<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said it will start charging an export container dwell fee in a bid to prod ocean carriers to remove more containers than they drop off. </div>

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said it will start charging an export container dwell fee in a bid to prod ocean carriers to remove more containers than they drop off.

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<div>The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) next month will begin hitting ocean carriers with a per-container fee for export boxes that dwell too long at the port, a move designed to free up space for laden imports that are only expected to grow as peak shipping season approaches. The move is seen as a long-needed effort to gain control over the volume of empty containers that has swelled in recent years. PANYNJ said Tuesday its quarterly “container imbalance fee” will go into effect Sept. 1 following a 30-day public review period. The $100-per-container fee will be...

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) next month will begin hitting ocean carriers with a per-container fee for export boxes that dwell too long at the port, a move designed to free up space for laden imports that are only expected to grow as peak shipping season approaches. The move is seen as a long-needed effort to gain control over the volume of empty containers that has swelled in recent years. PANYNJ said Tuesday its quarterly “container imbalance fee” will go into effect Sept. 1 following a 30-day public review period. The $100-per-container fee will be applied if ocean carriers don’t remove at least 10 percent more of the containers than they dropped off during the quarter. For example, if a carrier discharges 100,000 containers in a particular quarter, they must take 110,000 from the port. Failure to do so would result in a $100-per-container fee for every box short of 110,000 left at the port. Although laden exports apply toward the quota too, the fee is primarily aimed at the high number of empty containers that many drayage carriers and shippers say is robbing the port of efficiency and raising their costs . In May, the New York-New Jersey port saw a record number of empty containers cross its docks — 300,330 TEU — accounting for over one-third of total volume handled in the month. The PANYNJ said in a statement the fee is especially critical because the agency expects to “handle record cargo volumes spurred by peak cargo season and a cargo shift from the West Coast.” “The Port of New York and New Jersey is facing record import volumes, leading to empty containers accumulating in and around the port complex that are now affecting the regional supply chain that is already under stress from various sources across the country,” said Bethann Rooney, port director for the PANYNJ. “We emphatically encourage ocean carriers to step up their efforts to evacuate empty containers quicker and at higher volumes to free up much-needed capacity for arriving imports in order to keep commerce moving through the port and the region.” The PANYNJ said the fees will offset the costs of providing additional storage capacity and other handle expenses due to “the glut of empty containers.” Empties a struggle since 2019 In recent months, several near-dock depots have opened an additional total of 12 acres of land for the storage of empty containers and long-dwelling imports, the PANYNJ said. The agency added that it is scouring the region for additional land. The announcement of the empty container dwell fee follows on the heels of a request from port truckers and shippers that the Federal Maritime Commission waive any per-diem fees related to empty containers due to the difficulties of returning them to the port. Since 2019, truckers have beseeched ocean carriers to remove more empty containers , which tend to accumulate in New York-New Jersey due to being the first port of call for many East Coast vessel services. With ships full of imports for southern ports, ocean carriers have let empties inventories at the port swell. Ocean carriers periodically block truckers from returning empties to marine terminals due to space constraints. Drayage truckers say the problem is getting worse with the slew of Asian freight now coming to the East Coast and the difficulties truckers have to go through to return an empty container to a terminal . Contact Michael Angell at michael.angell@ihsmarkit.com and follow him on Twitter: @michael_angell . 

Drayage

North American ports

NY-NJ port to impose dwell fee targeting empty containers

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">A Journal of Commerce review found several instances where the promotional trucking awards appear to reflect service performance, rather than a strong safety culture or the skill of the drivers behind the wheel.</div>

A Journal of Commerce review found several instances where the promotional trucking awards appear to reflect service performance, rather than a strong safety culture or the skill of the drivers behind the wheel.

