<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">As global demand for refrigerated transport service rises, Ryder Europe is adding more temperature-controlled trailers to its rental fleet in the United Kingdom.
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As global demand for refrigerated transport service rises, Ryder Europe is adding more temperature-controlled trailers to its rental fleet in the United Kingdom.

<div>As global demand for refrigerated transport service rises, Ryder Europe is adding more temperature-controlled trailers to its rental fleet in the United Kingdom.The European division of the U.S.-based equipment rental and leasing company will add 60 reefer trailers to its U.K. fleet, 40 from manufacturer Montracon and 20 from Schmitz Cargobull.“We already have nearly 400 refrigerated trailers in our rental fleet, but a high level of customer demand has prompted us to make a significant investment in increasing our capacity,” said David Hunt, vice president and managing director of Ryder Europe.The market for commercial refrigeration equipment in Europe is expected...

As global demand for refrigerated transport service rises, Ryder Europe is adding more temperature-controlled trailers to its rental fleet in the United Kingdom. The European division of the U.S.-based equipment rental and leasing company will add 60 reefer trailers to its U.K. fleet, 40 from manufacturer Montracon and 20 from Schmitz Cargobull. “We already have nearly 400 refrigerated trailers in our rental fleet, but a high level of customer demand has prompted us to make a significant investment in increasing our capacity,” said David Hunt, vice president and managing director of Ryder Europe. The market for commercial refrigeration equipment in Europe is expected to grow by almost 50 percent from 2013 through 2019, according to a report by Transparency Market Research. Spurred by the emergence of supermarkets, international food trade and increased exports of seafood and processed foods, reefer equipment sales in Europe will rise from $7.7 billion in 2012 to nearly $11.6 billion by 2019, Transparency said in its report, released in May. Drewry estimates global reefer container volume will rise to 20.5 million metric tons through 2018, with seaborne perishable reefer trade increasing 17 percent from 2013 to 2018. Contact William B. Cassidy at wcassidy@joc.com and follow him on Twitter: @wbcassidy_joc .

Cool Cargo News

Trucking News

Ryder Europe adds refrigerated trailers in Europe as demand rises

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Car carriers and ro/ro operators had been left in limbo since the deal to postpone reciprocal US and Chinese port fees was announced during the meeting of presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping in South Korea on Oct. 30.</div>

Car carriers and ro/ro operators had been left in limbo since the deal to postpone reciprocal US and Chinese port fees was announced during the meeting of presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping in South Korea on Oct. 30.

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<div class="phx-topic">Car carriers and roll-on/roll-off (ro/ro) operators are welcoming confirmation that their foreign-built ships are included in the US Trade Representative’s (USTR) year-long pause in port fees that begins Monday. The inclusion of foreign-built vehicle carriers and ro/ros in the 12-month suspension was made official when the USTR issued a formal notice Thursday inviting public comment on the suspension of port fees, which mainly target China-built, -operated and -flagged ships. In its notice, the USTR gave respondents less than 48 hours to comment, with the deadline of 5 pm EST Friday before the pause takes effect Monday. “We are pleased to see the USTR proposal to postpone the port fees,” Andreas Enger, CEO of Norwegian operator Höegh Autoliners, told the Journal of Commerce Friday. Enger said the USTR’s move will help make US automakers more competitive in the global market. Enger said the export of US-built cars “makes up a substantial share” of the carrier’s business. Florida-headquartered operator Accordia Shipping said the suspension will allow it to continue its ro/ro expansion plans, “at least for one more year.” “We will proceed with the acquisition of a ‘con/ro’ ship, which carries containers and ro/ro cargo,” the company’s legal affairs liaison, Farid Escobar, told the Journal of Commerce. The carrier’s trade consists almost entirely of outbound US exports to Caribbean destinations, including Haiti and the Dominican Republic, Escobar said. Accordia had faced a port fee bill of almost $1 million in the first year, which Escobar found hard for the USTR to justify given that the company’s operation “serves as a short-sea extension of US export infrastructure, supporting domestic manufacturing, regional commerce and supply-chain resilience.” <h3>Operators had planned measures to manage fees </h3>Car carrier and ro/ro operators had been left in limbo since the deal to postpone reciprocal US and Chinese port fees <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/us-china-suspend-reciprocal-port-fees-as-part-of-wider-trade-deal-6105849">was announced during the meeting of presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping in South Korea on Oct. 30.</a> The original USTR section 301 action to impose port levies not only targeted Chinese-owned or operated ships, but all foreign-built vehicle carriers and ro/ros whether China-built or not. The Oct. 30 announcement only mentioned a pause for China-linked vessels; there was no reference to vehicle carriers, an omission that left operators unsure whether the fees still applied to their ships. Carriers and US automobile and heavy machinery manufacturers said they faced significant cost increases and a shortage of shipping capacity after port fees were introduced on Oct. 14. Lasse Kristoffersen, president and CEO of Wallenius Wilhelmsen, the world’s biggest vehicle operator with around 130 ships, said the company had faced a $100 million port fee bill in the current quarter, although it hoped to mitigate the impact or pass the extra costs onto customers. Responding to the confirmation of the 12-month pause in fees, Wilhelmsen said it noted the US had issued “a formal notice postponing the implementation of Section 301 measures...(but)...will await a formal confirmation of the docket before we draw any conclusions.” Both Wallenius Wilhelmsen and Höegh Autoliners had drawn up contingencies to offset the impact of the US port fees. Höegh’s Enger said the company’s third-quarter dividend payment would be canceled to preserve cash after it faced a $60 million to $70 million hit from the port fees. He said the payment was suspended in response to the general uncertainty in trade policy and regulations, including the port fees. “We believe this uncertainty still exists, and we do not intend to reverse our decision on timing of payouts,” Enger said. Speaking during Wilhelmsen’s third-quarter results briefing on Nov. 5, Kristoffersen said the company had prepared 15 measures to manage the US port fees, including maximizing the deployment of its fleet of 11 US-flagged ships on US calls. US-flagged ships were exempt from the port fees. Contact Keith Wallis at <a href="mailto:keithwallis@hotmail.com">keithwallis@hotmail.com.</a></div>

