<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">An axiom argues, “Necessity is the mother of invention,” and there’s no better example of that than what tight North American truck capacity has prompted.</div>

An axiom argues, “Necessity is the mother of invention,” and there’s no better example of that than what tight North American truck capacity has prompted.

<div><div><img></div>An axiom argues, “Necessity is the mother of invention,” and there’s no better example of that than what tight North American truck capacity has prompted. One example: more shippers in Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee can now ship their containers from Murray County, Georgia, to the Port of Savannah via CSX Transportation at the Appalachian Regional Port (above), instead of trucking their goods. Photo credit: Ben Banks, TCW Inc.The tightening North American truck market — albeit far tighter in the United States than in Mexico and Canada, largely because of the <a>electronic logging device</a> (ELD) mandate — is giving extra oomph...

An axiom argues, “Necessity is the mother of invention,” and there’s no better example of that than what tight North American truck capacity has prompted. One example: more shippers in Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee can now ship their containers from Murray County, Georgia, to the Port of Savannah via CSX Transportation at the Appalachian Regional Port (above), instead of trucking their goods. Photo credit: Ben Banks, TCW Inc. The tightening North American truck market — albeit far tighter in the United States than in Mexico and Canada, largely because of the electronic logging device (ELD) mandate — is giving extra oomph to freight projects offering shippers options other than the highway. They won’t solve all the trucking woes, but with Mexico implementing rules limiting how long truckers can drive and Canada moving forward with its own version of the ELD rule, shippers are keen for alternatives. Mexican shippers are already looking to move more goods via rail and shortsea services, and trucking pressures aren’t letting up even if the country’s ocean peak is behind it, said Mario Veraldo, managing director for Maersk Line Mexico and Middle America. There’s plenty of innovation to crib. More shippers in Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee can now ship their containers from Murray County, Georgia, to the Port of Savannah via CSX Transportation, instead of trucking their goods. “With the Appalachian Regional Port , we will be able to source the empty containers. Also, it's the same distance from us by truck, but it is closer to the Port of Savannah than Nashville. Cutting that much rail off and keeping the same drayage, we see it as a win,” said Claire Getty, chief financial officer of Thompson Appalachian Hardwoods. The success of the Greer inland port, serving the Port of Charleston since autumn 2013, has helped drive other efforts through North America. An inland port serving the Port of New York and New Jersey is moving forward, owing to the state comptroller awarding CSX Transportation $19 million for the facility at CSX Transportation’s DeWitt Yard. Pointing to inland ports in the United States, Ashcroft Terminals — which PSA recently took a 60 percent stake in — reckons there’s potential in serving the port of Vancouver, British Columbia, by loading bulk products into marine containers roughly 200 miles from Canada’s busiest gateway. North America’s response differs from Europe Because of the Jones Act and the efficiency of the railroads, it’s highly doubtful shippers will see a shortsea network of the likes serving Europe. But there are openings such as in routing Mexican imports through Port of Tampa Bay and PortMiami for final delivery in Florida and the Southeast. Shippers are finding they can not only move their goods cheaper via ocean services, but they can get their goods to their destination roughly two times faster than moving over busy land port crossings. Container-on-barge services are also enjoying momentum in places where truck capacity is tight and heavy commodities limit drivers’ haul, and there’s limited opportunity for railroads to cut their own rates, sinking barge demand. Volume moved on the Port of Virginia’s thrice-weekly container-on-barge service in the fiscal year ending June 30 rose nearly 23 percent year over year, to about 27,630 TEU. The barge services, which reduced the need for roughly 54,000 truck loads, save truckers about four hours of driving time by allowing them to pick up loads at Norfolk harbor, giving them the possibility of more daily turns amid ELD-enforced pressures. Shippers not only can guarantee capacity via the barge services but also decrease their transportation spending, as they cut 100 miles of highway transport in favor of cheaper river transport. Beyond helping shippers secure inland transport capacity, barge services are finding favor as ports look to relieve pressure on their terminals. New York City wants to develop a container terminal in Brooklyn served by barges , while federal grants totaling $1.15 million are driving two projects aimed at moving containers via barge from the Port of Davisville, Rhode Island, to the Port of New York and New Jersey . Every little bit helps. Contact Mark Szakonyi at mark.szakonyi@ihsmarkit.com and follow him on Twitter: @MarkSzakonyi.

Rail News

North American ports

Trucking News

US truck capacity tightness drives inland port, barge innovation

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Micah Mallace, who served for over a decade at the port, will return to take the reins as chief executive. </div>

Micah Mallace, who served for over a decade at the port, will return to take the reins as chief executive.

