<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">US Southeast ports are expanding inland, giving beneficial cargo owners in the Carolinas, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, and other areas an intermodal opportunity to avoid the long, expensive dray to a port city — a significant option in a capacity-short US truck transport market.</div>

US Southeast ports are expanding inland, giving beneficial cargo owners in the Carolinas, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, and other areas an intermodal opportunity to avoid the long, expensive dray to a port city — a significant option in a capacity-short US truck transport market.

<div><div><img></div>US Southeast ports are expanding inland, giving beneficial cargo owners in the Carolinas, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, and other areas an intermodal opportunity to avoid the long, expensive dray to a port city — a significant option in a capacity-short US truck transport market. Above: The port of Savannah. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com.The <a>Port of Charleston</a> is making a strong push to provide beneficial cargo owners (BCOs) more intermodal options than ever before, nearly doubling its rail share among the four largest US East Coast ports, as <a>Savannah</a> works to rapidly expand its options too.As East Coast ports have gained...

US Southeast ports are expanding inland, giving beneficial cargo owners in the Carolinas, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, and other areas an intermodal opportunity to avoid the long, expensive dray to a port city — a significant option in a capacity-short US truck transport market. Above: The port of Savannah. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com. The Port of Charleston is making a strong push to provide beneficial cargo owners (BCOs) more intermodal options than ever before, nearly doubling its rail share among the four largest US East Coast ports, as Savannah works to rapidly expand its options too. As East Coast ports have gained Asia import market share, they have been rushing to build rail infrastructure to increase their intermodal reach into markets in the US Midwest traditionally served by West Coast ports. Those efforts took on greater urgency in June 2016 with the completion of the Panama Canal expansion that enabled ships of up to 14,000 TEU to pass through the waterway compared with 5,000 TEU before. That is fueling the shift of Asia imports to the East Coast, with the latter’s share having risen more than 10 percentage points from 2005 levels to 30.8 percent in 2017, according to PIERS, a sister product of JOC.com. South Carolina’s regional inland strategy The South Carolina port accounted for 14.6 percent of rail moves among the top four East Coast ports in 2017, nearly double the 7.6 percent share in 2013, according to a JOC.com analysis of port statistics. The South Carolina Ports Authority (SCPA) opened Inland Port Greer in November 2013 and cut the ribbon on Inland Port Dillon on April 16. Unlike the other ports, however, the SCPA’s intermodal reach is regional with the goal of capturing manufacturers located in the Carolinas, Georgia, and Tennessee rather than in larger retail markets such as Chicago. The ports in Virginia and New York and New Jersey are the main gateways to those Midwest markets. The Port of Virginia’s rail share was 31.6 last year, down from 33.7 in 2013, and the Port of New York and New Jersey’s share has dropped from 33.3 percent to 31.5 percent. The port of Savannah has also declined from a 25.5 to a 22.2 percent share, but the Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) is in the middle of an aggressive plan to build out its own inland port network to boost its intermodal products. Click to enlarge There is already an inland port in Cordele, Georgia, and another will open in Chatsworth in August. The port of Savannah is the largest in the US Southeast based on annual container volume. Griff Lynch, GPA’s executive director, also has been public about a desire to explore and build more inland ports within the state to attract BCOs from neighboring states. None of the ports are looking to eliminate truck trips by any means, but rather balance the scales with a renewed emphasis on rail options. There are distinct advantages to easing the dependence on trucks in the current freight market. The entire supply chain is adapting to new conditions under the electronic logging device (ELD) mandate, which strictly caps hours of service (HOS) to 660 minutes behind the wheel each workday. The response in drayage has been a reluctance toward regional hauls and a preference toward ELD-exempt local trips (fewer than 100 air miles). Rates are also rapidly rising for BCOs as intermodal volume grew 7.2 percent in the first quarter, according to data from the Intermodal Association of North America. Trucking companies have also stressed to terminal operators how important it is to quickly move drivers in and out of marine terminals since prolonged congestion can slice into HOS. Meanwhile, larger container ships calling in the Southeast are now putting more containers into the terminals in single trips than ever before. Putting some of those boxes on the railroad is not just a capacity alternative, but also one that port officials believe will reduce truck turn times. The SCPA is the latest to offer a new rail option when it opened Inland Port Dillon in the Pee Dee region on April 16. The $50.5-million project took about one year to complete. “The whole thesis of containerized trucking is changing to today with electronic logs and HOS. Prices are going up and the availability of drivers is down, so we think the rail option to both our inland ports play right into the theme. A shipper can use the inland port in Dillon and have a shorter truck trip instead of sending a driver three or four hours to Charleston,” SCPA CEO Jim Newsome told JOC.com. Inland Port Dillon is about 120 to 130 air miles from Charleston but about 160 road miles. Jumping off the success of the Inland Port Greer facility, Harbor Freight Tools will anchor the newest facility served by CSX Transportation . Last year, the discount tool company announced a $200-million project to expand its Dillon distribution center (DC) from 2.1 million square feet to more than 3 million square feet. Pharmaceutical supplier KB Biotech Solutions will be constructing a manufacturing facility at a temperature-controlled warehouse in Dillon too. The Greer facility, served by Norfolk Southern Railway , opened in November 2013 and last year handled a record-breaking 124,817 rail moves. The goal for Dillon is 45,000 container movements in the first year. Overall rail traffic from the port since 2013 has skyrocketed 179 percent to 263,862 TEU. “The BCOs typically wait and see before committing to a site. As we did in Greer, we have a target list of clients. We worked our way through that list in Greer and pretty much everyone we target is using the facility. I hope the same will be the case in Dillon, but it can take a full year,” Newsome said. Rail container traffic accounts for 21.3 percent of all moves through Charleston since last July and 27.6 percent in the first three months of this year. But that means nearly three in four containers still leave the Port of Charleston on a truck. Newsome hopes to raise the railroad share to 30 percent. “In the Southeast, I would say if you’re 70/30 that is really good. The limitation is the number of locations in the interior where we can have rail ramps that can ground intermodal containers. If we can get to 30 percent, then I think we’ve tapped our potential,” he said. Georgia seeks more Mississippi River Valley business Late last month, GPA celebrated breaking ground on the Mason Mega Rail Terminal. The $126.7-million project will increase rail lifts to 1 million containers per year and create 18 working tracks with the capability of building 10,000-foot unit trains. The terminal is expected to remove more than 200,000 trucks off the Georgia interstates per year. GPA executive director Griff Lynch estimates the new terminal will start to operate by autumn 2019 with full completion in 2020. The facility, he said, will help Georgia to become more appealing to BCOs in Memphis, St. Louis, Chicago, and the Ohio Valley. “One of the limitations is that you can only build as long as the on-dock rail provides you. The Mega Rail facility will allow us to build these larger trains without touching the outside community,” Lynch told JOC.com in March. In 2017, GPA told JOC that 17.8 percent of TEU traveled on the rails, and 18.9 percent in the first three months of this year. Historically, the percentage has hovered between 15 and 20 percent, but GPA anticipates the total to increase to 23 percent over the next 10 years. Savannah’s intermodal rail volumes jumped 20 percent year over year in March and 15.4 percent for the fiscal year to date, totaling 318,454 containers handled over nine months — a record for GPA. Since the opening of the expanded Panama Canal in June 2016, the average size of the vessels stopping in Savannah has increased by more than 30 percent. Container moves per vessel in 2017 also grew 15 percent because of the larger vessels and the exchange of 5,000 TEU per call is now more common, GPA told JOC.com. “As the volume on these vessels grow, that in conjunction with being a first or last port of call on many Asian services, allows us to be a preferred rail option for importers and exporters.” Lynch said. GPA believes the inland ports are also a winning strategy to attract BCOs and unlike South Carolina there are more locations coming in the future. The Cordele Inland Port, located 200 miles from the Garden City Terminal, is an option for BCOs in Southwest Georgia, the Florida Panhandle, and Alabama. This August, GPA will cut the ribbon on the Appalachian Regional Port in the northwest Georgia town of Chatsworth. Lynch believes the new facility will entice BCOs with DCs in Alabama, Tennessee, and Kentucky and expects about 50,000 rail container movements in the first year. “We’re also looking at other inland locations because we are certain that truck rates are escalating and so we want to provide our customers in Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, South Carolina, and even Florida with alternate rail options,” Lynch said. At the Port of Virginia, the rail share is greater than elsewhere because CSX and NS serve Chicago and other Midwest locations out of Norfolk. In the first three months of the year, 35.8 percent of total TEU moved on the rail. The historical average fluctuates between 35 and 38 percent. Virginia Port Authority officials believe an expansion project will ultimately help cross the 40 percent threshold. Construction in the Virginia International Gateway terminal will double the rail capacity and allow the assembly of 10,000-foot trains, like in Savannah. The first set of tracks will be ready in June and the completion date is expected to be in February 2019. Two new cantilever rail-mounted gantry cranes will load and unload containers from the trains. Since 2013, rail moves in Norfolk have increased 32.3 percent to 570,001 TEU. The Port of New York and New Jersey increased rail traffic 33.3 percent to 567,649, and Savannah’s total went up 23 percent to 400,986. Rail cargo lifts represent about 14.8 percent of all cargo in New York and New Jersey, and the port authority hopes the increase the share to 20 percent by the end of 2020. Port Everglades in Florida is also making strides to increase rail share versus trucks. While slightly less than 10 percent of TEU move on the Florida East Coast Railway, the port is benefiting from the construction of the Intermodal Container Transfer Facility (ICTF) that opened in July 2014. Port Everglades told JOC.com that 63,142 international TEU were moved through intermodal rail in fiscal year 2017, a jump of 31 percent over the prior year. The 43-acre facility contains three 3,000-foot processing tracks, four 3,000-foot storage tracks, and three rubber-tire gantry cranes. “Locally, the ICTF is important because it reduces congestion on interstate highways and local roadways. It reduces harmful air emissions by diverting an estimated 180,000 trucks from the roads by the year 2029,” said Ellen Kennedy, port spokesperson. Port Miami is also taking steps to increase its rail options to shippers in the Sunshine State. Rail accounted for 18.6 percent of container moves last fiscal year. Port officials hope to boost the rail share by collaborating with the Florida East Coast Railway on an inland port shuttle train service, telling JOC.com that it will "further enhance container moves as a result of bigger ships and increased volumes." The two parties have been conducting a trial run of the train service during the last 90 days. Contact Ari Ashe at Ari.Ashe@ihsmarkit.com and follow him on Twitter @ariashe_joc.