Car carriers and roll-on/roll-off (ro/ro) operators are welcoming confirmation that their foreign-built ships are included in the US Trade Representative’s (USTR) year-long pause in port fees that begins Monday. The inclusion of foreign-built vehicle carriers and ro/ros in the 12-month suspension was made official when the USTR issued a formal notice Thursday inviting public comment on the suspension of port fees, which mainly target China-built, -operated and -flagged ships. In its notice, the USTR gave respondents less than 48 hours to comment, with the deadline of 5 pm EST Friday before the pause takes effect Monday. “We are pleased to see the USTR proposal to postpone the port fees,” Andreas Enger, CEO of Norwegian operator Höegh Autoliners, told the Journal of Commerce Friday. Enger said the USTR’s move will help make US automakers more competitive in the global market. Enger said the export of US-built cars “makes up a substantial share” of the carrier’s business. Florida-headquartered operator Accordia Shipping said the suspension will allow it to continue its ro/ro expansion plans, “at least for one more year.” “We will proceed with the acquisition of a ‘con/ro’ ship, which carries containers and ro/ro cargo,” the company’s legal affairs liaison, Farid Escobar, told the Journal of Commerce. The carrier’s trade consists almost entirely of outbound US exports to Caribbean destinations, including Haiti and the Dominican Republic, Escobar said. Accordia had faced a port fee bill of almost $1 million in the first year, which Escobar found hard for the USTR to justify given that the company’s operation “serves as a short-sea extension of US export infrastructure, supporting domestic manufacturing, regional commerce and supply-chain resilience.” Operators had planned measures to manage fees Car carrier and ro/ro operators had been left in limbo since the deal to postpone reciprocal US and Chinese port fees was announced during the meeting of presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping in South Korea on Oct. 30. The original USTR section 301 action to impose port levies not only targeted Chinese-owned or operated ships, but all foreign-built vehicle carriers and ro/ros whether China-built or not. The Oct. 30 announcement only mentioned a pause for China-linked vessels; there was no reference to vehicle carriers, an omission that left operators unsure whether the fees still applied to their ships. Carriers and US automobile and heavy machinery manufacturers said they faced significant cost increases and a shortage of shipping capacity after port fees were introduced on Oct. 14. Lasse Kristoffersen, president and CEO of Wallenius Wilhelmsen, the world’s biggest vehicle operator with around 130 ships, said the company had faced a $100 million port fee bill in the current quarter, although it hoped to mitigate the impact or pass the extra costs onto customers. Responding to the confirmation of the 12-month pause in fees, Wilhelmsen said it noted the US had issued “a formal notice postponing the implementation of Section 301 measures...(but)...will await a formal confirmation of the docket before we draw any conclusions.” Both Wallenius Wilhelmsen and Höegh Autoliners had drawn up contingencies to offset the impact of the US port fees. Höegh’s Enger said the company’s third-quarter dividend payment would be canceled to preserve cash after it faced a $60 million to $70 million hit from the port fees. He said the payment was suspended in response to the general uncertainty in trade policy and regulations, including the port fees. “We believe this uncertainty still exists, and we do not intend to reverse our decision on timing of payouts,” Enger said. Speaking during Wilhelmsen’s third-quarter results briefing on Nov. 5, Kristoffersen said the company had prepared 15 measures to manage the US port fees, including maximizing the deployment of its fleet of 11 US-flagged ships on US calls. US-flagged ships were exempt from the port fees. Contact Keith Wallis at keithwallis@hotmail.com.

Port News

Ro/ro cargo

Heavy-haul transport

Transport, Trade and Regulation News

Vehicle carriers, ro/ro operators relieved to be included in pause on US port fees

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">The ability to redeploy ships means that no trade operates in a bubble, but in the short term at least, each trade has its own supply and demand dynamics, notes Jeremy Masters. </div>

The ability to redeploy ships means that no trade operates in a bubble, but in the short term at least, each trade has its own supply and demand dynamics, notes Jeremy Masters.

