<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">This week's visit to Britain by China's senior trade official reinforces the idea that China wants g</div>

This week's visit to Britain by China's senior trade official reinforces the idea that China wants g

<div>This week's visit to Britain by China's senior trade official reinforces the idea that China wants greater balance among its trading partners as it tries to keep them both a bit off balance.China frequently urges members of the European Union to take a more active role in China. Analysts say this is intended to put the United States - which threatens trade sanctions from time to time - on notice that it isn't the only source of money and materials.EU IS 4TH-LARGEST PARTNERThe European Union is China's fourth-largest trade partner after Japan, the United States and Hong Kong. Customs figures...

This week's visit to Britain by China's senior trade official reinforces the idea that China wants greater balance among its trading partners as it tries to keep them both a bit off balance. China frequently urges members of the European Union to take a more active role in China. Analysts say this is intended to put the United States - which threatens trade sanctions from time to time - on notice that it isn't the only source of money and materials. EU IS 4TH-LARGEST PARTNER The European Union is China's fourth-largest trade partner after Japan, the United States and Hong Kong. Customs figures show China-EU trade reached $40.38 billion last year, an 18.7 percent increase over 1994. The EU is also the chief supplier of China's technology imports. China introduced 2,374 items of technology from EU countries through last September, with contracted value of $20.7 billion. That equated to 40 percent of China's total technology imports, leaving the United States and Japan behind. Wu Yi, China's Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation, is paying a five-day visit to Britain, its third-largest partner within the 15- member EU. China's customs statistics show Sino-British trade last year was $4.76 billion, a 13.8 percent increase over 1994. But Britain's investment in China is still only a small portion of its total overseas investment, Ms. Wu said before leaving Beijing. Britain has been relatively "backward" in promoting trade links with China in recent years compared with other Western European countries, especially Germany and Italy, she said. TRADE GROUP IS PLANNED A bilateral economic and trade committee will be set up during her visit, which will include an entourage of Chinese business leaders who hope to sign trade contracts with British firms. An agreement on a fourth batch of British government loans to China, about $150 million, is also expected to be signed. Sino-British relations have undergone periods of stress in recent years because of what China maintains is a confrontational stance over Hong Kong. The colony returns to Chinese sovereignty in 16 months. Beijing accuses London of violating bilateral agreements, for example, by extending the voting franchise to create an all-elected legislative council. China vows to abolish it when the handover comes and has meanwhile handpicked a local advisory committee that amounts to a shadow government and is becoming the focus of power in Hong Kong. For all its wooing of Europe, China does have some complaints. POLICY SHIFT URGED Ms. Wu expressed the hope that the European Union will cease ''discriminatory and unreasonable trade policies to build up a healthy and stable economic and trade relationship." She said many "unsatisfactory factors" and even some barriers remain in Sino-EU relations, mainly unilateral limits imposed by Europe on some Chinese exports. The EU has frequently launched "discriminatory anti-dumping investigations into certain Chinese products, causing big losses," Ms. Wu added. She also criticized the graduation principle within Europe's Generalized System of Preferences that excludes some Chinese goods from the program's zero-duty status. "The actions by the EU smack of trade protectionism, indicating that EU trade policies discriminate against China and are irrational," Ms. Wu said. They did not conform to either bilateral agreements or the World Trade Organization regulations, the minister said.

Maritime

CHINA WOOS UK TRADE AS LEVER IN DISPUTES WITH WASHINGTON

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">In the “Newsmakers” Q&amp;A, K+N’s head of ocean logistics touches upon US tariffs, sourcing shifts away from China, Red Sea transits and the benefits of AI.</div>

In the “Newsmakers” Q&A, K+N’s head of ocean logistics touches upon US tariffs, sourcing shifts away from China, Red Sea transits and the benefits of AI.