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US Southeast ports expand intermodal rail reach

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">The deal is DAT’s third in seven months as the freight marketplace seeks to build a multifaceted and trusted truckload transactional platform.</div>

The deal is DAT’s third in seven months as the freight marketplace seeks to build a multifaceted and trusted truckload transactional platform.

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<div class="phx-topic">DAT Freight &amp; Analytics said Monday it has acquired Flexport’s Convoy Platform product for an undisclosed amount as the spot market load board operator aims to give its broker customers more direct and automated transactional access to truckload carriers. The purchase of Convoy is DAT’s third acquisition in seven months, after deals in May for <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/dat-adds-in-house-factoring-services-with-latest-acquisition-6005462">payment and factoring vendor Outgo</a> and December for <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/dat-acquires-trucker-tools-in-move-to-reduce-load-board-driver-churn-5907848">visibility provider Trucker Tools</a>, as it seeks to add more functionality to its load board business, the largest such marketplace in North America. It’s also the third owner of Convoy’s technology in less than two years, with <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/convoy-acquisition-meant-to-serve-import-customer-truckload-demand-flexport-ceo-5201037">Flexport having acquired the technology platform</a> after the <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/convoy-says-will-shut-operations-sell-off-technology-amid-market-downturn-5215523">demise of Convoy’s freight brokerage</a> business in the fall of 2023. For seller Flexport, the deal represents an apparent solid profit on its short-term ownership of the Convoy technology. A source who did not want to be identified pegged the Convoy sales price at about $250 million; Flexport acquired Convoy Platform for about $15 million. “We’re the biggest marketplace, but brokers and carriers want the most trusted and efficient marketplace, not just the biggest,” DAT CEO Jeff Clementz told the Journal of Commerce. “Trucker Tools helps with visibility and Outgo allows us to embed payments into the flow, which helps verify the broker and the carrier. “The last piece was an end-to-end automation platform, and we looked at building this ourselves, but we saw Convoy as having the best platform.” Clementz said the Convoy Platform will run in parallel with DAT One, the company’s core product for finding, booking and paying for loads, with both apps remaining operational until they’re merged over the next year. “This will be a free add-on service for customers,” he said. “Only when a broker is successful in automating a load will they pay a transaction fee. It’s free for carriers. We’re recommending they push all their loads into the platform, and those that can’t be automated will go through the DAT marketplace.” Clementz said existing DAT customers can onboard into Convoy in minutes using their DAT login credentials. About 98% of all loads in the Convoy Platform are automated, said Bill Driegert, executive vice president of trucking at Flexport, who is moving to DAT along with the Convoy team as part of the transaction. <h3>Straightforward migration </h3>In the first half of 2025, DAT’s executive team reached out to Driegert to explore the possibility of DAT acquiring the Convoy Platform, which had been <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/flexport-resurrects-convoy-truckload-tech-as-tool-for-drivers-brokers-5200185">resurrected in early 2024</a> as a standalone transactional app for carriers and brokers. While Convoy had <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/resurrected-convoy-app-gaining-traction-among-small-carriers-brokers-flexport-5214133">attracted 30,000 carriers onto the app</a>, it was constrained by being associated with Flexport and its own brokerage business, Driegert said. “We were still in the early stages of bringing this back to market, and DAT has this huge reach,” he said. “And Convoy has the end-to-end execution.” Clementz said DAT sees up to half of the currently brokered loads as being “ultimately automatable.” “But we think, as brokers get more efficient, that number rises,” he said. Clementz added that the similarities in technology setups between DAT and Convoy will make the migration of Convoy’s automation toward the broader DAT platform straightforward, especially because the Convoy team already has experience in moving its technology from Convoy’s defunct brokerage business to Flexport. Driegert, meanwhile, said the deal gives brokers “optionality.” “Brokers have <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/no-escaping-the-truckload-markets-inherent-fragmentation-for-convoy-5241498">different operating models</a>,” he said. “Those eager to automate and who love the latest tech have more options now.” <h3>Fraud prevention </h3>Driegert said the sale also “unencumbers” Flexport by allowing it to build out its brokerage while staying a partner with DAT. “I came to Flexport to build a brokerage,” said Driegert, who <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/uber-freights-driegert-jumps-to-flexport-to-lead-new-brokerage-unit-5216644">moved from Uber Freight to Flexport in 2023</a>. “When we acquired the Convoy platform, it was clear that selling to brokers would bring the highest value. So we focused on that strategic direction and backed away from building the brokerage.” Clementz also pointed to the Convoy Platform’s track record in virtually eliminating fraud and fraud-enabled theft through its app. One of the final focuses for Convoy’s brokerage before its demise was a rollout of tools intended to root out fraud to the benefit of its shipper-customers. “We have so much information on the transaction and the device,” Driegert said. “We have a level of detail you can’t get at arm’s length, in terms of behavioral patterns that we’re following and how they interact with the platform.” Contact Eric Johnson at <a href="mailto:eric.johnson@spglobal.com">eric.johnson@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