<div class="phx-topic">There has been consternation in the container shipping industry as to why charter rates have remained reasonably firm when freight rates have been going down. It is natural to expect that rapidly declining freight rates would cause a pullback in demand for extra ships from carriers and thus put pressure on charter rates. <div class="wrapper-narrow float-right-element"><img src="/images/phoenix/6111259_0.1.jpg"></img></div>But the global market is, of course, made up of multiple trades. The ability to redeploy ships means that no trade operates in a bubble, but in the short term at least, each trade has its own supply/demand balance. Similarly, the charter market has several ranges of ship size and specifications, and the health of various sub-segments can vary. If we look at the individual interactions between trades and the specific ships required for those trades, we can start to see where the correlations are and why charter rates have remained generally firm up until now. References to freight rates going down usually refer to high-volume, long-haul trades. These trades are, however, served predominantly by large ships that are either carrier-owned or on longer-term charters to carriers. If we look at Alphaliner’s regular reports on chartering activity, the biggest size segment regularly reported is 7,500 TEUs to 13,000 TEUs. There has been an ongoing scarcity of these size ships available from non-operating owners (NOOs), and if carriers have a gap in their deep-sea coverage for these sizes, they tend to fix them for longer periods. Vessels over 13,000 TEUs are so seldom in the short-term charter market that they are not reported. Of course, there are some smaller chartered ships in the long-haul trades, but many are operated by the midsize/smaller-sized carriers, and their presence can be opportunistic. In the trades requiring the biggest ships, the short-term charter market is then of limited relevance and any search for a correlation versus freight rates will be unproductive. <h3>Smaller deep-sea trades </h3>If we switch to smaller deep-sea trades, regional trades and feeder trades (the latter two overlapping sometimes) predominantly requiring tonnage in the 2,000-TEU to 8,000-TEU range, there are a wide range of trades, each with its own dynamics. In these trades, there is a much wider variety of carriers and a higher dependence from both big and small carriers to use the elasticity of the charter market to plug supply gaps in existing services and to launch new services. There is also a much wider range in the age and efficiency of ships in this segment. The secondhand market is much more active, and the pipeline of newbuildings has been a lot more modest. What has been pivotal on charter ship supply (and thus price) has been the intervention by carriers — particularly Mediterranean Shipping Co. and CMA CGM — to buy NOO tonnage in the smaller/mid-sizes to operate in smaller trades. In April, Alphaliner reported that between August 2020 and March 2025, 3.7 million TEUs of NOO capacity was sold to end-users, and the net loss after newbuildings and some small purchases from end-users was 2.3 million TEUs. Suffice it to say, the supply side of the charter market has become inelastic at the same time carriers have been constrained in their ordering of new tonnage in these ship sizes. The result has been carriers chasing a limited supply of ships on the charter market and resorting to upgrading/downgrading the ship size they would accept, thus explaining why many sub-categories of size have remained firm at the same time. No disconnect then, just a change in supply that favored a firm charter market. <h3>Catalyst for short-term charter rates </h3>What will be the catalyst for short-term charter rates in the smaller sizes taking a major dip? Newbuild orders are going up in the smaller sizes, but as immediate supply remains constrained, a major dip in the short-term charter market will not happen unless there is a drop in demand in the smaller trades. These trades are, however, not immune from what is happening in the bigger trades. One of the options for carriers in dealing with overcapacity will be to cascade ships at the lower end of the big ship capacity range to midsize trades in the next tier, and so on. This can hit the short-term charter market because more owned/long-termed chartered ships will allow the return of short-term charters. And because of the oversupply of slots, low-rate contagion will also be exported, forcing carriers to reassess participation in trades requiring expensive charters. The correlation between freight markets and short-term charter markets may become a lot clearer in the coming months then — but in a negative way. Jeremy Masters is managing director of Shipping Masters. Contact him at <a href="mailto:jeremy@shippingmastershk.com">jeremy@shippingmastershk.com</a>. </div>

There has been consternation in the container shipping industry as to why charter rates have remained reasonably firm when freight rates have been going down. It is natural to expect that rapidly declining freight rates would cause a pullback in demand for extra ships from carriers and thus put pressure on charter rates. But the global market is, of course, made up of multiple trades. The ability to redeploy ships means that no trade operates in a bubble, but in the short term at least, each trade has its own supply/demand balance. Similarly, the charter market has several ranges of ship size and specifications, and the health of various sub-segments can vary. If we look at the individual interactions between trades and the specific ships required for those trades, we can start to see where the correlations are and why charter rates have remained generally firm up until now. References to freight rates going down usually refer to high-volume, long-haul trades. These trades are, however, served predominantly by large ships that are either carrier-owned or on longer-term charters to carriers. If we look at Alphaliner’s regular reports on chartering activity, the biggest size segment regularly reported is 7,500 TEUs to 13,000 TEUs. There has been an ongoing scarcity of these size ships available from non-operating owners (NOOs), and if carriers have a gap in their deep-sea coverage for these sizes, they tend to fix them for longer periods. Vessels over 13,000 TEUs are so seldom in the short-term charter market that they are not reported. Of course, there are some smaller chartered ships in the long-haul trades, but many are operated by the midsize/smaller-sized carriers, and their presence can be opportunistic. In the trades requiring the biggest ships, the short-term charter market is then of limited relevance and any search for a correlation versus freight rates will be unproductive. Smaller deep-sea trades If we switch to smaller deep-sea trades, regional trades and feeder trades (the latter two overlapping sometimes) predominantly requiring tonnage in the 2,000-TEU to 8,000-TEU range, there are a wide range of trades, each with its own dynamics. In these trades, there is a much wider variety of carriers and a higher dependence from both big and small carriers to use the elasticity of the charter market to plug supply gaps in existing services and to launch new services. There is also a much wider range in the age and efficiency of ships in this segment. The secondhand market is much more active, and the pipeline of newbuildings has been a lot more modest. What has been pivotal on charter ship supply (and thus price) has been the intervention by carriers — particularly Mediterranean Shipping Co. and CMA CGM — to buy NOO tonnage in the smaller/mid-sizes to operate in smaller trades. In April, Alphaliner reported that between August 2020 and March 2025, 3.7 million TEUs of NOO capacity was sold to end-users, and the net loss after newbuildings and some small purchases from end-users was 2.3 million TEUs. Suffice it to say, the supply side of the charter market has become inelastic at the same time carriers have been constrained in their ordering of new tonnage in these ship sizes. The result has been carriers chasing a limited supply of ships on the charter market and resorting to upgrading/downgrading the ship size they would accept, thus explaining why many sub-categories of size have remained firm at the same time. No disconnect then, just a change in supply that favored a firm charter market. Catalyst for short-term charter rates What will be the catalyst for short-term charter rates in the smaller sizes taking a major dip? Newbuild orders are going up in the smaller sizes, but as immediate supply remains constrained, a major dip in the short-term charter market will not happen unless there is a drop in demand in the smaller trades. These trades are, however, not immune from what is happening in the bigger trades. One of the options for carriers in dealing with overcapacity will be to cascade ships at the lower end of the big ship capacity range to midsize trades in the next tier, and so on. This can hit the short-term charter market because more owned/long-termed chartered ships will allow the return of short-term charters. And because of the oversupply of slots, low-rate contagion will also be exported, forcing carriers to reassess participation in trades requiring expensive charters. The correlation between freight markets and short-term charter markets may become a lot clearer in the coming months then — but in a negative way. Jeremy Masters is managing director of Shipping Masters. Contact him at jeremy@shippingmastershk.com .