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<div class="phx-topic">Shippers often assume the honors bestowed by freight brokers on the truck carriers they use mean the carriers are doing things the right way, including — and perhaps most importantly — operating safely on US highways. But a Journal of Commerce review found several instances where that assumption is not necessarily accurate. Indeed, the awards themselves — which are essentially self-congratulatory promotional marketing for the brokers and carriers involved — appear to reflect service performance, rather than a strong safety culture or the skill of the drivers behind the wheel. In a recent example that received a lot of publicity for all the wrong reasons, broker C.H. Robinson Worldwide gave a “Carrier of the Year” award to SuperEgo Holding last September, an honor the broker said recognizes those that “exemplify the best in the industry.” But SuperEgo later became the subject of <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/how-dangerous-trucking-schemes-putting-americans-at-risk-60-minutes-transcript/">a CBS 60 Minutes investigation</a> that found the carrier and related entities were tied to 15,000 safety violations and 500 accidents over two years. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is also investigating SuperEgo over allegations it operated as a “chameleon” carrier, meaning a trucking company that shuts down and rebrands itself under a new name to evade federal safety enforcement, fines, insurance scrutiny or poor safety records while operating with the same management. But SuperEgo was not the only “award-winning” carrier with a high-risk profile. A review by the Journal of Commerce found that C.H. Robinson, Echo Global Logistics and Uber Freight have honored other carriers with serious safety or driver qualification issues on their records. While none of the carriers recognized were officially deemed “unsafe” by federal regulators, their records highlight a gray area: what shippers believe a “Carrier of the Year” award actually represents. Other large US brokers appear not to publicly announce their carrier honors, if they even have them at all. <h3>Gray area on carrier vetting </h3>Shippers rely on brokers to thoroughly vet the carriers handling their freight, but what that vetting entails can be nebulous. For the brokers that announce awards, they are typically made to recognize operational performance metrics such as accepting tenders, on-time delivery, providing tracking visibility, and offering competitive pricing. For shippers, however, the award designation may imply that the carrier is operating legally, safely, and with qualified drivers behind the wheel. Adam Miller, CEO of Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings, said shippers often assume safety is a consideration when carriers are selected to haul loads. “The shippers I talk to, they just make the assumption you’re doing everything you can around safety,” he told the Journal of Commerce. “When a driver exhibits bad behavior or unsafe behavior, you are at a higher risk for having an accident, even a serious accident.” Miller said most “Carrier of the Year”-type awards are not tied to safety, but rather how much capacity a carrier provides and at what rates, even though shippers may view the awards as broader endorsements of safe, low-risk carriers. Knight-Swift <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/knight-swift-making-safety-related-cuts-to-brokerage-fleet-6210440">culled 30% of third-party carriers</a> out of its logistics division in the first quarter, citing increased vetting to ensure higher safety standards and in a bid to reduce the likelihood of cargo theft. But the brokerage industry as a whole, whether it’s handing out awards or not, passes no judgment on whether a carrier is fit to operate. For that, it relies on FMSCA, according to Chris Burroughs, president of the Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA). The TIA represents 1,800 third-party logistics companies in North America. “If the FMCSA can’t decipher [who is safe to operate], how is the general public supposed to decipher it?” Burroughs told the Journal of Commerce. <h3>Does safety scoring predict accident risk? </h3>Through its Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) program, the FMCSA measures trucking companies on six criteria: unsafe driving, crash indicators, hours-of-service compliance, vehicle maintenance, controlled substances or alcohol, and driver fitness. The criteria are published in the online Safety Measurement System (SMS). Crash indicators measure patterns of high crash involvement, such as frequency and severity, according to FMCSA. The SMS data is used by FMCSA to prioritize carrier “interventions,” but Burroughs argues the scores are not reliable enough for brokers to make decisions on carriers. “Brokers may review publicly available data as part of their overall due diligence, but that data is incomplete, can be misleading, and cannot be used to make definitive safety determinations,” he said. The CSA scoring data does not constitute a safety rating, Burroughs pointed out. The FMCSA only assigns a safety rating of “satisfactory,” “conditional,” or “unsatisfactory” after an on-site review of a company’s safety procedures and regulatory compliance. Still, more than 90% of existing trucking companies in the US have not been rated by the FMCSA, according to the agency, and some companies have safety ratings that were assigned years or even decades ago. The FMCSA does not have the staff or resources to visit, inspect, and provide a safety rating for all motor carriers in the US. A 2017 review by the National Academy of Sciences found that the CSA safety scoring system is “structured in a reasonable way” and “defensible” for identifying higher-risk carriers. But the authors also questioned how precisely those scores reflect crash risk. The federal government has focused intensely on highway safety through its SAFE ROADS initiative, including <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/house-committee-advances-bill-targeting-non-domiciled-commercial-drivers-licenses-6188801">the high-profile crackdowns</a> on non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs) and English Language Proficiency (ELP) requirements. <h3>‘Winners’ with higher-risk profiles </h3>Despite the studies on CSA scores, some indicators have a clear nexus with highway safety. A carrier with repeated severe violations, such as operating a vehicle with defective brakes or excessive speeding, presents a higher risk of getting into an accident. The Journal of Commerce found several carriers that were given awards by brokers despite having enough serious violations to trigger FMCSA intervention or be officially deemed “high risk.” MEB Express, which won a C.H. Robinson “Carrier of the Year” award alongside SuperEgo, had eight violations for traveling at least 10 miles per hour over the speed limit in the last two years, two violations for inattentive or distracted driving, and two violations for not having a proper CDL or medical certificate, according to the FMCSA. Another C.H. Robinson “Carrier of the Year” winner for 2025, Garesp Transportation, received six violations for either making “a false report in connection with a duty status” or “failing to have a record of duty status,” the FMCSA said. Both revolve around data from electronic-logging devices (ELDs), which are required for interstate commerce to “directly combat the primary cause of fatigue-related accidents,” according to the agency. Both are small carriers: MEB owns 80 trucks; Garesp owns 30. C.H. Robinson gives several “Carrier of the Year” awards, depending on the fleet size of the trucking company. Since last September when the awards were announced, both MEB and Garesp have continued to rack up violations. Five MEB Express drivers were taken out of service for failing an ELP exam, according to the FMCSA, while three Garesp drivers were taken off the road for not possessing a valid CDL or violating restrictions placed on their CDLs. Contacted by the Journal of Commerce about its award distribution and the companies that received FMCSA violations, C.H. Robinson noted that there were 24 different winners last September, including owner-operators, small carriers, large carriers, and holding companies with affiliated carriers such as SuperEgo. The broker also said all winners meet the standards set by the FMCSA to legally operate. “The awards are chosen by an internal committee and are based on exceptional service to our customers, such as reliable tracking updates, on-time performance and delivering on customers’ unique requirements,” C.H. Robinson wrote in a statement. But it also acknowledged it is considering changes in determining how carriers are chosen for recognition, saying, “As a part of our commitment to continuous improvement, we are reviewing our criteria for future carrier awards.” <h3>C.H. Robinson not alone </h3>Other brokers have also given promotional awards to carriers with high-risk profiles. Uber Freight named CloudTrucks a “Carrier of the Year” last month, even though federal regulators in February flagged the carrier’s driver fitness record, noting multiple out-of-service violations tied to driver qualifications. The FMCSA officially identified the carrier as “high-risk” in March 2025. “CloudTrucks’s on-road safety data, including driver fitness violations, indicate ongoing safety management concerns,” the FMCSA wrote in February. “CloudTrucks was cited for 27 driver fitness violations in the past two years during inspections, 20 of which were out-of-service violations." Uber Freight discloses the criteria for its “Carrier of the Year” award on its website; safety was not among them. Uber did not respond to multiple requests for comment from the Journal of Commerce. In 2024, Echo Global Logistics awarded a “Carrier of the Quarter” award to Fortune Transport, despite Fortune triggering federal intervention thresholds for hours-of-service compliance and crash indicators. In a third category — vehicle maintenance — the carrier was only 0.9 of a percentage point below a formal FMCSA intervention, according to a carrier profile obtained by the Journal of Commerce through a third-party platform. An FMCSA intervention includes warning letters, increased roadside inspections, and possible on-site investigations. Fortune Transport owns 13 trucks. "Echo’s ‘Carrier of the Quarter’ awards are based on operational performance within our network, including factors such as on-time delivery, low cancellations, consistent tracking, and overall service,” the company said in a statement to the Journal of Commerce when asked about the award to Fortune. “Echo maintains a comprehensive carrier onboarding process and operates in compliance with Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration requirements and all applicable laws and regulations.” The broader issue for shippers remains: Operational excellence and highway safety are not always the same thing. While a “Carrier of the Year” award may recognize service performance, unless the criteria clearly state otherwise, it should not be interpreted as a guarantee that every load is being hauled by safe, low-risk and legally qualified drivers. Contact Ari Ashe at <a href="mailto:ari.ashe@spglobal.com">ari.ashe@spglobal.com</a>.       Senior Editor William B. Cassidy and Special Correspondent Dan Ronan contributed to this report. </div>