Feature image

<div class="phx-topic">The South Carolina Port Authority (SC Ports) picked as its new chief executive a former insider at the port who was key in attracting Walmart to Charleston. On Monday, its SC Ports’ board of directors voted unanimously to approve Micah Mallace as its next President and Chief Executive for a five-year contract. Mallace, who was most recently president of Charleston-based third-party logistics provider Harbor Logistic, worked at SC Ports from 2011 through 2022, where he served in various roles before being named chief commercial officer. SC Porst said in a statement announcing his new role that Mallace “facilitated numerous commercial successes, including attracting Walmart to build a new import distribution center near the Port of Charleston.” “I am humbled by the opportunity to serve as the next President and CEO at SC Ports,” Mallace said in the statement. “The port team and South Carolina’s broader maritime community provide port service that is unmatched, and I know, together, we will further strengthen our competitiveness.” Interim SC President Phil Padgett will resume his role as chief financial officer. Mallace will deliver his first State of the Port address on Oct. 28, where he will provide industry updates and lay out his vision for the future of SC Ports. One issue that Mallace will now face as chief executive is ensuring the success of Charleston’s Navy Base Intermodal Facility, the port’s first on-dock rail. The project’s opening has been delayed due to design changes and budget overruns that <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/charlestons-navy-base-rail-yard-project-faces-delays-big-cost-overruns-6070926">prompted the resignation of SC Ports’ previous chief executive</a>. While the port has committed to fully developing the project, it remains unclear whether it will also pay for necessary track sidings that Norfolk Southern requested for accessing Navy Base. Contact Michael Angell at <a href="mailto:michael.angell@spglobal.com">michael.angell@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

The South Carolina Port Authority (SC Ports) picked as its new chief executive a former insider at the port who was key in attracting Walmart to Charleston. On Monday, its SC Ports’ board of directors voted unanimously to approve Micah Mallace as its next President and Chief Executive for a five-year contract. Mallace, who was most recently president of Charleston-based third-party logistics provider Harbor Logistic, worked at SC Ports from 2011 through 2022, where he served in various roles before being named chief commercial officer. SC Porst said in a statement announcing his new role that Mallace “facilitated numerous commercial successes, including attracting Walmart to build a new import distribution center near the Port of Charleston.” “I am humbled by the opportunity to serve as the next President and CEO at SC Ports,” Mallace said in the statement. “The port team and South Carolina’s broader maritime community provide port service that is unmatched, and I know, together, we will further strengthen our competitiveness.” Interim SC President Phil Padgett will resume his role as chief financial officer. Mallace will deliver his first State of the Port address on Oct. 28, where he will provide industry updates and lay out his vision for the future of SC Ports. One issue that Mallace will now face as chief executive is ensuring the success of Charleston’s Navy Base Intermodal Facility, the port’s first on-dock rail. The project’s opening has been delayed due to design changes and budget overruns that prompted the resignation of SC Ports’ previous chief executive . While the port has committed to fully developing the project, it remains unclear whether it will also pay for necessary track sidings that Norfolk Southern requested for accessing Navy Base. Contact Michael Angell at michael.angell@spglobal.com .

Port News

Maritime

SC Ports taps former commercial executive to lead

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">The Port of Mobile is now the deepest container port on the Gulf Coast, a region that has been limited on ship capacity because of service rotations through Houston’s shallower depth. </div>

The Port of Mobile is now the deepest container port on the Gulf Coast, a region that has been limited on ship capacity because of service rotations through Houston’s shallower depth.