Container Shipping News

Maritime

In search of the disconnect between freight rates and charter rates

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Renewed interest in oil and gas-related projects, as well as power generation infrastructure for data centers, will boost breakbulk cargo volumes.</div>

Renewed interest in oil and gas-related projects, as well as power generation infrastructure for data centers, will boost breakbulk cargo volumes.

<div class="phx-topic">Unprecedented acquisition activity in the oil and gas sector in the US, Central and South America, the Middle East and Asia has taken global capital investment to its highest level since 2015. In its October Global Upstream Spending Report, S&amp;P Global, parent company of the Journal of Commerce, said investment spending in this sector was up 4% year over year. Oil and gas is one of the strongest sectors for breakbulk and project cargo demand. <div class="wrapper-narrow float-right-element"><img src="/images/phoenix/6111233_0.1.jpg"></img></div>S&amp;P Global projects global demand for gas turbines to grow 5% in 2025 before slipping slightly through 2029. Demand for gas compressors is forecast to grow 6% this year, again with a slight decline in growth projected to 2029. Emerging demand from the clean energy sector is expected to balance any decline from the traditional oil and gas sector, according to S&amp;P Global’s October Industry Trends report. Meanwhile, power generation, particularly for data centers, is also expected to increase demand for project cargo to 2029. While the centers themselves will house minimal heavy-lift items, their huge power demand is driving on-site power projects. These so-called “bring your own power” (BYOP) projects, needed to avoid interconnection and transmission delays, are driving heavy-lift cargo demand. Carriers speaking to the Journal of Commerce in October confirmed that shipments of battery storage units and transformers are booming for 2026. Seaborne cargo volumes for commodities associated with energy and mining, transportation equipment and parts, and metals and metal products (all typical project cargo) increased 9.3% in the second quarter from the first quarter, according to S&amp;P Global. <div class="wrapper-narrow"><dynamic-object type="jocchartid" resource-id="9c8db29e-0c96-4d44-8a9d-bb263b7ee7d1"></dynamic-object></div>Total upstream spending is expected to grow by an average of 3.9% to 2029, according to S&amp;P Global Commodity Insights. The US accounted for 55% of worldwide upstream investment in 2024, with acquisition costs rising 264% to $238 billion through major consolidation deals. Over the reporting period, the threat of tariffs loomed large over the industry, but the main effect was logistical rather than economic. Some services were suspended in the early stages, as the industry tried to come to grips with the changes. The uncertainty around whether tariffs were off or on, and at what level they might be, was one of the main concerns for shippers talking to the Journal of Commerce in October. Fluctuations in anticipated final project costs — even while cargoes are being shipped —continue to lead to the rerouting of cargoes as shippers try to react to an ever-changing situation. Shippers say they have had to discharge cargo earlier than anticipated and pay overland costs or diversify their sourcing across Asia and Europe. <div class="wrapper-narrow"><dynamic-object type="jocchartid" resource-id="6e8a3d68-6e23-4693-a105-8447c51c9c7d"></dynamic-object></div>But more certainty around some tariffs in the final quarter of the year could ease planning concerns, shippers say. The US has announced deals with China, the EU, Japan, South Korea and several Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) states, among others, typically including reduced tariff rates, exemptions or reduced rates for product-level duties, purchase and investment commitments and reductions in duties on imports from the US. Sector-level tariffs have been deployed for steel, aluminum, copper, and autos, among others, at rates of 25% to 100%, with investigations ongoing into electronics, machine tools, critical minerals and more. At the start of November, deals had yet to be concluded with Canada and Mexico. S&amp;P Global, in its end-October report on US tariff plans, said that tariffs are likely to remain in place for most trade partners outside of a major market or economic event. The US Supreme Court, which held a hearing this week on Trump’s authority to implement widespread tariffs, may have its say as well before too long. Until then, the relative stability has improved investor confidence, leading to more projects receiving final approval, according to engineering, procurement and construction companies speaking to the Journal of Commerce. Contact Susan Oatway at <a href="mailto:susan.oatway@spglobal.com">susan.oatway@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

Unprecedented acquisition activity in the oil and gas sector in the US, Central and South America, the Middle East and Asia has taken global capital investment to its highest level since 2015. In its October Global Upstream Spending Report, S&P Global, parent company of the Journal of Commerce, said investment spending in this sector was up 4% year over year. Oil and gas is one of the strongest sectors for breakbulk and project cargo demand. S&P Global projects global demand for gas turbines to grow 5% in 2025 before slipping slightly through 2029. Demand for gas compressors is forecast to grow 6% this year, again with a slight decline in growth projected to 2029. Emerging demand from the clean energy sector is expected to balance any decline from the traditional oil and gas sector, according to S&P Global’s October Industry Trends report. Meanwhile, power generation, particularly for data centers, is also expected to increase demand for project cargo to 2029. While the centers themselves will house minimal heavy-lift items, their huge power demand is driving on-site power projects. These so-called “bring your own power” (BYOP) projects, needed to avoid interconnection and transmission delays, are driving heavy-lift cargo demand. Carriers speaking to the Journal of Commerce in October confirmed that shipments of battery storage units and transformers are booming for 2026. Seaborne cargo volumes for commodities associated with energy and mining, transportation equipment and parts, and metals and metal products (all typical project cargo) increased 9.3% in the second quarter from the first quarter, according to S&P Global. Total upstream spending is expected to grow by an average of 3.9% to 2029, according to S&P Global Commodity Insights. The US accounted for 55% of worldwide upstream investment in 2024, with acquisition costs rising 264% to $238 billion through major consolidation deals. Over the reporting period, the threat of tariffs loomed large over the industry, but the main effect was logistical rather than economic. Some services were suspended in the early stages, as the industry tried to come to grips with the changes. The uncertainty around whether tariffs were off or on, and at what level they might be, was one of the main concerns for shippers talking to the Journal of Commerce in October. Fluctuations in anticipated final project costs — even while cargoes are being shipped —continue to lead to the rerouting of cargoes as shippers try to react to an ever-changing situation. Shippers say they have had to discharge cargo earlier than anticipated and pay overland costs or diversify their sourcing across Asia and Europe. But more certainty around some tariffs in the final quarter of the year could ease planning concerns, shippers say. The US has announced deals with China, the EU, Japan, South Korea and several Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) states, among others, typically including reduced tariff rates, exemptions or reduced rates for product-level duties, purchase and investment commitments and reductions in duties on imports from the US. Sector-level tariffs have been deployed for steel, aluminum, copper, and autos, among others, at rates of 25% to 100%, with investigations ongoing into electronics, machine tools, critical minerals and more. At the start of November, deals had yet to be concluded with Canada and Mexico. S&P Global, in its end-October report on US tariff plans, said that tariffs are likely to remain in place for most trade partners outside of a major market or economic event. The US Supreme Court, which held a hearing this week on Trump’s authority to implement widespread tariffs, may have its say as well before too long. Until then, the relative stability has improved investor confidence, leading to more projects receiving final approval, according to engineering, procurement and construction companies speaking to the Journal of Commerce. Contact Susan Oatway at susan.oatway@spglobal.com .