Shippers often assume the honors bestowed by freight brokers on the truck carriers they use mean the carriers are doing things the right way, including — and perhaps most importantly — operating safely on US highways. But a Journal of Commerce review found several instances where that assumption is not necessarily accurate. Indeed, the awards themselves — which are essentially self-congratulatory promotional marketing for the brokers and carriers involved — appear to reflect service performance, rather than a strong safety culture or the skill of the drivers behind the wheel. In a recent example that received a lot of publicity for all the wrong reasons, broker C.H. Robinson Worldwide gave a “Carrier of the Year” award to SuperEgo Holding last September, an honor the broker said recognizes those that “exemplify the best in the industry.” But SuperEgo later became the subject of a CBS 60 Minutes investigation that found the carrier and related entities were tied to 15,000 safety violations and 500 accidents over two years. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is also investigating SuperEgo over allegations it operated as a “chameleon” carrier, meaning a trucking company that shuts down and rebrands itself under a new name to evade federal safety enforcement, fines, insurance scrutiny or poor safety records while operating with the same management. But SuperEgo was not the only “award-winning” carrier with a high-risk profile. A review by the Journal of Commerce found that C.H. Robinson, Echo Global Logistics and Uber Freight have honored other carriers with serious safety or driver qualification issues on their records. While none of the carriers recognized were officially deemed “unsafe” by federal regulators, their records highlight a gray area: what shippers believe a “Carrier of the Year” award actually represents. Other large US brokers appear not to publicly announce their carrier honors, if they even have them at all. Gray area on carrier vetting Shippers rely on brokers to thoroughly vet the carriers handling their freight, but what that vetting entails can be nebulous. For the brokers that announce awards, they are typically made to recognize operational performance metrics such as accepting tenders, on-time delivery, providing tracking visibility, and offering competitive pricing. For shippers, however, the award designation may imply that the carrier is operating legally, safely, and with qualified drivers behind the wheel. Adam Miller, CEO of Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings, said shippers often assume safety is a consideration when carriers are selected to haul loads. “The shippers I talk to, they just make the assumption you’re doing everything you can around safety,” he told the Journal of Commerce. “When a driver exhibits bad behavior or unsafe behavior, you are at a higher risk for having an accident, even a serious accident.” Miller said most “Carrier of the Year”-type awards are not tied to safety, but rather how much capacity a carrier provides and at what rates, even though shippers may view the awards as broader endorsements of safe, low-risk carriers. Knight-Swift culled 30% of third-party carriers out of its logistics division in the first quarter, citing increased vetting to ensure higher safety standards and in a bid to reduce the likelihood of cargo theft. But the brokerage industry as a whole, whether it’s handing out awards or not, passes no judgment on whether a carrier is fit to operate. For that, it relies on FMSCA, according to Chris Burroughs, president of the Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA). The TIA represents 1,800 third-party logistics companies in North America. “If the FMCSA can’t decipher [who is safe to operate], how is the general public supposed to decipher it?” Burroughs told the Journal of Commerce. Does safety scoring predict accident risk? Through its Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) program, the FMCSA measures trucking companies on six criteria: unsafe driving, crash indicators, hours-of-service compliance, vehicle maintenance, controlled substances or alcohol, and driver fitness. The criteria are published in the online Safety Measurement System (SMS). Crash indicators measure patterns of high crash involvement, such as frequency and severity, according to FMCSA. The SMS data is used by FMCSA to prioritize carrier “interventions,” but Burroughs argues the scores are not reliable enough for brokers to make decisions on carriers. “Brokers may review publicly available data as part of their overall due diligence, but that data is incomplete, can be misleading, and cannot be used to make definitive safety determinations,” he said. The CSA scoring data does not constitute a safety rating, Burroughs pointed out. The FMCSA only assigns a safety rating of “satisfactory,” “conditional,” or “unsatisfactory” after an on-site review of a company’s safety procedures and regulatory compliance. Still, more than 90% of existing trucking companies in the US have not been rated by the FMCSA, according to the agency, and some companies have safety ratings that were assigned years or even decades ago. The FMCSA does not have the staff or resources to visit, inspect, and provide a safety rating for all motor carriers in the US. A 2017 review by the National Academy of Sciences found that the CSA safety scoring system is “structured in a reasonable way” and “defensible” for identifying higher-risk carriers. But the authors also questioned how precisely those scores reflect crash risk. The federal government has focused intensely on highway safety through its SAFE ROADS initiative, including the high-profile crackdowns on non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs) and English Language Proficiency (ELP) requirements. ‘Winners’ with higher-risk profiles Despite the studies on CSA scores, some indicators have a clear nexus with highway safety. A carrier with repeated severe violations, such as operating a vehicle with defective brakes or excessive speeding, presents a higher risk of getting into an accident. The Journal of Commerce found several carriers that were given awards by brokers despite having enough serious violations to trigger FMCSA intervention or be officially deemed “high risk.” MEB Express, which won a C.H. Robinson “Carrier of the Year” award alongside SuperEgo, had eight violations for traveling at least 10 miles per hour over the speed limit in the last two years, two violations for inattentive or distracted driving, and two violations for not having a proper CDL or medical certificate, according to the FMCSA. Another C.H. Robinson “Carrier of the Year” winner for 2025, Garesp Transportation, received six violations for either making “a false report in connection with a duty status” or “failing to have a record of duty status,” the FMCSA said. Both revolve around data from electronic-logging devices (ELDs), which are required for interstate commerce to “directly combat the primary cause of fatigue-related accidents,” according to the agency. Both are small carriers: MEB owns 80 trucks; Garesp owns 30. C.H. Robinson gives several “Carrier of the Year” awards, depending on the fleet size of the trucking company. Since last September when the awards were announced, both MEB and Garesp have continued to rack up violations. Five MEB Express drivers were taken out of service for failing an ELP exam, according to the FMCSA, while three Garesp drivers were taken off the road for not possessing a valid CDL or violating restrictions placed on their CDLs. Contacted by the Journal of Commerce about its award distribution and the companies that received FMCSA violations, C.H. Robinson noted that there were 24 different winners last September, including owner-operators, small carriers, large carriers, and holding companies with affiliated carriers such as SuperEgo. The broker also said all winners meet the standards set by the FMCSA to legally operate. “The awards are chosen by an internal committee and are based on exceptional service to our customers, such as reliable tracking updates, on-time performance and delivering on customers’ unique requirements,” C.H. Robinson wrote in a statement. But it also acknowledged it is considering changes in determining how carriers are chosen for recognition, saying, “As a part of our commitment to continuous improvement, we are reviewing our criteria for future carrier awards.” C.H. Robinson not alone Other brokers have also given promotional awards to carriers with high-risk profiles. Uber Freight named CloudTrucks a “Carrier of the Year” last month, even though federal regulators in February flagged the carrier’s driver fitness record, noting multiple out-of-service violations tied to driver qualifications. The FMCSA officially identified the carrier as “high-risk” in March 2025. “CloudTrucks’s on-road safety data, including driver fitness violations, indicate ongoing safety management concerns,” the FMCSA wrote in February. “CloudTrucks was cited for 27 driver fitness violations in the past two years during inspections, 20 of which were out-of-service violations." Uber Freight discloses the criteria for its “Carrier of the Year” award on its website; safety was not among them. Uber did not respond to multiple requests for comment from the Journal of Commerce. In 2024, Echo Global Logistics awarded a “Carrier of the Quarter” award to Fortune Transport, despite Fortune triggering federal intervention thresholds for hours-of-service compliance and crash indicators. In a third category — vehicle maintenance — the carrier was only 0.9 of a percentage point below a formal FMCSA intervention, according to a carrier profile obtained by the Journal of Commerce through a third-party platform. An FMCSA intervention includes warning letters, increased roadside inspections, and possible on-site investigations. Fortune Transport owns 13 trucks. "Echo’s ‘Carrier of the Quarter’ awards are based on operational performance within our network, including factors such as on-time delivery, low cancellations, consistent tracking, and overall service,” the company said in a statement to the Journal of Commerce when asked about the award to Fortune. “Echo maintains a comprehensive carrier onboarding process and operates in compliance with Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration requirements and all applicable laws and regulations.” The broader issue for shippers remains: Operational excellence and highway safety are not always the same thing. While a “Carrier of the Year” award may recognize service performance, unless the criteria clearly state otherwise, it should not be interpreted as a guarantee that every load is being hauled by safe, low-risk and legally qualified drivers. Contact Ari Ashe at ari.ashe@spglobal.com .       Senior Editor William B. Cassidy and Special Correspondent Dan Ronan contributed to this report.

