Latest news

The likelihood of significantly increased fuel costs has carriers girding themselves for an existential moment — one where the consequence of a failure to recoup the additional costs could be severe.

The port of call change on the Chennai Express Service (CHX) — prompted by Chennai’s chronic congestion — took effect with the Maersk Leonidio docking at the Adani Ennore Container Terminal (AECT) on Saturday.

The Trump administration itself is split on the effectiveness of the tariffs, and, unlike Congress, the president “cares less about data,” so businesses should go directly to Congress with their concerns, the trade executive said.

The breakbulk and project cargo transport and logistics community raised approximately $60,000 earlier this month in Houston for the Maritime Emergency Workers Medical Fund, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping maritime families with their finances during medical crises.

The acquisition by E2open allows INTTRA to tap into a base of manufacturers and other shippers, a customer segment with which INTTRA has struggled over its history.

The trucking effects from the extreme weather the Southeast US experienced are expected to be temporary, with strong pre-holiday demand in November and possibly December likely to restore “balance” in the storm’s wake.

The deal between operator Red Hook Terminals and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey gives the operator a second five-year operating term if both sides agree, and means the company will "provide uninterrupted service" to its customers.

The chaos of the trans-Pacific peak season has set the stage for tough annual service contract negotiations in the spring between container lines and US importers from Asia.

The electronic logging device rule imposed in the United States in November has already affected Canadian trucking, both cross-border and domestic services.

The new Amsterdam link will provide greater service resilience for the Netherlands-Italy rail option, as the connections to the two Dutch ports will run on different routes, enabling a flexible response to any rail-related or port-related delays, according to Samskip UK trade manager David Besseling.

The looming IMO regulation, which reduces maximum sulfur emissions from 3.5 percent to 0.5 percent across most of the world's shipping lanes, “is arguably one of the industry’s most defining moments since the shift away from coal,” according to US energy giant ExxonMobil.

“I don’t know if the peak this year will look like last year, but we have about 20 freighters and take a lot of volume in our widebody fleet that we expanded quite a bit, so there are a lot more destinations,” Cathay Pacific CEO Rupert Hogg said. “But going into next year the future is unknown.”

Many questions remain concerning the low-sulfur rule that goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2020: how best to comply, how to manage fuel supply after IMO 2020, how to estimate changes in fuel costs, and how to plan for enforcement.

The Port of New York and New Jersey has a slew of infrastructure projects recently completed and in the pipeline to meet rising cargo volume. The overriding question is — will they be sufficient?

This could be the best of times for Europe’s rail freight operators: the dominant trucking sector is short drivers and capacity, fuel prices are rising, and toll roads are boosting rates; meanwhile, barges still face congestion at Rotterdam and Antwerp. But can rail seize the day?

Bharat Mumbai Container Terminals, which officially opened in February, has added a fortnightly coastal service from domestic shortsea ship operator Shreyas Shipping and Logistics.

"I’m not optimistic we are going to see a grand bargain with all the tariffs coming off,” Lance Noble, senior analyst at Gavekal Dragonomics, said at the TPM Asia Conference on Oct. 10.

The revamped/upgraded rail link, which had its first train depart from Chennai on Monday with 80 TEU, is intended to speed freight handled via the government’s two flagship supply chain reforms — direct port delivery for imports and direct port entry for factory-stuffed exports.

It has now been 12 consecutive weeks that spot rates on imports from Asia have been higher than $2,000 to the West Coast and $3,000 to the East Coast, according to the Shanghai Containerized Freight Index. This is the longest sustained period of elevated spot rates since 2013.

Maersk's announcement is the latest action in its effort to reinvent itself as an integrated container transport and logistics provider.

CSX is the only Class I railroad offering better train speeds and lower terminal dwell times while volumes are on the rise.

The agreement will see the two companies provide their respective customer bases with tracking access to 175,000 multimodal carriers — 90,000 in North America and 85,000 in Europe.

The carrier raised its stake in the logistics service provider a week after CEVA Logistics rejected a $1.5 billion takeover bid from rival DSV.

Echoing analysis regarding the trans-Pacific, some analysts believe shippers tried to beat US tariffs on a slew of Chinese-made goods by moving up cargo activity into July.

The impasse occurred after the company fired a large number of contract workers — reportedly 99 — as part of an operational realignment to reduce costs and improve profitability.

China and Russia are changing global trade rules and the global order in ways "detrimental to US security," a Trump administration document claims.

The ocean carrier — which launched in April and comprises “K” Line, MOL, and NYK Line — said in its half-year earnings report that it collectively expects to lose $310 million in the first half of the year, on revenue of $5.03 billion.

After a year of double-digit increases, spot rate gains are slowing, and truck rates and revenue increases are expected to ‘moderate’ to the mid-single-digit range in 2019.

Although still in the early schedule-setting process, a likely new joint venture will leave Asia-east coast of South America shippers with fewer, larger ships and one less service, so says a shipping industry expert.

Last year, a hurricane stalled resin exports from the Gulf Coast. This year, rising trade tension between the US and China threatens one of resin’s largest markets.

The new terminal gates at the Port Newark Container Terminal at the Port of New York and New Jersey have helped decrease turn times for trucks moving dry containers by 20 percent, and for refrigerated containers by 50 percent.

PierPass, the oldest extended-gates program in North America, was launched in 2005 to increase throughput capacity at the largest US port complex while diverting a sizable portion of the truck traffic from the peak daytime hours in order to relieve traffic congestion on local freeways and roads.

US trucking has entered a new era, in which a ‘new normal’ has been established. Even so, for shippers, there are some encouraging sector developments concerning driver recruitment and overall truck capacity.

Bangladesh Shipping Secretary Abdus Samad told JOC.com the decision was made with the interests of Bangladesh’s Chittagong and Mongla ports in mind.

Containerized exports of recyclables, first hit by China's Jan. 1 tightening of environmental restrictions, were dealt another shot by the imposition of a 25 percent tariff in late August — something that will be felt in the months ahead.

The Geneva-based carrier said it will roll out the “smart” containers in the coming months, enabling users to follow the movement of containers in real time through the Internet of Things.

Hurricane Michael damaged many of the buildings at Port Panama City, but its docks, cranes, and equipment made it through the storm, according to a statement released by Director Wayne Stubbs on Monday.

Among the major unknowns on the minds of ocean carrier executives: will the low-sulfur fuel supply be adequate? How high will fuel prices go? How will the new rule be enforced?

Spot rates in the eastbound Pacific show no sign of softening, and shippers may end up paying high spot rates through the end of the year, if imports remain strong. New US tariffs beginning Jan. 1 definitely have something to do with the above.

There is no debate: US truck capacity is tight. Still, this supply and demand imbalance offers an opportunity for shippers to assess their shipping practices. They will find their inefficiencies are responsible for more cost in absolute dollars than the increase in expenditure that results from higher rates.