Energy projects

Project cargo

Breakbulk News

Increased capital investment to accelerate project cargo demand

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">The Journal of Commerce Truckload Capacity Index hit an all-time low of 72.4% in the third quarter as big carriers culled trucks, expecting a “challenging” end to 2025. </div>

The Journal of Commerce Truckload Capacity Index hit an all-time low of 72.4% in the third quarter as big carriers culled trucks, expecting a “challenging” end to 2025.

<div class="phx-topic">Large US truckload carriers are cutting into their fleets again, attempting to reduce capacity to match low levels of demand and to fatten thinning profit margins. Additional freight those carriers anticipated in the fourth quarter has yet to arrive on docks. After rising in the second quarter, the Journal of Commerce Truckload Capacity Index dropped 3.6 percentage points to 72.4% in the third quarter, an all-time low for the index, which runs back to the 2008–09 Great Recession. The index dropped 4.2 points year over year. The previous all-time low for the index, which measures capacity in terms of actual truck counts at a group of large publicly-owned carriers, was 73.8% in the 2013 fourth quarter. <div class="wrapper-narrow"><dynamic-object type="jocchartid" resource-id="1c27408c-a4a7-4bbf-84f5-4fe3e53846e0"></dynamic-object></div>Large truckload carriers believe even more capacity will leave the overall trucking market, with stricter regulatory enforcement taking out a large, although undefined number of small truckload carriers. Those large carriers continue to shift assets to dedicated business. “We anticipate the fourth quarter to remain challenging, with the continuation of the soft freight market,” James Grant, CFO of Tennessee-based truckload carrier Covenant Logistics, said during a third-quarter earnings call last month. In addition to the overall market softness, Grant cited the US government shutdown, which affects Covenant’s business with the US Department of Defense, and some customer bankruptcies. But Covenant is more bullish about 2026, 2027 and even 2028. “I’m more excited right now than I've ever been in my entire career for the next two to three years,” Covenant CEO David Parker told analysts. The exit of non-English-speaking and non-domiciled drivers is “an avalanche in the process of happening,” he said. Others are still looking for signs that <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/industry-group-calls-for-tougher-licensing-better-training-amid-trucker-crackdown-6101323">increased enforcement</a> of English-language proficiency (ELP) requirements and limits on non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs) will amount to an avalanche of exiting low-priced truck capacity. “The impact on truck capacity has got to be more than zero,” Frank Lonegro, president and CEO of Landstar System, said during his company’s earnings call. But he said capacity is “going to come out over a little bit longer time than just a matter of weeks and months.” <h3>Difficulties with data </h3>Matt Muenster, Breakthrough Fuel’s chief economist, believes the impact of tighter truck driver licensing enforcement will be drawn out in a “slow-burn supply-side squeeze” that might take six months to a year to show a significant effect on available capacity. Breakthrough has tracked out-of-service (OOS) orders for ELP violations, and Muenster said the company is seeing 300 to 400 drivers put out of service a week. More than half of the OOS violations are being logged in Texas, near the US-Mexico border, he said. “Locking into data to get guidance on how this plays out is difficult,” Muenster told the Journal of Commerce. “We see a heavy impact on some fleets that have cross-border truckload movements,” especially shipments between Mexico and the US. “We’re not seeing a tremendous impact on the largest truckload fleets in the country,” Muenster said. And in terms of spot market rates, Breakthrough sees “nothing that really moves the needle nationally or regionally” in the immediate future, he said. For now, that makes control over their tractor counts one of the few levers left to those large truckload carriers. Contact William B. Cassidy at <a href="mailto:bill.cassidy@spglobal.com">bill.cassidy@spglobal.com</a>.</div>

