<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">BNSF Railway on Tuesday opened its new logistics center in Fontana, Calif. The a 38-acre tra</div>

BNSF Railway on Tuesday opened its new logistics center in Fontana, Calif. The a 38-acre tra

<div>BNSF Railway on Tuesday opened its new logistics center in Fontana, Calif. The a 38-acre transload facility will handle a variety of commodities, from building supplies and manufactured products to bulk materials. Logistics Center--Fontana is located at the Kaiser Commerce Center about 13 miles west of San Bernardino and will be operated by Tristar FLC, Inc., a Washington state-based transportation and logistics firm specializing in lumber and panel products. "By locating this rail-served transload facility near existing intermodal facilities and distribution and warehousing centers, BNSF can offer shippers more modal choices and greater service options," said John Lanigan, BNSF executive...

BNSF Railway on Tuesday opened its new logistics center in Fontana, Calif. The a 38-acre transload facility will handle a variety of commodities, from building supplies and manufactured products to bulk materials. Logistics Center--Fontana is located at the Kaiser Commerce Center about 13 miles west of San Bernardino and will be operated by Tristar FLC, Inc., a Washington state-based transportation and logistics firm specializing in lumber and panel products. "By locating this rail-served transload facility near existing intermodal facilities and distribution and warehousing centers, BNSF can offer shippers more modal choices and greater service options," said John Lanigan, BNSF executive vice president and chief marketing officer. The Fontana hub is part of BNSF's Premier Transload Network, a group of associated transload service providers. The carrier said Fontana, with a dedicated spur connecting to the BNSF mainline, will enable it to improve the gathering and distribution process within its carload network to provide more consistent service, and allow customers to quickly react to market demands. BNSF also operates a domestic intermodal rail yard in San Bernardino. "With one large facility that handles multiple commodities, BNSF is able to simplify its operations by creating the density required to build trains at this one transload facility instead of gathering rail cars at several smaller ones," Lanigan said. "In the end, our carload customers will benefit from more efficient and consistent service and the customers using this transload facility will have access to more capacity and greater service options." Fontana began limited handling of carloads in November 2005. The center is now fully operational with capacity of 15,000 carloads per year.

Rail News

BNSF Opens Calif. Logistics Hub

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">While the two sides have come to terms on wages, formal negotiations have stalled since mid-November as the union and maritime employers remain stuck on what provisions the deal will include about port automation.</div>

While the two sides have come to terms on wages, formal negotiations have stalled since mid-November as the union and maritime employers remain stuck on what provisions the deal will include about port automation.

Feature image

<div class="phx-topic">The International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) and United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) are set to resume talks for a new master contract on Jan. 7, sources said Tuesday.The scheduled resumption of negotiations leaves a small window before the <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/ila-usmx-agree-on-new-wage-offer-and-contract-extension-that-reopens-ports-5741882/">current contract extension runs out on Jan. 15</a> and a likely second strike by the ILA hits ports along the US East and Gulf coasts.The ILA and USMX declined to comment on the status of talks that affect 45,000 dockworkers.While the ILA and USMX have come to terms on wages for a new master contract, the formal negotiations have stalled since mid-November. The union and maritime employers remain stuck on what provisions the new master contract will include about port automation. The ILA has taken <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/ila-breaks-off-contract-talks-accuses-usmx-of-semi-automation-push-5810392">a hard line</a> against automation technology at ports under its jurisdiction. It singled out semi-automated rail mounted gantry cranes (RMGs) as a technology that <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/ila-targets-rail-mounted-gantry-cranes-amid-impasse-in-port-labor-talks-5874742">it wants to bar</a> from further implementation at East and Gulf coast ports under the new contract. The USMX countered that technology, including RMGs, boosts port productivity and creates more opportunities for longshore workers. Progress on the talks have been further complicated by <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/ila-plays-new-trump-card-in-automation-standoff-with-usmx-5905242">the attention of President-elect Donald Trump</a>, who sided with the ILA’s stance against automation. Contact Michael Angell at <a href="mailto:michael.angell@spglobal.com">michael.angell@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

The International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) and United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) are set to resume talks for a new master contract on Jan. 7, sources said Tuesday. The scheduled resumption of negotiations leaves a small window before the current contract extension runs out on Jan. 15 and a likely second strike by the ILA hits ports along the US East and Gulf coasts. The ILA and USMX declined to comment on the status of talks that affect 45,000 dockworkers. While the ILA and USMX have come to terms on wages for a new master contract, the formal negotiations have stalled since mid-November. The union and maritime employers remain stuck on what provisions the new master contract will include about port automation. The ILA has taken a hard line against automation technology at ports under its jurisdiction. It singled out semi-automated rail mounted gantry cranes (RMGs) as a technology that it wants to bar from further implementation at East and Gulf coast ports under the new contract. The USMX countered that technology, including RMGs, boosts port productivity and creates more opportunities for longshore workers. Progress on the talks have been further complicated by the attention of President-elect Donald Trump , who sided with the ILA’s stance against automation. Contact Michael Angell at michael.angell@spglobal.com .

