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A reopening US economy continues to fuel demand for imports, driving up air cargo rates on trades out of Asia with little regard for what is traditionally the slow season.

CMA CGM said the largest container ship to arrive on the North American East Coast will start calls next week as part of a capacity increase on its Southeast Asia service.

The LA-LB port complex is clearing out its cargo backlog, with the goal of the ports and terminal operators being to return to normal fluidity before the 2021 peak-shipping season begins in August.

The ripple effects of COVID-19 and plant-closing costs trigger a quarterly loss for wind turbine manufacturer Siemens Gamesa, but its work backlog provides a bright spot.

Land use has been a problem as imports have surged across top US ports, causing issues on how to balance space to devote to inbound and outbound containers in key interior cities.

The US Commerce Department has reaffirmed a large antidumping duty on Chinese-made chassis in a final determination that will impact the transportation of international and domestic containers.

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.

Maersk says its integrated logistics strategy cuts out the boom-and-bust cycles that characterize container shipping and brings greater reliability to a notoriously unreliable supply chain.

Optimal Dynamics, a technology provider that helps truckload fleets optimize the deployment of their assets, has landed a large early-stage funding round led by well-regarded venture firm Bessemer.

Sealand Marine will add a stop in Wilmington on its Central American service beginning in June, adding more connections with Panama and introducing new services between North Carolina and Costa Rica.

European digital freight broker sennder has continued its acquisition activity by buying a Dutch dedicated fleet broker to add to its growing network.

Two major trucking groups in the port of New York and New Jersey said their members’ increasing frustration with empty returns is forcing them to quit a port efficiency task force.

Transportation and warehousing firms losing employees may be competing more often with contractor-based gig economy businesses; trucking, however, is expanding its payroll.

Project cargo shipper Fluor added a refinery project to its work backlog, but lost a chemicals project during a choppy first quarter as COVID-19-driven delays took a toll.

The market outlook may be uncertain, but carrier profitability has never been clearer, with Hapag-Lloyd more profitable in the first quarter of this year than in all of 2020.

Acknowledging the limited authority of the Federal Maritime Commission, new chairman Daniel Maffei wants to take stronger action on so-called unreasonable detention and demurrage.

Though posting first-quarter losses, there's no sign of demand relaxing as wind turbine orders expand backlogs for Vestas and GE Renewables.

An integration with transportation software provider MercuryGate connects Trucker Tools to broker users, but also gives it a more direct link to shippers.

The list of container lines able to quote rates and accept bookings through their websites has expanded over the past year, with Singapore-based Ocean Network Express now giving shippers and forwarders such tools.

As truckers and shippers build their own chassis fleets, technology is being introduced to maintain and repair their equipment at the lowest possible costs.

Maersk’s integrated logistics strategy is gathering momentum, the carrier says, as greater volume from its top 200 customers is locked into end-to-end multiyear contracts.

Maersk says labor scarcity in India amid COVID-19 lockdowns – particularly truck drivers – has begun to crimp cargo flow out of some port and inland locations even as demand remains relatively steady.

While OEM suppliers and their transportation providers should expect down lines and slower production to weigh on growth, auto aftermarket suppliers are expecting the opposite. 

New legislation introduced in Congress would make projects that reduce the carbon footprint of port operations eligible for grants within the Maritime Administration’s Port Infrastructure Development Program.

Strong ocean shipping demand through the traditional slow summer season on the Asia-Europe trade will keep pressure on the container supply chain and support elevated rate levels.

The importance of integrating rate management capability into a forwarder operating system has driven Descartes to acquire German software maker Portrix, the third such acquisition by a widely used forwarding system in recent years.

New pollution rules approved by the Southern California air quality regulatory board are expected to add about 3 percent to the cost of warehouse operations in Southern California, but not result in cargo diversions.

The upward revision to US import projections for peak shipping season sends a message to shippers and ports that tight vessel capacity and marine terminal congestion issues are far from over.

Stakeholders say fewer working hours during the month of Ramadan and ongoing COVID-19-linked lockdowns have lowered productivity at Chittagong, which has created a vessel queue.

Breakbulk freight rates are climbing, but uncertainty about new fuels, ship designs, and the long-term strength of the market are holding back orders for new ships.

BluJay Solutions’ acquisition of a rail transportation management software provider rounds out its solutions for shippers that struggle with coordinating rail shipments with movements in other surface transportation modes.

Rotterdam has declared victory over the Suez surge in volume, but persistent delays at European hub ports have prompted some carriers to introduce congestion surcharges on imports and exports.

APM Terminals said it would take part in studies to determine the viability of a greenfield container terminal south of New Orleans that would handle 22,000-TEU ships.

As cargo demand surges, multipurpose, container, and dry bulk carriers are all competing for tonnage and pushing up vessel charter rates.

The JOC Intermodal Savings Index hit a new record in Q1, but rising spot intermodal rates and surcharges could reduce savings in Q2.

The port of Savannah is building what will be one of the first cross-dock facility within a US container port, accelerating Georgia Ports Authority’s attempt to attract transloaded cargo away from Southern California.

Perishable shippers seeking to wean themselves off a reliance on brokers have a new venture-backed platform that connects them directly with a network of pre-vetted reefer carriers.

As shippers wrestle with atypical constraints on labor and heightened distribution performance demands, venture capital firms have backed warehouse analytics software vendor CognitOps to help them connect disparate systems.

Union Pacific’s Inland Empire Intermodal Terminal that will open in the second quarter will allow the railroad to handle increased domestic freight moving to the eastern half of the US.

The decision by the Ocean Alliance to hold off on calling the newly opened Leatherman terminal is a sign the dispute between South Carolina and the International Longshore Association over the crane and yard work being handled by non-union state employees is heating up.