Transport, Trade, and Regulation News

Discover the news and analysis of supply chain strategies, sourcing and trends covered by the Journal of Commerce. Comprehensive coverage includes customs, trade news, transport news and the latest information about trade regulations. 

The latest Transport, Trade, and Regulation News News & Analysis

FMC investigating nearly 50 charge complaints against carriers, NVOs

Teri Errico Griffis, Associate Editor |
Half of the complaints are under investigation by the FMC while the other half of submissions were denied for timing, insufficient information, or misalignment with the complaint process.
Transport, Trade, and Regulation News

FMC emergency order unnecessary despite ‘severe’ congestion: container lines

Teri Errico Griffis, Associate Editor |
A majority of respondents support the FMC emergency data sharing order, but container lines and other groups believe port congestion is improving and, therefore, does constitute an "emergency."
Transport, Trade, and Regulation News

Demurrage pains show spirit of OSRA-22 not matching intent

Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor |
A new data element mandated by the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022 in June hasn’t changed the score for importers that struggle with the pressure of retrieving containers while disputing demurrage charges.
Transport, Trade, and Regulation News

FMC receives strong support for emergency order on port congestion

Teri Errico Griffis, Associate Editor |
The FMC’s emergency order on data sharing would seek to alleviate port congestion by requiring more visibility into appointment availability, empty container return times, and terminal closures.
Transport, Trade, and Regulation News

Industry largely non-compliant with OSRA-22 demurrage invoice mandate

Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor |
A mandated “container available” data element related to demurrage fees is largely not being complied with yet as the shipping industry grapples with the immediate implications of OSRA-22.
Transport, Trade, and Regulation NewsLogistics Technology NewsContainer lines

Shipper seeks $600,000 from CMA CGM in latest FMC complaint

Teri Errico Griffis, Associate Editor |
The complaint to the Federal Maritime Commission is the latest made by a shipper against a major carrier following OSRA-22 being signed into law in June.
Transport, Trade, and Regulation News

US extends truck driver hours exemption ahead of expected COVID surge

William B. Cassidy, Senior Editor |
The HOS exemption has been extended five times since it was put in place in 2020 by a presidential emergency order, and it has been modified as the pandemic evolved.
Transport, Trade, and Regulation NewsTrucking News

FMC complaint alleges Maersk failed to provide contracted vessel capacity

Teri Errico Griffis, Associate Editor |
Rolled cargo complaints have come up several times this year before the FMC after heavy pandemic-induced demand in late 2020 into 2021 overwhelmed available vessel capacity.
Transport, Trade, and Regulation News

Yang Ming settles FMC complaint with importer

Teri Errico Griffis, Associate Editor |
Yang Ming has been hit twice this year with complaints from importers alleging the carrier failed to honor capacity commitments.
Transport, Trade, and Regulation News

FMC seeking shipper input on OSRA-mandated ‘emergency’ review

Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor |
While the FMC seeks input over whether to declare an emergency need for information sharing by container lines, the agency’s advisory committee has suggested setting up a parallel carrier group to improve dialogue.
Transport, Trade, and Regulation NewsLogistics Technology News

FMC begins rulemaking tied to denial of export service

Mark Szakonyi, Executive Editor |
Maritime regulators are wrestling with how to refine rulemaking on when it is unreasonable for carriers to refuse export bookings, writes JOC Executive Editor Mark Szakonyi.
Container linesTransport, Trade, and Regulation News

FMC seeks ocean carrier input on export, import tonnage reporting

Teri Errico Griffis, Associate Editor |
The call for export and import data comes as small- and medium-sized US agricultural exporters complain that their cargo has been largely ignored by carriers over the past three years.
Transport, Trade, and Regulation News

NITL backs proposal repealing antitrust immunity for carriers

Teri Errico Griffis, Associate Editor; Mark Szakonyi, Executive Editor |
Despite the FMC finding there was no collusion among ocean shipping alliances causing elevated freight rates, NITL believes there are still concerns about the industry that new antitrust legislation could address.
Transport, Trade, and Regulation News