DAT Freight & Analytics said Monday it has acquired Flexport’s Convoy Platform product for an undisclosed amount as the spot market load board operator aims to give its broker customers more direct and automated transactional access to truckload carriers. The purchase of Convoy is DAT’s third acquisition in seven months, after deals in May for payment and factoring vendor Outgo and December for visibility provider Trucker Tools , as it seeks to add more functionality to its load board business, the largest such marketplace in North America. It’s also the third owner of Convoy’s technology in less than two years, with Flexport having acquired the technology platform after the demise of Convoy’s freight brokerage business in the fall of 2023. For seller Flexport, the deal represents an apparent solid profit on its short-term ownership of the Convoy technology. A source who did not want to be identified pegged the Convoy sales price at about $250 million; Flexport acquired Convoy Platform for about $15 million. “We’re the biggest marketplace, but brokers and carriers want the most trusted and efficient marketplace, not just the biggest,” DAT CEO Jeff Clementz told the Journal of Commerce. “Trucker Tools helps with visibility and Outgo allows us to embed payments into the flow, which helps verify the broker and the carrier. “The last piece was an end-to-end automation platform, and we looked at building this ourselves, but we saw Convoy as having the best platform.” Clementz said the Convoy Platform will run in parallel with DAT One, the company’s core product for finding, booking and paying for loads, with both apps remaining operational until they’re merged over the next year. “This will be a free add-on service for customers,” he said. “Only when a broker is successful in automating a load will they pay a transaction fee. It’s free for carriers. We’re recommending they push all their loads into the platform, and those that can’t be automated will go through the DAT marketplace.” Clementz said existing DAT customers can onboard into Convoy in minutes using their DAT login credentials. About 98% of all loads in the Convoy Platform are automated, said Bill Driegert, executive vice president of trucking at Flexport, who is moving to DAT along with the Convoy team as part of the transaction. Straightforward migration In the first half of 2025, DAT’s executive team reached out to Driegert to explore the possibility of DAT acquiring the Convoy Platform, which had been resurrected in early 2024 as a standalone transactional app for carriers and brokers. While Convoy had attracted 30,000 carriers onto the app , it was constrained by being associated with Flexport and its own brokerage business, Driegert said. “We were still in the early stages of bringing this back to market, and DAT has this huge reach,” he said. “And Convoy has the end-to-end execution.” Clementz said DAT sees up to half of the currently brokered loads as being “ultimately automatable.” “But we think, as brokers get more efficient, that number rises,” he said. Clementz added that the similarities in technology setups between DAT and Convoy will make the migration of Convoy’s automation toward the broader DAT platform straightforward, especially because the Convoy team already has experience in moving its technology from Convoy’s defunct brokerage business to Flexport. Driegert, meanwhile, said the deal gives brokers “optionality.” “Brokers have different operating models ,” he said. “Those eager to automate and who love the latest tech have more options now.” Fraud prevention Driegert said the sale also “unencumbers” Flexport by allowing it to build out its brokerage while staying a partner with DAT. “I came to Flexport to build a brokerage,” said Driegert, who moved from Uber Freight to Flexport in 2023 . “When we acquired the Convoy platform, it was clear that selling to brokers would bring the highest value. So we focused on that strategic direction and backed away from building the brokerage.” Clementz also pointed to the Convoy Platform’s track record in virtually eliminating fraud and fraud-enabled theft through its app. One of the final focuses for Convoy’s brokerage before its demise was a rollout of tools intended to root out fraud to the benefit of its shipper-customers. “We have so much information on the transaction and the device,” Driegert said. “We have a level of detail you can’t get at arm’s length, in terms of behavioral patterns that we’re following and how they interact with the platform.” Contact Eric Johnson at eric.johnson@spglobal.com .

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DAT acquiring Convoy automation platform from Flexport

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">The company did not disclose the identity of the potential Chinese investor in the $23 billion deal, although it is widely thought to be Cosco Shipping Holdings.</div>

The company did not disclose the identity of the potential Chinese investor in the $23 billion deal, although it is widely thought to be Cosco Shipping Holdings.

<div class="phx-topic">CK Hutchison is in talks with a “major strategic investor from China” to join the BlackRock-Terminal Investment Limited (TiL) consortium in their planned $23 billion purchase of Hutchison’s non-China terminals, the Hong Kong conglomerate confirmed Monday. Hutchison, whose businesses include ports, telecoms, real estate and retail, did not provide details on the Chinese investor, although it is widely thought to be Cosco Shipping Holdings. Cosco’s potential involvement follows speculation the Chinese government was pushing for a Chinese shipping group to join the BlackRock-TiL group as a condition of <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/beijing-issues-warning-over-hutchisons-proposed-sale-of-panama-ports-company-5962910">Beijing giving regulatory approval to the deal</a>, announced in March. TiL is the terminals division of Gianluigi Aponte’s Mediterranean Shipping Co. The deal would also make MSC/TiL the world’s biggest terminal operator, with throughput volumes of more than 130 million TEUs, according to Drewry. Hutchison’s comments about Chinese involvement were made in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange following the weekend expiry of the 145-day exclusive negotiating period Hutchison had with BlackRock-TiL. Despite the end of the exclusivity period, Hutchison said it “remains in discussions with members of the consortium with a view to inviting a major strategic investor from [China] to join as a significant member of the consortium.” “Changes to the membership of the consortium and the structure of the transaction [will be needed for the deal] to be capable of being approved by all relevant authorities,” Hutchison added in the statement. It gave no deadline for the changes to be finalized. Instead, the company said it “intends to allow such time as is required for such discussions to achieve” the alterations. <h3>Balancing act to keep Trump administration happy </h3>There were to be two agreements under terms of the initial deal, one covering the sale of Hutchison’s Panama ports and the second involving the rest of its global ports network, excluding those in China. There is speculation the restructured deal will see BlackRock-TiL buying Hutchison Port Holdings’ 90% stake in the Panama Port Company, with BlackRock and its Global Investment Partners as the lead investor and no Chinese involvement. That would assuage Trump administration criticism that China influences cargo and ship movements through HPH’s ownership of Balboa and Cristobal ports at either end of the Panama Canal. The claims, made soon after Donald Trump became president in January, have been rejected by China. Instead, the Chinese investor would join BlackRock-TiL in the purchase of Hutchison’s 80% stake in HPH, which owns and operates 199 berths at terminals in 43 ports in 23 countries. The remaining 20% of HPH is owned by Singapore’s PSA International. Analysts say Chinese involvement, especially through Cosco Shipping Ports, could intensify regulatory scrutiny, particularly in Europe, where Hutchison, TiL/MSC and Cosco all operate terminals in Rotterdam and Antwerp. Eleanor Hadland, lead analyst for ports and terminals at Drewry Maritime Research, <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/big-hutchison-deal-could-reshuffle-global-ports-network-drewry-5958162">previously told the Journal of Commerce</a> that TiL/MSC would likely have to sell off some terminals in Rotterdam, Le Havre, Antwerp, Hamburg and Egypt as a condition of the deal being approved by competition watchdogs. If Cosco joins the consortium there could be added scrutiny from regulators in South Korea and the Middle East due to overlapping terminal interests by HPH and Cosco in Busan, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, one analyst told the Journal of Commerce. HPH, CK Hutchison, TiL, MSC and Cosco Shipping did not respond to the Journal of Commerce’s requests for comment Monday. Contact Keith Wallis at <a href="mailto:keithwallis@hotmail.com">keithwallis@hotmail.com</a>.</div>