Container Shipping News

Container lines

Marine terminals

Longshore labor

North American ports

ILA, USMX contract talks set for Jan. 7 restart ahead of strike deadline: sources

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Despite the kudos for railroads, some market players question the value of pandemic-era comparisons, suggesting that 2024’s peak season aligns more closely with pre-pandemic trends.</div>

Despite the kudos for railroads, some market players question the value of pandemic-era comparisons, suggesting that 2024’s peak season aligns more closely with pre-pandemic trends.

<div class="phx-topic">Following a prolonged peak shipping season, intermodal providers are crediting North American Class I railroads for handling the surge in volume better they did during the tumult of the COVID-19 pandemic. Admittedly, asset and non-asset intermodal marketing companies (IMCs) were irritated over disruptions in <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/imcs-dealing-with-rail-service-disruptions-amid-unusually-high-volumes-5909110">Chicago</a>, <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/la-lb-rail-dwells-on-the-rise-as-port-complex-enters-height-of-peak-season-5712900">Los Angeles</a>, Portland and Tacoma during the second half of 2024. Yet those challenges were not as severe as the backlogs experienced in 2020 and 2021 despite a more than 20% year-over-year jump in freight volumes originating in the Southwest US in October and November, IMCs say. Container availability, a problem during the pandemic, was manageable this peak season. Surcharges to use containers only went as high as <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/up-hikes-la-lb-surcharges-again-as-volumes-remain-elevated-5820708">$850 using rail-owned containers</a> and some private boxes of <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/hub-group-regains-rail-share-while-schneiders-q2-volume-stays-flat-5703104">Hub Group, Schneider National</a>, STG Logistics and Swift Intermodal. By comparison, Union Pacific levied fees as high as <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/up-shippers-to-pay-more-in-los-angeles-dallas-and-houston-5248207">$5,000 per box</a> in Los Angeles during the pandemic. Even J.B. Hunt Transport Services, which assessed surcharges exceeding $1,000 per container late this past summer, limited the fees to select customers in 2024. In 2020 and 2021, the railroads and private box owners assessed surcharges on almost every shipper. “We had shippers paying the surcharges in 2020–21, but we couldn’t secure a gate reservation [required to drop off containers] with Union Pacific Railroad for weeks,” said one IMC executive who asked not to be identified. “This year, none of our contractual shippers incurred surcharges, and Union Pacific consistently provided equipment for baseload commitments.” Chassis availability was not a problem for domestic and international intermodal shipments, unlike during the pandemic. While the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach saw volume spikes and <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/la-lb-rail-dwells-spike-to-two-year-high-amid-record-imports-in-september-5750222">two-year highs in rail dwell times</a> this fall, no significant terminal congestion was reported in Chicago, Dallas, Kansas City or Memphis. <div class="wrapper-narrow"><dynamic-object type="jocchartid" resource-id="0abc8de8-f8a5-4611-bc92-e001a0bd8f26"></dynamic-object></div>Gate reservations in Los Angeles were hard to procure in September and October, but delays were measured in days, not weeks, according to IMC executives, who also noted BNSF and Union Pacific did a better job communicating than four years ago, which in turn made it possible to keep shippers informed. “The [East and Gulf coast] work stoppage [in October] forced retailers to pull forward some volume as well as reroute away from those ports in favor of Los Angeles-Long Beach,” said a second IMC executive. “Without that, peak intermodal volumes could have been tepid at best.” In the most recent Journal of Commerce Intermodal Service Scorecard survey, 77.4% of intermodal providers say they were satisfied with the performance of North American Class I railroads over the past six months, down from 91.1% in the spring poll. Almost 91% of shippers say they were satisfied with the intermodal providers in the second half of the year, approximately on par with the 90.4% in the first half, according to the survey. The results show that while IMCs felt service on the rails was slower and less reliable in the second half of the year compared with the first — when volume was lower — their shippers did not experience any significant supply chain disruptions over the past six months. The IMCs and railroads successfully insulated shippers from congestion in Los Angeles, whereas disruptions in 2020 and 2021 had a profound negative impact on shippers. More than 250 participants responded to the H2 survey, conducted between Nov. 1 and Dec. 31. <h3>Legit comparison? </h3>Despite the recent kudos for railroads, some market players question the value of pandemic-era comparisons, suggesting that 2024’s peak season aligns more closely with pre-pandemic trends. “It’s probably better to compare this year with a more ‘normal’ peak season than to compare it to the surge of COVID-19 as that seems an apples-to-oranges comparison,” another IMC executive said. There is evidence to support both sides of the question. Railroads hauled approximately 50,000 domestic containers from Los Angeles to Chicago in October — a record for any month — followed by 45,000 in November, the highest volume for that month in history, according to an analysis by the Journal of Commerce of data from the Intermodal Association of North America (IANA). The Los Angeles to Chicago route is the largest by volume annually for domestic and international intermodal. However, the US intermodal fleet has expanded by more than 80,000 containers, or 30%, in the last four years, according to an analysis of data from PIERS, a sister product of the Journal of Commerce within S&amp;P Global. Some argue that this capacity growth may explain the smoother peak season despite the volume spike out of Los Angeles. Another barometer of success for the railroads is on-time performance. During the pandemic, railroads were required to report weekly on-time performance data for intermodal to the US Surface Transportation Board, and the western railroads set their benchmark as 80%. Railroads are no longer required to report the metric to federal officials, but some IMCs question whether 80% is too low of a standard as trucks can deliver a 90% or better on-time performance on the highest volume lanes out of Los Angeles. Contact Ari Ashe at <a href="mailto:ari.ashe@spglobal.com">ari.ashe@spglobal.com</a>.</div>

