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LTL carriers aim high in pricing as market continues to settle post-Yellow

William B. Cassidy, Senior Editor |
Large LTL trucking providers are raising tariff rates 5% to 8% on average, but the LTL PPI slowed its growth to under 1% in October.
SurfaceTrucking NewsLTL

CMA CGM commits €100 million to new Paris-based AI research lab

Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor |
CMA CGM is moving beyond funding and supporting startups with a hefty investment into a non-profit lab designed to improve data models that feed into artificial intelligence products.
Container linesContainer Shipping NewsLogistics Technology News

November rate plunge negates carrier pricing activity on India-Europe trade

Bency Mathew, Special Correspondent |
Still, the latest Indian trade data presents some hopeful signs for supply chain stakeholders, as the country's merchandise exports grew 6.3% by value year over year in October, the fastest rate of expansion in a year.
Container Shipping NewsContainer linesInternational ports

No easy fix on horizon for Panama Canal woes as shipping sector scrambles

Keith Wallis, Special Correspondent |
Carriers, shippers and logistics executives may have to get accustomed to drought-related restrictions along the critically important waterway, with costly water-saving infrastructure improvements years away.
Container Shipping NewsContainer linesTrans-Pacific

Oversupply weighs heavily on US truckload market, keeping prices in check

William B. Cassidy, Senior Editor |
Although small trucking firms are folding, there is still a large supply of carriers and trucks keeping a lid on pricing amid soft demand. 
SurfaceTrucking NewsTruckload

MPV indices from Toepfer, Drewry continue down different paths

Janet Nodar, Senior Editor, Breakbulk and Heavy Lift |
While long-term optimism supports the MPV market, industry analysts see short-term divergence in time charter rate averages.
Breakbulk NewsBreakbulk carriersEnergy projects

Intermodal savings poised to remain steady through end of the year: ISI 

Ari Ashe, Senior Editor |
Shippers saved nearly 26% using domestic intermodal instead of highway options in the third quarter, approximately in line with long-term averages.
Intermodal providersNorth-American rail

US imports from Asia hit 2023 high in October despite muted peak season

Bill Mongelluzzo, Senior Editor |
While October is typically one of the busiest months of the year for West Coast ports, the region’s market share of imports from Asia slipped markedly from September, but carrier executives said that was an anomaly linked to capacity cuts in the eastbound trans-Pacific.
MaritimeContainer Shipping NewsTrans-PacificNorth American ports

Cosco, Varamar expand MPV reach with strategic partnership

Keith Wallis, Special Correspondent |
The aim of the venture is to broaden the scope of the companies’ current operations, both geographically and in vessel size.
Breakbulk NewsBreakbulk carriers

Grim 2024 outlook drives Zim to take huge Q3 impairment loss

Greg Knowler, Senior Editor Europe |
The carrier is expecting next year to be dominated by significant overcapacity and weak demand, and with its balance sheet awash with expensive time charter capacity, it decided to factor in expected losses early.
MaritimeContainer Shipping NewsContainer lines

House bill seeks to ensure funding for CBP capital costs linked to port inspections

Teri Errico Griffis, Associate Editor |
The bill is a response to growing CBP demands that ports pay for new inspection-related equipment, or risk having the agency reduce the amount of time its officers spend performing inspections.
Transport, Trade, and Regulation NewsNorth American ports

Hamburg port volume turns positive in Q3 amid boost in Asia business

Greg Knowler, Senior Editor Europe |
There was significant improvement in Hamburg’s operational indicators through the third quarter, especially those covering trade with China, its biggest source of imports.
Port NewsInternational ports

Shippers remain slow to embrace more expensive green shipping services

Greg Knowler, Senior Editor Europe |
Carriers are reporting some successes in convincing shippers to use their emissions-reduction services, but acceptance of premium — and costly — green products remains a hard sell in a market where rate levels are at record lows.
MaritimeContainer Shipping NewsContainer linesTrans-AtlanticAsia-Europe