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Truckload

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Safety assumptions appear misguided in ‘carrier of the year’ honors

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Cargo shippers and forwarders have found themselves taking on more of the burden for inland transport, relying on barges and trucks to fill in the gaps and even expanding their own fleets of heavy-duty rail cars.</div>

Cargo shippers and forwarders have found themselves taking on more of the burden for inland transport, relying on barges and trucks to fill in the gaps and even expanding their own fleets of heavy-duty rail cars.

<div class="phx-topic">An aging fleet, a declining number of cars, and a high volume of energy-related project cargo is pushing North American rail capacity to its limits, resulting in cost increases and scheduling delays for project cargo moves. Cargo shippers and forwarders have found themselves taking on more of the burden for inland transport, relying on barges and trucks to fill in the gaps and even expanding their own fleets of heavy-duty rail cars. The North American freight car fleet contracted by 24,149 cars between 2019 and 2025 to 1.66 million, a 1% decline, according to data from the Umler Index by researcher Railinc Corp., which tracks the rail equipment fleet. Mark Lockwood, vice president of key accounts and corporate counsel for the North American arm of international project cargo freight forwarder Fracht Group, told the Journal of Commerce that rail car maintenance and availability has been on the decline since the early 2000s, with many cars either approaching the end of their 50-year lifespan or becoming obsolete. Now with the data center boom and grid upgrades resulting in a surge of power generation and energy infrastructure projects, the rapidly increasing demand for these cargoes has placed a considerable strain on rail capacity at a time when project developers have made speed to market the order of the day. “The railroad service has been very poor lately on moving this type of cargo,” Lockwood said. “The transit times have increased. So, I see a perfect storm coming up of ships arriving that will not have rail cars (to move cargo inland).” The rail capacity shortage presents challenges specifically for heavy cargo pieces that weigh over 600,000 pounds, Lockwood said. “The car supply is very low for that. Sixteen axles and above are in very tight supply,” he said. <h3>Shipments held up at ports </h3>Carsten Wendt, head of sales for high and heavy and breakbulk at ocean carrier Wallenius Wilhelmsen, said rail-bound cargo shipments have not been getting picked up on time from US ports. That has been the case specifically for heavy-lift and oversized power generation project cargo such as transformers, gas turbines and steam generators that require transport by rail after being discharged at ports. “That is a big problem for us,” Wendt said. “And we’ve been seeing this more in the last few weeks and months.” Mark Davenport, logistics provider and rail specialist for original equipment manufacturer (OEM) Siemens Energy, told the Journal of Commerce the lead time for rail cars can take months, whereas previously it used to take weeks. “The AI data centers just absolutely changed everyone’s perspectives very quickly,” he said. “I think it caught a lot of people off guard just how quickly the demand for electricity is increasing.” Davenport said <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/us-onshore-wind-halt-deals-latest-blow-for-project-cargo-6215810">the slowdown of the US wind power market</a>, which relies on a high volume of rail cars to move turbines and other project cargo, has freed up some rail capacity to accommodate fossil fuel-based energy project equipment — at least for now. “But if that were to pick up, that could make this entire situation even more challenging,” he said. <h3>Rail car scarcity drives delays </h3>When it comes to transporting power generation project cargo and other heavy and oversized pieces, Davenport said rail is the “go-to” mode of transportation for any equipment that’s too big to truck. But if there’s no rail car available when a vessel carrying the cargo arrives at the port, then the equipment needs to be received onto a trailer and put in storage. Then when a rail car does become available, the equipment needs to be moved again, triggering additional costs and schedule delays. “If you expected it to arrive and land straight to a rail car, and now you’re waiting two weeks for a rail car to get back, you’re going to be under the gun to make deliveries on time,” Davenport said. For carriers like Wallenius Wilhelmsen, their scope of work when transporting shipments typically ends once they discharge cargo at the port. From there, the cargo gets handed off to a receiver and moved to a rail car for the next leg of transport. But lately, Wendt said those heavy cargoes have been staying put at the pier — sitting idly on the carrier’s specialized cargo-handling equipment and leaving the carrier unable to move the equipment to the next port. That means the shipper either has to pay demurrage fees to keep the cargo on the carrier’s equipment or pay double handling fees to move the cargo elsewhere. Even more challenging, Wendt said, is that because these are specialized heavy-lift trailers, there is a limited number of them available for other shipments. “And if you keep them occupied for too long in the US, then we are lacking them at ports in Asia and Europe,” he said. <h3>In-house fleets expand </h3>Recognizing the increasing demand for moving project cargo freight by rail, Fracht has been taking steps for over a decade to expand its rail car fleet through acquisitions. Lockwood said Fracht now owns nearly 50 rail cars — including mostly eight- and 12-axle cars and one 18-axle car — sized to move breakbulk and project cargo, and the company plans to acquire or possibly manufacture additional cars to further grow its fleet Although Fracht still must rely on outside rail car providers, Lockwood said the investment has given the company a competitive advantage by having ready access to its own cars for key moves and customers. “We can have more control and management of our shipments, which is important,” he said. Siemens Energy has also been working to make the most of its rail car fleet by extending the life of older cars it owns and has been using for factory storage, while leasing others. “We’re really trying to ramp up to be ready for what’s coming,” Davenport said. He said changing perspectives in supply chain management could push OEMs like Siemens to acquire their own rail cars, versus leasing them as they had done in the past. In addition to rail, barge and heavy-haul transport are positioned to become more prominent modes of overland transport. “Previously, rail moves were rail moves, and truck and barge moves were truck and barge moves,” Davenport said. “But if the rail car supply is not there, other players in the industry will jump in and capture that part of the market.” Lockwood said he expects more companies will realize they need to invest in their own rail cars, but they will have to navigate challenges such as long lead times and higher steel costs because of US tariffs — and that’s if they are willing to put forth the capital for an asset with a 50-year lifespan. “Will it happen? We’re in a market society, so I’m sure it will,” he said. “How fast will it happen? Time to market — that’s the critical part.” Contact Autumn Cafiero Giusti at <a href="mailto:autumn@autumngiusti.com">autumn@autumngiusti.com</a>. </div>