Following a prolonged peak shipping season, intermodal providers are crediting North American Class I railroads for handling the surge in volume better they did during the tumult of the COVID-19 pandemic. Admittedly, asset and non-asset intermodal marketing companies (IMCs) were irritated over disruptions in Chicago , Los Angeles , Portland and Tacoma during the second half of 2024. Yet those challenges were not as severe as the backlogs experienced in 2020 and 2021 despite a more than 20% year-over-year jump in freight volumes originating in the Southwest US in October and November, IMCs say. Container availability, a problem during the pandemic, was manageable this peak season. Surcharges to use containers only went as high as $850 using rail-owned containers and some private boxes of Hub Group, Schneider National , STG Logistics and Swift Intermodal. By comparison, Union Pacific levied fees as high as $5,000 per box in Los Angeles during the pandemic. Even J.B. Hunt Transport Services, which assessed surcharges exceeding $1,000 per container late this past summer, limited the fees to select customers in 2024. In 2020 and 2021, the railroads and private box owners assessed surcharges on almost every shipper. “We had shippers paying the surcharges in 2020–21, but we couldn’t secure a gate reservation [required to drop off containers] with Union Pacific Railroad for weeks,” said one IMC executive who asked not to be identified. “This year, none of our contractual shippers incurred surcharges, and Union Pacific consistently provided equipment for baseload commitments.” Chassis availability was not a problem for domestic and international intermodal shipments, unlike during the pandemic. While the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach saw volume spikes and two-year highs in rail dwell times this fall, no significant terminal congestion was reported in Chicago, Dallas, Kansas City or Memphis. Gate reservations in Los Angeles were hard to procure in September and October, but delays were measured in days, not weeks, according to IMC executives, who also noted BNSF and Union Pacific did a better job communicating than four years ago, which in turn made it possible to keep shippers informed. “The [East and Gulf coast] work stoppage [in October] forced retailers to pull forward some volume as well as reroute away from those ports in favor of Los Angeles-Long Beach,” said a second IMC executive. “Without that, peak intermodal volumes could have been tepid at best.” In the most recent Journal of Commerce Intermodal Service Scorecard survey, 77.4% of intermodal providers say they were satisfied with the performance of North American Class I railroads over the past six months, down from 91.1% in the spring poll. Almost 91% of shippers say they were satisfied with the intermodal providers in the second half of the year, approximately on par with the 90.4% in the first half, according to the survey. The results show that while IMCs felt service on the rails was slower and less reliable in the second half of the year compared with the first — when volume was lower — their shippers did not experience any significant supply chain disruptions over the past six months. The IMCs and railroads successfully insulated shippers from congestion in Los Angeles, whereas disruptions in 2020 and 2021 had a profound negative impact on shippers. More than 250 participants responded to the H2 survey, conducted between Nov. 1 and Dec. 31. Legit comparison? Despite the recent kudos for railroads, some market players question the value of pandemic-era comparisons, suggesting that 2024’s peak season aligns more closely with pre-pandemic trends. “It’s probably better to compare this year with a more ‘normal’ peak season than to compare it to the surge of COVID-19 as that seems an apples-to-oranges comparison,” another IMC executive said. There is evidence to support both sides of the question. Railroads hauled approximately 50,000 domestic containers from Los Angeles to Chicago in October — a record for any month — followed by 45,000 in November, the highest volume for that month in history, according to an analysis by the Journal of Commerce of data from the Intermodal Association of North America (IANA). The Los Angeles to Chicago route is the largest by volume annually for domestic and international intermodal. However, the US intermodal fleet has expanded by more than 80,000 containers, or 30%, in the last four years, according to an analysis of data from PIERS, a sister product of the Journal of Commerce within S&P Global. Some argue that this capacity growth may explain the smoother peak season despite the volume spike out of Los Angeles. Another barometer of success for the railroads is on-time performance. During the pandemic, railroads were required to report weekly on-time performance data for intermodal to the US Surface Transportation Board, and the western railroads set their benchmark as 80%. Railroads are no longer required to report the metric to federal officials, but some IMCs question whether 80% is too low of a standard as trucks can deliver a 90% or better on-time performance on the highest volume lanes out of Los Angeles. Contact Ari Ashe at ari.ashe@spglobal.com .