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<div class="phx-topic">“Newsmakers” is a periodic Q&amp;A with a key industry player conducted by Journal of Commerce contributor Lori Ann LaRocco. Michael Aldwell entered the shipping industry 16 years ago in his native New Zealand as a project manager for Kuehne + Nagel’s local contract logistics business. He now heads ocean logistics for K+N, the world’s largest forwarder. LaRocco: The logistics world has faced a lot of headwinds recently. We are now looking at the threat of (10%) tariffs being implemented on China. <div class="wrapper-narrow float-right-element"><img src="/images/phoenix/5936420_0.1.png"></img></div>Aldwell: So, from the companies that have a high density of manufacturing in China, they are looking for a diversified supply chain strategy. We're seeing a continuation of the trend that we saw for the last seven, eight years since Trump was first in office, and that is, ‘Can you help us and support us with this continuation of offshoring?’ I think realistically, that's something that's going to continue to be omnipresent for the coming four or five years. LaRocco: What implications do sourcing shifts out of China have on how you serve customers? Aldwell: Supply chain diversification feeds into the needs of a logistics enterprise because as the supply chain gets more complex, and more diversified for an import or an exporter, it's harder to replicate the network of a global logistics provider by yourself. We see expansion happening in Vietnam and Malaysia. I just came back from Indonesia, and we see substantial growth there. That economy is amazing. You have 280 million people in Indonesia. I think it's one of the most unappreciated economies in the world. We are also seeing footwear manufacturing moving to Central America. So, we see the need to be able to service complex international supply chain programs in Central America at a greater density than we have had in the past. I think that trend is beginning to accelerate little by little. We still see trade growth coming positively out of China. The early weeks of pre-Chinese New Year and late Q4 things were relatively poignant in terms of the build out. LaRocco: How long does it take for you to pivot to capture that emerging growth? Aldwell: It depends on the scale. It also depends on what modality you want to take to do that. We have a network existing today in more than 100 countries so what we're now seeing is increasing density in existing manufacturing zones more likely to be targeted areas from a tariff perspective. So, you can scale quite quickly. It can take weeks and months, not years because in most of these places, we have an established footprint. <div class="wrapper-narrow float-right-element"><img src="/images/phoenix/5936422_0.1.jpg"></img></div>What's different is port capacity, terminal capacity, getting equipment into the right places when things are moving around. That takes time, but actually getting ships in the right place is not so hard because pushing steel through water you can do in most places. Getting the logistics enterprises scaled up and running is a challenge, but it's not something that we're not used to. LaRocco: What about India? Aldwell: What we see at the moment is really strong growth in the Indian marketplace. I think there's two things going on India. One is the growth of India as an outsource manufacturing hub where you see as one of the beneficiaries of outsourcing from China, the risk from China because of geopolitical events. The second is the scaling in India consumption. It is the world's largest population. Indian consumers are becoming wealthier. There is a growing middle class in India, and that's driving consumption for imports, as well as the need to get raw materials for the manufacturing supply chain. So, there's a lot of investment that needs to go into India’s terminal infrastructure, the rail infrastructure and we see progress there. We see a lot of [capital expenditures] going into that space. LaRocco: We know that companies had been front loading due to the combination of tariffs, the ILA strike, and the threat of another strike [in January]. In your future orders, are you seeing shippers starting to pull back some of that freight that went to the West Coast back to the East Coast? Aldwell: I think that's a natural trend and we're seeing that happen. We're seeing some of that cargo starting to go back to the East Coast. As shippers go into the new year, they have been pointing to more locations across the US to make sure they are diversifying their supply chain by using the East Coast and Gulf ports. LaRocco: Maersk and MSC recently came out saying they're going to continue going around the Cape of Good Hope, which, while it is longer, provides more stability and certainty in the logistical supply chain. Are there things out there that you're concerned about that would add to volatility and uncertainty? Aldwell: I think there's a few big events that are going to happen in the future. One is, I think, the assumption that the ocean carriers will quickly go back into the Red Sea. I think that is