An aging fleet, a declining number of cars, and a high volume of energy-related project cargo is pushing North American rail capacity to its limits, resulting in cost increases and scheduling delays for project cargo moves. Cargo shippers and forwarders have found themselves taking on more of the burden for inland transport, relying on barges and trucks to fill in the gaps and even expanding their own fleets of heavy-duty rail cars. The North American freight car fleet contracted by 24,149 cars between 2019 and 2025 to 1.66 million, a 1% decline, according to data from the Umler Index by researcher Railinc Corp., which tracks the rail equipment fleet. Mark Lockwood, vice president of key accounts and corporate counsel for the North American arm of international project cargo freight forwarder Fracht Group, told the Journal of Commerce that rail car maintenance and availability has been on the decline since the early 2000s, with many cars either approaching the end of their 50-year lifespan or becoming obsolete. Now with the data center boom and grid upgrades resulting in a surge of power generation and energy infrastructure projects, the rapidly increasing demand for these cargoes has placed a considerable strain on rail capacity at a time when project developers have made speed to market the order of the day. “The railroad service has been very poor lately on moving this type of cargo,” Lockwood said. “The transit times have increased. So, I see a perfect storm coming up of ships arriving that will not have rail cars (to move cargo inland).” The rail capacity shortage presents challenges specifically for heavy cargo pieces that weigh over 600,000 pounds, Lockwood said. “The car supply is very low for that. Sixteen axles and above are in very tight supply,” he said. Shipments held up at ports Carsten Wendt, head of sales for high and heavy and breakbulk at ocean carrier Wallenius Wilhelmsen, said rail-bound cargo shipments have not been getting picked up on time from US ports. That has been the case specifically for heavy-lift and oversized power generation project cargo such as transformers, gas turbines and steam generators that require transport by rail after being discharged at ports. “That is a big problem for us,” Wendt said. “And we’ve been seeing this more in the last few weeks and months.” Mark Davenport, logistics provider and rail specialist for original equipment manufacturer (OEM) Siemens Energy, told the Journal of Commerce the lead time for rail cars can take months, whereas previously it used to take weeks. “The AI data centers just absolutely changed everyone’s perspectives very quickly,” he said. “I think it caught a lot of people off guard just how quickly the demand for electricity is increasing.” Davenport said the slowdown of the US wind power market , which relies on a high volume of rail cars to move turbines and other project cargo, has freed up some rail capacity to accommodate fossil fuel-based energy project equipment — at least for now. “But if that were to pick up, that could make this entire situation even more challenging,” he said. Rail car scarcity drives delays When it comes to transporting power generation project cargo and other heavy and oversized pieces, Davenport said rail is the “go-to” mode of transportation for any equipment that’s too big to truck. But if there’s no rail car available when a vessel carrying the cargo arrives at the port, then the equipment needs to be received onto a trailer and put in storage. Then when a rail car does become available, the equipment needs to be moved again, triggering additional costs and schedule delays. “If you expected it to arrive and land straight to a rail car, and now you’re waiting two weeks for a rail car to get back, you’re going to be under the gun to make deliveries on time,” Davenport said. For carriers like Wallenius Wilhelmsen, their scope of work when transporting shipments typically ends once they discharge cargo at the port. From there, the cargo gets handed off to a receiver and moved to a rail car for the next leg of transport. But lately, Wendt said those heavy cargoes have been staying put at the pier — sitting idly on the carrier’s specialized cargo-handling equipment and leaving the carrier unable to move the equipment to the next port. That means the shipper either has to pay demurrage fees to keep the cargo on the carrier’s equipment or pay double handling fees to move the cargo elsewhere. Even more challenging, Wendt said, is that because these are specialized heavy-lift trailers, there is a limited number of them available for other shipments. “And if you keep them occupied for too long in the US, then we are lacking them at ports in Asia and Europe,” he said. In-house fleets expand Recognizing the increasing demand for moving project cargo freight by rail, Fracht has been taking steps for over a decade to expand its rail car fleet through acquisitions. Lockwood said Fracht now owns nearly 50 rail cars — including mostly eight- and 12-axle cars and one 18-axle car — sized to move breakbulk and project cargo, and the company plans to acquire or possibly manufacture additional cars to further grow its fleet Although Fracht still must rely on outside rail car providers, Lockwood said the investment has given the company a competitive advantage by having ready access to its own cars for key moves and customers. “We can have more control and management of our shipments, which is important,” he said. Siemens Energy has also been working to make the most of its rail car fleet by extending the life of older cars it owns and has been using for factory storage, while leasing others. “We’re really trying to ramp up to be ready for what’s coming,” Davenport said. He said changing perspectives in supply chain management could push OEMs like Siemens to acquire their own rail cars, versus leasing them as they had done in the past. In addition to rail, barge and heavy-haul transport are positioned to become more prominent modes of overland transport. “Previously, rail moves were rail moves, and truck and barge moves were truck and barge moves,” Davenport said. “But if the rail car supply is not there, other players in the industry will jump in and capture that part of the market.” Lockwood said he expects more companies will realize they need to invest in their own rail cars, but they will have to navigate challenges such as long lead times and higher steel costs because of US tariffs — and that’s if they are willing to put forth the capital for an asset with a 50-year lifespan. “Will it happen? We’re in a market society, so I’m sure it will,” he said. “How fast will it happen? Time to market — that’s the critical part.” Contact Autumn Cafiero Giusti at autumn@autumngiusti.com .

