Commentary

A proposed change to the billable party for detention fees would simply pass the burden from the trucker, which controls a container’s movements and is directly witness to the circumstances that can disqualify detention charges, to the cargo owner, who has no such control or visibility.

Shifting capacity landscapes have caused several changes in the US freight industry — owner-operators have become company drivers or shut down, while small carriers with 10 or fewer trucks have begun exiting the market, says the executive vice president of 3PL Redwood Logistics.

The head of the NACPC says the group believes the open market — not a chassis provider’s contract with an ocean carrier — should determine the best chassis model to employ.

A forwarder's ability to adapt and offer valuable expertise in this uncertain environment will be a crucial factor in ensuring the success of shippers and the shipping industry as a whole, writes the CEO of Freight Right.

Any effort to dictate chassis pool models would reduce competition, innovation, and capital investment, making intermodal networks less resilient for the shippers and consumers who rely on them, writes the CEO of chassis provider DCLI.

As we come to the end of a surge of historic proportions in terms of both scope and longevity, the only place for volumes to go, at least in the near term, is down.

There can be no improvement in supply chain resilience if fundamental behaviors do not change, and there is little appetite for the increased expense and reduced margins of such an approach.

The logistics industry should prepare itself for more lawsuits such as Miller v. C.H. Robinson, and for plaintiff’s attorneys to look for the deepest pockets possible — potentially including cargo owners — to satisfy judgements.

The COVID-19 pandemic, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s aggression in Ukraine, and issues surrounding China’s claim to the Taiwan Strait have brought the need for resilient and durable supply chains into sharp focus.

California needs to embrace and advance a future that strives to achieve environmental and community goals, but also preserves the job and economic contributions provided by ports in the state, the head of the Pacific Merchant Shipping Association says.

After years of “trade and customs” functions being largely considered an afterthought in supply chain decisions, a shift is afoot that would correct that.

A classification system that considers the full requirements and costs of service providers, and is constantly being adapted to new realities, is the best system available, writes the vice president of classification for the National Motor Freight Traffic Association.

While a few carriers such as ABF Freight and FedEx Freight have rolled out dimensional pricing, and others have expressed the desire to do so, they have largely overlooked the reasons for shippers’ reluctance to switch to dimensional rates.

Nobody has been willing to admit that the only question about recent supply chain failures was when — not if — they were going to occur, writes Theodore Prince.

The objective of OSRA-22 was never to address freight rates, but rather to provide the FMC with additional tools to better identify, prevent, and hold ocean carriers accountable for unfair or deceptive practices and behaviors, writes the executive director of the National Industrial Transportation League.

Paul Revere’s midnight ride to warn the colonial militia of the impending British military action was facilitated by the sexton of Boston’s North Church using a lantern signal —one if the enemy approached by land, two lights if it came by sea. These days, we would need three lanterns to indicate trouble coming from both land and sea.

Predictably, OSRA-22 overpromised and is at risk of under-delivering. Changes need to be made to mitigate the law’s unintended consequences.