being dispelled now by the few announcements and I guess there'll be probably some more to come. Most likely, it's going to take some time to build confidence that that route will be safe....What we are looking at is the insurance markets. You still can’t get insurance to sail through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. Only when you start to see those markets kind of normalizing, I think you will see traffic going through Bab el-Mandeb Strait, into the Red Sea through the Suez Canal. So far, there's no indication that that's easing up at all. I think if we look further out, if you assume that you get into a normalized world where the Red Sea is open, I think the influx of capacity is concerning to everybody in the industry. What will that do in terms of volatility for markets, and will it drive changes into the way that services are structured? We also have the introduction of Gemini [in February], and that's really the biggest change in modus operandi that we've seen in in a very long time for ocean carriers. LaRocco: We are seeing the push here in the United States for AI. How’s your company going to approach the use and deployment of AI to help your customer? Aldwell: I think you're...going to see a substantial utilization of AI to improve data quality, to get better data in a timely fashion into systems and reports. This will help customers and logistics providers and carriers and all the participants in the industry make better, more informed decisions in a timely effect. They can also use AI to start to build out better predictive models for the future and see what inventory needs are and how planning is going to work. I think the big opportunities are in quality and optimization. LaRocco: How will it help in the velocity of trade? Aldwell: I think it'll help the velocity of inventory that's not related to core movements. At the end of the day, I think you're going to have climate regulations, vessel sizes and other things that are regulated. There are port to port moves, and then we've got terminal productivity terminal. AI will help shippers choose to move inventory to different locations and make better decisions [about] stocking quantities. The smarter the inventory models you can get, you are going to be able to be linear with what you can do. The only challenge then is to end up with disruptions like we've had so many of over the last five years. Of course, you need to be able to factor that in as well. LaRocco: The company acquired a 51% stake in IMC. Walk me through the strategic thinking behind this and how is it going to enhance the company moving forward? Aldwell: During the pandemic, our industry became front page news because of all the challenges. The biggest challenges that came in the industry were landslide logistics. Terminals got blocked up, ports got blocked up, the rails got blocked up. You couldn’t get boxes moving around the country. We all lived through that and we set out in force to remedy that by making a different kind of commitment to the future for our customers and what infrastructure and ability to execute we wanted to have. We were looking for a few things. The first one was a company with scale. Second, a company with great DNA. Third, was a company with great technology, and the fourth one was a national network. With IMC, we took a majority shareholding in a business which we really believe in, and that's going to help our business serve our customers better into the future because we can make much better commitments about what kind of performance we can engage into in the future with that company. We’re absolutely committed to keeping IMC as an independent brand that runs itself in the marketplace. LaRocco: Do you think we’ll see more of these asset-based investments in the future in terms of being nimble to serve the needs of the client? Aldwell: Potentially yes when we think it's the right thing for our business. I can't speak to the competition. You saw some of the ocean carriers also go in and start acquiring those kinds of companies in the US and in other parts of the world. We think investing in...assets or asset-like commitments on the land side with a scalable organization, that makes sense for us because we can deliver a higher degree of certainty around performance to customers. LaRocco: Looking at 2025, what has you excited in terms of innovation or opportunities around the world? Aldwell: For us AI, of course, has us excited. We're really interested to see how AI can help us innovate, and how it can help us build a more and more customer centric-organization that meets the needs of people. I think the huge amount of investment going into the infrastructure that's needed to power AI on a worldwide basis is an opportunity for logistics companies. I think you look at a potential recovery in Europe, if we see an end to the war in Eastern Europe, this could create an economic rejuvenation and more confidence in European markets if we see that. So those are the things that we’re watching closely. Contact Lori Ann LaRocco at <a href="mailto:loriann.larocco@nbcuni.com">loriann.larocco@nbcuni.com.</a></div>