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Growth in energy-linked project cargo exacerbates US rail car shortage

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">But the carrier’s ability to continue that cost recovery will depend on the long-term impact of high energy prices on consumer demand and how the industry manages its fast-growing order book, Vincent Clerc says. </div>

But the carrier’s ability to continue that cost recovery will depend on the long-term impact of high energy prices on consumer demand and how the industry manages its fast-growing order book, Vincent Clerc says.

<div class="phx-topic">Maersk’s monthly bunker fuel bill has doubled to $500 million since the war in the Middle East began — and those costs are being recovered “in full” from the carrier’s customers via surcharges and revised bunker formulas, CEO Vincent Clerc said Thursday. But Maersk’s ability to continue that cost recovery will depend on the long-term impact of high energy prices on consumer demand and how the container shipping industry manages growing excess capacity, Clerc told analysts during the carrier’s first-quarter earnings call. “Our concern is a softening of the demand environment and insufficient capacity management across the industry, which will lead to an erosion of the recovery of costs on the short-term market, which could, depending on how much it will erode, quickly get you into a not-so-pleasant place in the second half of the year,” he said. Maersk handled 3.2 million FEUs in the first quarter as volume increased 9% year over year. Average load rates were down 14% at $2,081 per FEU, but higher sequentially compared to the fourth quarter of 2025. Despite the robust volume across Maersk’s ocean, logistics and terminals segments, the group’s key Q1 financial metrics were negative due to an oversupplied market that pushed rates lower. Revenue was down 2.6% year over year at $13 billion; earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) fell 33% to $1.8 billion; and EBIT of $340 million was down 73%. First-quarter net profit of $100 million was down sharply from the $1.2 billion recorded in Q1 2025. <h3>’Limited’ financial hit from war in Q1 </h3>Maersk has so far been able to manage the cost impact of the energy shock, but Clerc told analysts that the bunker fuel price increase was unprecedented in terms of size, the speed at which it unfolded, and the dislocations it created in the market. “There is limited financial impact from the conflict in the first quarter, given the accounting effects of delayed recognitions of both revenue and costs," he said. “The increased cost that will flow through the (profit and loss) in Q2 and beyond are being recovered through higher spot rates and the successful implementation of commercial levers with our contracted customers, most notably surcharges and bunker formulas. ”This is about $500 million of extra cost per month, which we are recovering in full today, even in an oversupplied market overall, despite heavy disruptions to energy markets,” Clerc added. Bunker prices in the first quarter were actually down 16% year over year, with the sharply higher prices seen in March after the war began not enough to overwhelm the far lower costs of January and February. Operating costs were up 0.6%, but offset by the strong volume growth and unit cost that fell 7.1% in the first quarter. Maersk’s Logistics and Services segment reported revenue up 8.7% year over year at $3.8 billion, although the EBIT margin of 4.6% remained short of the 6% target. In the terminals segment, revenue increased 6.7% year over year to $1.3 billion, driven by higher revenue per move and greater volume, especially in North America. Volume handled by the terminals rose 4% to 3.4 million FEUs. <h3>Overcapacity hangs over industry </h3>Maersk left its financial forecast for the year unchanged, but the wide range between upper and lower EBIT expectation — minus $1.5 billion to $1 billion — underlined the extreme uncertainty the carrier is seeing in global container shipping markets, particularly around overcapacity. The global order book continues to swell, with total capacity on order currently at 12 million TEUs, 36% of the in-service fleet, according to Sea-web, a sister company of the Journal of Commerce within S&amp;P Global. <div class="wrapper-narrow"><dynamic-object type="jocchartid" resource-id="65404dbe-8b60-43eb-9f13-4179bde44e2b"></dynamic-object></div>Clerc believes the high energy costs will soon trigger a wave of slow steaming that could absorb up to 1.5 million TEUs of capacity. ”We’re looking at it ourselves, and the cost benefit is quite compelling,” he said. “But if we don’t pick up scrapping and actually retire some of the ships that have not been retired over the last seven years, this is going to be extremely bumpy.” Global long-haul networks were currently sailing at 16-17 knots; Clerc said at the current price of bunker fuel, it would be “quite economical” to reduce speed to 14.5-15 knots. "Another thing that would be extremely positive from a fuel cost perspective is reopening the Red Sea,” he said. “When you're sailing from India to the Mediterranean, you're going to burn a lot less fuel by going through the Red Sea than you will taking the long route (around southern Africa).” Contact Greg Knowler at <a href="mailto:greg.knowler@spglobal.com">greg.knowler@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