North-American rail

Intermodal providers

IMCs say railroads handled peak season surge better than pandemic

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Shanghai and Ningbo are dealing with “serious” congestion, according to a forwarder, while labor shortages in Hamburg are causing berthing delays of up to 10 days.</div>

Shanghai and Ningbo are dealing with “serious” congestion, according to a forwarder, while labor shortages in Hamburg are causing berthing delays of up to 10 days.

<div class="phx-topic">Shippers and ocean carriers on the Asia-Europe trade will be facing vessel delays into February as a raft of issues ranging from holiday port closures, vessel bunching in Asia and labor shortages in Hamburg cause serious port congestion with lengthy ship queues and berth waiting times. Port congestion is severe in China, Japan and the Philippines partly due to a pre-holiday cargo rush, bad weather and yard congestion. “Shanghai and Ningbo are still suffering from serious port congestion,” a spokesperson at forwarder FIBS Logistics in Singapore told the Journal of Commerce. “There were more than 120 vessels at anchor waiting for berth off both ports last week. We understand it’s the most severe level of congestion worldwide.” The spokesperson added the congestion at the two Chinese ports was “unlikely to improve before the Lunar New Year,” which begins Jan. 29. Guangzhou-based Winsail International Logistics said Shanghai is experiencing berthing delays of three to four days depending on the terminal. “Qingdao and Ningbo are facing delays of two to three days,” a senior executive at the company told the Journal of Commerce. The source pointed out that intra-Asia regional services are suffering more delays than mainline services due to the short voyage lengths of two to three days between ports and the large number of calls on services. That was echoed by FIBS Logistics, with the spokesperson saying the forwarder is experiencing vessel delays of “more than two weeks on the Shanghai-Manila corridor” on a transit that should take five to six days. There were also more than 50 vessels waiting to berth in Manila last week amid severe congestion due to high yard utilization, partly due to the large volume of empty containers and vessel bunching caused by ships arriving late. Taiwan’s Evergreen Line said on Dec. 20 that it had deployed three sweeper vessels to load empty containers at Manila to ease congestion at off-dock container yards and container terminals. That came after the Confederation of Truckers Association of the Philippines had threatened to stop accepting import containers from Evergreen due to congestion issues. The Philippines customs bureau said the problem of handling empty containers was an issue facing all carriers, not just Evergreen. That comes as carriers are again experiencing equipment shortages at ports in China and Vietnam as shippers consign cargo ahead of the Lunar New Year. CMA CGM is the worst affected with a shortage or tight supply of containers last week at all main ports in mainland China, Taiwan and Vietnam, except Guangzhou and Hong Kong. Hapag-Lloyd and Evergreen are also seeing tight supply of 40-foot containers in Shanghai, Ningbo, Qingdao and Chongqing in China. Ocean Network Express (ONE), OOCL, Cosco Shipping and Evergreen are experiencing tight availability of 20-foot and 40-foot containers in Shenzhen. <h3>Lengthy delays in Hamburg </h3>Meanwhile, labor shortages at Hamburg are causing berthing delays of up to 10 days for ships operating Asia-Europe services for THE Alliance, according to sailing schedules released by ONE. The labor issues are part of a wider shortage of personnel, with nearly 40% of companies in Germany reporting staff shortages. The delays have been exacerbated by congestion and labor issues at other ports, including Rotterdam. Strikes, labor shortages and congestion at Genoa will delay berthing at the Italian port in January by up to six days for some vessels operating Asia-Mediterranean services, ONE schedules show. Christmas and New Year port closures at ports including Le Havre, Barcelona, La Spezia and Marseille-Fos have also added to delays on Asia-Europe and Mediterranean services. The holdups have contributed to schedule delays of about a month on some Asia-Europe services, with the longest a 35-day slippage in the arrival of the 23,964 TEU HMM Algeciras operating the Far East 4 service. The vessel was scheduled to arrive at London Gateway on Dec. 29 but is now not expected until Feb. 2, according to the latest port itinerary. Schedules show the ship is expected to face a 10-day delay in Rotterdam and an extra four-day wait at its next call, Hamburg, where it’s due on Jan. 25. The 23,664-TEU Busan Express, operating the FE3 service, is set for a 10-day wait at Hamburg, with berthing now scheduled for Jan. 17, according to ONE schedules. Its arrival has already been held up due to congestion and holiday port closures at Rotterdam. The short voyage between North European ports such as Le Havre and London Gateway gives little opportunity for vessels to claw back the accumulated delays. But schedules also show THE Alliance anticipates it will recover two days on the transit from Antwerp to the final call at Southampton on FE3 services. Contact Keith Wallis at <a href="mailto:keithwallis@hotmail.com">keithwallis@hotmail.com.</a></div>