<div class="phx-topic">The Port of Mobile finished a deepening project allowing it to become the first US Gulf Coast port capable of handling super-post-Panamax container ships. Mobile’s deeper harbor could eventually vault it ahead of Houston as the first US call for more Gulf Coast services if it can further develop its inland franchise. The Alabama Port Authority said last week final tests by the US Army Corps of Engineers and local ship pilots have determined Mobile’s ship channel is now at a depth of 50 feet, adding an extra five feet from its previous depth and making Mobile the deepest port on the Gulf Coast. The tests mark the end of a five-year, $366 million project to boost Mobile’s ship capacity, which also includes widening three miles of its shipping channel by 100 feet to allow for two-way ship traffic. The port said a fully loaded bulk coal ship with a depth of just over 48 feet was the first vessel to transit the deeper harbor. As for container ships, APM Terminals Mobile expects “ocean lines to begin upsizing ships in the near future” as a result of the deepening, according to the statement from the state port authority. <h3>Mobile first, then Houston? </h3>Its previous depth restrictions limited Mobile to handling post-Panamax container ships between 6,000 and 10,000 TEUs. Now, as the first deepwater port on the Gulf Coast, container lines may rethink how they deploy capacity and structure services. As the region’s biggest container market, Houston is still the first port of call for all five Asia services that also call Mobile. But even though Houston is widening its ship channel to handle more two-way traffic, most of its ship channel will remain at 45 feet. That difference in channel depth translates to about 1,400 TEUs of extra capacity that carriers are foregoing by calling Houston first instead of Mobile, according to a source familiar with ocean carrier operations along the Gulf Coast. A larger ship could actually call Mobile first, lighten its load, then possibly call Houston with a shallower draft, he added. “Carriers can really maximize on their allocation,” the source said. “Five feet of draft is significant for capacity.” In addition to bringing in larger ships, Mobile is looking to position itself as the faster alternative from Asia, shaving off up to five days of ocean transit, the source said. Some of the time savings stem from Houston’s episodic issues such as heavy fog or channel silting that periodically limit transits and ship capacity. Houston is currently “managing draft restrictions at both Bayport and Barbours Cut container terminals” due to shoaling, the port said in a statement, with dredging expected to begin Tuesday. Being a less busy port overall than Houston, which also handles major tanker and bulker traffic, also means Mobile can more quickly turn over container ships with fewer delays, the source said. Houston and Mobile are on par with the relative number of container ships facing delays, according to data from Sea-Web, a sister company of the Journal of Commerce within S&amp;P Global. Over the last 12 months, 24% of the container ships that call Houston have sat at anchorage, Sea-web data shows, compared with about 19% of similar calls to Mobile. However, container ships spend 32 hours on average waiting at Houston’s anchorage compared with about 13 hours at Mobile’s. Along with widening its ship channel for faster transits, <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/new-houston-berth-to-enhance-post-panamax-handling-6062105">Houston is adding berth capacity to handle more ships</a>. Mediterranean Shipping Co. has been the most frequent caller to Mobile, according to Sea-web. MSC-operated ships have made 83 of the 298 ship calls to Mobile over the past 12 months, bringing in an average vessel size of about 6,500 TEUs. MSC and Zim Shipping Services, which made 17 calls over the same time, jointly operate one of Mobile’s Asia services, while MSC also operates a standalone trans-Atlantic and Indian service. One of those Asia services, the Lone Star-Zim Gulf Coast (ZGC) had previously been using Mobile as a first call, until it switched to Houston because of greater cargo demand there. The service has since been folded into another MSC-Zim Gulf Coast service. CMA CGM is the second most frequent caller, with some 46 to Mobile since last October, Sea-web data shows. But as part of the Ocean Alliance, whose other members made 48 calls to Mobile, CMA CGM brings in larger capacity ships of about 9,000 TEUs through its Pacific Express 3 service. Ocean Alliance members Cosco Shipping and Orient Overseas Container Line bring in 8,000-TEU ships on average as part of <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/cosco-upsizes-asia-us-gulf-service-to-post-panamax-ships-amid-port-upgrades-5221981">their expansion of the Gulf of Mexico Express Service</a>. <h3>More Midwest reach for Mobile </h3>The addition of more ship capacity, though, will largely depend on how much <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/mobile-looks-to-boost-container-terminal-capacity-to-handle-intermodal-demand-5215600">Mobile’s intermodal reach will grow</a>. About 20% of the port’s cargo volume is going inland, putting it more into competition with Savannah and Los Angeles for intermodal access. CSX Transportation broke ground earlier this year on <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/mobile-teams-up-with-csx-on-new-inland-port-to-serve-northern-alabama-5214860">the Montgomery Inland port developed in conjunction with the state port authority</a>. The site, which will serve the state’s carmakers and other logistics hubs, is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2027. CSX is also reportedly looking at developing a site in Decatur, close to Huntsville, a major destination for intermodal cargo from Savannah. In that same vein, CSX is looking at developing intermodal access in Louisville and Cincinnati through Mobile, according to a source familiar with the railroad’s plans. In turn, Canadian National Railway, which offers service into Chicago, is looking at developing Memphis as a market for intermodal cargo from Mobile, according to carrier sources in the region. Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) is considering an eastbound intermodal service from Mobile to Dallas, putting the port more into competition with Houston for that market, according to a source familiar with their plans. While it did not comment on specific origin and destination pairs, CPKC and CSX entered a cooperative agreement in July on growing a joint service that connects the US Southeast and Mexico through Texas. As for terminal capacity, APM Mobile is in the midst of its fourth expansion that will bring it to 1.1 million-TEU capacity by 2027. The state port authority is said to have recently approved a land acquisition that will eventually allow APM Mobile to add a third berth, although the timeline for the development remains unclear. Contact Michael Angell at <a href="mailto:michael.angell@spglobal.com">michael.angell@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