Large US truckload carriers are cutting into their fleets again, attempting to reduce capacity to match low levels of demand and to fatten thinning profit margins. Additional freight those carriers anticipated in the fourth quarter has yet to arrive on docks. After rising in the second quarter, the Journal of Commerce Truckload Capacity Index dropped 3.6 percentage points to 72.4% in the third quarter, an all-time low for the index, which runs back to the 2008–09 Great Recession. The index dropped 4.2 points year over year. The previous all-time low for the index, which measures capacity in terms of actual truck counts at a group of large publicly-owned carriers, was 73.8% in the 2013 fourth quarter. Large truckload carriers believe even more capacity will leave the overall trucking market, with stricter regulatory enforcement taking out a large, although undefined number of small truckload carriers. Those large carriers continue to shift assets to dedicated business. “We anticipate the fourth quarter to remain challenging, with the continuation of the soft freight market,” James Grant, CFO of Tennessee-based truckload carrier Covenant Logistics, said during a third-quarter earnings call last month. In addition to the overall market softness, Grant cited the US government shutdown, which affects Covenant’s business with the US Department of Defense, and some customer bankruptcies. But Covenant is more bullish about 2026, 2027 and even 2028. “I’m more excited right now than I've ever been in my entire career for the next two to three years,” Covenant CEO David Parker told analysts. The exit of non-English-speaking and non-domiciled drivers is “an avalanche in the process of happening,” he said. Others are still looking for signs that increased enforcement of English-language proficiency (ELP) requirements and limits on non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs) will amount to an avalanche of exiting low-priced truck capacity. “The impact on truck capacity has got to be more than zero,” Frank Lonegro, president and CEO of Landstar System, said during his company’s earnings call. But he said capacity is “going to come out over a little bit longer time than just a matter of weeks and months.” Difficulties with data Matt Muenster, Breakthrough Fuel’s chief economist, believes the impact of tighter truck driver licensing enforcement will be drawn out in a “slow-burn supply-side squeeze” that might take six months to a year to show a significant effect on available capacity. Breakthrough has tracked out-of-service (OOS) orders for ELP violations, and Muenster said the company is seeing 300 to 400 drivers put out of service a week. More than half of the OOS violations are being logged in Texas, near the US-Mexico border, he said. “Locking into data to get guidance on how this plays out is difficult,” Muenster told the Journal of Commerce. “We see a heavy impact on some fleets that have cross-border truckload movements,” especially shipments between Mexico and the US. “We’re not seeing a tremendous impact on the largest truckload fleets in the country,” Muenster said. And in terms of spot market rates, Breakthrough sees “nothing that really moves the needle nationally or regionally” in the immediate future, he said. For now, that makes control over their tractor counts one of the few levers left to those large truckload carriers. Contact William B. Cassidy at bill.cassidy@spglobal.com .

Truckload

Surface

Large US truckload carriers trim tractor counts to control capacity

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Group CEO Tobias Meyer said DHL’s freight division was affected by a weak global economy as well as a peak season in ocean freight that “failed to materialize.”</div>

Group CEO Tobias Meyer said DHL’s freight division was affected by a weak global economy as well as a peak season in ocean freight that “failed to materialize.”

<div class="phx-topic">Lower ocean freight rates hit profitability and revenue at DHL Global Forwarding’s freight division in the third quarter even as ocean and air freight volumes remained unchanged from a year earlier, the group said during an earnings briefing Thursday. The Bonn, Germany-headquartered logistics giant said total revenue in its freight division fell 9% to $5.3 billion in the third quarter against $6 billion a year earlier. Gross profit slipped 6% to $1.3 billion, while earnings before tax and interest (EBIT) fell 30% to $225 million. Within those figures, revenue from the ocean freight business slumped 20% in the third quarter to $1.5 billion, while gross profit dropped 11% from a year ago to $330 million. Air freight revenue fell 7% to $1.7 billion, although gross profit climbed 6% to $287 million. “Global Forwarding, Freight is particularly affected by the weak global economy,” DHL Group CEO Tobias Meyer said. “The peak season in ocean freight failed to materialize, and the difficult economic situation in Europe is weighing on road freight demand.” There were slightly better third-quarter results at DHL’s other divisions. Express saw revenue slip 3% to $6.8 billion, but EBIT increased 1% to $798 million. Revenue at its Supply Chain division was unchanged at $4 billion, while EBIT was 2% higher at $320 million. Overall, DHL saw group net profit move 7% higher to $1 billion in the third quarter. Group EBIT increased 8% to $1.7 billion despite a 2% slide in revenue to $23.8 billion. Meyer said the Trump administration’s tariff regime has slowed trade on routes to the US, while the end of the de minimis duty-free rule for low-value shipments has made e-commerce to the US significantly more bureaucratic, complex and expensive. He pointed out that for DHL, other routes are gaining significance. Contact Keith Wallis at <a href="mailto:keithwallis@hotmail.com">keithwallis@hotmail.com</a>.</div>

Lower ocean freight rates hit profitability and revenue at DHL Global Forwarding’s freight division in the third quarter even as ocean and air freight volumes remained unchanged from a year earlier, the group said during an earnings briefing Thursday. The Bonn, Germany-headquartered logistics giant said total revenue in its freight division fell 9% to $5.3 billion in the third quarter against $6 billion a year earlier. Gross profit slipped 6% to $1.3 billion, while earnings before tax and interest (EBIT) fell 30% to $225 million. Within those figures, revenue from the ocean freight business slumped 20% in the third quarter to $1.5 billion, while gross profit dropped 11% from a year ago to $330 million. Air freight revenue fell 7% to $1.7 billion, although gross profit climbed 6% to $287 million. “Global Forwarding, Freight is particularly affected by the weak global economy,” DHL Group CEO Tobias Meyer said. “The peak season in ocean freight failed to materialize, and the difficult economic situation in Europe is weighing on road freight demand.” There were slightly better third-quarter results at DHL’s other divisions. Express saw revenue slip 3% to $6.8 billion, but EBIT increased 1% to $798 million. Revenue at its Supply Chain division was unchanged at $4 billion, while EBIT was 2% higher at $320 million. Overall, DHL saw group net profit move 7% higher to $1 billion in the third quarter. Group EBIT increased 8% to $1.7 billion despite a 2% slide in revenue to $23.8 billion. Meyer said the Trump administration’s tariff regime has slowed trade on routes to the US, while the end of the de minimis duty-free rule for low-value shipments has made e-commerce to the US significantly more bureaucratic, complex and expensive. He pointed out that for DHL, other routes are gaining significance. Contact Keith Wallis at keithwallis@hotmail.com .