CK Hutchison is in talks with a “major strategic investor from China” to join the BlackRock-Terminal Investment Limited (TiL) consortium in their planned $23 billion purchase of Hutchison’s non-China terminals, the Hong Kong conglomerate confirmed Monday. Hutchison, whose businesses include ports, telecoms, real estate and retail, did not provide details on the Chinese investor, although it is widely thought to be Cosco Shipping Holdings. Cosco’s potential involvement follows speculation the Chinese government was pushing for a Chinese shipping group to join the BlackRock-TiL group as a condition of Beijing giving regulatory approval to the deal , announced in March. TiL is the terminals division of Gianluigi Aponte’s Mediterranean Shipping Co. The deal would also make MSC/TiL the world’s biggest terminal operator, with throughput volumes of more than 130 million TEUs, according to Drewry. Hutchison’s comments about Chinese involvement were made in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange following the weekend expiry of the 145-day exclusive negotiating period Hutchison had with BlackRock-TiL. Despite the end of the exclusivity period, Hutchison said it “remains in discussions with members of the consortium with a view to inviting a major strategic investor from [China] to join as a significant member of the consortium.” “Changes to the membership of the consortium and the structure of the transaction [will be needed for the deal] to be capable of being approved by all relevant authorities,” Hutchison added in the statement. It gave no deadline for the changes to be finalized. Instead, the company said it “intends to allow such time as is required for such discussions to achieve” the alterations. Balancing act to keep Trump administration happy There were to be two agreements under terms of the initial deal, one covering the sale of Hutchison’s Panama ports and the second involving the rest of its global ports network, excluding those in China. There is speculation the restructured deal will see BlackRock-TiL buying Hutchison Port Holdings’ 90% stake in the Panama Port Company, with BlackRock and its Global Investment Partners as the lead investor and no Chinese involvement. That would assuage Trump administration criticism that China influences cargo and ship movements through HPH’s ownership of Balboa and Cristobal ports at either end of the Panama Canal. The claims, made soon after Donald Trump became president in January, have been rejected by China. Instead, the Chinese investor would join BlackRock-TiL in the purchase of Hutchison’s 80% stake in HPH, which owns and operates 199 berths at terminals in 43 ports in 23 countries. The remaining 20% of HPH is owned by Singapore’s PSA International. Analysts say Chinese involvement, especially through Cosco Shipping Ports, could intensify regulatory scrutiny, particularly in Europe, where Hutchison, TiL/MSC and Cosco all operate terminals in Rotterdam and Antwerp. Eleanor Hadland, lead analyst for ports and terminals at Drewry Maritime Research, previously told the Journal of Commerce that TiL/MSC would likely have to sell off some terminals in Rotterdam, Le Havre, Antwerp, Hamburg and Egypt as a condition of the deal being approved by competition watchdogs. If Cosco joins the consortium there could be added scrutiny from regulators in South Korea and the Middle East due to overlapping terminal interests by HPH and Cosco in Busan, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, one analyst told the Journal of Commerce. HPH, CK Hutchison, TiL, MSC and Cosco Shipping did not respond to the Journal of Commerce’s requests for comment Monday. Contact Keith Wallis at keithwallis@hotmail.com .

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Hutchison confirms Chinese investor interest in BlackRock-TiL ports sale

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">US Customs and Border Protection requires importers to maintain a bond for estimated duties owed, a number that has increased significantly as new tariffs take effect.</div>

US Customs and Border Protection requires importers to maintain a bond for estimated duties owed, a number that has increased significantly as new tariffs take effect.