The Port of Mobile finished a deepening project allowing it to become the first US Gulf Coast port capable of handling super-post-Panamax container ships. Mobile’s deeper harbor could eventually vault it ahead of Houston as the first US call for more Gulf Coast services if it can further develop its inland franchise. The Alabama Port Authority said last week final tests by the US Army Corps of Engineers and local ship pilots have determined Mobile’s ship channel is now at a depth of 50 feet, adding an extra five feet from its previous depth and making Mobile the deepest port on the Gulf Coast. The tests mark the end of a five-year, $366 million project to boost Mobile’s ship capacity, which also includes widening three miles of its shipping channel by 100 feet to allow for two-way ship traffic. The port said a fully loaded bulk coal ship with a depth of just over 48 feet was the first vessel to transit the deeper harbor. As for container ships, APM Terminals Mobile expects “ocean lines to begin upsizing ships in the near future” as a result of the deepening, according to the statement from the state port authority. Mobile first, then Houston? Its previous depth restrictions limited Mobile to handling post-Panamax container ships between 6,000 and 10,000 TEUs. Now, as the first deepwater port on the Gulf Coast, container lines may rethink how they deploy capacity and structure services. As the region’s biggest container market, Houston is still the first port of call for all five Asia services that also call Mobile. But even though Houston is widening its ship channel to handle more two-way traffic, most of its ship channel will remain at 45 feet. That difference in channel depth translates to about 1,400 TEUs of extra capacity that carriers are foregoing by calling Houston first instead of Mobile, according to a source familiar with ocean carrier operations along the Gulf Coast. A larger ship could actually call Mobile first, lighten its load, then possibly call Houston with a shallower draft, he added. “Carriers can really maximize on their allocation,” the source said. “Five feet of draft is significant for capacity.” In addition to bringing in larger ships, Mobile is looking to position itself as the faster alternative from Asia, shaving off up to five days of ocean transit, the source said. Some of the time savings stem from Houston’s episodic issues such as heavy fog or channel silting that periodically limit transits and ship capacity. Houston is currently “managing draft restrictions at both Bayport and Barbours Cut container terminals” due to shoaling, the port said in a statement, with dredging expected to begin Tuesday. Being a less busy port overall than Houston, which also handles major tanker and bulker traffic, also means Mobile can more quickly turn over container ships with fewer delays, the source said. Houston and Mobile are on par with the relative number of container ships facing delays, according to data from Sea-Web, a sister company of the Journal of Commerce within S&P Global. Over the last 12 months, 24% of the container ships that call Houston have sat at anchorage, Sea-web data shows, compared with about 19% of similar calls to Mobile. However, container ships spend 32 hours on average waiting at Houston’s anchorage compared with about 13 hours at Mobile’s. Along with widening its ship channel for faster transits, Houston is adding berth capacity to handle more ships . Mediterranean Shipping Co. has been the most frequent caller to Mobile, according to Sea-web. MSC-operated ships have made 83 of the 298 ship calls to Mobile over the past 12 months, bringing in an average vessel size of about 6,500 TEUs. MSC and Zim Shipping Services, which made 17 calls over the same time, jointly operate one of Mobile’s Asia services, while MSC also operates a standalone trans-Atlantic and Indian service. One of those Asia services, the Lone Star-Zim Gulf Coast (ZGC) had previously been using Mobile as a first call, until it switched to Houston because of greater cargo demand there. The service has since been folded into another MSC-Zim Gulf Coast service. CMA CGM is the second most frequent caller, with some 46 to Mobile since last October, Sea-web data shows. But as part of the Ocean Alliance, whose other members made 48 calls to Mobile, CMA CGM brings in larger capacity ships of about 9,000 TEUs through its Pacific Express 3 service. Ocean Alliance members Cosco Shipping and Orient Overseas Container Line bring in 8,000-TEU ships on average as part of their expansion of the Gulf of Mexico Express Service . More Midwest reach for Mobile The addition of more ship capacity, though, will largely depend on how much Mobile’s intermodal reach will grow . About 20% of the port’s cargo volume is going inland, putting it more into competition with Savannah and Los Angeles for intermodal access. CSX Transportation broke ground earlier this year on the Montgomery Inland port developed in conjunction with the state port authority . The site, which will serve the state’s carmakers and other logistics hubs, is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2027. CSX is also reportedly looking at developing a site in Decatur, close to Huntsville, a major destination for intermodal cargo from Savannah. In that same vein, CSX is looking at developing intermodal access in Louisville and Cincinnati through Mobile, according to a source familiar with the railroad’s plans. In turn, Canadian National Railway, which offers service into Chicago, is looking at developing Memphis as a market for intermodal cargo from Mobile, according to carrier sources in the region. Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) is considering an eastbound intermodal service from Mobile to Dallas, putting the port more into competition with Houston for that market, according to a source familiar with their plans. While it did not comment on specific origin and destination pairs, CPKC and CSX entered a cooperative agreement in July on growing a joint service that connects the US Southeast and Mexico through Texas. As for terminal capacity, APM Mobile is in the midst of its fourth expansion that will bring it to 1.1 million-TEU capacity by 2027. The state port authority is said to have recently approved a land acquisition that will eventually allow APM Mobile to add a third berth, although the timeline for the development remains unclear. Contact Michael Angell at michael.angell@spglobal.com .

Port infrastructure

Harbor deepening primes Mobile for bigger ships, first US calls

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">The onus of calculating new US port fees that kick in next week falls on ocean carriers. </div>

The onus of calculating new US port fees that kick in next week falls on ocean carriers.

<div class="phx-topic">The United States is moving forward with a plan to collect port fees, putting the onus on ocean carriers to calculate and setting the stage for a showdown with China, which is teeing up its own retaliatory actions. The US Trade Representative (USTR), in a notice issued Friday, directed ocean carriers to determine any China-built tonnage calling US ports and pay new fees starting Oct. 14. China-based operators face harsher fees than their counterparts, spurring Beijing last week to prepare its own retaliatory “special fees” for ships that are tied to actors hurting Chinese interests. The vagueness of the criteria China could use to determine ties to the United States has expanded the risk of other ocean carriers getting caught in the crossfire beyond the obvious targets: US-flag vessel operators. A change to Chinese shipping law that took effect Sept. 29 allows China to go as far as blocking vessels from its ports. The US Maritime Administration has been in a long-running disagreement with China’s Ministry of Transport, accusing Chinese ports of giving unfavorable treatment to US-owned vessels. Both countries agreed to a level playing field through the US-China Bilateral Maritime Agreement, which took effect in 1998. The US federal register notice doesn’t detail how US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) would enforce the new port fee. The shipping industry largely failed to convince the USTR to again water down the Section 301 tariffs underpinning the port fees, although LNG-vessel shipowners and operators were exempted. The shipping industry successfully lobbied to ease the planned USTR port fee, with the agency releasing <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/scaled-back-ustr-port-tariff-to-hit-chinese-carriers-hardest-5987549">a less-severe plan in mid-April</a>. Container lines <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/chinese-tonnage-moving-out-of-us-container-trade-ahead-of-new-fees-xeneta-6081320">have made moves to avoid the new fees</a>, but Cosco Shipping, its subsidiary OOCL, and Hede can’t avoid them and are the primary targets of the US response to what it sees as unfair subsidies to Chinese shipbuilding. Cosco and OOCL, which handle most US-laden imports from China, have pledged to continue operating in the US trades. China has stayed largely silent on the planned US port fees since they were proposed in late February, acting by changing its shipping law just two weeks before planned implementation. Chinese shipowners were quick last week to back the change to the Regulations of the People’s Republic on International Ocean Shipping, which China modeled on the US Shipping Act approximately 20 years ago. “This is of great significance for promoting the establishment of a fair and equal international maritime transportation governance system, facilitating the smooth flow of global trade, and safeguarding the security and resilience of industrial and supply chains,” the China Shipowners’ Association said in a Sept. 30 statement. Contact Mark Szakonyi at <a href="mailto:mark.szakonyi@spglobal.com">mark.szakonyi@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