Shippers and ocean carriers on the Asia-Europe trade will be facing vessel delays into February as a raft of issues ranging from holiday port closures, vessel bunching in Asia and labor shortages in Hamburg cause serious port congestion with lengthy ship queues and berth waiting times. Port congestion is severe in China, Japan and the Philippines partly due to a pre-holiday cargo rush, bad weather and yard congestion. “Shanghai and Ningbo are still suffering from serious port congestion,” a spokesperson at forwarder FIBS Logistics in Singapore told the Journal of Commerce. “There were more than 120 vessels at anchor waiting for berth off both ports last week. We understand it’s the most severe level of congestion worldwide.” The spokesperson added the congestion at the two Chinese ports was “unlikely to improve before the Lunar New Year,” which begins Jan. 29. Guangzhou-based Winsail International Logistics said Shanghai is experiencing berthing delays of three to four days depending on the terminal. “Qingdao and Ningbo are facing delays of two to three days,” a senior executive at the company told the Journal of Commerce. The source pointed out that intra-Asia regional services are suffering more delays than mainline services due to the short voyage lengths of two to three days between ports and the large number of calls on services. That was echoed by FIBS Logistics, with the spokesperson saying the forwarder is experiencing vessel delays of “more than two weeks on the Shanghai-Manila corridor” on a transit that should take five to six days. There were also more than 50 vessels waiting to berth in Manila last week amid severe congestion due to high yard utilization, partly due to the large volume of empty containers and vessel bunching caused by ships arriving late. Taiwan’s Evergreen Line said on Dec. 20 that it had deployed three sweeper vessels to load empty containers at Manila to ease congestion at off-dock container yards and container terminals. That came after the Confederation of Truckers Association of the Philippines had threatened to stop accepting import containers from Evergreen due to congestion issues. The Philippines customs bureau said the problem of handling empty containers was an issue facing all carriers, not just Evergreen. That comes as carriers are again experiencing equipment shortages at ports in China and Vietnam as shippers consign cargo ahead of the Lunar New Year. CMA CGM is the worst affected with a shortage or tight supply of containers last week at all main ports in mainland China, Taiwan and Vietnam, except Guangzhou and Hong Kong. Hapag-Lloyd and Evergreen are also seeing tight supply of 40-foot containers in Shanghai, Ningbo, Qingdao and Chongqing in China. Ocean Network Express (ONE), OOCL, Cosco Shipping and Evergreen are experiencing tight availability of 20-foot and 40-foot containers in Shenzhen. Lengthy delays in Hamburg Meanwhile, labor shortages at Hamburg are causing berthing delays of up to 10 days for ships operating Asia-Europe services for THE Alliance, according to sailing schedules released by ONE. The labor issues are part of a wider shortage of personnel, with nearly 40% of companies in Germany reporting staff shortages. The delays have been exacerbated by congestion and labor issues at other ports, including Rotterdam. Strikes, labor shortages and congestion at Genoa will delay berthing at the Italian port in January by up to six days for some vessels operating Asia-Mediterranean services, ONE schedules show. Christmas and New Year port closures at ports including Le Havre, Barcelona, La Spezia and Marseille-Fos have also added to delays on Asia-Europe and Mediterranean services. The holdups have contributed to schedule delays of about a month on some Asia-Europe services, with the longest a 35-day slippage in the arrival of the 23,964 TEU HMM Algeciras operating the Far East 4 service. The vessel was scheduled to arrive at London Gateway on Dec. 29 but is now not expected until Feb. 2, according to the latest port itinerary. Schedules show the ship is expected to face a 10-day delay in Rotterdam and an extra four-day wait at its next call, Hamburg, where it’s due on Jan. 25. The 23,664-TEU Busan Express, operating the FE3 service, is set for a 10-day wait at Hamburg, with berthing now scheduled for Jan. 17, according to ONE schedules. Its arrival has already been held up due to congestion and holiday port closures at Rotterdam. The short voyage between North European ports such as Le Havre and London Gateway gives little opportunity for vessels to claw back the accumulated delays. But schedules also show THE Alliance anticipates it will recover two days on the transit from Antwerp to the final call at Southampton on FE3 services. Contact Keith Wallis at keithwallis@hotmail.com.

