Supply chain

The IMO will introduce shipping’s new fuel standard in 2027 aimed at accelerating the industry’s decarbonization, but carriers need to work on improving fuel consumption now or risk missing short-term emissions goals.

The scale of the investment required by companies across the maritime value chain in the transition from fossil fuels to green energy will need to be underpinned by clear global regulations, according to shipping executives.

A legal battle over unpaid detention and demurrage bills between the forwarder and importer Giti Tire has now moved to US maritime regulators.

The fast-evolving supply chain technology market prompted the global forwarders to take over Forward Computers, which will be run under a joint venture as an independent business.

While the current US freight recession for trucking volumes is rather middling compared with recessions over the last five decades, the severity of the rate decline has been the sharpest and recovery isn’t likely until 2025, writes economist Jason Miller.

The nearly 1.7 million square feet of cross-dock capacity that has come online over the past two years is a mark of volume growth and the deepening of supply chains through Norfolk’s terminals, writes Journal of Commerce Executive Editor Mark Szakonyi.

The customs pre-arrival security and safety program is being implemented in three steps, starting with ocean and inland waterway carriers in June.

Amid a range of efforts to automate and standardize truckload appointments, a new provider has launched a neutral platform to reduce manual work and errors associated with the process.

During the tenure of the two members, the FMC has ramped up its oversight of the container shipping industry following widespread strains during the pandemic-era container surge.

A preliminary federal investigation found the use of a different breaker configuration than had been previously in use onboard the Dali that led to a series of power blackouts on its outbound voyage.

Containers offloaded from ships calling at APM Terminal’s Maasvlakte II terminal can be palletized and in trucks “within hours,” thanks to a new cross-dock warehouse, according to the Maersk’s new head of northern Europe.

After a two-year binge that left inventories bloated, demand for imported wine, beer and spirits dried up in 2023.

Increased negative sentiment toward inventory growth among surveyed shippers points to “no-build-and-hold” leaner inventory strategies that would dull freight demand.

Two weeks before new rules around detention and demurrage billing go into effect, the US Federal Maritime Commission has told ocean carriers that contracts independent of a “through bill of lading” fall outside its jurisdiction.

Shippers will soon be able to retrieve cargo aboard the Dali, but they or their insurers will be expected to post sizable bonds to cover general average claims.

Candor Expedite’s new service is designed to let perishables shippers use lower-cost freight modes and reduce product spoilage.

Despite the multitude of threats facing ocean shipping, there are indications those disruptions — active or potential — are not influencing the behavior of shippers nearly to the degree some may have hoped after the chaos wrought by the pandemic.

The exercise equipment maker alleged in a complaint to the Federal Maritime Commission that the forwarder failed to meet its obligations under a carrier haulage agreement.

Changes in container volumes arriving in a particular port are driven by general economic conditions affecting the overall level of imports and the choice of that port as the import gateway for inland regions, writes analyst Larry Gross.

Clothing imports are rebounding in 2024, but retailers will likely wait for clear signs of demand growth to bring in additional product after a double-digit percentage drop last year.

The auditing initiative between the carrier and software vendor OpenEnvoy was kickstarted by CMA CGM’s ZEBOX technology incubator, which connects startups with entrenched logistics partners.

US electronics imports are rebounding after a two-year decline as consumers replace devices purchased during the COVID-19 pandemic with newer products.

Elevated mortgage rates and inflation continue to drag down new home construction and remodeling activity, two of the major drivers of US household goods imports.

Although electric trucks are improving, the electricity and charging networks needed to power them are not ready, Pitt Ohio’s Taki Darakos told a US House committee.

The impact of companies relocating manufacturing to Mexico is beginning to be felt, with Ryder’s freight volumes rising all along the US-Mexico border.

John Urban spent a year as chairman and CEO trying to salvage Slync, the logistics automation platform negatively impacted by the high-profile legal saga of its founder Chris Kirchner.

Biomethane and biomethanol-based fuels suitable for shipping and produced outside Europe may not receive automatic certification within the European Commission’s gaseous fuel database to be released in November.

The visibility product, called Live Position, is the first service offered as part of the carrier’s 2022 investment to equip its entire box fleet with location-tracking hardware.

The legislation adds advanced biofuels and e-fuels to a list of clean energy supported by the EU, which shipowners regard as a crucial step toward meeting the industry’s alternative fuel needs of the future.

Shippers have long struggled to get direct access to rail milestone data that matches the depth and accuracy of ocean visibility markers.

US package shippers are shifting from air to ground and from premium-priced to deferred services, UPS says, boosting its SurePost volumes by 10%.

Demand that began to build at the end of last year spilled into the first quarter and K+N says its forward bookings indicate the positive volume development will continue as the year progresses.

XPO, Estes and Saia are starting to reopen terminals they acquired from bankrupt Yellow, adding to LTL trucking capacity as they pursue new business.

Warehouse vacancy rates are still rising in Southern California due to what Prologis says is a long correction, but a wave of imports may change that.

The primary dilemma for shippers is whether to source visibility data or applications from a standalone vendor or to expect it to be included in a bundle from a third-party logistics provider.

The World Shipping Council said the Federal Maritime Commission’s new rule on detention and demurrage is creating “substantial confusion and uncertainty.”

The World Shipping Council said in a new report it wants Brussels to design policy frameworks “that facilitate the essential role of shipping in a globally connected economy.”

Coast Guard veteran Joe Kramek will succeed John Butler in August as chief executive of the World Shipping Council as US lawmakers continue to push legislation that brings greater scrutiny to the liner shipping industry.

An alliance of global shippers will pool their volume in a two-year deal with the carrier to transport cargo from Singapore to Rotterdam using fuel that produces zero CO2 emissions.

A rebound in the US Freight Transportation Services Index is the latest of several indicators pointing to stronger seasonal freight activity, but excess capacity is diluting the impact of demand.