Commentary

Motor carrier drivers cannot simply avert their eyes while the shipper’s loaders toss things aboard higglety-pigglety. If they see something amiss, they should say something.

The ELD mandate will give shippers and truckers unprecedented amounts of data on shipments and space utilization.

Cosco Shipping Holdings and Shanghai International Port Group’ purchase of Orient Overseas Container Line is the last apparent opportunity for container carriers wishing to grow by taking over large, well-managed, and profitable competitors.

Some words have been part of the global trade landscape for decades. Others are a bit more off the beaten path. But all are important for you and your colleagues.

The sulfur cap on marine fuel will come into force after the most intense period of consolidation in the industry’s 60-year history.

A weakening of the US dollar to other currencies is raising US exporter hopes for increased volumes in the low single-digits this year. That’s hardly spectacular growth, but it will be a welcoming change from the last five years.

A shipper procures and installs airbags to protect shipments, without carrier involvement. If an airbag proves of poor quality or insufficient strength, damaging the goods, the liability rests with the shipper.

The disparity in the degree to which SMEs in Canada and the United States make use of trade opportunities is substantial and offers some explanation as to why it was the United States that initiated the discussion over making NAFTA more accessible to small business.

Despite the hype, east-west transit shipments through the Northern Sea Route are likely to remain a niche trade.

Terminal consolidation on the US West Coast is happening even if it is not sending the tremors that the wave of carrier mergers and acquisitions has.

The relationship between a carrier and a shipper is strictly transactional in nature, with each individual transaction regarded as a separate and independent entity.

The June 27 "NotPetya" cyber attack that disrupted business at Maersk Group was a rude awakening for the shipping industry. For shippers, it's another form of supply chain disruption but unfortunately one over which they have virtually no control.

The Canadian intermodal network has been bulking up as if on steroids so far this year.

For Canadian businesses and industries looking to break their dependence on North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) trade with the United States, London, and Brussels should be key focal points.

Cognitive predictive maintenance allows transportation assets to operate at peak efficiency and productivity while also improving safety and satisfaction for customers.

Technological models allowing those who wish to use the systems of one of several providers to obtain rates and space guarantees in advance of shipping is one issue to watch this year.

It took a June 27 ransomware attack on Maersk Line that crippled its terminal arm and prevented new bookings to bring home the scope of the danger posed to the container shipping industry.

Today’s logistics has hit its top speed, while e-commerce is moving at the speed of the internet.

Goods lost after they were pre-sold should be valued at the shipper’s retail price to the customer, regardless of where the loss occurred in the transportation process.

Is your supply chain strong enough to withstand a catastrophe?

Will this be a game-changer in terms of port routings?

California's all-out commitment to mitigating climate change appears to be taking priority over maintaining the competitiveness of the state’s seaports, particularly the critical Los Angeles-Long Beach gateway.

US shippers could get a raw deal from China’s reshaping ocean and land transportation linking Asia, Africa, and Europe via the Belt and Road program.

A customer refuses payment to a motor carrier and broker, and issues what amounts to be an empty threat. Is there a way to collect?

The largest and most ambitious global infrastructure project is China’s Belt and Road Initiative, and the United States is falling behind.

Digital forwarders and online marketplaces akin to Expedia for freight are taking verbal shots at each other, showing how unsettled the emerging digital space in shipping is as business models remain fluid.

Without such guarantees, carriers spending billions of dollars to meet the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO's) rule will be unfairly disadvantaged by competitors who do not meet it.

“Act of the shipper” is the common way of referring to the exception to carrier cargo liability that exists when the shipper’s conduct is the cause of in-transit loss or damage. This defense covers the shipper’s acts and its omissions — failures to act.

Shippers clamor for better services, but they won’t get better until there are solid gains in container shipping rates and the industry is making money.

Rail carloads have big intermodal implications because if carloads aren’t growing, more pressure is put on the intermodal sector to deliver the goods, in terms of volume and revenue.

Vessel capacity remains the overriding concern about whether the Port of Houston will be able to handle the wave of plastic resins exports that will add half a million TEU annually to export volumes within a few years.

Modern logistics operation demands high levels of visibility.

Reweighs have long been a bone of contention between shippers and carriers. It’s a lot more of a two-way street.

When the World Trade Organization’s Trade Facilitation Agreement entered into force on Feb. 22, it represented the culmination of a three-year effort. The equally difficult task of actual implementation is just starting.

The most challenging of regulations under the Food Safety Modernization Act — the Foreign Supplier Verification Program — takes effect on May 30. Are you ready?

A few developing issues could significantly affect enforcement and interpretation of the Jones Act.

No-shows, or 'downfalls' in industry jargon, have been an issue for decades, but as the container industry gets more ambitious about discovering the next big opportunities for cost savings, this issue stands out.

Regardless of how the North American Free Trade Agreement fares under the Trump administration — whether it undergoes a tweaking, is fully renegotiated, or is scrapped outright — Texas and other southern border states will be on the front lines of the fallout.

The US International Trade Commission’s imposition of countervailing duties on Canadian softwood lumber entering the US provides a glimpse of how a trade dispute can vastly complicate life for shippers.