<div class="phx-topic">US importers have been forced to significantly increase the amount of bond protection they are required to put up to cover anticipated tariffs amid the upheaval in trade policy driven by the Trump administration, trade compliance professionals say. That financial impact is huge given the rapid increase and variability of tariffs assessed over the last five months, largely because importers must predict the amount of tariffs they will pay in the future in order to calculate the bond coverage they need to maintain. In most cases, they’re also required to provide collateral that impacts their cash flow. US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) requires importers to maintain a bond amount of at least 10% of the duties they estimate they will owe over a 12-month period, with mandated minimum continuous coverage of $50,000. “The sufficient bond amount is based on a rolling period of the prior 12 months,” said Sandy Coty, director of operational development at customs broker AN Deringer. “Customs monitors sufficiency on a monthly basis. Because recent months have higher duties than 12 months ago, the sum of the past 12 months is growing, and that growth is eventually causing the current bond amount [for most importers] to be insufficient based on CBP’s 10% rule.” Coty said an importer with 0% duties on $1 million of what’s known as “entered value” of imports each month would have only needed a $50,000 bond. At 10% to 25% tariffs now, after a few months, the importer would eclipse $500,000 in duty paid, meaning its $50,000 bond would no longer be sufficient. “They must plan for the 12 months under current rates to avoid the next bond becoming insufficient,” she said. “The problem is, it’s difficult to predict where the tariff will be in the future, or what the sales volume may be. Projecting a bond amount can be difficult in these uncertain times.” To put in context the extent that increased tariffs are burdening importers, Coty said more than 90% of continuous bonds were for the minimum $50,000 amount prior to January. Jason Cook, CEO of Ardent Global Logistics, said many importers are just beginning to understand the impact of the bond requirements because they never needed to maintain more than the minimum amount required with tariffs at relatively low levels. “Sureties are asking for full letters of credit [for collateral],” he said. “This is starting to happen right now.” <h3>Rapid increase in bonds </h3>To account for increased duties owed, importers generally need to secure a new bond, which is typically done in increments of $10,000. For example, an importer that held the minimum bond amount to cover no more than $500,000 in estimated duties and tariffs owed would have to increase it to $60,000 if it estimated it now owes between $500,001 and $600,000. The bond amount is generally rounded up to the nearest $10,000 for amounts under $1 million and to the nearest $100,000 for amounts over $1 million. Larger bonds for companies with weak balance sheets or operating losses may require collateral as well, Coty said. “Importers are typically granted a 30-day grace period to bring their surety to suitable levels,” customs broker Livingston International said in a blog about the increasing bond requirements. “Bonds that are not adequately increased within the 30-day period will likely be terminated and the importer will no longer have surety to cover their customs duties. Should this occur, goods will be held at the border until the importer secures adequate surety or pays the duties in full.” For most US importers, the amount of bond they need to maintain will far surpass what was required prior to the Trump administration ratcheting up tariffs. Rob Burdette, vice president of strategy at customs broker Shapiro, said clients that previously had bonds of $100,000 or higher are having to triple the size of those bonds, with the highest increase he’s seen at 15 times the previous levels. Bond levels have increased so quickly that CBP on July 21 circulated a message to customs brokers that it was forced to update its system for collecting bonds to accommodate estimated tariff “owed” amounts with 10 digits ($1 billion or more). <h3>‘Stacking’ bonds creates new challenges </h3>The headache for importers doesn’t stop at having to merely increase the amount of their bonds. Importers cannot just increase their existing bonds; they must write new bonds for the higher value required but don’t get a refund on the existing bond. And the “stacking” of bonds creates liability complexity that can be tricky to manage, as well as collateral demands that place financial pressure on importers. For instance, if an importer secured a $100,000 bond on Nov. 1, 2024, that renews on the same date in 2025, the importer’s bond will become insufficient before that date due to higher tariffs. CBP would force the company to get a new bond through an insufficiency notice, Burdette said. “Even if the importer acts on their own accord to increase the bond before the insufficiency, it still creates the stacking,” he said. “In this case, starting with the $100,000 bond, then having to add the $300,000 bond creates an aggregate bond liability of $400,000. Typically bonds over $200,000 require financials, so now, instead of your financials being able to support $100,000, it must support $400,000.” Burdette said the stacking is leading to financial exposure where “importers get in a situation where they are funding their own risk with collateral.” The collateral required is generally equal to the bond amount when more than $100,000, usually in the form of a cash deposit or a letter of credit, said Paul Diedrich, compliance officer at Ardent Global Logistics. “Importers have always needed a bond,” he said. “In the past some brokers may have allowed the use of their bonds, but that practice is now gone. The biggest new issue is the bond amount that is required.” In terms of the premiums importers are paying to secure those bonds, the general guideline is that it costs 1% of the amount of the bond, with premiums increasing proportionally to bond amounts, sources told the Journal of Commerce. In most cases, the collateral required to support the higher bonds is the bigger financial burden. “I tell our customers that paying a little extra bond premium to get a larger bond with some wiggle room is much cheaper than the cost of paying for a [letter of credit from a bank] or having their cash tied up in bond collateral,” Burdette said. Contact Eric Johnson at <a href="mailto:eric.johnson@spglobal.com">eric.johnson@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

US importers have been forced to significantly increase the amount of bond protection they are required to put up to cover anticipated tariffs amid the upheaval in trade policy driven by the Trump administration, trade compliance professionals say. That financial impact is huge given the rapid increase and variability of tariffs assessed over the last five months, largely because importers must predict the amount of tariffs they will pay in the future in order to calculate the bond coverage they need to maintain. In most cases, they’re also required to provide collateral that impacts their cash flow. US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) requires importers to maintain a bond amount of at least 10% of the duties they estimate they will owe over a 12-month period, with mandated minimum continuous coverage of $50,000. “The sufficient bond amount is based on a rolling period of the prior 12 months,” said Sandy Coty, director of operational development at customs broker AN Deringer. “Customs monitors sufficiency on a monthly basis. Because recent months have higher duties than 12 months ago, the sum of the past 12 months is growing, and that growth is eventually causing the current bond amount [for most importers] to be insufficient based on CBP’s 10% rule.” Coty said an importer with 0% duties on $1 million of what’s known as “entered value” of imports each month would have only needed a $50,000 bond. At 10% to 25% tariffs now, after a few months, the importer would eclipse $500,000 in duty paid, meaning its $50,000 bond would no longer be sufficient. “They must plan for the 12 months under current rates to avoid the next bond becoming insufficient,” she said. “The problem is, it’s difficult to predict where the tariff will be in the future, or what the sales volume may be. Projecting a bond amount can be difficult in these uncertain times.” To put in context the extent that increased tariffs are burdening importers, Coty said more than 90% of continuous bonds were for the minimum $50,000 amount prior to January. Jason Cook, CEO of Ardent Global Logistics, said many importers are just beginning to understand the impact of the bond requirements because they never needed to maintain more than the minimum amount required with tariffs at relatively low levels. “Sureties are asking for full letters of credit [for collateral],” he said. “This is starting to happen right now.” Rapid increase in bonds To account for increased duties owed, importers generally need to secure a new bond, which is typically done in increments of $10,000. For example, an importer that held the minimum bond amount to cover no more than $500,000 in estimated duties and tariffs owed would have to increase it to $60,000 if it estimated it now owes between $500,001 and $600,000. The bond amount is generally rounded up to the nearest $10,000 for amounts under $1 million and to the nearest $100,000 for amounts over $1 million. Larger bonds for companies with weak balance sheets or operating losses may require collateral as well, Coty said. “Importers are typically granted a 30-day grace period to bring their surety to suitable levels,” customs broker Livingston International said in a blog about the increasing bond requirements. “Bonds that are not adequately increased within the 30-day period will likely be terminated and the importer will no longer have surety to cover their customs duties. Should this occur, goods will be held at the border until the importer secures adequate surety or pays the duties in full.” For most US importers, the amount of bond they need to maintain will far surpass what was required prior to the Trump administration ratcheting up tariffs. Rob Burdette, vice president of strategy at customs broker Shapiro, said clients that previously had bonds of $100,000 or higher are having to triple the size of those bonds, with the highest increase he’s seen at 15 times the previous levels. Bond levels have increased so quickly that CBP on July 21 circulated a message to customs brokers that it was forced to update its system for collecting bonds to accommodate estimated tariff “owed” amounts with 10 digits ($1 billion or more). ‘Stacking’ bonds creates new challenges The headache for importers doesn’t stop at having to merely increase the amount of their bonds. Importers cannot just increase their existing bonds; they must write new bonds for the higher value required but don’t get a refund on the existing bond. And the “stacking” of bonds creates liability complexity that can be tricky to manage, as well as collateral demands that place financial pressure on importers. For instance, if an importer secured a $100,000 bond on Nov. 1, 2024, that renews on the same date in 2025, the importer’s bond will become insufficient before that date due to higher tariffs. CBP would force the company to get a new bond through an insufficiency notice, Burdette said. “Even if the importer acts on their own accord to increase the bond before the insufficiency, it still creates the stacking,” he said. “In this case, starting with the $100,000 bond, then having to add the $300,000 bond creates an aggregate bond liability of $400,000. Typically bonds over $200,000 require financials, so now, instead of your financials being able to support $100,000, it must support $400,000.” Burdette said the stacking is leading to financial exposure where “importers get in a situation where they are funding their own risk with collateral.” The collateral required is generally equal to the bond amount when more than $100,000, usually in the form of a cash deposit or a letter of credit, said Paul Diedrich, compliance officer at Ardent Global Logistics. “Importers have always needed a bond,” he said. “In the past some brokers may have allowed the use of their bonds, but that practice is now gone. The biggest new issue is the bond amount that is required.” In terms of the premiums importers are paying to secure those bonds, the general guideline is that it costs 1% of the amount of the bond, with premiums increasing proportionally to bond amounts, sources told the Journal of Commerce. In most cases, the collateral required to support the higher bonds is the bigger financial burden. “I tell our customers that paying a little extra bond premium to get a larger bond with some wiggle room is much cheaper than the cost of paying for a [letter of credit from a bank] or having their cash tied up in bond collateral,” Burdette said. Contact Eric Johnson at eric.johnson@spglobal.com .

