Supply chain

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.

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.

Rather than falling off a cliff, it appears freight markets are normalizing after two years where nothing has been normal, writes logistics expert Jason Miller.

Expeditors International said its revenue grew in the second quarter despite a drop in volumes as supply chain uncertainty kept freight rates at a premium.

Scoular, one of the US’ top exporters, discovered significant duplicate invoices from its ocean transportation providers in recent months, an issue likely to become more pervasive as regulators scrutinize carrier and terminal billing.

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.

Load board provider DAT and freight broker Convoy have sued one another over Convoy’s development of a product that DAT says is competitive with its own, violating a contract Convoy signed with DAT.

The reorganization within the FMC comes as the agency steps up its enforcement and compliance activities in the wake of US shipping reform.

The latest integration is a sign of continued strategic partnerships between logistics software vendors as they seek to amplify the value their solutions offer.

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.

End-to-end visibility of the freight flowing across oceans and moving across the US is the goal of the partnership between Flexport and Nolan Transportation Group, giving shippers more control over modal choices and costs.

German state-owned railroad Deutsche Bahn fell deep into the red during the pandemic, but the huge profitability generated by forwarding subsidiary DB Schenker has turned around two years of losses.

The cost of physical devices to monitor freight shipments has always been a hurdle for providers, one that Tive is addressing through a new — and cheaper — shipping label-sized product that measures location and temperature.

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.

Multi-year contracts signed by shippers at the height of the ocean freight bull run may be less attractive as the market begins to soften, according to forwarder DSV.

Deciding whether to outsource key logistics functions is an existential question for shippers, one made harder by external dynamics being out of whack during the pandemic.

Kuehne + Nagel shrugged off weakening air and ocean markets to post a record first-half result and expects its profitable run to continue through the next two quarters.

Pressure is mounting on European regulators to conduct a review of container shipping’s block exemption from competition law.

ExFreight’s transactional focus on pricing each leg of a container and air shipment has allowed the forwarder to navigate chaotic international markets over the past two years.

project44 executives say continued expected revenue growth and a healthy pipeline of new business cut against the notion that its move to let go of 63 employees is a sign of deteriorating fortunes.

Visibility data provider Vizion has landed its third venture funding round in 18 months, a $14 million infusion that it will use to expand its product offerings and geographic footprint.

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.

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.

The Digital Container Shipping Association is ramping up efforts to drive electronic bill of lading adoption by working with four technology vendors and a major shipper to ensure their products are interoperable.

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.

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.

Recent funding rounds for Flexe and PayCargo are symbolic of the confusing market that logistics technology companies are navigating, with funding still available but harder to obtain than last year.

Not only does cargo flow in both North America and Europe fail to show any positive effects from the slowdown at origin, it’s trending in the opposite direction.

Small truckload fleets want access to online insurance quotes and coverage, which led low-cost transportation management software provider AscendTMS to partner with trucking insurance specialist CarrierHQ.

CloudTrucks is arming small carriers that struggle to get access to traditional credit lines with a product that facilitates routine operational expenses like fuel and lumper payments.

Forwarding software provider WiseTech Global has waded into the fragmented electronic bill of lading space with the purchase of Bolero, an early provider of trade finance and electronic documentation tools.

Sea-Air Logistics will increase Scan’s market share on the trans-Pacific, Asia-Europe, and intra-Asia trades through nine warehouses and offices in China, Hong Kong, and Singapore.

Convoy has expanded existing relationships with transportation management software provider MercuryGate and forwarder Flexport to give brokers access to more automation and shippers access to transload activity.

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.

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.

Two logistics-focused email automation specialists are joining forces, with London-based Sedna acquiring San Diego-based Shelly to accelerate the former’s ability to automate email data extraction for logistics teams.

Northbound capacity from Brazil to the US is tight due to ongoing strength in US imports, a reality that has boosted freight rates and is likely to continue until at least the fourth quarter of 2022.

Container lines flush with cash will accelerate deployment of container sensors through 2026, spurred by pandemic-induced volatility and Hapag-Lloyd's April decision to equip its entire fleet, according to Drewry.

Carriers are deploying extra capacity and launching new services to accommodate strong exports of produce and seafood from the west coast of South America to Asia and the Mediterranean.

Freight procurement specialist Transporeon has added a freight matching component to its product suite to help brokers tender spot freight to carriers already in their network.