US Ports

Set to take effect on Jan. 1, 2019, the bill will discourage retailers and other shippers from contracting with the companies that misclassify drivers by making the beneficial cargo owners jointly liable for any fines assessed on those operators.

After being shut down for a week and a half, the Port of Wilmington reopened its gates to truckers on Monday, and the work to reduce and eliminate the backlog of containers from before Hurricane Florence and from vessels discharging since last Thursday continues.

If you sense that matching a US Gulf Coast port channel’s depth to the depth of the new, expanded Panama Canal would generate more business opportunities, you’re correct.

The Teamsters union, which pushed for the rule change, believes a large proportion of the port’s trucker owner-operators could be found to be employees under the new rule. Truckers say the impact could range from merely creating an “administrative headache," to prompting some to leave the port, and perhaps the industry.

The law and the complaint suit are the latest salvos in the ongoing dispute between the commission on one side, and on the other the New York Shipping Association and the International Longshoremen’s Association, over the commission’s role at the port. Both sides contend that they are trying to correct problems that can hinder the smooth operation of the port and therefore the cost-efficient flow of shipper’s cargo.

The move by TraPac provides additional evidence regarding the North American port trend to extend terminal gate hours to accommodate rising volume.

Whether shippers moving goods through the US Southeast and Mid-Atlantic see delays and elevated truck rates for days or for weeks largely hinges on exactly where Hurricane Florence makes landfall and with how big of a wallop.

An axiom argues, “Necessity is the mother of invention,” and there’s no better example of that than what tight North American truck capacity has prompted.

Molly Campbell, who joined the authority as head of the ports in July 2015, will leave on Oct. 26, departing as the nation’s third-largest port is seeing growing cargo volumes and more mega-ships.

The 2017 emissions inventories for Los Angeles, Long Beach, and Oakland, which were produced by outside consultants, detail steps the ports have taken to reduce both health-risk and greenhouse gas emissions from vessels, harbor craft, trucks, trains, and cargo-handling equipment.

The union said the Ports of Delaware River Marine Trade Association's latest offer was unacceptable because it did not address three main staffing issues.

Almost all shipping industry stakeholders agree that tariffs would raise costs across the transportation landscape, and eventually slow the movement of freight. So why are some US chassis makers asking for a tariff on imported chassis?

Steel, gas, and wind are the big news on the breakbulk and project side at the Port of Brownsville. Further, the port also has a strategy should tariff changes between the United States and Mexico alter the market.

Western Washington members of the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 302, are engaged in a contract dispute with a construction industry employer performing general construction work throughout the region.

Roll-on, roll-off cargo flowed smoothly through US ports during the first half of 2018, and the involved ports are moving forward with planned, needed investments. Further, the immediate years ahead look promising, provided the trade tension winds die down.

So far, the Port of Tampa and Port Miami are only seeing small cargo volumes, but shippers looking to cut travel time and costs for cargo sent across the US-Mexico border may increasingly choose the sea route, if the conventional land-based route’s delays don’t diminish.

Shippers will likely see a substantial benefit from a new refrigerated container option for a peel-off pile program at the Port of New York and New Jersey.