Transport, Trade and Regulation News

US importers scramble to manage huge hike in bond outlay linked to higher tariffs

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">But with many details of the framework agreement still to be thrashed out over the coming weeks, it will do little to address the uncertainty hanging over the trade lane.</div>

But with many details of the framework agreement still to be thrashed out over the coming weeks, it will do little to address the uncertainty hanging over the trade lane.

<div class="phx-topic">The 15% tariff deal agreed Sunday between President Donald Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen brings an end to months of increasingly fractious negotiations between Washington and Brussels. While still a significant jump from current US tariffs of about 4.8%, the agreement averts a destructive trans-Atlantic trade war that had the EU facing 30% tariffs from Aug. 1 and preparing to launch its own wide-ranging retaliatory tariffs against the US. “We have stabilized on a single 15% tariff rate for the vast majority of EU exports,” von der Leyen said in a statement following a meeting with Trump at his Turnberry golf resort in western Scotland. “This rate applies across most sectors, including cars, semiconductors and pharmaceuticals,” she added. “This 15% is a clear ceiling. No stacking. All-inclusive.” The deal also set “zero-for-zero” tariffs on several strategic products, including all aircraft and component parts, certain chemicals, certain generics, semiconductor equipment, certain agricultural products, natural resources and critical raw materials. Many details in the framework agreement still need to be thrashed out between the two parties over the coming weeks, doing little to address the uncertainty that has hung over the trade lane for months. “All in all, this means the 15% tariff will be on most products, but importers would need to keep a close eye out for information on their specific commodities once details become known,” Lars Jensen, CEO of Vespucci Maritime and a Journal of Commerce analyst, wrote <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7355461231425503233/">in a LinkedIn post</a> Monday. <h3>‘Immediate tariff relief’ </h3>No agreement was reached on the US tariffs on steel and aluminium and related products that are currently at 50%, although von der Leyen said “to reduce barriers between us, tariffs will be cut, and a quota system will be put in place.” “This deal provides a framework from which we will further reduce tariffs on more products, address non-tariff barriers, and cooperate on economic security,” she said. “In these turbulent times, this is necessary for our companies to be able to plan and invest,” she added. “We are ensuring immediate tariff relief. This will have a clear impact on the bottom lines of our companies ... we are securing access to our largest export market. At the same time, we will give better access for American products in our market.” The US was the recipient of 20.6% of total European exports in 2024 and is the EU’s second-largest partner for the import of goods with a share of 13.7%. China is the EU’s largest import trading partner. Spot rates on the North Europe to US East Coast trade lane have remained relatively flat since Trump’s 90-day pause on the tariffs was announced on April 9 and extended to Aug. 1, with shippers on the trans-Atlantic showing little appetite for frontloading exports to the US. Rates from North Europe to the US East Coast were assessed at $1,600 per FEU at the end of last week, down $300 since May 2, according to Platts, a sister company of the Journal of Commerce within S&amp;P Global. Contact Greg Knowler at <a href="mailto:greg.knowler@spglobal.com">greg.knowler@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

The 15% tariff deal agreed Sunday between President Donald Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen brings an end to months of increasingly fractious negotiations between Washington and Brussels. While still a significant jump from current US tariffs of about 4.8%, the agreement averts a destructive trans-Atlantic trade war that had the EU facing 30% tariffs from Aug. 1 and preparing to launch its own wide-ranging retaliatory tariffs against the US. “We have stabilized on a single 15% tariff rate for the vast majority of EU exports,” von der Leyen said in a statement following a meeting with Trump at his Turnberry golf resort in western Scotland. “This rate applies across most sectors, including cars, semiconductors and pharmaceuticals,” she added. “This 15% is a clear ceiling. No stacking. All-inclusive.” The deal also set “zero-for-zero” tariffs on several strategic products, including all aircraft and component parts, certain chemicals, certain generics, semiconductor equipment, certain agricultural products, natural resources and critical raw materials. Many details in the framework agreement still need to be thrashed out between the two parties over the coming weeks, doing little to address the uncertainty that has hung over the trade lane for months. “All in all, this means the 15% tariff will be on most products, but importers would need to keep a close eye out for information on their specific commodities once details become known,” Lars Jensen, CEO of Vespucci Maritime and a Journal of Commerce analyst, wrote in a LinkedIn post Monday. ‘Immediate tariff relief’ No agreement was reached on the US tariffs on steel and aluminium and related products that are currently at 50%, although von der Leyen said “to reduce barriers between us, tariffs will be cut, and a quota system will be put in place.” “This deal provides a framework from which we will further reduce tariffs on more products, address non-tariff barriers, and cooperate on economic security,” she said. “In these turbulent times, this is necessary for our companies to be able to plan and invest,” she added. “We are ensuring immediate tariff relief. This will have a clear impact on the bottom lines of our companies ... we are securing access to our largest export market. At the same time, we will give better access for American products in our market.” The US was the recipient of 20.6% of total European exports in 2024 and is the EU’s second-largest partner for the import of goods with a share of 13.7%. China is the EU’s largest import trading partner. Spot rates on the North Europe to US East Coast trade lane have remained relatively flat since Trump’s 90-day pause on the tariffs was announced on April 9 and extended to Aug. 1, with shippers on the trans-Atlantic showing little appetite for frontloading exports to the US. Rates from North Europe to the US East Coast were assessed at $1,600 per FEU at the end of last week, down $300 since May 2, according to Platts, a sister company of the Journal of Commerce within S&P Global. Contact Greg Knowler at greg.knowler@spglobal.com .

Trans-Atlantic

Trans-Atlantic trade dispute averted as US, EU reach weekend deal

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">GenLogs is offering data on shipper drayage volumes, available carriers and asset location at the Port of Miami as part of a broadening of its highway sensor-based platform. </div>

GenLogs is offering data on shipper drayage volumes, available carriers and asset location at the Port of Miami as part of a broadening of its highway sensor-based platform.