“Newsmakers” is a periodic Q&A with a key industry player conducted by Journal of Commerce contributor Lori Ann LaRocco. Michael Aldwell entered the shipping industry 16 years ago in his native New Zealand as a project manager for Kuehne + Nagel’s local contract logistics business. He now heads ocean logistics for K+N, the world’s largest forwarder. LaRocco: The logistics world has faced a lot of headwinds recently. We are now looking at the threat of (10%) tariffs being implemented on China. Aldwell: So, from the companies that have a high density of manufacturing in China, they are looking for a diversified supply chain strategy. We're seeing a continuation of the trend that we saw for the last seven, eight years since Trump was first in office, and that is, ‘Can you help us and support us with this continuation of offshoring?’ I think realistically, that's something that's going to continue to be omnipresent for the coming four or five years. LaRocco: What implications do sourcing shifts out of China have on how you serve customers? Aldwell: Supply chain diversification feeds into the needs of a logistics enterprise because as the supply chain gets more complex, and more diversified for an import or an exporter, it's harder to replicate the network of a global logistics provider by yourself. We see expansion happening in Vietnam and Malaysia. I just came back from Indonesia, and we see substantial growth there. That economy is amazing. You have 280 million people in Indonesia. I think it's one of the most unappreciated economies in the world. We are also seeing footwear manufacturing moving to Central America. So, we see the need to be able to service complex international supply chain programs in Central America at a greater density than we have had in the past. I think that trend is beginning to accelerate little by little. We still see trade growth coming positively out of China. The early weeks of pre-Chinese New Year and late Q4 things were relatively poignant in terms of the build out. LaRocco: How long does it take for you to pivot to capture that emerging growth? Aldwell: It depends on the scale. It also depends on what modality you want to take to do that. We have a network existing today in more than 100 countries so what we're now seeing is increasing density in existing manufacturing zones more likely to be targeted areas from a tariff perspective. So, you can scale quite quickly. It can take weeks and months, not years because in most of these places, we have an established footprint. What's different is port capacity, terminal capacity, getting equipment into the right places when things are moving around. That takes time, but actually getting ships in the right place is not so hard because pushing steel through water you can do in most places. Getting the logistics enterprises scaled up and running is a challenge, but it's not something that we're not used to. LaRocco: What about India? Aldwell: What we see at the moment is really strong growth in the Indian marketplace. I think there's two things going on India. One is the growth of India as an outsource manufacturing hub where you see as one of the beneficiaries of outsourcing from China, the risk from China because of geopolitical events. The second is the scaling in India consumption. It is the world's largest population. Indian consumers are becoming wealthier. There is a growing middle class in India, and that's driving consumption for imports, as well as the need to get raw materials for the manufacturing supply chain. So, there's a lot of investment that needs to go into India’s terminal infrastructure, the rail infrastructure and we see progress there. We see a lot of [capital expenditures] going into that space. LaRocco: We know that companies had been front loading due to the combination of tariffs, the ILA strike, and the threat of another strike [in January]. In your future orders, are you seeing shippers starting to pull back some of that freight that went to the West Coast back to the East Coast? Aldwell: I think that's a natural trend and we're seeing that happen. We're seeing some of that cargo starting to go back to the East Coast. As shippers go into the new year, they have been pointing to more locations across the US to make sure they are diversifying their supply chain by using the East Coast and Gulf ports. LaRocco: Maersk and MSC recently came out saying they're going to continue going around the Cape of Good Hope, which, while it is longer, provides more stability and certainty in the logistical supply chain. Are there things out there that you're concerned about that would add to volatility and uncertainty? Aldwell: I think there's a few big events that are going to happen in the future. One is, I think, the assumption that the ocean carriers will quickly go back into the Red Sea. I think that is being dispelled now by the few announcements and I guess there'll be probably some more to come. Most likely, it's going to take some time to build confidence that that route will be safe....What we are looking at is the insurance markets. You still can’t get insurance to sail through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. Only when you start to see those markets kind of normalizing, I think you will see traffic going through Bab el-Mandeb Strait, into the Red Sea through the Suez Canal. So far, there's no indication that that's easing up at all. I think if we look further out, if you assume that you get into a normalized world where the Red Sea is open, I think the influx of capacity is concerning to everybody in the industry. What will that do in terms of volatility for markets, and will it drive changes into the way that services are structured? We also have the introduction of Gemini [in February], and that's really the biggest change in modus operandi that we've seen in in a very long time for ocean carriers. LaRocco: We are seeing the push here in the United States for AI. How’s your company going to approach the use and deployment of AI to help your customer? Aldwell: I think you're...going to see a substantial utilization of AI to improve data quality, to get better data in a timely fashion into systems and reports. This will help customers and logistics providers and carriers and all the participants in the industry make better, more informed decisions in a timely effect. They can also use AI to start to build out better predictive models for the future and see what inventory needs are and how planning is going to work. I think the big opportunities are in quality and optimization. LaRocco: How will it help in the velocity of trade? Aldwell: I think it'll help the velocity of inventory that's not related to core movements. At the end of the day, I think you're going to have climate regulations, vessel sizes and other things that are regulated. There are port to port moves, and then we've got terminal productivity terminal. AI will help shippers choose to move inventory to different locations and make better decisions [about] stocking quantities. The smarter the inventory models you can get, you are going to be able to be linear with what you can do. The only challenge then is to end up with disruptions like we've had so many of over the last five years. Of course, you need to be able to factor that in as well. LaRocco: The company acquired a 51% stake in IMC. Walk me through the strategic thinking behind this and how is it going to enhance the company moving forward? Aldwell: During the pandemic, our industry became front page news because of all the challenges. The biggest challenges that came in the industry were landslide logistics. Terminals got blocked up, ports got blocked up, the rails got blocked up. You couldn’t get boxes moving around the country. We all lived through that and we set out in force to remedy that by making a different kind of commitment to the future for our customers and what infrastructure and ability to execute we wanted to have. We were looking for a few things. The first one was a company with scale. Second, a company with great DNA. Third, was a company with great technology, and the fourth one was a national network. With IMC, we took a majority shareholding in a business which we really believe in, and that's going to help our business serve our customers better into the future because we can make much better commitments about what kind of performance we can engage into in the future with that company. We’re absolutely committed to keeping IMC as an independent brand that runs itself in the marketplace. LaRocco: Do you think we’ll see more of these asset-based investments in the future in terms of being nimble to serve the needs of the client? Aldwell: Potentially yes when we think it's the right thing for our business. I can't speak to the competition. You saw some of the ocean carriers also go in and start acquiring those kinds of companies in the US and in other parts of the world. We think investing in...assets or asset-like commitments on the land side with a scalable organization, that makes sense for us because we can deliver a higher degree of certainty around performance to customers. LaRocco: Looking at 2025, what has you excited in terms of innovation or opportunities around the world? Aldwell: For us AI, of course, has us excited. We're really interested to see how AI can help us innovate, and how it can help us build a more and more customer centric-organization that meets the needs of people. I think the huge amount of investment going into the infrastructure that's needed to power AI on a worldwide basis is an opportunity for logistics companies. I think you look at a potential recovery in Europe, if we see an end to the war in Eastern Europe, this could create an economic rejuvenation and more confidence in European markets if we see that. So those are the things that we’re watching closely. Contact Lori Ann LaRocco at loriann.larocco@nbcuni.com.