Port News

Asia-Europe

International ports

Maritime

Shippers, carriers face wave of port congestion, vessel delays in Asia, Europe 

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">In addition to any vessel backlogs resulting from a second potential ILA strike on Jan. 15, a major test for East Coast marine terminals will be their ability to handle the revamped carrier networks debuting in early 2025.</div>

In addition to any vessel backlogs resulting from a second potential ILA strike on Jan. 15, a major test for East Coast marine terminals will be their ability to handle the revamped carrier networks debuting in early 2025.

<div class="phx-topic">The big picture: US East Coast ports remained largely fluid throughout 2024, even as container volumes exceeded expectations and crises including a multi-week closure in Baltimore and a three-day coastwide strike impacted operations. The ability to withstand the various shocks, along with ongoing capital upgrades, suggests ports are prepared to handle tariff-related cargo surges that may occur in 2025. <div class="wrapper-narrow float-right-element"><img src="/images/phoenix/5910623_0.1.png"></img></div>A look back: Strong consumer spending and frontloading amid concerns over the deadline for a new longshore labor agreement drove import volumes through US East Coast ports higher than expected in 2024. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, for example, saw imports shoot up 14.1% through November, a significant acceleration from the 3% growth it had forecast for the year. New York-New Jersey’s inbound volumes were also boosted by the diversion of containerized cargo from the Port of Baltimore during its second-quarter closure following the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge. Total import volumes through the US East Coast rose 9.5% year over year in the first 11 months of 2024, the fastest growth rate for a comparable period since 2021, according to PIERS, a sister product of the Journal of Commerce within S&amp;P Global. But from an operational perspective, the three-day strike by the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) in early October merely resulted in a temporary backup that was cleared within a week or two at most ports. Savannah and Charleston ports also dealt with episodic ship congestion during 2024 due to the high volumes and berth closures due to maintenance. A look ahead: With the incoming Trump administration threatening to levy tariffs across all imported goods, East Coast ports could see another strong year in 2025, but they should be well prepared to absorb extra volumes thanks to numerous capacity upgrades. CMA CGM’s primary marine terminal in New Jersey, for example, will open a new berth in 2025, allowing the carrier to increase deployed capacity on services calling the busiest East Coast port. A total of six new cranes are in various stages of installation at New York-New Jersey marine terminals that will allow for the handling of larger ships in 2025. Further south, the Port of Virginia completed a railyard expansion in 2024 that will increase intermodal capacity at its Norfolk marine terminal by 25%. Virginia is also set to complete dredging its harbor down to 55 feet in 2025, allowing the port to handle ultra-large container ships. Charleston’s port also boosted its effective container capacity via a deal it struck with the ILA to fully utilize the Hugh K. Leatherman terminal. Services operated by Maersk, Mediterranean Shipping Co. and Zim are now calling at Leatherman. Rail capacity from Leatherman is also set to increase with the mid-2025 opening of the adjacent Navy Base intermodal facility, which will provide a more direct connection to South Carolina’s inland ports. <div class="wrapper-narrow"><dynamic-object type="jocchartid" resource-id="fdb320e8-1d2b-471a-9418-caf343a1579e"></dynamic-object></div>The next inflection: In addition to any vessel backlogs resulting from a second potential ILA strike on Jan. 15, a major test for the East Coast marine terminals will be their ability to handle the revamped carrier networks debuting in 2025. The Gemini Cooperation of Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd will be moving a large share of its volumes through APM Terminals’ facility in the Port of New York and New Jersey. MSC and Zim, meanwhile, will shift their vessels away from APM to MSC’s jointly operated Port Newark Container Terminal. Contact Michael Angell at <a href="mailto:michael.angell@spglobal.com">michael.angell@spglobal.com.</a></div>