<div class="phx-topic">Transportation technology provider GenLogs is branching out from providing information on truckload capacity and carriers to doing the same in the US drayage market. GenLogs, whose primary business is helping freight brokers identify carriers they can work with on lanes where shipper-customers have volume, is looking to extend similar capability to drayage lanes from every major container port in the US through a product called “Port Intelligence.” GenLogs has established sensors at the Port of Miami and will add a second major port next month, CEO Ryan Joyce told the Journal of Commerce Friday. “We don’t need sensors right at gates to get the drayage data that unlocks all these capabilities for customers,” Joyce said. “We hope that this will help us springboard to signing all 300 ports in the United States as customers, as Port Intelligence gives them visibility into where cargo flows inland from each port, and which [beneficial cargo owners] may be better serviced by their port rather than a neighboring port.” GenLogs’ platform uses a nationwide network of its own roadside sensors that passively collect data on every passing truck and equipment pairing. Joyce said the nearly 1,000 sensors in the network collect about 10 million images of trucks each day on more than 285,000 unique for-hire truck carriers, including drayage carriers. The static sensors, on the sides of interstates, filter out private vehicles and only collect data on vehicles, not drivers. The company’s product combines data from its sensor network with other third-party datasets to track truck locations, equipment pairings and patterns. <h3>Initial users include larger customers </h3>The Port Intelligence features allow users to identify destinations where drayage volume is headed from US container gateways, a list of shippers and receivers tied to those moves, and a list of carriers operating on those lanes. GenLogs’ “Asset Locator” tools allow users to set alerts for specific containers and chassis based on an identifier. Joyce said GenLogs expects about one-third of its existing 60 customers to use Port Intelligence, mostly larger customers who also move drayage such as J.B. Hunt, CH Robinson, Ryder, Echo Global Logistics, NFI and Evans Transportation. He also said forwarders and drayage-specific third-party logistics providers have shown interest in the product since it launched Thursday. The company <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/truckload-visibility-vendor-gets-funding-to-expand-sensor-network-5936129">signaled its intent</a> to service drayage and intermodal nodes in February when it landed a $14.6 million funding round that would be directed, in part, to establish sensors at major US ports and in intermodal facilities. GenLogs’ foray into drayage is part of a broadening landscape of data in that historically overlooked segment of the container shipping industry. Along with a proliferation of tools designed to help drayage carriers operate more efficiently, a list that includes companies such as transportation management system provider PortPro, shippers and brokers can also get benchmark drayage rates on lanes nationwide using DrayRates, which launched in the first half of 2025. Contact Eric Johnson at <a href="mailto:eric.johnson@spglobal.com">eric.johnson@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

Transportation technology provider GenLogs is branching out from providing information on truckload capacity and carriers to doing the same in the US drayage market. GenLogs, whose primary business is helping freight brokers identify carriers they can work with on lanes where shipper-customers have volume, is looking to extend similar capability to drayage lanes from every major container port in the US through a product called “Port Intelligence.” GenLogs has established sensors at the Port of Miami and will add a second major port next month, CEO Ryan Joyce told the Journal of Commerce Friday. “We don’t need sensors right at gates to get the drayage data that unlocks all these capabilities for customers,” Joyce said. “We hope that this will help us springboard to signing all 300 ports in the United States as customers, as Port Intelligence gives them visibility into where cargo flows inland from each port, and which [beneficial cargo owners] may be better serviced by their port rather than a neighboring port.” GenLogs’ platform uses a nationwide network of its own roadside sensors that passively collect data on every passing truck and equipment pairing. Joyce said the nearly 1,000 sensors in the network collect about 10 million images of trucks each day on more than 285,000 unique for-hire truck carriers, including drayage carriers. The static sensors, on the sides of interstates, filter out private vehicles and only collect data on vehicles, not drivers. The company’s product combines data from its sensor network with other third-party datasets to track truck locations, equipment pairings and patterns. Initial users include larger customers The Port Intelligence features allow users to identify destinations where drayage volume is headed from US container gateways, a list of shippers and receivers tied to those moves, and a list of carriers operating on those lanes. GenLogs’ “Asset Locator” tools allow users to set alerts for specific containers and chassis based on an identifier. Joyce said GenLogs expects about one-third of its existing 60 customers to use Port Intelligence, mostly larger customers who also move drayage such as J.B. Hunt, CH Robinson, Ryder, Echo Global Logistics, NFI and Evans Transportation. He also said forwarders and drayage-specific third-party logistics providers have shown interest in the product since it launched Thursday. The company signaled its intent to service drayage and intermodal nodes in February when it landed a $14.6 million funding round that would be directed, in part, to establish sensors at major US ports and in intermodal facilities. GenLogs’ foray into drayage is part of a broadening landscape of data in that historically overlooked segment of the container shipping industry. Along with a proliferation of tools designed to help drayage carriers operate more efficiently, a list that includes companies such as transportation management system provider PortPro, shippers and brokers can also get benchmark drayage rates on lanes nationwide using DrayRates, which launched in the first half of 2025. Contact Eric Johnson at eric.johnson@spglobal.com .