Rate spread between US East-West coasts erodes amid shifts in volume, sourcing

Michael Angell, Associate Editor |
The long-standing spread, typically about $1,000, is now half that as volume growth returns to West Coast ports and shippers increasingly tap into Southeast Asia manufacturing.
Container Shipping NewsContainer linesNorth American ports

GPA invests $262 million to upgrade Brunswick’s ro/ro facilities

Teri Errico Griffis, Associate Editor |
GPA's ability to handle growing volumes has attracted the likes of Rivian and Hyundai, both planting roots in Georgia to export vehicles from new facilities through Brunswick.
Ro/ro cargoHeavy-haul transportNorth American portsPort infrastructure

Panama Canal woes present nightmare for Latin American perishables trade: analyst

Richard Bright, Journal of Commerce analyst |
The phased reduction in the number of transits coincides with peak banana exports from Ecuador and the start of the deciduous fruit season in the southern hemisphere.
Cool Cargo NewsBreakbulk NewsBreakbulk carriers

Deadline looming for IMO’s ‘single window’ data-sharing platform

Peter Shaw-Smith, Middle East contributor |
The International Maritime Organization voted in May 2022 to implement the so-called Maritime Single Window from the start of 2024 in a bid to accelerate digitalization in shipping.
Container Shipping NewsContainer linesInternational portsTransport, Trade, and Regulation News

J. B. Hunt shakes up Mexico-US intermodal market with Ferromex deal

Ari Ashe, Senior Editor |
The largest US domestic intermodal provider will no longer partner with CPKC on cross-border loads destined for the Midwest and West Coast, in the latest shifting of alliances on new services between Mexico and the US.
Intermodal providersNorth-American rail

Forward Air formally moves to terminate Omni Logistics merger

William B. Cassidy, Senior Editor |
The expedited less-than-truckload provider has asked a Delaware court to let it kill the controversial deal that has caused its share price to plummet and raised the ire of activist investors.
SurfaceForwardingTrucking NewsLTL

Taiwan's major container lines see nine-month profits plunge amid market downturn

Keith Wallis, Special Correspondent |
Yang Ming said the imbalance between vessel supply and cargo demand, high inflation and geopolitical risks will be among the factors pressuring the ocean market into 2024.
Container Shipping NewsContainer linesTrans-PacificAsia-Europe

Seaboard Marine includes Wilmington in new Central America service

Teri Errico Griffis, Associate Editor |
The direct service that kicks off at the end of the month will add further options to transport apparel, textiles, poultry, pork and agricultural products between Central America and the US East Coast.
North American portsContainer Shipping NewsCool Cargo News

Cargo operations partially resume after cyberattack hits DP World Australia

Keith Wallis, Special Correspondent |
The incident comes as dockworkers announced a further series of strikes this week at DP World's four Australian terminals in an ongoing row over new rostering arrangements.
Container Shipping NewsContainer linesMarine terminalsLongshore laborInternational ports

India's Adani secures big US investment for Colombo container terminal project

Bency Mathew, Special Correspondent |
The move holds considerable significance as it comes amid accelerated efforts by India and the US to boost bilateral ties at multiple levels.
Container Shipping NewsInternational ports

Deteriorating ocean market hits CMA CGM’s third-quarter earnings

Greg Knowler, Senior Editor Europe |
The carrier remains profitable, but rate levels maintained their downward trend as the global economic slowdown continued to weigh on the container shipping industry.
MaritimeContainer Shipping NewsContainer lines

US shippers expanding private fleets in uncertain truck market

William B. Cassidy, Senior Editor |
The need for greater supply chain stability, not just control over on-time service, is driving growth in the number of private fleets run by shippers even in a time of cheap truck rates.
SurfaceTrucking NewsTruckloadSupply chain

Container volume decline shows trouble on Canadian-US border: analyst

Larry Gross, president and founder, Gross Transportation Consulting; and JOC analyst |
The intermodal routing option from Canada to the Midwest began to fall out of favor beginning in 2021 and accelerated in late 2022 when ISO containers moving in the lane fell below levels last seen six years ago.
North-American rail