FMC reorganizes enforcement duties in aftermath of OSRA-22

Teri Errico Griffis, Associate Editor |
The reorganization within the FMC comes as the agency steps up its enforcement and compliance activities in the wake of US shipping reform.
Transport, Trade, and Regulation News

Shipper seeks FMC intervention after $3 million in D&D charges

Teri Errico Griffis, Associate Editor |
The complaint brought by a New York-based food importer is the latest in a string of detention and demurrage cases the FMC has investigated of late.
Transport, Trade, and Regulation News

Complaints flowing in after FMC adjusts submission process

Teri Errico Griffis, Associate Editor |
Ten days after the US Federal Maritime Commission told shippers they no longer need to pay a filing fee or retain a lawyer to submit a complaint, shippers have already begun taking advantage of the updated process.
Transport, Trade, and Regulation News

Trade groups demand EU review carrier anti-trust exemption

Greg Knowler, Senior Europe Editor |
Pressure is mounting on European regulators to conduct a review of container shipping’s block exemption from competition law.
Transport, Trade, and Regulation News

Maersk taps startup partner to offer visibility on forced labor exposure

Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor |
A range of US importers are at risk of violating new regulations over the involvement of forced labor in the goods they import, leading Maersk and technology vendor Altana AI to partner in a program to help shippers identify that risk.
Transport, Trade, and Regulation NewsLogistics Technology News

Shipper pushing back against ‘excessive’ fees in latest FMC complaint

Teri Errico Griffis, Associate Editor |
The complaint comes one month after OSRA-22 became law, giving the FMC additional funding to hire more staff to increase monitoring of the container shipping industry.
Transport, Trade, and Regulation News

California legislators ask Gov. Newsom to exempt truckers from AB5

Teri Errico Griffis, Associate Editor |
After three years of appeals failed to stop AB5, California legislators are calling on Gov. Gavin Newsom to take any action he can to further delay the worker classification law or exempt truckers from it.
Transport, Trade, and Regulation News

Hong Kong extends vessel-sharing exemption for carriers, but cuts validity period

Keith Wallis, Special Correspondent |
Competition watchdogs in key Asian jurisdictions are extending antitrust exemptions for the vessel-sharing agreements of ocean carriers, but trimming the validity period of those exemptions.
Transport, Trade, and Regulation News

New House legislation would entice carriers to haul US exports

Teri Errico Griffis, Associate Editor |
Hot on the heels of major shipping reform signed into law, two California Congressmen have introduced a bill that would incentivize vessels to carry US ag exports or call multiple US ports.
Transport, Trade, and Regulation News

OSRA-22 rules on detention, demurrage go into effect

Teri Errico Griffis, Associate Editor |
Amid ongoing complaints that shippers can’t move cargo or return empties, new US shipping rules are enforcing when carriers can levy detention and demurrage fees.
Transport, Trade, and Regulation News

Carriers’ antitrust immunity may be next target of US shipping reform

Peter Tirschwell |
The next logical step in reforming US shipping law – the elimination of ocean carriers’ antitrust immunity – was briefly proposed earlier this year, but shot down due to its potential impact on carriers’ ability to operate within alliances.
Transport, Trade, and Regulation News

FMC ready to hit ground running on OSRA: Maffei

Michael Angell, Associate Editor |
The head of the Federal Maritime Commission said his agency is ready to enforce new US shipping reform aimed at monitoring carrier behavior around container use charges and export slots.
Transport, Trade, and Regulation News

Biden signs OSRA-22 shipping reform into law

Teri Errico Griffis, Associate Editor |
The White House says US shipping reform will help corral inflation by easing port congestion and more closely monitoring ocean carriers, claims disputed by OSRA-22 opponents.
Transport, Trade, and Regulation News

US ocean shipping reform heads to Biden after House approval

Mark Szakonyi, Executive Editor |
President Joe Biden has promised to sign ocean shipping reform legislation, but the bill won’t do anything to address US port and inland congestion or the record freight rates he’s railed against.
Transport, Trade, and Regulation News