The big picture: US East Coast ports remained largely fluid throughout 2024, even as container volumes exceeded expectations and crises including a multi-week closure in Baltimore and a three-day coastwide strike impacted operations. The ability to withstand the various shocks, along with ongoing capital upgrades, suggests ports are prepared to handle tariff-related cargo surges that may occur in 2025. A look back: Strong consumer spending and frontloading amid concerns over the deadline for a new longshore labor agreement drove import volumes through US East Coast ports higher than expected in 2024. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, for example, saw imports shoot up 14.1% through November, a significant acceleration from the 3% growth it had forecast for the year. New York-New Jersey’s inbound volumes were also boosted by the diversion of containerized cargo from the Port of Baltimore during its second-quarter closure following the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge. Total import volumes through the US East Coast rose 9.5% year over year in the first 11 months of 2024, the fastest growth rate for a comparable period since 2021, according to PIERS, a sister product of the Journal of Commerce within S&P Global. But from an operational perspective, the three-day strike by the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) in early October merely resulted in a temporary backup that was cleared within a week or two at most ports. Savannah and Charleston ports also dealt with episodic ship congestion during 2024 due to the high volumes and berth closures due to maintenance. A look ahead: With the incoming Trump administration threatening to levy tariffs across all imported goods, East Coast ports could see another strong year in 2025, but they should be well prepared to absorb extra volumes thanks to numerous capacity upgrades. CMA CGM’s primary marine terminal in New Jersey, for example, will open a new berth in 2025, allowing the carrier to increase deployed capacity on services calling the busiest East Coast port. A total of six new cranes are in various stages of installation at New York-New Jersey marine terminals that will allow for the handling of larger ships in 2025. Further south, the Port of Virginia completed a railyard expansion in 2024 that will increase intermodal capacity at its Norfolk marine terminal by 25%. Virginia is also set to complete dredging its harbor down to 55 feet in 2025, allowing the port to handle ultra-large container ships. Charleston’s port also boosted its effective container capacity via a deal it struck with the ILA to fully utilize the Hugh K. Leatherman terminal. Services operated by Maersk, Mediterranean Shipping Co. and Zim are now calling at Leatherman. Rail capacity from Leatherman is also set to increase with the mid-2025 opening of the adjacent Navy Base intermodal facility, which will provide a more direct connection to South Carolina’s inland ports. The next inflection: In addition to any vessel backlogs resulting from a second potential ILA strike on Jan. 15, a major test for the East Coast marine terminals will be their ability to handle the revamped carrier networks debuting in 2025. The Gemini Cooperation of Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd will be moving a large share of its volumes through APM Terminals’ facility in the Port of New York and New Jersey. MSC and Zim, meanwhile, will shift their vessels away from APM to MSC’s jointly operated Port Newark Container Terminal. Contact Michael Angell at michael.angell@spglobal.com.

Capital upgrades ready USEC ports for another year of growth

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">The world has become more turbulent and fragmented, with geopolitical events that are beyond the control of any supply chain participants playing an ever-larger role, writes Lars Jensen.</div>

The world has become more turbulent and fragmented, with geopolitical events that are beyond the control of any supply chain participants playing an ever-larger role, writes Lars Jensen.

<div class="phx-topic">A turbulent 2024 has come to a close. Container shipping markets have been roiled by <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/2m-adjusts-asia-us-east-coast-ship-schedules-to-account-for-cape-reroutings-5241294">vessel diversions due to the Red Sea crisis</a>, <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/ningbo-explosion-closes-port-adds-to-worsening-asian-bottlenecks-5703235">port congestion in major transshipment hubs in Asia</a>, the <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/failed-electrical-breaker-triggered-dali-crash-ntsb-5240842">ship collision with the Francis Scott Key bridge in Baltimore</a> that caused the bridge’s collapse, the <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/new-risk-factor-flares-in-middle-east-after-seizure-of-msc-aries-by-iran-5241023">Iranian seizure of the MSC Aries</a> and a <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/ila-usmx-agree-on-new-wage-offer-and-contract-extension-that-reopens-ports-5741882">major strike on the US East and Gulf coasts</a>, just to mention a few of the elements. The year 2025 is already shaping up to be equally turbulent, with no immediate resolution in the Red Sea in sight, <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/tariffs-ila-tension-early-lunar-new-year-boost-q1-trans-pacific-forecast-5912038">the prospect of another strike by US dockworkers and potentially new import tariffs in the US</a> that will cause major shifts in shipping and sourcing patterns. <div class="wrapper-narrow float-right-element"><img src="/images/phoenix/5913735_0.1.jpg"></img></div>Some might start thinking: “Will this ever end?” But the reality is that disruptions have always been a fact of shipping. And the disruptions we are currently seeing are not as sudden and unpredictable as one might believe. I wrote <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/global-supply-chain-must-weigh-balance-between-efficiency-resilience-5250599">a column in the Journal of Commerce in March 2021</a>. The topic was supply chain resilience and the ability to handle systemic risks. Systemic risks are those that — even if they “hit” only a part of the global supply chain — cause ripple effects severely impacting the entire global network. A major point of the column was that there are a range of disruptions that clearly have a non-zero likelihood and hence should not be regarded as “Black Swan” events, but instead should be used as an argument to have a supply chain that might seem slightly less efficient, but at the same time is more resilient. One of the examples mentioned in the piece was: ”...[An] outbreak of war or hostilities closing critical transit corridors for shipping — think, for example, the Strait of Hormuz, South China Sea, as well as the Suez and Panama canals.” Since the column was published, we have now seen the Suez Canal disrupted twice. First with the <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/with-ever-given-freed-suez-backlog-to-clear-through-week-carriers-5250358">grounding of the Ever Given in 2021</a> and now with the Red Sea crisis. We have seen the <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/hobbled-panama-canal-pinched-further-as-eastern-asia-factory-growth-favors-suez-5241450">Panama Canal severely restricted in 2023–24 due to drought</a>. And we have seen MSC Aries seized in the Strait of Hormuz. Given the current conflict in the Middle East, it would be folly to dismiss the notion of further disruption in the Strait of Hormuz. And over the past year there has indeed been increasing tension and clashes between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea. The other risk elements listed at the time still remain as low-likelihood but high-impact events. This includes major simultaneous cyber-attacks against a wider range of ports or carriers — a scenario reviewed by Lloyds of London in 2019 with an assessed cost of $110 billion. It also includes the risk of a major earthquake devastating infrastructure in a key port location, for example Los Angeles/Long Beach. <h3>‘Focus on resilience’ </h3>The growing geopolitical tensions are likely to result in more supply chain disruptions, not necessarily due to hostile physical action but due to increasing trade barriers, sanctions and nationally focused subsidies and/or restrictions across a range of countries. It is possible to expand this list significantly, but that would simply become repetitive. The underlying main point is that all actors in the supply chain would be well-advised to focus on resilience. My own experience during 2023 was that as freight rates were rapidly declining, a large amount of shippers abandoned the notion of a balance between resilience and low cost. The temptation to pursue cost reductions outweighed resilience, only to then backfire as the Red Sea crisis erupted. The world has become more turbulent and fragmented. Geopolitical events are playing an ever-larger role in this and are beyond the control of any supply chain participants. Having buffers in the supply chain and the ability to swiftly implement a “Plan B” is a key competitive parameter for companies intending to endure for the long haul. Contact Lars Jensen at <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/lars.jensen@vespucci-maritime.com">lars.jensen@vespucci-maritime.com.</a></div>