Drayage

Trucking intelligence provider expands visibility product into drayage market

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The world of LTL is slow to embrace change. Business anachronisms permeate current supply chain processes. These vestiges of the way things used to work define the LTL freight transportation procurement process of many modern shippers.David Knuth, logistics specialist at IEWC, a global supplier of cable and wire based in Wisconsin, is happy to have modernized the RFP process, automating the entire LTL bidding procedure with Bid$ense, SMC³’s automated truckload and LTL freight transportation sourcing solution. But when prompted, he can still recall what once was.In his previous job, a large part of his duties were consumed by creating an intermodal bid package for carriers. In a spreadsheet, Knuth detailed the company’s volumes lane by lane, taking care to delete any errant keystrokes or misleading data. He would then email out the information to each carrier, taking time to respond to detailed technical questions about the spreadsheet data. Finally, he had to compile all the results, create an algorithm that would compare the carriers on each lane, and award the business.“It was a huge undertaking. It took about four months to do,” Knuth said of the old process. “It was almost a full-time job for that part of the year, every year.”In his new job at IEWC, he sat down with Bid$ense on day one and was amazed at the capabilities. Knuth had never before used a bid tool. SMC³’s latest versions of Bid$ense automate the process even further, taking truckload and LTL RFPs entirely online. The tool draws on RFP best-practices protocols to streamline the bidding communication process, enabling bidding carriers to respond accurately and promptly to shipper requests. The solution also does all the distribution work automatically, electronically submitting shipper bid data to carriers based on their actual service capabilities and performance records. Carriers are alerted with timely prompts for RFP deliverables, so shippers aren’t waiting by the phone for responses.Another benefit of automating the process is the data-cleansing assistance. When Knuth sent spreadsheets to carriers, data errors might cloud the bidding process; he might have to resend data or simply accept a price that did not truly reflect the costs of doing business. Data cleansing is incredibly beneficial, he said.The spreadsheet technique also made bidding analysis an onerous task. Since Bid$ense automates and streamlines the entire RFP process, intensive examination is now simple. SMC³ knows that each bid has more than one best outcome. With uniform responses from each carrier, shippers can quickly rank results and create an unlimited quantity of what-if scenarios to make the optimal procurement decision.Jesse Burnett of Central Garden &amp; Pet experiences many of the same benefits. Founded in 1980, Central Garden &amp; Pet has spent the last three decades growing from a small garden supply company to a provider of a range of products from dog chews and bird seed to soil supplements and natural insecticides. For much of its life, the company shipped these disparate goods via LTL and truckload carriers to retailers throughout the country, relying on each business unit to negotiate directly with their freight transportation providers. This arrangement worked fairly well for a small company, but as Central Garden &amp; Pet expanded, leadership decided to consolidate decision making.Burnett helped centralize the transportation decision making in 2015 with SMC³’s Bid$ense. Before Bid$ense, every business unit operated independently as far as negotiating with carriers.“There were a lot of different things just floating around,” he said. “We didn’t have master agreements in place; no national pricing at all. The pricing from carriers was just all over the place, depending on where you were.”The transformations he saw with Bid$ense were immediate. Burnett has been using the tool about every other year since its implementation at the company. Central Garden and Pet’s $19.6 million 2019 LTL bid saved the company just more than 9 percent when compared to its historical average. For Burnett, though, bid automation extends far beyond savings.“We knew that we weren’t getting the best pricing offer from our carriers just because nothing was centralized,” he continued. “We knew that if we combined everything from all these business units and paired it with one corporate offering, then it would drive some cost benefit with it.”When the company initially decided to centralize bid procurement, executives researched a number of different methodologies and technologies. In the end, though, Burnett found that Bid$ense was both widespread and well known, and that his carrier partners already knew how to use the application. Burnett also highlighted the data-cleansing process as a major benefit, saying the rigorous process ensures that carriers always return the best price.“It definitely has helped drive savings,” he said. “Any time you go out there and you drive that competitiveness with the carriers and they know they’re in a bid environment, it seems to sharpen their pencils.”Transportation procurement is an integral part of the modern supply chain. With Bid$ense, shippers can develop a strategic implementation plan that saves them time and money, but also helps them create strong relationships with their carrier partners. These carriers appreciate the solution’s data-cleansing process; when carriers receive a complete shipment history and future volume forecast, they don’t have to guess on pricing. Carriers that receive more data from shippers get a complete picture of that shipper’s freight, allowing them to accurately plan instead of simply preparing for the worst-case scenario. Clean data presented through an automated system can lead to both bigger shipment savings and a lasting partnership between carrier and customer.Whether customers are looking to streamline over-the-road transportation bidding by automating the RFP process or create an entirely new, centralized sourcing process, Bid$ense has the analytical horsepower to get the job done.SMC³ 2020 Customer Case Study

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Shippers save money, time with automated transportation bidding tools

If there’s one immutable truth in the world of logistics, it’s this: LTL is an inherently complex form of transportation. Tariffs, rates, DIM weights, transit times — it’s enough to confuse even seasoned logistics professionals. The solution to this knowledge gap has historically been on-the-job training or university supply chain education, but for a variety of reasons there is now a pressing need for third-party, remote LTL training that prepares logistics workers for transportation success. Global Scope Can Overlook Local Intricacies In the past, professionals looking to move into a supply chain career learned about the basics of supply chain from universities. However, many of these college supply chain programs are now global in scope, focusing on worldwide supply chain management instead of the intricacies of specialized domestic transportation. And even these programs, which used to be widespread, are becoming less common. LTL is not an industry of broad-brush strokes; supply chain professionals really need a pointillistic understanding of the logistics of LTL in order to excel in the industry. Accelerating Need for Dedicated LTL Education This lack of specified training put the onus on employers to prepare new hires with the LTL knowledge needed to do their jobs. Dedicated LTL study is a necessity, not a luxury. At the same time, changes in LTL and the broader supply chain world are accelerating. The reliance on e-commerce has ballooned since the start of the pandemic, and last-mile LTL shipments and related e-commerce strains on the supply chain won’t diminish once social distancing abates. That genie isn’t going back into the bottle. So supply chain employers need logistics workers that are fully versed in all aspects of the industry, ready to solve unique shipping and delivery problems based on their extensive supply chain knowledge But why care about LTL? It’s been reported that some shippers in today’s world are no longer concerned with what mode is used to ship their goods. A Multimodal Approach Ensures On-Time Delivery This mode agnosticism means supply chain stakeholders have to be well versed in all modes of transportation. As unforeseen weather events and other disruptions, such as protests, become more common, savvy logistics employees will need to be armed with familiarity of all modes, not just the most popular, to ensure that freight is delivered on time, without damage, and in the most financially expedient way possible. Offerings like SMC³’s LTL online education courses cover a wide range of topics from LTL basics and operations to more advanced concepts like pricing analytics and transportation law. The company also has plans to continually refresh content, adding new expert presenters and taking the feedback of students to make the courses even better as time goes on. Learn more about&nbsp;<a href="https://logisticstrainingcenter.com/smc3-courses/" rel="noreferrer" class="joc_admin__link">SMC³’s LTL Online Education program</a>&nbsp;and view the 2021 hybrid schedule, featuring live industry experts,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.smc3.com/onlinelearning2021/" rel="noreferrer" class="joc_admin__link">here.</a>

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The latest port news from the Journal of Commerce spans the globe from North Carolina and Florida to Shanghai and Singapore. Port news includes port automation, terminal construction projects, the future of decarbonization and net-zero shipping, dredging, port hinterland connectivity, labor, disruption, port congestion and cargo flow.

Port infrastructure

Breakbulk ports

North American ports

Marine terminals

Longshore labor

Stay informed on port news worldwide with Journal of Commerce. From decarbonization to labor updates, get insights on global developments.

Port News | Journal of Commerce

The Journal of Commerce is the industry’s source for maritime news and analysis about ocean container shipping, logistics, supply chains, global shipping ports, shipping technology solutions and end-to-end connectivity. Coverage tracks the movement of containerized cargo — from origin to destination — handled by marine terminals in the US and abroad, depots, container ports, container lines, drayage, consignees and shippers, forwarders, non-vessel operating common carriers (NVOs) and off-dock warehousing providers, as well as pricing, capacity, volume and reliability on the trans-Pacific, Asia–Europe, North America–Caribbean, Central and South American and intra-Asia trades.

Discover comprehensive trucking news and trends with Journal of Commerce - from trucking LTL to regulation and trucking supply and demand.

Breakbulk News shipping | Journal of Commerce

Breakbulk News

Container shipping news and analysis of ocean container shipping, logistics, supply chains, technology and end-to-end connectivity.

Container Shipping News | Journal of Commerce

News and analysis of ocean containerized cargo movement, logistics, supply chains, technology, and end-to-end connectivity. Maritime news and analysis of containerized ocean cargo movement, breakbulk and roll-on and roll-off shipping from origin to destination.

Latest News

More News & Analysis

DAT acquiring Convoy automation platform from Flexport

Hutchison confirms Chinese investor interest in BlackRock-TiL ports sale

US importers scramble to manage huge hike in bond outlay linked to higher tariffs