Biden makes final push for OSRA as House vote nears

Teri Errico Griffis, Associate Editor |
President Joe Biden visited the Port of Los Angeles to take ocean carriers to task while stumping for final Congressional approval of major US shipping law reform.
Transport, Trade, and Regulation News

FMC signaling measured approach ahead of OSRA

Mark Szakonyi, Executive Editor |
US container shipping regulators are signaling measured moves aimed at providing more structure to commercial exchanges without stepping directly into them, writes JOC Executive Editor Mark Szakonyi.
Transport, Trade, and Regulation News

FMC needs to expand to increase monitoring, meet OSRA mandates

Teri Errico Griffis, Associate Editor |
The Federal Maritime Commission hopes to increase its team to 160 full-time staff to boost enforcement capabilities and deepen its monitoring of shipping alliances.
Transport, Trade, and Regulation News

Wan Hai pays $850,000 fine to settle FMC detention case

Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor |
For the second time in two weeks, a container line has been assessed a US civil penalty for collecting detention fees last year when it allegedly did not provide drayage providers with a means to return empty containers.
Transport, Trade, and Regulation NewsDrayageContainer linesMaritime

Bentzel wants partial FMC oversight over rail demurrage

Ari Ashe, Senior Editor |
Federal Maritime Commissioner Carl Bentzel wants the agency to regulate rail storage fees in certain cases when ocean containers cannot be picked up from an intermodal terminal through no fault of the cargo owner.
Transport, Trade, and Regulation News

Hapag-Lloyd hit with $882,220 US civil penalty over detention charges

Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor |
The ruling against Hapag-Lloyd could well be a bellwether for future actions against shipping lines relating to what shippers and drayage providers consider unfair assessment of demurrage and detention fees.
Transport, Trade, and Regulation NewsContainer linesMaritime

Empties vs. exports highlights precarious balancing act for US supply chain

Dustin Braden, Shipper Engagement Manager |
The matter of empty containers highlights the dizzying complexity of the modern supply chain, wherein gains for drayage truckers and marine terminals can be interpreted as a loss for exporters.
Container linesTransport, Trade, and Regulation News

FMC members seek per diem relief over Expeditors cyber-attack

Michael Angell, Associate Editor |
Two members of the Federal Maritime Commission say ocean carriers need to tread lightly when assessing per diem container fees that are related to the cyber-attack on forwarder Expeditors.
Transport, Trade, and Regulation News

FMC urged to align per diem policy with IANA rules

Michael Angell, Associate Editor |
The Intermodal Association of North America said that it has an effective dispute resolution process for per diem container bills that could be disrupted if new federal rules are adopted.
Transport, Trade, and Regulation News

Shippers resume complaints to FMC over unfulfilled contract space

Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor |
New complaints to the US Federal Maritime Commission over the alleged failure of carriers to move volumes committed in ocean freight contracts suggests shipper frustration with capacity availability and rates remains high.
Transport, Trade, and Regulation NewsContainer lines

FMC probing major liners, ‘pop-up’ carriers on US export service

Michael Angell, Associate Editor |
The Federal Maritime Commission is adding the availability of export capacity to its ongoing scrutiny of how ocean carriers are operating in the US.
Transport, Trade, and Regulation News

US lawmakers take aim at ocean carriers with shipping reform push

Mark Szakonyi, Executive Editor |
Democratic senators took the opportunity of a recent committee meeting to drill FMC Chairman Daniel Maffei on sky-high freight rates charged by ocean carriers amid declining service levels.
Transport, Trade, and Regulation NewsContainer lines

TPM22: COVID-linked labor disruption driving massive wage inflation: Cohn

Karen Robes Meeks |
The millions of open jobs that US employers are struggling to fill has led to significant wage inflation in the two years since the COVID-19 pandemic arrived on US shores, the former director of the National Economic Council told TPM22.
Transport, Trade, and Regulation News