The United States is moving forward with a plan to collect port fees, putting the onus on ocean carriers to calculate and setting the stage for a showdown with China, which is teeing up its own retaliatory actions. The US Trade Representative (USTR), in a notice issued Friday, directed ocean carriers to determine any China-built tonnage calling US ports and pay new fees starting Oct. 14. China-based operators face harsher fees than their counterparts, spurring Beijing last week to prepare its own retaliatory “special fees” for ships that are tied to actors hurting Chinese interests. The vagueness of the criteria China could use to determine ties to the United States has expanded the risk of other ocean carriers getting caught in the crossfire beyond the obvious targets: US-flag vessel operators. A change to Chinese shipping law that took effect Sept. 29 allows China to go as far as blocking vessels from its ports. The US Maritime Administration has been in a long-running disagreement with China’s Ministry of Transport, accusing Chinese ports of giving unfavorable treatment to US-owned vessels. Both countries agreed to a level playing field through the US-China Bilateral Maritime Agreement, which took effect in 1998. The US federal register notice doesn’t detail how US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) would enforce the new port fee. The shipping industry largely failed to convince the USTR to again water down the Section 301 tariffs underpinning the port fees, although LNG-vessel shipowners and operators were exempted. The shipping industry successfully lobbied to ease the planned USTR port fee, with the agency releasing a less-severe plan in mid-April . Container lines have made moves to avoid the new fees , but Cosco Shipping, its subsidiary OOCL, and Hede can’t avoid them and are the primary targets of the US response to what it sees as unfair subsidies to Chinese shipbuilding. Cosco and OOCL, which handle most US-laden imports from China, have pledged to continue operating in the US trades. China has stayed largely silent on the planned US port fees since they were proposed in late February, acting by changing its shipping law just two weeks before planned implementation. Chinese shipowners were quick last week to back the change to the Regulations of the People’s Republic on International Ocean Shipping, which China modeled on the US Shipping Act approximately 20 years ago. “This is of great significance for promoting the establishment of a fair and equal international maritime transportation governance system, facilitating the smooth flow of global trade, and safeguarding the security and resilience of industrial and supply chains,” the China Shipowners’ Association said in a Sept. 30 statement. Contact Mark Szakonyi at mark.szakonyi@spglobal.com .

Transport, Trade and Regulation News

Trans-Pacific

International ports

US presses forward on port fees despite China’s warning

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Severe disruptions have delayed cargo on both the northern and middle corridors over the past year, forcing Europe-based shippers to reassess their continued usage of the overland route. </div>

Severe disruptions have delayed cargo on both the northern and middle corridors over the past year, forcing Europe-based shippers to reassess their continued usage of the overland route.