Supply chain

Journal of Commerce ‘Newsmakers’: Kuehne +Nagel’s Michael Aldwell

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">The Geneva-based carrier said a network of 210,000 reefer containers and more than 500 vessels are already equipped with its new iReefer monitoring system.</div>

The Geneva-based carrier said a network of 210,000 reefer containers and more than 500 vessels are already equipped with its new iReefer monitoring system.

<div class="phx-topic">Mediterranean Shipping Co. said Monday it is advancing its perishable cargo offerings by launching iReefer, a monitoring system that offers shippers real-time updates on their refrigerated cargo, including location and temperature. The Geneva-based carrier said in a statement a network of 210,000 reefer containers and more than 500 vessels are equipped with the new technology. MSC, which moves more than 1 million reefer containers annually, said it aims to eventually equip its entire fleet of containers and vessels with the technology “in the coming years.” “iReefer is designed with customers in mind,” Giuseppe Prudente, MSC’s chief logistics officer, said in the statement. “We fully understand their need to closely monitor and control cargo, to facilitate planning and ensure products are delivered in pristine condition.”  MSC’s iReefer will allow shippers live monitoring and temperature control of their perishable cargo, reducing costs by preventing cargo spoilage, damage and insurance claims. The improved visibility will also enhance container security and regulatory compliance, the carrier said. The free version of the program, iReefer Essential, is already accessible online via myMSC, the company’s proprietary e-business platform. It includes an overview of a shipper’s current and historic reefer shipments with MSC, as well as a container journey log and graphs. The second and third tiers, iReefer Pro and iReefer Ultimate, will launch on March 1 and include enhanced data offerings. iReefer Pro will include downloadable data on cargo, while iReefer Ultimate — an option for customers with significant reefer volumes — connects directly to shippers’ internal programs. Contact Laura Robb at <a href="mailto:Laura.Robb@spglobal.com. ">laura.robb@spglobal.com</a>.  </div>

