Top 40 Container Carriers

Top 40 container lines by US volume

Cash-rich CMA CGM offers smaller shippers dedicated capacity

Greg Knowler, Senior Europe Editor |
CMA CGM has followed the industry trend of reporting extreme profitability for 2021, dramatically paring down debt while making several billion-dollar acquisitions.
Container lines

Maersk plans to connect supply chains at the ‘middle’

William B. Cassidy, Senior Editor |
The Pilot Freight acquisition gives Maersk not just last-mile delivery capabilities, but the “middle-mile” backbone needed to speed freight to the final mile.
Logistics Technology NewsContainer linesTrucking News

Maersk extends door-to-door reach with Pilot acquisition

William B. Cassidy, Senior Editor |
The $1.6 billion acquisition of Pilot Freight Services gives Maersk greater power to integrate ocean, air, and land-based services from the first to last mile.
Logistics Technology NewsLTL

JOC Rankings: 2M Alliance atop carriers for US volumes

JOC Staff |
Mediterranean Shipping Co. sat on top of the rankings for ocean carriers handling US imports while its 2M partner Maersk was top carrier on the export side.
Container lines

FMC to take deeper look at Evergreen detention case

Ari Ashe, Senior Editor |
A detention case involving Evergreen Shipping, Yamaha Motor, and a drayage provider is drawing the attention of the Federal Maritime Commission, which is reviewing the application of its detention and demurrage rules.
Transport, Trade, and Regulation News

Container lines ordered to explain detention, demurrage assessment

Ari Ashe, Senior Editor |
The Federal Maritime Commission will take a deep look into the detention and demurrage practices in Southern California and New York and New Jersey, requiring ocean carriers and maritime terminal operators to answer questions about their policies related to importers and exporters.
Transport, Trade, and Regulation News

JOC Research: Intermodal savings to tighten in Q1 2021

Ari Ashe, Senior Editor |
Shippers may see intermodal savings evaporate in the first quarter if rail contracts rise more than 10 percent and spot truck rates continue to cool off and pressure truck contracts.
Intermodal providers

Port of Virginia gets Europe-to-Caribbean vessel string

Ari Ashe, Senior Editor |
The Port of Virginia has gained a weekly service that will be the loop’s only US stop from Northern Europe and the port’s first-ever direct connection for exporters to the Caribbean.
North American ports

FMC examining ocean carriers’ demurrage/detention billing

Ari Ashe, Senior Editor |
The FMC will look into whether ocean carriers are incorrectly holding truckers, third-party logistics, and freight forwarders responsible for penalties that should be paid by the shipper.
Transport, Trade, and Regulation News

JOC Rankings: Smaller US import carriers gained share in early 2020

JOC Staff |
Only eight of the JOC Top 40 Container Carriers by US Imports managed to increase volumes in the first five months of the year, none of which belong to one of the three major vessel-sharing alliances.
Container lines

Q2 results reveal an emboldened container shipping industry

Greg Knowler, Senior Europe Editor |
Container lines have displayed an ability to flex capacity in response to short-term demand changes, and this strategy has paid off across the board despite stunted volumes in the second quarter.
Container lines

HMM changes western US rail partner to gain alliance efficiencies

Ari Ashe, Senior Editor |
HMM will be switching from BNSF Railway to Union Pacific Railroad in August, a move that allows it to prioritize efficient inland movement of containers within THE Alliance.
Container lines

FMC rule giving contract filing relief to carriers takes effect

Ari Ashe, Senior Editor |
The National Industrial Transportation League said its members do not rely on the publication of essential contract terms, eliminating the need for carriers to make such filings.
Container lines

Chassis tensions tempered by willingness to talk

Ari Ashe, Senior Editor |
With tensions on the rise, groups representing ocean carriers and truck companies are open to meeting to resolve their differences on chassis.
TruckloadDrayage

Virginia port to idle terminal due to COVID-19 volume drop

Ari Ashe, Senior Editor |
The Port of Virginia will temporarily suspend container operations in the Portsmouth Marine Terminal beginning May 3, a result of the dropoff in volume due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
North American ports

Ag shippers urge Trump administration to intervene on detention, demurrage

Ari Ashe, Senior Editor |
A coalition of 80 agricultural shippers is urging the Trump administration to get involved in the detention and demurrage debate now before the Federal Maritime Commission, saying the issue is even more important now amid supply chain disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Marine terminals

Shippers applaud CMA CGM’s jump to Memphis gray chassis pool

Ari Ashe, Senior Editor |
CMA CGM has joined the gray pool in Memphis, a win for those advocating for truckers to use any chassis for any container to eliminate chassis splits and other inefficiencies that cost shippers money.
Container linesDrayage

Rankings: Top trans-Pacific carriers hold line on market share in 2019

JOC Staff |
COSCO Shipping and OOCL again handled the largest share of US container imports from Asia in 2019, while CMA CGM and APL maintained the top spot in westbound US–Asia trade, despite declining overall volumes.
Container lines

Container carriers gaining greater control of market

Peter Tirschwell |
Carriers’ growing experience in reducing short-term capacity without having to resort to more disruptive actions like eliminating full services is a profound change in the market that will help the carriers absorb blows that in the past would wipe away profits like a dustrag.
Container lines