<div class="phx-topic">The threat of getting caught in the crossfire of the Russia-Ukraine war and ongoing infrastructure- and weather-related concerns on the southern route are keeping European importers from China off the tracks of the overland route. Lengthy disruptions have delayed cargo on both the northern corridor and middle corridor rail networks over the past year, forcing Europe-based shippers of high-value and time-sensitive goods to reassess their continued usage of the overland route. “The current geopolitical situation makes it difficult to consider shipping by train through Russia as a stable and reliable option,” said David Smrkovsky, global head of logistics procurement at Czech Republic-based automotive manufacturer Kostal Group. “Geopolitics influences shipping routes between Asia and Europe now more than ever. One can suddenly get weeks of delays, and you can quickly face production shutdowns because nobody can factor in a buffer of four- or five-weeks delay in the supply planning,” he added. Westbound rail traffic from China to Europe in the first half fell 27.4% year over year to 118,291 TEUs, with 93.4% of the volume entering Europe via Poland, according to Upply. The supply chain visibility provider noted in a market update September that shippers switching to rail as a substitute for ocean during the Red Sea disruption in the first half of 2024 had “most likely” returned to maritime transport where rates were more competitive. Rates from Chinese terminals to European terminals have been near $3,000 per FEU for most of the year, according to the Eurasian Rail Alliance Index (ERAI). Data from Platts, a sister company of the Journal of Commerce, shows that this week’s Asia-North Europe ocean rate was at $1,300/FEU. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, slammed the brakes on the China-Europe rail network where volume had expanded by almost 30% in 2021 to a record 1.46 million TEUs. More than 90% of the rail freight between China and Europe was transported via Russia and its ally Belarus, but in the days following the invasion, global forwarders <a href="https://www.joc.com/rail-intermodal/china-europe-rail-under-threat-volume-exits-russian-route_20220316.html">announced a stop on handling rail freight</a> traveling through those countries, in addition to their suspension of all cargo bookings to and from Russia and Belarus. While most western forwarders eschewed the Russia-transiting route over moral issues, Chinese forwarders had no such qualms and continued to provide overland services to Europe, although much of the volume on the rail network is also related to China-Russia trade. In the last two years, many of the global forwarders have returned to the trade lane that remains the fastest option for moving containers from China to Europe — at least, until unplanned border closures related to the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, and western sanctions on Moscow, bring rail trade to a standstill. On Sept. 12, the border between Poland and Belarus was closed for two weeks after Russian drones entered Polish airspace during war games in neighboring Belarus. Closing the main Małaszewicze border crossing between Poland and Belarus impacted thousands of trucks and 300 trains that were in transit on the northern corridor. Even though the border was reopened on Sept. 25, some of the bottlenecks are still being cleared. <h3>Impossible to plan for border closures </h3>Forwarders contacted by the Journal of Commerce declined to comment publicly on the volatile political situation, but an executive at a global logistics provider said Russia would continue to test EU neighbors with related border closures likely to become more common and impossible to plan for. “The full potential of the northern corridor will only be realized once the Ukraine conflict is fully resolved,” the forwarder said, adding that the middle corridor as a China-Europe option was “too long and too unpredictable.” Hellmann Worldwide Logistics had containers impacted by the Poland-Belarus border closure, but the Hamburg-based forwarder managed to find a way to mitigate the delays. “Luckily, we found solutions, and we have a few alternatives, but [border closures] remain difficult,” Helge Neumann-Lezius, global head of full container load at Hellmann, told the Journal of Commerce. One of the alternatives was railing containers to St. Petersburg and using ocean to Hamburg, but Taiwan-based forwarder Dimerco said all available space on that option was booked within two days of the Małaszewicze border point being shut, which demonstrated strong market demand for China-Europe rail. “This indicates that as long as alternative routes offer advantages over air and sea freight options, the China-Europe freight trains will continue to attract long-term attention,” Dimerco noted in a customer advisory following the Poland-Belarus border closure. But Dimerco acknowledged that the incident would hit market confidence in the short term, and the capacity availability and stability of alternative routes would become key variables. <h3>Customs checks bring trains to a standstill </h3>Not all disruptions can be resolved in weeks, or even months. In November last year, possibly in response to tightening sanctions, Russia decided to make physical checks on all cargo crossing its borders, bringing Europe-bound trains on the northern corridor to a standstill at the Kazakhstan-Russia checkpoint. Smrkovsky said large numbers of containers were sent back to China and had to be shipped by ocean, turning a 30-day transit into a three-month journey. He said many international shippers switched part of their volumes to the middle corridor through Kazakhstan and across the Caspian Sea to bypass Russian territory. But the sudden rise in volume quickly overwhelmed the multimodal route and, combined with extreme weather, resulted in unprecedented delays. “Last winter, the port of Aktau [on Kazakhstan’s Caspian Sea] was closed sometimes for a week, sometimes even longer on short notice and the throughput was severely reduced. I’ve been dealing with China-Europe rail transportation for 15 years and these were the most serious delays I have ever seen,” Smrkovsky said. “It was impossible to solve the situation for shippers and forwarders. There were containers in transit for over 100 days between China and Bulgaria. Containers were stuck in Aktau port in a rail yard and when they finally were able to move and the cargo reached Baku on the Azerbaijan side of the Caspian, the railways were unable to handle the volume, leading to another three weeks delay,” he said, adding that hundreds of production companies in Europe were affected. Investment into the middle corridor is trying to address some of the infrastructure concerns and the lack of capacity of rail ferries on the Caspian Sea, but Smrkovsky is not convinced. “Let’s see what the performance will be on the middle corridor during the upcoming winter,” he said. Thomas Kowitzki, global head of China rail at DHL Global Forwarding, Freight, said rail remained attractive for shippers requiring faster-than-ocean-freight transit times or searching for a cheaper alternative to air freight. While Kowitzki said the northern rail route was running smoothly after the reopening of the Poland-Belarus border in late September, the middle corridor was problematic with a range of factors making the rail route unattractive for China to Europe traffic. “The trans-Caspian routing ... does not yet provide the competitive advantage, as lead times are unstable and long due to extreme weather situations, lack of sufficient infrastructure at handling ports and capacity to cross the Caspian Sea,” he said, adding that the route was a better solution for China-Central Asia cargo than as a transport option between China and Europe. Contact Greg Knowler at <a href="mailto:greg.knowler@spglobal.com">greg.knowler@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