Maersk’s monthly bunker fuel bill has doubled to $500 million since the war in the Middle East began — and those costs are being recovered “in full” from the carrier’s customers via surcharges and revised bunker formulas, CEO Vincent Clerc said Thursday. But Maersk’s ability to continue that cost recovery will depend on the long-term impact of high energy prices on consumer demand and how the container shipping industry manages growing excess capacity, Clerc told analysts during the carrier’s first-quarter earnings call. “Our concern is a softening of the demand environment and insufficient capacity management across the industry, which will lead to an erosion of the recovery of costs on the short-term market, which could, depending on how much it will erode, quickly get you into a not-so-pleasant place in the second half of the year,” he said. Maersk handled 3.2 million FEUs in the first quarter as volume increased 9% year over year. Average load rates were down 14% at $2,081 per FEU, but higher sequentially compared to the fourth quarter of 2025. Despite the robust volume across Maersk’s ocean, logistics and terminals segments, the group’s key Q1 financial metrics were negative due to an oversupplied market that pushed rates lower. Revenue was down 2.6% year over year at $13 billion; earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) fell 33% to $1.8 billion; and EBIT of $340 million was down 73%. First-quarter net profit of $100 million was down sharply from the $1.2 billion recorded in Q1 2025. ’Limited’ financial hit from war in Q1 Maersk has so far been able to manage the cost impact of the energy shock, but Clerc told analysts that the bunker fuel price increase was unprecedented in terms of size, the speed at which it unfolded, and the dislocations it created in the market. “There is limited financial impact from the conflict in the first quarter, given the accounting effects of delayed recognitions of both revenue and costs," he said. “The increased cost that will flow through the (profit and loss) in Q2 and beyond are being recovered through higher spot rates and the successful implementation of commercial levers with our contracted customers, most notably surcharges and bunker formulas. ”This is about $500 million of extra cost per month, which we are recovering in full today, even in an oversupplied market overall, despite heavy disruptions to energy markets,” Clerc added. Bunker prices in the first quarter were actually down 16% year over year, with the sharply higher prices seen in March after the war began not enough to overwhelm the far lower costs of January and February. Operating costs were up 0.6%, but offset by the strong volume growth and unit cost that fell 7.1% in the first quarter. Maersk’s Logistics and Services segment reported revenue up 8.7% year over year at $3.8 billion, although the EBIT margin of 4.6% remained short of the 6% target. In the terminals segment, revenue increased 6.7% year over year to $1.3 billion, driven by higher revenue per move and greater volume, especially in North America. Volume handled by the terminals rose 4% to 3.4 million FEUs. Overcapacity hangs over industry Maersk left its financial forecast for the year unchanged, but the wide range between upper and lower EBIT expectation — minus $1.5 billion to $1 billion — underlined the extreme uncertainty the carrier is seeing in global container shipping markets, particularly around overcapacity. The global order book continues to swell, with total capacity on order currently at 12 million TEUs, 36% of the in-service fleet, according to Sea-web, a sister company of the Journal of Commerce within S&P Global. Clerc believes the high energy costs will soon trigger a wave of slow steaming that could absorb up to 1.5 million TEUs of capacity. ”We’re looking at it ourselves, and the cost benefit is quite compelling,” he said. “But if we don’t pick up scrapping and actually retire some of the ships that have not been retired over the last seven years, this is going to be extremely bumpy.” Global long-haul networks were currently sailing at 16-17 knots; Clerc said at the current price of bunker fuel, it would be “quite economical” to reduce speed to 14.5-15 knots. "Another thing that would be extremely positive from a fuel cost perspective is reopening the Red Sea,” he said. “When you're sailing from India to the Mediterranean, you're going to burn a lot less fuel by going through the Red Sea than you will taking the long route (around southern Africa).” Contact Greg Knowler at greg.knowler@spglobal.com .

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<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Sarah McCoy, who recently led the renegotiation of the lease for the Virginia International Gateway terminal, will lead the sixth-largest port in the US by volume. </div>

Sarah McCoy, who recently led the renegotiation of the lease for the Virginia International Gateway terminal, will lead the sixth-largest port in the US by volume.

<div class="phx-topic">A 12-year veteran of the Virginia Port Authority (VPA) who led the renegotiation of the lease at one of the most advanced marine terminals in the country, has officially taken the reins of the sixth-largest US container port by volume. Sarah McCoy on Wednesday was named CEO of the Port of Virginia after serving as interim CEO and executive director since January. She replaces Stephen Edwards, who stepped down last November. <div class="wrapper-narrow float-right-element"><img src="/images/phoenix/6215876_0.1.jpg"></img></div>“We have the infrastructure, people and performance to continue defining the future of American trade, and that’s exactly what we’re going to do,” McCoy said in a statement. “I look forward to putting these advantages to work to attract business to Virginia and continue delivering for our customers and communities across Virginia.” McCoy led VPA’s renegotiation of its lease for the Virginia International Gateway through 2065 with owner Alinda Capital Partners. She was also key in the port’s recent $1.4 billion investment plan that included the late February <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/virginias-deeper-harbor-could-allow-higher-usage-on-ulcvs-6189706">completion of the deepening of Norfolk’s harbor to 55 feet</a>. McCoy was VPA’s general counsel from 2017 to 2022 and then served as chief administrative officer. Laden container volumes through the port in 2025 fell 4.2% year over year, to 2.4 million TEUs, according to PIERS, a sister company of the Journal of Commerce within S&amp;P Global. Comparatively, volume through the US East Coast overall increased 3.2%. <a href="mailto:News@joc.com">News@joc.com</a></div>

