Cool Cargo News

The Journal of Commerce’s reefer shipping news and analysis covers refrigerated cargo transportation, rates, reefer cargo weight capacity, technology, equipment, lessors and providers.

The latest Cool Cargo News News & Analysis

Industry experts pinpoint threats to reefer shippers, carriers

Lara Sowinski |
Although advancements in equipment, refrigeration systems, and software and technology help to mitigate risks, a dynamic global cold chain in perpetual flux means there are always new challenges to confront.
Cool Cargo News

Drewry: Reefer demand to remain container line bright spot

Joseph Bonney, Senior Editor |
Refrigerated containers will remain one of the few relatively bright spots for struggling ocean carriers.
Container linesCool Cargo News

Singapore tops list of market prospects for US reefer exports

Lara L. Sowinski |
Singapore holds the strongest potential for U.S. refrigerated exports in a global market ripe for growth, according to the U.S. International Trade Administration’s recently released “2016 Cold Chain Top Markets Report.”
Cool Cargo News

Finalized US sanitary rule requires more scrutiny from food shippers

Lara L. Sowinski |
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has refocused a rule on transportation practices that could pose a threat to food safety, bringing the focus back to risk.
Cool Cargo News

Container lines' reefer investments reap new services, equipment

Lara L. Sowinski |
Container lines’ latest investments in their reefer business range from purchasing new equipment and implementing tracking, refrigeration and controlled atmosphere technology to introducing new routes and services.
Cool Cargo NewsContainer lines

Reefer market poised for growth but faces supply chain challenges

Lara L. Sowinski |
Innovation in the cold chain industry, especially real-time tracking and tracing, lags other industries, a logistics director says.
Cool Cargo NewsContainer lines

Maersk performs high-tech predictive analysis on reefer shipments

Lara L. Sowinski |
Maersk Line employs remote container management to check the status of refrigerated containers.
Cool Cargo News

Canada's Manitoulin Group acquires global cold-chain forwarder

William B. Cassidy, Senior Editor |
<p>Canadian freight operator Manitoulin Global Forwarding added temperature-controlled trucking to its portfolio.</p>
Cool Cargo NewsTrucking NewsLTL

Major Indian trucker moves into refrigerated transportation

India Special Correspondent |
Trucking giant Transport Corporation of India is moving into the cold chain logistics.
Trucking NewsCool Cargo News

CMA CGM takes aim at air cargo market with new lobster container

Bruce Barnard, Special Correspondent |
CMA CGM has introduced a new container to corner the live lobster market.
Container linesCool Cargo NewsAir Cargo

Oakland cold storage provider expands with port

Bill Mongelluzzo, Senior Editor |
A local cold-storage provider near the Port of Oakland has decided to expand after seeing the results of the port's efforts to improve the movement of refrigerated products between the port and its warehouses.
North American portsCool Cargo NewsRail News

Double-digit dedicated trucking growth drives Marten Transport

William B. Cassidy, Senior Editor |
A strong surge in dedicated trucking business helped balance falling fuel surcharges for Marten Transport in the first quarter. The trucker bucked trends and increased revenue.
TruckloadCool Cargo News

India refrigerated provider expands to meet growth

India Special Correspondent |
Snowman Logistics Ltd., India’s leading cold chain logistics solutions provider, is ramping up its operations to meet expected growth in reefer cargo shipments.
Cool Cargo News

Reefer shippers value quality service and equipment

Lara L. Sowinski |
During the 16th annual TPM Conference here, executives participating in the Cool Cargoes’ “Refrigerated Roundtable” session revealed that quality service and equipment are paramount to shippers of refrigerated cargo.
Cool Cargo News

New reefers promise faster, more accurate cold chain monitoring

Lara L. Sowinski, Cool Cargoes editor |
Despite a weakened global ocean shipping market, carriers continue to invest in the refrigerated sector. Maersk Line, which boasts the largest containerized reefer fleet with 20 percent of the global market, purchased 30,000 additional units in 2015 alone, and its competitors are making sizable investments of their own.
Cool Cargo NewsContainer lines