The threat of getting caught in the crossfire of the Russia-Ukraine war and ongoing infrastructure- and weather-related concerns on the southern route are keeping European importers from China off the tracks of the overland route. Lengthy disruptions have delayed cargo on both the northern corridor and middle corridor rail networks over the past year, forcing Europe-based shippers of high-value and time-sensitive goods to reassess their continued usage of the overland route. “The current geopolitical situation makes it difficult to consider shipping by train through Russia as a stable and reliable option,” said David Smrkovsky, global head of logistics procurement at Czech Republic-based automotive manufacturer Kostal Group. “Geopolitics influences shipping routes between Asia and Europe now more than ever. One can suddenly get weeks of delays, and you can quickly face production shutdowns because nobody can factor in a buffer of four- or five-weeks delay in the supply planning,” he added. Westbound rail traffic from China to Europe in the first half fell 27.4% year over year to 118,291 TEUs, with 93.4% of the volume entering Europe via Poland, according to Upply. The supply chain visibility provider noted in a market update September that shippers switching to rail as a substitute for ocean during the Red Sea disruption in the first half of 2024 had “most likely” returned to maritime transport where rates were more competitive. Rates from Chinese terminals to European terminals have been near $3,000 per FEU for most of the year, according to the Eurasian Rail Alliance Index (ERAI). Data from Platts, a sister company of the Journal of Commerce, shows that this week’s Asia-North Europe ocean rate was at $1,300/FEU. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, slammed the brakes on the China-Europe rail network where volume had expanded by almost 30% in 2021 to a record 1.46 million TEUs. More than 90% of the rail freight between China and Europe was transported via Russia and its ally Belarus, but in the days following the invasion, global forwarders announced a stop on handling rail freight traveling through those countries, in addition to their suspension of all cargo bookings to and from Russia and Belarus. While most western forwarders eschewed the Russia-transiting route over moral issues, Chinese forwarders had no such qualms and continued to provide overland services to Europe, although much of the volume on the rail network is also related to China-Russia trade. In the last two years, many of the global forwarders have returned to the trade lane that remains the fastest option for moving containers from China to Europe — at least, until unplanned border closures related to the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, and western sanctions on Moscow, bring rail trade to a standstill. On Sept. 12, the border between Poland and Belarus was closed for two weeks after Russian drones entered Polish airspace during war games in neighboring Belarus. Closing the main Małaszewicze border crossing between Poland and Belarus impacted thousands of trucks and 300 trains that were in transit on the northern corridor. Even though the border was reopened on Sept. 25, some of the bottlenecks are still being cleared. Impossible to plan for border closures Forwarders contacted by the Journal of Commerce declined to comment publicly on the volatile political situation, but an executive at a global logistics provider said Russia would continue to test EU neighbors with related border closures likely to become more common and impossible to plan for. “The full potential of the northern corridor will only be realized once the Ukraine conflict is fully resolved,” the forwarder said, adding that the middle corridor as a China-Europe option was “too long and too unpredictable.” Hellmann Worldwide Logistics had containers impacted by the Poland-Belarus border closure, but the Hamburg-based forwarder managed to find a way to mitigate the delays. “Luckily, we found solutions, and we have a few alternatives, but [border closures] remain difficult,” Helge Neumann-Lezius, global head of full container load at Hellmann, told the Journal of Commerce. One of the alternatives was railing containers to St. Petersburg and using ocean to Hamburg, but Taiwan-based forwarder Dimerco said all available space on that option was booked within two days of the Małaszewicze border point being shut, which demonstrated strong market demand for China-Europe rail. “This indicates that as long as alternative routes offer advantages over air and sea freight options, the China-Europe freight trains will continue to attract long-term attention,” Dimerco noted in a customer advisory following the Poland-Belarus border closure. But Dimerco acknowledged that the incident would hit market confidence in the short term, and the capacity availability and stability of alternative routes would become key variables. Customs checks bring trains to a standstill Not all disruptions can be resolved in weeks, or even months. In November last year, possibly in response to tightening sanctions, Russia decided to make physical checks on all cargo crossing its borders, bringing Europe-bound trains on the northern corridor to a standstill at the Kazakhstan-Russia checkpoint. Smrkovsky said large numbers of containers were sent back to China and had to be shipped by ocean, turning a 30-day transit into a three-month journey. He said many international shippers switched part of their volumes to the middle corridor through Kazakhstan and across the Caspian Sea to bypass Russian territory. But the sudden rise in volume quickly overwhelmed the multimodal route and, combined with extreme weather, resulted in unprecedented delays. “Last winter, the port of Aktau [on Kazakhstan’s Caspian Sea] was closed sometimes for a week, sometimes even longer on short notice and the throughput was severely reduced. I’ve been dealing with China-Europe rail transportation for 15 years and these were the most serious delays I have ever seen,” Smrkovsky said. “It was impossible to solve the situation for shippers and forwarders. There were containers in transit for over 100 days between China and Bulgaria. Containers were stuck in Aktau port in a rail yard and when they finally were able to move and the cargo reached Baku on the Azerbaijan side of the Caspian, the railways were unable to handle the volume, leading to another three weeks delay,” he said, adding that hundreds of production companies in Europe were affected. Investment into the middle corridor is trying to address some of the infrastructure concerns and the lack of capacity of rail ferries on the Caspian Sea, but Smrkovsky is not convinced. “Let’s see what the performance will be on the middle corridor during the upcoming winter,” he said. Thomas Kowitzki, global head of China rail at DHL Global Forwarding, Freight, said rail remained attractive for shippers requiring faster-than-ocean-freight transit times or searching for a cheaper alternative to air freight. While Kowitzki said the northern rail route was running smoothly after the reopening of the Poland-Belarus border in late September, the middle corridor was problematic with a range of factors making the rail route unattractive for China to Europe traffic. “The trans-Caspian routing ... does not yet provide the competitive advantage, as lead times are unstable and long due to extreme weather situations, lack of sufficient infrastructure at handling ports and capacity to cross the Caspian Sea,” he said, adding that the route was a better solution for China-Central Asia cargo than as a transport option between China and Europe. Contact Greg Knowler at greg.knowler@spglobal.com .