A 12-year veteran of the Virginia Port Authority (VPA) who led the renegotiation of the lease at one of the most advanced marine terminals in the country, has officially taken the reins of the sixth-largest US container port by volume. Sarah McCoy on Wednesday was named CEO of the Port of Virginia after serving as interim CEO and executive director since January. She replaces Stephen Edwards, who stepped down last November. “We have the infrastructure, people and performance to continue defining the future of American trade, and that’s exactly what we’re going to do,” McCoy said in a statement. “I look forward to putting these advantages to work to attract business to Virginia and continue delivering for our customers and communities across Virginia.” McCoy led VPA’s renegotiation of its lease for the Virginia International Gateway through 2065 with owner Alinda Capital Partners. She was also key in the port’s recent $1.4 billion investment plan that included the late February completion of the deepening of Norfolk’s harbor to 55 feet . McCoy was VPA’s general counsel from 2017 to 2022 and then served as chief administrative officer. Laden container volumes through the port in 2025 fell 4.2% year over year, to 2.4 million TEUs, according to PIERS, a sister company of the Journal of Commerce within S&P Global. Comparatively, volume through the US East Coast overall increased 3.2%. News@joc.com

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VPA veteran McCoy tapped as CEO of Port of Virginia

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Local 23 says marine clerk jobs will be eliminated if Husky Terminal uses container-tracking technology within the terminal yard, despite the fact that its use has been widespread at West Coast terminals for decades without jobs being lost. </div>

Local 23 says marine clerk jobs will be eliminated if Husky Terminal uses container-tracking technology within the terminal yard, despite the fact that its use has been widespread at West Coast terminals for decades without jobs being lost.

<div class="phx-topic">A local of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) in Tacoma is attempting to block Husky Terminal from installing container-tracking technology on its gantry cranes, saying the move would eliminate union jobs. The complaint from ILWU Local 23 comes despite the fact that the technology has been in widespread use at marine terminals along the West Coast since it was written into a coastwide contract approved in 2002. At issue is the use of what’s known as optical character recognition, or OCRs, which record container numbers as the boxes are lifted off vessels. The numbers are paired with information relayed by radio frequency identification devices (RFDs) that track container movements in the yard. Before computerization, that information was manually inputted by ILWU marine clerks. The Pacific Maritime Association (PMA), which represents terminal operators in negotiating and managing the coastwide collective bargaining agreements, says the use of OCRs and RFDs has significantly enhanced the efficiency of port operations. “West Coast ports have lost substantial market share to competing ports in Canada and on the Gulf and East coasts,” the PMA said in a statement to the Journal of Commerce. “Failing to keep pace with modern cargo-handling practices not only drives cargo and market share to competing ports, but also puts longshore jobs — as well as jobs throughout the supply chain — at risk.” ILWU Local 23 has been seeking signatures on a petition that claims union jobs at Husky are at risk over the OCR technology. “ILWU Local 23 is raising community awareness that the Port of Tacoma is considering allowing its tenant, Husky Terminal, to install technology on publicly owned port gantry cranes that will eliminate jobs for longshore marine clerks,” Local 23 President Jared Faker said in a statement. <h3>Number of marine clerks at Tacoma has increased </h3>The PMA said the <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/ilwu-braces-for-technology-5264642">2002 ILWU-PMA contract</a> that was ratified by the union specifically allows the use of computerization in return for management concessions that protect the interests of marine clerks. “Those contract provisions also provide ILWU clerks and other ILWU members with a wide range of job protections, including guaranteed pay,” the PMA said. The number of registered marine clerks in Tacoma has actually increased from 90 in the summer of 2002 to 133 as of December 2025, a gain of 48%, according to the PMA. Contact Bill Mongelluzzo at <a href="mailto:bill.mongelluzzo@spglobal.com">bill.mongelluzzo@spglobal.com</a>.</div>

A local of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) in Tacoma is attempting to block Husky Terminal from installing container-tracking technology on its gantry cranes, saying the move would eliminate union jobs. The complaint from ILWU Local 23 comes despite the fact that the technology has been in widespread use at marine terminals along the West Coast since it was written into a coastwide contract approved in 2002. At issue is the use of what’s known as optical character recognition, or OCRs, which record container numbers as the boxes are lifted off vessels. The numbers are paired with information relayed by radio frequency identification devices (RFDs) that track container movements in the yard. Before computerization, that information was manually inputted by ILWU marine clerks. The Pacific Maritime Association (PMA), which represents terminal operators in negotiating and managing the coastwide collective bargaining agreements, says the use of OCRs and RFDs has significantly enhanced the efficiency of port operations. “West Coast ports have lost substantial market share to competing ports in Canada and on the Gulf and East coasts,” the PMA said in a statement to the Journal of Commerce. “Failing to keep pace with modern cargo-handling practices not only drives cargo and market share to competing ports, but also puts longshore jobs — as well as jobs throughout the supply chain — at risk.” ILWU Local 23 has been seeking signatures on a petition that claims union jobs at Husky are at risk over the OCR technology. “ILWU Local 23 is raising community awareness that the Port of Tacoma is considering allowing its tenant, Husky Terminal, to install technology on publicly owned port gantry cranes that will eliminate jobs for longshore marine clerks,” Local 23 President Jared Faker said in a statement. Number of marine clerks at Tacoma has increased The PMA said the 2002 ILWU-PMA contract that was ratified by the union specifically allows the use of computerization in return for management concessions that protect the interests of marine clerks. “Those contract provisions also provide ILWU clerks and other ILWU members with a wide range of job protections, including guaranteed pay,” the PMA said. The number of registered marine clerks in Tacoma has actually increased from 90 in the summer of 2002 to 133 as of December 2025, a gain of 48%, according to the PMA. Contact Bill Mongelluzzo at  bill.mongelluzzo@spglobal.com .

Tacoma ILWU local attempting to block Husky technology effort

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