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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.

Other performance metrics at Chennai also improved, on a year-over-year basis.

The new Harbor Trucking Association-Milestone pool at LA-LB is improving truck turn times and round-the-clock access to a variety of chassis types during the current peak season.

Storm damage reached from Florida into the Carolinas on Thursday and severed the I-10 east-west route. The likely outcome is higher costs and lengthy detours.

“We want to use the Colombo port for transshipment of goods towards Europe and America, as it will help us cut lead time by nearly 10 days,” said Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association president Siddiqur Rahman.

Shippers can and should stop using paper bills of lading (B/Ls). If truck drivers can live without paper logbooks, shippers can scrap paper B/Ls. Savings for carriers and shippers will result.

Ocean carriers are “working in the blind” at present, with each company coming up with its own fee, when what they actually need is a collectively created framework that ocean carriers and shippers will accept, so says a key ocean carrier executive.

The breakbulk/project market, buoyed by adequate global GDP growth, is finally reviving after a recession-triggered downturn magnified by the 2015 crude oil crash. But challenges loom, including shifting customer demand preferences and the low-sulfur mandate.

CMA CGM’s investment in CEVA is consistent with a customer-centric vision announced in March to move away from commodity container shipping and increasingly tailor end-to-end logistics solutions for customers.

“The reality is that we are being suddenly exposed to $15 billion in additional spend, so we have to reduce consumption and try to convince customers to pay more,” APL CEO Nicolas Sartini told JOC.com.

Since 2015, the production rate at Airbus' Mobile facility has increased to four Airbus 320s per month, so four sets of fuselages and wings are needed monthly, and "a weekly lo-lo [lift-on, lift-off] transport for these [would be] too expensive," the project's leader said.