Temp-control services offset soft market for rail logistics providers

Lara L. Sowinski, Cool Cargoes editor |
Rail logistics providers in North America are moving deeper into the perishables market with new services aimed at shippers looking for dependable and cost-effective transportation options, particularly for long-haul moves.
Cool Cargo NewsRail News

New packaging helps life sciences meet complex cold chain demands

Lara L. Sowinski |
Big Pharma is getting even bigger, and cold chain support, including packaging, is all the more critical as the industry grows from an estimated global worth of $300 billion currently to $400 billion by 2020, according to the World Health Organization.
Cool Cargo News

Dole deploys container ships on Latin America-California route

David Tinsley, Special Correspondent |
Dole’s deployment of the Dole Pacific on regular service between California and Latin America is the latest sign of how refrigerated ship operators are turning increasingly to container ships from traditional break bulk vessels.
Container linesCool Cargo News

Maersk adds, enhances Latin America-Europe services to tap reefer demand

Dustin Braden, Shipper Relationship Manager |
Maersk Line had added a new service from Latin America to Europe and a new call on an existing service in the trade lane in an effort to tap one of the areas where container lines can still gain steadily profitable business: reefer cargo.
Container linesCool Cargo News

Busiest India gateway more than doubles reefer capacity

JOC Staff |
Jawaharal Nehru Port Trust, India’s biggest container handler, last week more than doubled its refrigerated cargo-handling capacity when it opened a new reefer site in the harbor.
International portsCool Cargo News

Refrigerated storage provider doubles Charleston facility

Joseph Bonney, Senior Editor |
New Orleans Cold Storage has more than doubled the size of its facility near Charleston, South Carolina, with an 81,000-square-foot expansion that more than doubles its blast-freezing capacity.
North American portsCool Cargo News

Strong demand has Zim start Black Sea reefer service early

Bruce Barnard, Special Correspondent |
Zim Integrated Shipping Services said it will launch a seasonal Black Sea reefer service between Israel, Egypt and Russia earlier than planned in response to market demand.
Container linesCool Cargo News

Zim expands reefer fleet to meet shipment visibility demand

Dustin Braden, Shipper Relationship Manager |
Zim Integrated Shipping Services is expanding its refrigerated container fleet by 1,900 forty-foot containers to meet growing demand for equipment that can provide shippers real-time updates of temperature and gas levels within the equipment.
Container linesCool Cargo News

China cold chain battling to cope with rising demand

Greg Knowler, Senior Europe Editor |
The top 100 cold chain logistics players in China account for just 0.4 percent of the market, with the highly fragmented nature of the supply chain struggling to keep up with rapidly rising demand.
Cool Cargo News

Dedicated demand drives Marten Transport profit, revenue

William B. Cassidy, Senior Editor |
Plummeting fuel surcharges took a bite out of the refrigerated transporter's total revenue, but strong dedicated and brokerage business helped build underlying profits, shore up weaker truckload unit in the third quarter.
TruckloadCool Cargo News

Refrigerated providers expanding services to meet customer needs

Lara L. Sowinski, Cool Cargoes editor |
The transition from cold warehouse or cold carrier to third-party logistics services provider is fairly mature. But that’s not to suggest it’s stopped. A thriving industry continues to evolve, and that’s very much the case with the cold chain sector.
Cool Cargo News

Lineage Logistics exec outlines infrastructure, tech investments

Lara L. Sowinski, Cool Cargoes editor |
Diogo Lobo, vice president of international logistics at Lineage Logistics, recently shared his perspective on where the company and cold chain logistics industry is heading.
Cool Cargo News

New reefer technology preserves perishables for extended distances

Lara L. Sowinski |
In the hyper-competitive world of refrigerated transportation, ocean carriers are always on the lookout for new solutions to control the atmosphere inside their containers while satisfying their drive for energy efficiency and improved environmental sustainability.
Container linesCool Cargo News