ARO 2020: Trans-Pacific lines look to manage capacity, pass on fuel costs

Bill Mongelluzzo, Senior Editor |
With growth in trade between Asia and North America projected to continue at a slow, steady pace in 2020, container carriers will be focused on keeping a floor on rates and recouping the added cost of low-sulfur fuels.
Container lines

Maersk: No-shows plummet on guaranteed bookings

Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor |
Cargo no-shows are down 75 percent on freight booked via the Maersk Spot guaranteed online booking platform, according to the container carrier.
Container linesLogistics Technology News

ONE cuts profit forecast on rising economic fears

Greg Knowler, Senior Europe Editor |
Despite reporting a profitable second quarter, the Japanese container carrier has reduced its full-year earnings forecast by nearly one-third, citing concerns over a worsening global economic environment and an expected increase in bunker costs.
Container lines

JOC Top 40 container carrier rankings first half 2019

JOC Staff |
Container carriers in the slowing US import and export trades are exercising increased discipline, maintaining capacity levels rather than introducing new vessels in an attempt to secure a larger share of the market.
Container lines

THE, OCEAN pacts set to dominate evolving trans-Pacific

Bill Mongelluzzo, Senior Editor |
Carrier market share in the trans-Pacific is not expected to change much in the next few months, in part because carriers will manage capacity by blanking individual sailings and deploying extra-loader vessels to handle import surges.
Container lines

Maersk boosts profits, warns of tariffs slowing trade

Greg Knowler, Senior Europe Editor |
It was a modest second quarter result, but Maersk Line continues to improve its profitability by improving reliability and resisting any temptation to chase market share.
Container lines

Evergreen doubles down on mega-ship order

Greg Knowler, Senior Europe Editor |
Evergreen Marine has plunged deeper into the mega-ship operating space, ordering another 11 ships in addition to the 11 that are already being built and delivered.
Container lines

New strategies of CMA CGM, Maersk familiar, but bolder

Mark Szakonyi, Executive Editor |
Carriers are going beyond setting up logistics arms and instead making the end-to-end reach a full company play rather than standalone attempt to offer the higher value and margin services as the NVOs they compete and partner with.
Supply chainContainer lines

The new oligopoly of container shipping

Lars Jensen, CEO, Sea-Intelligence Consulting |
Carriers and shippers alike must adapt to the new realities of a container shipping market in which only a handful of large players control the vast majority of capacity.
Container lines

Trans-Pac spot rates rocket amid weak volume outlook

Bill Mongelluzzo, Senior Editor |
Spot rates in the eastbound trans-Pacific this week got a pop from the pending July 1 GRIs, but economists are predicting a slow-growth year for the US economy, and carriers’ only hope to keep pricing from declining this peak season is to manage capacity through blank sailings.
Container lines

Major ocean carriers falling short of IMO goals

Danielle Sukharenko, Research Analyst |
The shipping sector is lacking investments in effective carbon reducing technologies, threatening to miss IMO 2050 targets for decarbonization, according to a recent report from CDP.
Container lines

MSC temporarily suspended from C-TPAT after drug bust

JOC Staff |
The 90-day suspension from the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism means the container line will no longer enjoy “trusted trader” status, increasing the likelihood of import shipment delays.
Container lines

Container carriers banding together on digital development

Peter Tirschwell |
After years of undercutting each other on rates to gain market share and the resulting waves of consolidation, large container carriers seem to have come to a realization that they will sink or swim together.
Container linesLogistics Technology News

Eyeing summer rush, carriers signal blank sailing restraint

Bill Mongelluzzo, Senior Editor |
The Ocean Alliance’s announcement of three blank sailings in June puts carriers and BCOs on alert that additional cancellations are likely if shipments from China continue to drop in the coming months.
Container lines

CMA CGM expands cost-cutting effort amid higher debt

JOC Staff |
The French shipping group will rationalize its container carrier brands, with APL serving the trans-Pacific, Asia-Indian Subcontinent, Asia-Oceania, and US-flag trades, ANL focusing on Oceania, and CNC on intra-Asia.
Container lines

Little headway made on IMO ship speed plan

Peter Tirschwell |
A proposal to impose mandatory speed limits on ocean vessels faces an uncertain future after being tabled at last week’s meeting of the IMO’s Marine Environmental Protection Committee.
Container lines

Maersk’s inland move builds on integrator strategy

Peter Tirschwell |
In the latest step in the ocean carrier’s transformation into a “global integrator” of container logistics, Maersk Line has folded in the inland services formerly operated by APM Terminals.
Container lines

Container lines target track-and-trace standardization

Greg Knowler, Senior Europe Editor |
Digital Container Shipping Association officials say improving standards around cargo visibility is a top priority of the new carrier coalition.
Container lines

EU regulator raises concerns over state shipping subsidies

Greg Knowler, Senior Europe Editor |
The European Commission is eyeing Cosco’s deepening reach into the European port sector, as well as the broader issue of state subsidies to Asia-based carriers and shipyards.
Transport, Trade, and Regulation News

Container data standards effort builds with new carriers joining

Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor |
Adding five new members may give the Digital Container Shipping Association the quorum needed to press forward with the development of standard data protocols.
Logistics Technology NewsContainer lines

Cosco accelerates logistics push beyond ocean, ports

Mark Szakonyi, Executive Editor |
The Chinese state-run ocean carrier and fellow Asia-based lines are slowly revealing plans that tilt toward deeper logistics services beyond conventional ocean shipping, with a distinctive Asian focus.