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ILA leadership is expressing solidarity with the ILWU as it begins contract talks with West Coast terminal employers, while warning against further automation at US ports.

The debate over whether a freight recession is starting in US trucking is getting hotter as spot rates decline but other demand and pricing indicators stay positive.

Port truckers who left to start their own companies in Savannah last fall are re-engaging with former employers as they struggle to find loads to haul amid the recent decline in dray rates.

The Montreal Port Authority is moving again to choose the group that will build and operate the proposed Contrecoeur container terminal, a project that would significantly boost the port's capacity.

Container line earnings continue to hit record highs for the first quarter, with HMM the latest carrier to report a highly profitable start to the year.

Uncertainty surrounding the timing and speed at which Shanghai’s logistics sector will fully reopen after COVID lockdowns is making it difficult for US shippers and forwarders to plan for the second half of the year.

The new director of the Port of New York and New Jersey said Shanghai’s COVID-19 lockdown is not causing any slowdown at the port because of an increasing number of containers from South Asia and the Indian subcontinent.

Amazon Freight has created its first direct integration with a transportation management system provider, piping its capacity of 40,000 owned trailers and third-party drivers to MercuryGate’s base of shipper users.

With elevated contract rates already locked in, Hapag-Lloyd says a deteriorating spot market will not be enough to prevent another year of record profitability for the carrier.

A work stoppage this week at Colombo in Sri Lanka was just the latest blow to operations at the key transshipment hub, with the ripple effects being felt at other ports in the region.

Demand for LTL capacity is rising even faster than carriers can add terminals and doors, pushing rates higher still.

There is ample evidence that shippers during the COVID-19 pandemic have torn up the supply chain playbook that served them effectively for years, but questions remain over whether those changes will be permanent.

ShipBob and Flexport are connecting ocean freight with order fulfillment for China-origin goods sold by US merchants, as e-commerce tech providers help merchants rationalize ocean costs and transit times.

The share of US imports from China compared to all Asia imports plunged roughly 6 percentage points between February and April amid COVID-19 lockdowns in Shenzhen and Shanghai.

Truckload spot rates out of California have fallen for five straight months, but some believe demand will rebound as the COVID outbreak in China subsides and front-loaded cargo ordered to beat potential labor disruption on the West Coast hits the ports.

Rotterdam believes the gradual reopening of factories in China’s locked-down manufacturing areas will release slow and steady volumes into the ocean supply chain rather than unleashing a huge wave of cargo.

Stord, which provides technology and supply chain services to shippers, has used expansion into transportation and fulfillment to attract capital that it sees as protection in a market where investment may be harder to capture.

A tightening supply of multipurpose ships bodes well for carriers and their bottom lines, but signals a higher “new normal” ahead for breakbulk and project shippers.

Forward Air is acquiring a Seattle-based drayage company as part of its strategy to direct more transloaded international container freight to its expedited LTL network.

Retail giant Walmart has opened its newest import distribution center near the Port of Charleston, a move expected to increase the port’s already record cargo volumes.

The presence of container shippers at JOC’s recent breakbulk conference shows that while global container volumes are slowing, plenty of logistics managers are concerned enough about future capacity on US trades.

Maersk plans to open a distribution center in Toronto later this year as part of its ongoing strategy to become an end-to-end supply chain integrator and increase non-ocean revenue.

A Port of Rotterdam initiative has identified a way to make green hydrogen available at scale for European industry and inland transport providers in a move designed to help meet regional zero-carbon targets.

For-hire trucking employment soared past seasonal expectations in April, underscoring strong demand despite declining spot market pricing.

The latest newbuild order from Japan’s MOL continues a flurry of vehicle carrier orders made in the last month that will result in a bigger — and greener fleet — global fleet.

Honour Lane’s sale of a majority stake in the company comes at a time when NVOs are gaining ground in the trans-Pacific versus direct carrier contracts and looking to create more integrated offerings.

US retailers are moving shipments forward in a bid to build inventories before inflation drives prices too high and weakens consumer spending.

Sources interpreted the release of PMA’s port automation study as the group anticipating the potential for debate on the hot-button issue to gain widespread attention in the public domain during upcoming West Coast labor talks.

Shippers converting ocean consignments into air freight to avoid port bottlenecks along the US East Coast are filling all available air cargo capacity on the trans-Atlantic trade lane.

China’s COVID lockdowns, the war in Ukraine, soaring energy prices, and declining global container volumes are muddying the trade outlook waters this year.

Only four of the JOC Top 25 North American Container Ports handled fewer imports in 2021, but growth at major West Coast gateways lagged that of their East Coast competitors, resulting in a shift in market share.

The head of the Pacific Maritime Association said he is optimistic about a smooth outcome for upcoming contract negotiations with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, though he defended automation as a key tool to grow terminal volumes.

The Global Shipping Business Network, a consortium building a global trade data exchange, has launched products that tether bill of lading information to title transfer and proof of shipment notices.

California’s two senators are pushing ocean carriers to provide more export containers to stem billions of dollars in losses they say the state’s agricultural industry has suffered recently.

Ocean forwarder UWL has introduced a new bi-weekly service from Vietnam into the US Pacific Northwest as shippers seek out additional vessel capacity to tap a growing source of imports.

After a “cyber incident” downed parts of Blume Global’s system last week, the company is working to fully restore service and taking additional safety measures involving customer account information and billing processes.

Amid heightened scrutiny from Washington, US regulators want the three major container shipping alliances to report more detailed information on pricing and capacity deployment on services in which they share slot capacity.

For the second time in two weeks, a container line has been assessed a US civil penalty for collecting detention fees last year when it allegedly did not provide drayage providers with a means to return empty containers.

Winding down operations in Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine has come with a hefty price tag, but transport providers are mostly playing down the impact.

Intermodal shippers saw record-high savings under contracts signed in Q1, but a recent slide in the spot truckload market could diminish the savings that rails can provide on one-off business over the next three months.