Efforts to grow market share drive reefer box buying spree

Lara L. Sowinski |
Major container carriers such as Maersk Line, Mediterranean Shipping Co., United Arab Shipping Co., Hamburg Sud and Hapag-Lloyd are among those making significant investments in their reefer business to help offset slower growth in other business areas.
Container linesCool Cargo News

Pharmaceutical industry's shift to ocean spawns liability concerns

Lara L. Sowinski |
Pharmaceutical companies have increased their oceangoing share of shipments. Ocean carriers and cold chain service providers are happy for the business, but the moves have also creased concerns over insurance and liability.
Container linesCool Cargo News

Reefer equipment reaches surplus point, cool cargo execs say

Michael Hollmann, special correspondent |
Growth in consumption of fruits, vegetables, meat and fish in emerging and newly industrialized countries should accelerate in the coming years, creating tailwinds for reefer container and specialized reefer operators.
Cool Cargo NewsContainer lines

US food exporters push for port productivity transparency bill

Lara L. Sowinski |
Nearly a year after labor stoppages at U.S. West Coast ports burned scores of perishables shippers, the industry’s largest advocacy group refuses to relent in its push for greater transparency in how ports are operated and negotiations with unions are conducted.
Transport, Trade, and Regulation NewsCool Cargo News

Australia shipper expects TPP to fuel reefer growth

Zoe Reynolds, Special Correspondent |
Shipping Australia Limited is betting the Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade deal will be a boon for the Australian reefer trade, which the country hopes will offset the trade losses sustained after the commodity bust.
Cool Cargo News

Tampa joins reefer pilot program

Reynolds Hutchins, Associate Editor |
Florida’s Port Tampa Bay joins the ranks of other U.S. Southeast ports that will soon be able to handle direct imports of select cold-treated produce from South America, bringing new business to the Sunshine State and cutting logistics costs for produce shippers.
North American portsCool Cargo News

Australia promotes food exports after commodity boom ends

Zoe Reynolds, Special Correspondent |
Australia is trying to boost its containerized food exports after a world commodity glut halted a boom in shipments of the nation’s top three export commodities, iron ore, coal, and liquefied natural gas.
MaritimeCool Cargo News

Perishables, pharmaceuticals warm up air cargo growth

Lara L. Sowinski |
Perishables and pharmaceuticals — among the most lucrative segments of the air cargo because of the time-sensitive nature of their delivery — are at the forefront of air carrier plans to bolster revenue.
Air Cargo Carriers NewsCool Cargo News

UASC orders 3,500 additional reefer containers

JOC Staff |
United Arab Shipping Co. has ordered another 3,500 reefer containers, after ordering 2,000 units from Japan’s Daikin Industries in January.
Container linesCool Cargo News

CN investing in cold chain capacity

JOC Staff |
Canadian National Railway plans to invest C$20 million to expand its cold supply chain capacity to help producers and distributors of chilled and frozen foods increase business in North American and overseas markets.
North-American railCool Cargo News

E-commerce drives investment in China’s reefer logistics networks

Lara L. Sowinski |
E-commerce could be improving food safety in China. Cainiao, the logistics affiliate of online retailer Alibaba, plans to build fresh-food distribution centers in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. The three DCs will support cold-chain delivery of fresh food purchased on Taobao Marketplace and Tmall.com within 24 hours, with options for delivery on specific dates and times, as well as night delivery.
Cool Cargo News

Maersk reefer exec sees slow-steaming staying, GPS track growing

Lara L. Sowinski |
The world’s largest container carrier — and reefer carrier — Maersk Line is well-versed in the details of shipping temperature-controlled cargoes. William “Bill” Duggan, vice president of North American refrigerated services, recently shared his thoughts on key challenges and opportunities confronting the global reefer market.
Container linesCool Cargo News