US produce and food shippers are short on trucks as heightened demand for grocery and restaurant food meets shortages of everything from ketchup to truck drivers to pallets.
Shippers moving goods to and from the Southeast may expect further disruptions in service as fuel shortages linger, pushing more freight to the spot market.
Shippers can save more money than ever before on intermodal, if they could find equipment and draymen to move their cargo to and from rail terminals amid scarce supply of both.
The Georgia Ports Authority has approved $205 million in capital expenditures to address the congestion slowing down the supply chain through the port of Savannah.
Rapid e-commerce delivery requirements, as well as capacity shortages and equipment imbalances, are spurring the growth of transloading near US seaports, speakers at TPM21 said.
MSC said it will bring on a new trans-Pacific service linking the southern Chinese port of Yantian and Vietnam with the two largest ports in the US Southeast and New York.
LTL freight volumes and tonnage are increasing year over year in the fourth quarter, but the pandemic’s latest waves could slow growth until COVID-19 vaccines become available.
The purchase of Value Logistics gives Forward a bigger intermodal presence in the South-Central distribution hub as freight volumes of all types rise, said CEO Tom Schmitt.
The ports of Baltimore, Maryland, and Brunswick, Georgia, have reported a sharp uptick in roll-on, roll-off (ro-ro) cargo since June as consumer demand returns and dealers restock vehicle inventories.