A turbulent 2024 has come to a close. Container shipping markets have been roiled by vessel diversions due to the Red Sea crisis , port congestion in major transshipment hubs in Asia , the ship collision with the Francis Scott Key bridge in Baltimore that caused the bridge’s collapse, the Iranian seizure of the MSC Aries and a major strike on the US East and Gulf coasts , just to mention a few of the elements. The year 2025 is already shaping up to be equally turbulent, with no immediate resolution in the Red Sea in sight, the prospect of another strike by US dockworkers and potentially new import tariffs in the US that will cause major shifts in shipping and sourcing patterns. Some might start thinking: “Will this ever end?” But the reality is that disruptions have always been a fact of shipping. And the disruptions we are currently seeing are not as sudden and unpredictable as one might believe. I wrote a column in the Journal of Commerce in March 2021 . The topic was supply chain resilience and the ability to handle systemic risks. Systemic risks are those that — even if they “hit” only a part of the global supply chain — cause ripple effects severely impacting the entire global network. A major point of the column was that there are a range of disruptions that clearly have a non-zero likelihood and hence should not be regarded as “Black Swan” events, but instead should be used as an argument to have a supply chain that might seem slightly less efficient, but at the same time is more resilient. One of the examples mentioned in the piece was: ”...[An] outbreak of war or hostilities closing critical transit corridors for shipping — think, for example, the Strait of Hormuz, South China Sea, as well as the Suez and Panama canals.” Since the column was published, we have now seen the Suez Canal disrupted twice. First with the grounding of the Ever Given in 2021 and now with the Red Sea crisis. We have seen the Panama Canal severely restricted in 2023–24 due to drought . And we have seen MSC Aries seized in the Strait of Hormuz. Given the current conflict in the Middle East, it would be folly to dismiss the notion of further disruption in the Strait of Hormuz. And over the past year there has indeed been increasing tension and clashes between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea. The other risk elements listed at the time still remain as low-likelihood but high-impact events. This includes major simultaneous cyber-attacks against a wider range of ports or carriers — a scenario reviewed by Lloyds of London in 2019 with an assessed cost of $110 billion. It also includes the risk of a major earthquake devastating infrastructure in a key port location, for example Los Angeles/Long Beach. ‘Focus on resilience’ The growing geopolitical tensions are likely to result in more supply chain disruptions, not necessarily due to hostile physical action but due to increasing trade barriers, sanctions and nationally focused subsidies and/or restrictions across a range of countries. It is possible to expand this list significantly, but that would simply become repetitive. The underlying main point is that all actors in the supply chain would be well-advised to focus on resilience. My own experience during 2023 was that as freight rates were rapidly declining, a large amount of shippers abandoned the notion of a balance between resilience and low cost. The temptation to pursue cost reductions outweighed resilience, only to then backfire as the Red Sea crisis erupted. The world has become more turbulent and fragmented. Geopolitical events are playing an ever-larger role in this and are beyond the control of any supply chain participants. Having buffers in the supply chain and the ability to swiftly implement a “Plan B” is a key competitive parameter for companies intending to endure for the long haul. Contact Lars Jensen at lars.jensen@vespucci-maritime.com.

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New year means fresh disruption for container shipping market: analyst

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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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