Carbon tax needed to spur real action on maritime emissions

Peter Tirschwell |
Despite public commitments by some 4,000 companies globally to reduce Scope 3 emissions, ocean shippers have thus far been unwilling to pay higher-than-market freight rates to achieve those goals.
Container Shipping NewsContainer linesTransport, Trade, and Regulation News

Container market shows ‘no encouraging signs’ of recovery: HMM

Greg Knowler, Senior Editor Europe |
The South Korean carrier ‘s financial results followed the industry’s downward trend and although HMM remains profitable, it is not far above the loss-making line.
MaritimeContainer Shipping NewsContainer lines

Rising marine terminal charges stir ire of Australian shipper groups

Keith Wallis, Special Correspondent |
DP World Australia plans to hike terminal access charges by up to 50% at its four terminals in the country from Jan. 1.
Container Shipping NewsMarine terminalsInternational ports

Bid from car hauler to revive defunct Yellow has shippers skeptical

William B. Cassidy, Senior Editor |
Jack Cooper Transport wants to outbid other truckers for the assets of the bankrupt less-than-truckload provider, but it’s not clear how the bid would work.
Trucking NewsLTL

CBP increases scrutiny of skyrocketing low-value international shipments

Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor |
An explosion in the use of the so-called de minimis provision, which enables US consignees to bring in a package under $800 in value each day, has US customs regulators worried about the intrusion of illicit goods, such as fentanyl.
Supply chainTransport, Trade, and Regulation News

ILA looking for local ports to bring in more union foremen

Michael Angell, Associate Editor |
Alongside broader talks on wages for its members, the International Longshoremen’s Association said individual ports need to use more union supervisors and foremen, particularly throughout the South.
Longshore laborContainer Shipping NewsNorth American portsTransport, Trade, and Regulation News

Ports America, CN launch Gulfport intermodal service targeting perishables

Teri Errico Griffis, Associate Editor |
The new north-south service will begin next week with trial runs transporting perishable goods out of Latin America to Chicago.
Rail NewsIntermodal providersNorth-American railCool Cargo News

Crashing trans-Atlantic spot rates delay long-term contract signing

Greg Knowler, Senior Europe Editor |
Carriers and shippers, however, believe there is little room left to fall for spot rates that are already below pre-pandemic levels.
Container Shipping NewsContainer linesTrans-Atlantic

Hapag-Lloyd prioritizes costs as rates, earnings plummet

Greg Knowler, Senior Europe Editor |
The carrier has followed its peers with a sharp decline in earnings, and although still highly profitable, its CEO warned that rates on the east-west trade lanes are at unsustainable levels.
Container Shipping NewsContainer linesTrans-PacificAsia-Europe

Weak US imports via Western Canada reveal BC port challenge

Mark Szakonyi, Executive Editor |
The cracks in the gateway’s attractiveness to importers and exporters out of the US Midwest were showing before this July’s work stoppage and the decline in import demand across North America.
North American portsContainer Shipping NewsContainer linesNorth-American rail

US truckload shippers urged to launch bids now to get best 2024 rates

Ari Ashe, Senior Editor |
An uptick in the West Coast share of Asian imports has already translated into heightened demand for surface transportation.
TruckloadTruck brokers

ILA, USMX remain at odds over dockworker wage increases: Daggett

Michael Angell, Associate Editor |
The ILA president says further progress on a new master contract, as well as port-specific local deals, can’t happen until the two sides agree on coastwide pay hikes.
Longshore laborContainer Shipping NewsContainer linesMarine terminals

Zim reinstates China-US fast ship service to target e-commerce demand

Greg Knowler, Senior Editor Europe |
US e-commerce imports are filling much of the available air cargo capacity out of China, spurring the ocean carrier to bring back an expedited service it was forced to mothball eight months ago.
MaritimeContainer Shipping NewsContainer linesTrans-Pacific

Breakbulk sector poised for boost amid rising commodity prices

Susan Oatway, Research Analyst for Breakbulk and Project Cargo |
Commodity prices continue to rise, leading to further investments in mining, agriculture and oil and gas projects, all of which is good news for breakbulk and project shippers and their service providers.
Breakbulk NewsBreakbulk carriersProject cargoRo/ro cargo