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Warehouse vacancy rates are still rising in Southern California due to what Prologis says is a long correction, but a wave of imports may change that.

The railroad and Ancora Holdings have been trading barbs ahead of a May 9 vote by shareholders that could see Ancora oust the railroad’s top executives.

The primary dilemma for shippers is whether to source visibility data or applications from a standalone vendor or to expect it to be included in a bundle from a third-party logistics provider.

Given the huge volumes involved in ocean freight, even a small percentage shift in transport mode from South Asia shippers is enough to keep air cargo demand and rates buoyant.

The World Shipping Council said the Federal Maritime Commission’s new rule on detention and demurrage is creating “substantial confusion and uncertainty.”

Knight-Swift and rival J.B. Hunt both say shippers are pushing hard for lower truckload and intermodal rates in service contracts as freight demand remains soft.

A machine learning-based platform will access data on more than 400,000 vehicles to help shippers evaluate the performance and cost of in-house trucking operations.

Rotterdam attributed its first quarter gains to recovering Asia imports in March and a jump in feeder traffic between the port and the Mediterranean linked to vessel diversions around southern Africa.

The World Shipping Council said in a new report it wants Brussels to design policy frameworks “that facilitate the essential role of shipping in a globally connected economy.”

Coast Guard veteran Joe Kramek will succeed John Butler in August as chief executive of the World Shipping Council as US lawmakers continue to push legislation that brings greater scrutiny to the liner shipping industry.

The country’s largest intermodal trucking provider was hit by a see-saw effect in early 2024 as a “dogfight” with truckers in the East balanced import gains in the West. 

But it’s an open question just how long the port’s quarterly volumes can maintain that upward trend with weak economic conditions largely expected to remain in place in Europe this year.

An alliance of global shippers will pool their volume in a two-year deal with the carrier to transport cargo from Singapore to Rotterdam using fuel that produces zero CO2 emissions.

The port said it was not able to secure an operator for its marine terminal, which was critical to securing further state aid to run the port through the rest of 2024.

There are signs of growth in the latest Cass Freight Index, but US transportation markets lack a catalyst that would accelerate volumes.

According to local port berthing updates, the Aries had an estimated time of arrival in Nhava Sheva of April 16, with some 2,400 containers planned for loading out of the port.

The carrier has pledged to remain loyal to its core container shipping segment but at the same time is rapidly expanding its terminal business and increasing its share of inland transport capacity.

With Asia-Europe services already served by 12 weekly flights out of Paris, the addition of an Asia-US network will fill a crucial gap in the airline’s global coverage.

Ancora Holdings is trying to unseat Norfolk Southern’s current leadership in part because of mistakes it believes the railroad’s executives have made in the intermodal business.

The carrier’s expansion strategy also includes further investment in container terminals and doubling its bulk shipping capacity.

All four container terminals at the Port of Oakland were closed for the day shift on Monday as demonstrators protesting the war in Gaza shut down a nearby major freeway and threatened to picket at the port.

The taking of the container ship and its crew by Iranian forces comes as Red Sea attacks on shipping by Tehran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen have forced virtually all commercial vessels to divert around southern Africa.

The new partnership expects to have enough containers positioned at its major hub ports to keep ships full on its mainline trades, thus eliminating the need to unexpectedly cancel a voyage due to a lack of demand.

The global energy buildout in renewables and oil and gas has spurred the heavy-transport partners to order two new carriers.

Shippers of urgent products have shifted volume from the disrupted China-Europe ocean trades to the rails, while some cargo owners are resuming the northern corridor route via Russia.

A rebuilt facility with 75 dock doors and parking for 300 trailers will anchor Roadrunner’s network in the Southeast as the less-than-truckload carrier expands.

Toepfer Transport says improving demand and the ongoing threat to shipping caused by the Houthi militant attacks in the Red Sea region have boosted fleet utilization.

Improving economic indicators are drawing small carriers back to trucking, while the LTL market continues settling post-Yellow, analysts told a Journal of Commerce webcast.

Firm growth in imports from Europe in the first quarter has lifted rates to more sustainable levels for carriers as the trans-Atlantic trade lane appears to have finally turned the page on a dismal 2023.

Ocean carriers have yet to report their Q1 financial results, but the operational update by OOCL is a clear indication that the global supply-demand imbalance remains a challenge.

But the port has an action plan in place to win back business, including development of a green bunkering hub, digitizing port operations and boosting multimodal connections.

A rebound in the US Freight Transportation Services Index is the latest of several indicators pointing to stronger seasonal freight activity, but excess capacity is diluting the impact of demand. 

The government’s latest move to increase the size of the national fleet has reportedly led HMM to reevaluate its own five-year expansion plan to invest about $11 billion, including funds for new vessels.

Still, more capacity is on the way for India-US shippers, with Ocean Network Express due to start its new West India-USEC standalone connection in late May.

The $11 million program that seeks to increase schedule reliability and volumes comes as the Seattle-Tacoma gateway saw its share of US imports from Asia decline year over year in February.

The import strength goes beyond restocking, showing the impact of a recovery in housing and the US manufacturing resurgence, writes Peter Tirschwell.

The shipping industry’s ability to overcome physical disruptions such as the Port of Baltimore’s closure shouldn’t lull it into complacency because growing geopolitical threats could provide new obstacles that can’t be as easily managed, writes Journal of Commerce Executive Editor Mark Szakonyi.

The study, commissioned by the Global Shipping Business Network, comes amid a commitment by nine of the top 10 global ocean carriers to only use electronic bills of lading by 2030.

Chinese e-commerce marketplaces are rapidly expanding their global reach as strong demand from online shoppers in the US and Europe drives up air freight volumes and keeps transport capacity tight.

The US DOT has also offered some relief, granting an exemption that permits truck drivers to work an additional two hours of drive time beyond federal limits if the cargo is connected to the Port of Baltimore closure.