing-5200230">the Biden Administration in February pledged $20 billion in government support to create a domestic manufacturer</a>. To further that goal, <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/us-ports-hit-back-at-white-house-move-to-levy-new-tariff-on-chinese-cranes-5192168">the White House also proposed a 25% tariff on Chinese-made cranes to incentivize US production</a>. Contact Michael Angell at <a href="michael.angell@spglobal.com">michael.angell@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

China’s leading ship-to-shore crane maker — which has strong ties to the country’s military — pressured US port customers to allow remote monitoring of cranes that contained pre-installed cellular modems, according to a new Congressional report. The report aims to bolster the case for heightened cyber-security efforts at US ports, which the congressmen who authored the report say are vulnerable to Chinese espionage. House Republicans Mark Green of Tennessee, Carlos Gimenez of Florida and John Moolenaar of Michigan, who are members of various committees charged with homeland and maritime security, issued a joint report Thursday about the heavy reliance of US ports on cranes manufactured by Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries (ZPMC), which has a nearly 80% market share of US ship-to-shore cranes. The report said US ports and terminal operators are “pressured” by ZPMC to provide remote access to the company’s cranes after purchase. Not allowing remote access to the cranes, which is ostensibly aimed at providing diagnostics for maintenance, “is difficult for customers who are looking to get the lowest price or guarantee a robust warranty policy,” the report said. ZPMC “has repeatedly requested remote access to its STS cranes operating at various US ports, with a particular focus on those located on the West Coast,” the report said, noting West Coast ports would play a vital role in supplying Taiwan if a conflict breaks out with China. ZPMC cranes also typically come pre-installed with cellular modems for collecting usage data, the report said. The modems are even installed when a customer declines remote diagnostic and monitoring services as part of their procurement contract, the report explained, adding that ZPMC itself claims it does not install the modems. “These modems — although not necessary for the operation of the cranes — created an obscure method to collect information, and bypass firewalls in a manner that could potentially disrupt port operations,” the report said. “The exact identity of those responsible for installing the modems, while likely ZPMC, remains unclear.” Ties to China’s military The report highlighted the close ties that ZPMC and other state-owned enterprises such as Cosco Shipping and China Merchants Group has to China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA). ZPMC, whose parent company is involved in the construction of military bases in the South China Sea, provided a heavy-lift ship that the PLA used in a maritime exercise, according to the congressional report. ZPMC’s cranes are also manufactured near a site where the PLA builds its most advanced warships, the report said, adding that ZPMC is required to comply with a Chinese law that allows the government to request any corporate data. The report follows hearings that House security committees conducted last year about the vulnerabilities of US ports to Chinese espionage. In the wake of those hearings, US ports were required to submit cybersecurity plans to the US Coast Guard, while the Maritime Administration warned ports about the risk of Chinese-made cranes. Along with ongoing monitoring of Chinese port cranes in the US, the report’s authors recommended fostering a homegrown crane manufacturer. In response to the earlier hearings on the matter, the Biden Administration in February pledged $20 billion in government support to create a domestic manufacturer . To further that goal, the White House also proposed a 25% tariff on Chinese-made cranes to incentivize US production . Contact Michael Angell at michael.angell@spglobal.com .

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 ZPMC ‘pressures’ US ports for remote crane access: House report

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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;SMC³’s LTL Online Education program&nbsp;and view the 2021 hybrid schedule, featuring live industry experts,&nbsp;here.

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