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DHL Global Forwarding sees Q3 revenue drop on lower ocean rates

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The world of LTL is slow to embrace change. Business anachronisms permeate current supply chain processes. These vestiges of the way things used to work define the LTL freight transportation procurement process of many modern shippers.David Knuth, logistics specialist at IEWC, a global supplier of cable and wire based in Wisconsin, is happy to have modernized the RFP process, automating the entire LTL bidding procedure with Bid$ense, SMC³’s automated truckload and LTL freight transportation sourcing solution. But when prompted, he can still recall what once was.In his previous job, a large part of his duties were consumed by creating an intermodal bid package for carriers. In a spreadsheet, Knuth detailed the company’s volumes lane by lane, taking care to delete any errant keystrokes or misleading data. He would then email out the information to each carrier, taking time to respond to detailed technical questions about the spreadsheet data. Finally, he had to compile all the results, create an algorithm that would compare the carriers on each lane, and award the business.“It was a huge undertaking. It took about four months to do,” Knuth said of the old process. “It was almost a full-time job for that part of the year, every year.”In his new job at IEWC, he sat down with Bid$ense on day one and was amazed at the capabilities. Knuth had never before used a bid tool. SMC³’s latest versions of Bid$ense automate the process even further, taking truckload and LTL RFPs entirely online. The tool draws on RFP best-practices protocols to streamline the bidding communication process, enabling bidding carriers to respond accurately and promptly to shipper requests. The solution also does all the distribution work automatically, electronically submitting shipper bid data to carriers based on their actual service capabilities and performance records. Carriers are alerted with timely prompts for RFP deliverables, so shippers aren’t waiting by the phone for responses.Another benefit of automating the process is the data-cleansing assistance. When Knuth sent spreadsheets to carriers, data errors might cloud the bidding process; he might have to resend data or simply accept a price that did not truly reflect the costs of doing business. Data cleansing is incredibly beneficial, he said.The spreadsheet technique also made bidding analysis an onerous task. Since Bid$ense automates and streamlines the entire RFP process, intensive examination is now simple. SMC³ knows that each bid has more than one best outcome. With uniform responses from each carrier, shippers can quickly rank results and create an unlimited quantity of what-if scenarios to make the optimal procurement decision.Jesse Burnett of Central Garden &amp; Pet experiences many of the same benefits. Founded in 1980, Central Garden &amp; Pet has spent the last three decades growing from a small garden supply company to a provider of a range of products from dog chews and bird seed to soil supplements and natural insecticides. For much of its life, the company shipped these disparate goods via LTL and truckload carriers to retailers throughout the country, relying on each business unit to negotiate directly with their freight transportation providers. This arrangement worked fairly well for a small company, but as Central Garden &amp; Pet expanded, leadership decided to consolidate decision making.Burnett helped centralize the transportation decision making in 2015 with SMC³’s Bid$ense. Before Bid$ense, every business unit operated independently as far as negotiating with carriers.“There were a lot of different things just floating around,” he said. “We didn’t have master agreements in place; no national pricing at all. The pricing from carriers was just all over the place, depending on where you were.”The transformations he saw with Bid$ense were immediate. Burnett has been using the tool about every other year since its implementation at the company. Central Garden and Pet’s $19.6 million 2019 LTL bid saved the company just more than 9 percent when compared to its historical average. For Burnett, though, bid automation extends far beyond savings.“We knew that we weren’t getting the best pricing offer from our carriers just because nothing was centralized,” he continued. “We knew that if we combined everything from all these business units and paired it with one corporate offering, then it would drive some cost benefit with it.”When the company initially decided to centralize bid procurement, executives researched a number of different methodologies and technologies. In the end, though, Burnett found that Bid$ense was both widespread and well known, and that his carrier partners already knew how to use the application. Burnett also highlighted the data-cleansing process as a major benefit, saying the rigorous process ensures that carriers always return the best price.“It definitely has helped drive savings,” he said. “Any time you go out there and you drive that competitiveness with the carriers and they know they’re in a bid environment, it seems to sharpen their pencils.”Transportation procurement is an integral part of the modern supply chain. With Bid$ense, shippers can develop a strategic implementation plan that saves them time and money, but also helps them create strong relationships with their carrier partners. These carriers appreciate the solution’s data-cleansing process; when carriers receive a complete shipment history and future volume forecast, they don’t have to guess on pricing. Carriers that receive more data from shippers get a complete picture of that shipper’s freight, allowing them to accurately plan instead of simply preparing for the worst-case scenario. Clean data presented through an automated system can lead to both bigger shipment savings and a lasting partnership between carrier and customer.Whether customers are looking to streamline over-the-road transportation bidding by automating the RFP process or create an entirely new, centralized sourcing process, Bid$ense has the analytical horsepower to get the job done.SMC³ 2020 Customer Case Study

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Shippers save money, time with automated transportation bidding tools