International rail

Surface

Geopolitics, weather delays undermine China-Europe rail viability

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">“Stone age” thinking on technology to support breakbulk cargo moves has left engineering, procurement and construction companies in a tech void. </div>

“Stone age” thinking on technology to support breakbulk cargo moves has left engineering, procurement and construction companies in a tech void.

<div class="phx-topic">While the container sector has sprinted toward digitalization, shippers of specialized cargo are being left behind by systems that cannot cope with complexity, with some resorting to taking steps backward rather than forward, according to project cargo shippers. A core issue, according to several senior logistics managers speaking to the Journal of Commerce, remains the systemic reluctance to modernize by those controlling the physical assets. One executive said multipurpose vessel carriers are “still in the stone age with tech and AI,” suggesting the fundamental data pipeline is broken before it even reaches the cargo owners. While some third-party logistics providers (3PLs) and forwarders have developed slick interfaces, there is a lack of interoperability if a shipper uses multiple service providers. “A forwarder can have an awesome platform but if you don’t want a solo forwarding contract you’re stuck,” said one shipper. For software developers, the distinction between a box and industrial cargo continues to be misunderstood: “The platforms exist, but boxes are easier for a software provider. The big box software guys don’t know project logistics.” The result is stagnation, with one engineering, procurement and construction company noting they had gone through “two years of pain” with a software installation and had been forced to take a step back to reset. <h3>Let down by weak supplier forecasting </h3>Operational data deficiencies are compounding the technological headache and forecasting remains a major bottleneck. “We have 100-plus suppliers. Trying to get forecasts 3/6/12 months ahead from them is impossible,” said another shipper. “Until we have that information, we can’t take this forward and streamline the process.” The project cargo shipper-vendor relationship also often suffers from a post-sale decline in support, requiring significant internal adjustments. “When you are sold a system, it also requires processes and people to support it,” a shipper said. But the “A” vendor team that installs the system is pulled back after set-up and the shipper is left with the “D” vendor team for continued operation, they said. This disillusionment is driving a shift away from monolithic systems and toward bespoke integration with project cargo shippers reaching the conclusion that one-size-fits-all solutions are ill-suited for industrial projects. The consensus is that the future lies in connecting specialized tools: “I think the old school way of doing it where one tech company does everything is dead.” Instead, focus is shifting to highly adaptive integration layers: “Where tech is going it’s more about middleware that sits between different systems and pushes and pulls data. There are a few people dabbling with that,” said another shipper. Contact Carly Fields at <a href="mailto:carly.fields@spglobal.com">carly.fields@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

While the container sector has sprinted toward digitalization, shippers of specialized cargo are being left behind by systems that cannot cope with complexity, with some resorting to taking steps backward rather than forward, according to project cargo shippers. A core issue, according to several senior logistics managers speaking to the Journal of Commerce, remains the systemic reluctance to modernize by those controlling the physical assets. One executive said multipurpose vessel carriers are “still in the stone age with tech and AI,” suggesting the fundamental data pipeline is broken before it even reaches the cargo owners. While some third-party logistics providers (3PLs) and forwarders have developed slick interfaces, there is a lack of interoperability if a shipper uses multiple service providers. “A forwarder can have an awesome platform but if you don’t want a solo forwarding contract you’re stuck,” said one shipper. For software developers, the distinction between a box and industrial cargo continues to be misunderstood: “The platforms exist, but boxes are easier for a software provider. The big box software guys don’t know project logistics.” The result is stagnation, with one engineering, procurement and construction company noting they had gone through “two years of pain” with a software installation and had been forced to take a step back to reset. Let down by weak supplier forecasting Operational data deficiencies are compounding the technological headache and forecasting remains a major bottleneck. “We have 100-plus suppliers. Trying to get forecasts 3/6/12 months ahead from them is impossible,” said another shipper. “Until we have that information, we can’t take this forward and streamline the process.” The project cargo shipper-vendor relationship also often suffers from a post-sale decline in support, requiring significant internal adjustments. “When you are sold a system, it also requires processes and people to support it,” a shipper said. But the “A” vendor team that installs the system is pulled back after set-up and the shipper is left with the “D” vendor team for continued operation, they said. This disillusionment is driving a shift away from monolithic systems and toward bespoke integration with project cargo shippers reaching the conclusion that one-size-fits-all solutions are ill-suited for industrial projects. The consensus is that the future lies in connecting specialized tools: “I think the old school way of doing it where one tech company does everything is dead.” Instead, focus is shifting to highly adaptive integration layers: “Where tech is going it’s more about middleware that sits between different systems and pushes and pulls data. There are a few people dabbling with that,” said another shipper. Contact Carly Fields at carly.fields@spglobal.com .

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

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Shippers save money, time with automated transportation bidding tools

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

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Filling the Supply Chain Education Gap with LTL Education Courses

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