If there’s one immutable truth in the world of logistics, it’s this: LTL is an inherently complex form of transportation. Tariffs, rates, DIM weights, transit times — it’s enough to confuse even seasoned logistics professionals. The solution to this knowledge gap has historically been on-the-job training or university supply chain education, but for a variety of reasons there is now a pressing need for third-party, remote LTL training that prepares logistics workers for transportation success. Global Scope Can Overlook Local Intricacies In the past, professionals looking to move into a supply chain career learned about the basics of supply chain from universities. However, many of these college supply chain programs are now global in scope, focusing on worldwide supply chain management instead of the intricacies of specialized domestic transportation. And even these programs, which used to be widespread, are becoming less common. LTL is not an industry of broad-brush strokes; supply chain professionals really need a pointillistic understanding of the logistics of LTL in order to excel in the industry. Accelerating Need for Dedicated LTL Education This lack of specified training put the onus on employers to prepare new hires with the LTL knowledge needed to do their jobs. Dedicated LTL study is a necessity, not a luxury. At the same time, changes in LTL and the broader supply chain world are accelerating. The reliance on e-commerce has ballooned since the start of the pandemic, and last-mile LTL shipments and related e-commerce strains on the supply chain won’t diminish once social distancing abates. That genie isn’t going back into the bottle. So supply chain employers need logistics workers that are fully versed in all aspects of the industry, ready to solve unique shipping and delivery problems based on their extensive supply chain knowledge But why care about LTL? It’s been reported that some shippers in today’s world are no longer concerned with what mode is used to ship their goods. A Multimodal Approach Ensures On-Time Delivery This mode agnosticism means supply chain stakeholders have to be well versed in all modes of transportation. As unforeseen weather events and other disruptions, such as protests, become more common, savvy logistics employees will need to be armed with familiarity of all modes, not just the most popular, to ensure that freight is delivered on time, without damage, and in the most financially expedient way possible. Offerings like SMC³’s LTL online education courses cover a wide range of topics from LTL basics and operations to more advanced concepts like pricing analytics and transportation law. The company also has plans to continually refresh content, adding new expert presenters and taking the feedback of students to make the courses even better as time goes on. Learn more about&nbsp;<a href="https://logisticstrainingcenter.com/smc3-courses/" rel="noreferrer" class="joc_admin__link">SMC³’s LTL Online Education program</a>&nbsp;and view the 2021 hybrid schedule, featuring live industry experts,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.smc3.com/onlinelearning2021/" rel="noreferrer" class="joc_admin__link">here.</a>

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Filling the Supply Chain Education Gap with LTL Education Courses

In 1995, we began operations with a clear vision: to grow alongside Mexico and connect the world through our terminals. Our priority has always been to deliver excellence in service, foster economic development, and strengthen our communities. We firmly believe that progress is not only measured in tons of cargo moved, but in the opportunities we create. _______________________________________________________________ This year marks a significant milestone: SSA Marine Mexico celebrates 30 years of presence in the country, having established itself from day one as the leading port operator nationwide. Over the past three decades, we have built a legacy of reliability, innovation, and commitment to Mexico’s growth. Our journey has been defined by continuous evolution and a steadfast dedication to our mission. SSA Marine México currently operates in six of the country’s most important ports: Cozumel, Lazaro Cardenas, Manzanillo, Progreso, Tuxpan, and Veracruz. Additionally, we have signed a concession to operate a new multipurpose terminal in Guaymas, Sonora, expanding our footprint to the north of the country. We serve a wide range of segments including containers, general cargo, automobiles, cruise ships, hydrocarbons, and asphalt. As part of this ongoing commitment, SSA Marine Mexico continues to strengthen its infrastructure and capabilities. International trade remains a key driver of global economic growth, and we are proud to support this momentum. Through our continuous improvement strategy, we invest in cutting-edge technology and equipment to deliver more efficient and competitive services, contributing to the success of Mexican businesses. •	Manzanillo, Colima- Specialized Container Terminal I: On October 13, we celebrated the arrival of two new STS (Ship To Shore) Super Post Panamax dockside cranes. This $21.2 million USD investment significantly boosts our operational capacity, streamlining cargo reception and delivery processes. In line with our modernization efforts, we will also retire four of our oldest cranes, paving the way for a more sustainable and technologically advanced fleet that meets the evolving demands of international trade. With these upgrades, SSA Marine México now operates a total of 16 cranes along our 1,350-meter dock, reaffirming our position as a national benchmark in port <span class="joc_admin__inline-image joc_admin__inline-image-aspect-ratio-4_3 joc_admin__inline-image-position-left joc_admin__inline-image-size-large" data-figure-size="large" data-figure-position="left" data-figure-aspect-ratio="4:3"><img src="/content-assets/1760982635607_Manzanillo.jpg" alt="Image provided by SSA Marine" class="joc_admin__inline-image-inherit"> •	As for the Multipurpose Terminal and Specialized Facility, also in Manzanillo, Colima, improvement and conditioning works are planned, along with the acquisition of four E-RTG (Electric Rubber-Tyred Gantry) cranes to enhance operational efficiency and sustainability. •	At our Automobile and General Cargo Terminal in the port of Veracruz, we continue to lead with specialized value-added services that support our clients’ growth. Recent investments include a new washing cabin and a general cargo warehouse, increasing indoor storage capacity by 67%. •	Lazaro Cardenas, Michoacan – Specialized Automobile Terminal: we are working on the development of an additional 4-hectare storage space within our bonded area and a 10-hectare Vehicle Distribution Center (VDC). These enhancements, along with ongoing personnel and system improvements, will reinforce our leadership in automotive handling across the Mexican Pacific coast.<span class="joc_admin__inline-image joc_admin__inline-image-aspect-ratio-4_3 joc_admin__inline-image-position-left joc_admin__inline-image-size-large" data-figure-size="large" data-figure-position="left" data-figure-aspect-ratio="4:3"><img src="/content-assets/1760982742240_Lazaro.jpg" alt="Image provided by SSA Marine" class="joc_admin__inline-image-inherit"> Through these strategic investments, SSA Marine Mexico reaffirms its commitment to the sustained growth of Mexico’s foreign trade. By expanding capacity, modernizing infrastructure, and diversifying services, we continue to strengthen the country’s competitiveness in global logistics. Today, we celebrate three decades of dedication, innovation, and leadership, with deep gratitude to our employees, clients, and partners for being part of this incredible journey. LINK: https://www.ssamarine.mx/<span class="joc_admin__inline-image joc_admin__inline-image-aspect-ratio-16_9 joc_admin__inline-image-position-left joc_admin__inline-image-size-small" data-figure-size="small" data-figure-position="left" data-figure-aspect-ratio="16:9"><img src="/content-assets/1760982787360_SSA%20Marine%20Mexico%20logo%20150pxW.png" alt="" class="joc_admin__inline-image-inherit">

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SSA Marine Mexico: 30 years growing together.

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