Mediterranean Shipping Co. said Monday it is advancing its perishable cargo offerings by launching iReefer, a monitoring system that offers shippers real-time updates on their refrigerated cargo, including location and temperature. The Geneva-based carrier said in a statement a network of 210,000 reefer containers and more than 500 vessels are equipped with the new technology. MSC, which moves more than 1 million reefer containers annually, said it aims to eventually equip its entire fleet of containers and vessels with the technology “in the coming years.” “iReefer is designed with customers in mind,” Giuseppe Prudente, MSC’s chief logistics officer, said in the statement. “We fully understand their need to closely monitor and control cargo, to facilitate planning and ensure products are delivered in pristine condition.”  MSC’s iReefer will allow shippers live monitoring and temperature control of their perishable cargo, reducing costs by preventing cargo spoilage, damage and insurance claims. The improved visibility will also enhance container security and regulatory compliance, the carrier said. The free version of the program, iReefer Essential, is already accessible online via myMSC, the company’s proprietary e-business platform. It includes an overview of a shipper’s current and historic reefer shipments with MSC, as well as a container journey log and graphs. The second and third tiers, iReefer Pro and iReefer Ultimate, will launch on March 1 and include enhanced data offerings. iReefer Pro will include downloadable data on cargo, while iReefer Ultimate — an option for customers with significant reefer volumes — connects directly to shippers’ internal programs. Contact Laura Robb at laura.robb@spglobal.com . 

Container Shipping News

Cool Cargo News

Container lines

MSC launches new visibility technology for refrigerated cargo

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">There has been a steady decline in average rate levels on the major trade lanes since December, and as the new alliances and MSC’s standalone network are launched, there is no sign of an end to the slide.</div>

There has been a steady decline in average rate levels on the major trade lanes since December, and as the new alliances and MSC’s standalone network are launched, there is no sign of an end to the slide.

<div class="phx-topic">Rising competitive pressure as ocean carriers adjust to the restructured alliances is likely to place downward pressure on rates on the main east-west trades, according to Sea-Intelligence Maritime Analysis. There has already been a steady decline in average rate levels on the trans-Pacific and Asia-Europe trade lanes since December; as the new alliances and Mediterranean Shipping Co.’s standalone network are rolled out, there is no sign of an end to the slide. “There are clear shifts in the relative competitive power between the different players in the new alliances versus the situation we have been used to for the past eight years,” Sea-Intelligence noted in its latest Sunday Spotlight newsletter, adding that for shippers, the downward pressure on rates would intensify. Holding the leading market share on three of the four main trade lanes out of Asia — Asia-US West Coast, Asia-US East Coast and Asia-North Europe — is the Ocean Alliance of Cosco Shipping, CMA CGM, OOCL and Evergreen. MSC is the largest capacity provider on Asia-Mediterranean. Ocean Alliance will be the market leader on the Asia-North America West Coast trade with 35% of the planned capacity, while operating 37% of Asia-North America East Coast capacity and 35% on Asia-North Europe, Sea-Intelligence data shows. MSC will be market leader on Asia-Mediterranean with 30% of the capacity, although Ocean Alliance is just behind at 29%. The Gemini Cooperation between Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd is the smallest player on both the Asia-North America West Coast and East Coast trade lanes, just behind the Premier Alliance of Ocean Network Express (ONE), Yang Ming and HMM. <h3>Signs of a rate war </h3>As carriers reposition ships and take bookings for their new networks, Kathy Liu, vice president of global sales and marketing at Taiwan-based forwarder Dimerco Express Group, said there were increasing signs of a battle for market share emerging, at least on the Asia-Europe trade lane. “With demand slowing ... shipping lines need to fill their capacity, so there will for sure be a price war,” she told the Journal of Commerce. Average spot rates from North Asia to the US West Coast were at $3,700 per FEU Monday, down from $5,250/FEU at the beginning of January, according to Platts, a sister company of the Journal of Commerce within S&amp;P Global. Current Asia-US East Coast rates of $5,500/FEU were $2,200 lower than at the beginning of the year. It was a similar picture on Asia-North Europe, where the rate of $3,000/FEU this week was down from $5,000 in the first week of January, while the current Asia-Mediterranean rate of $4,300/FEU has slipped $1,000. There is little clarity into how rates will perform following the late January start to the Lunar New Year and widespread uncertainty into when carriers <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/carriers-eye-red-sea-transits-after-houthi-rebels-pledge-restraint-5925939">will resume shorter Suez Canal transits</a>. The base case from global bank HSBC is for Red Sea transits to resume from mid-2025, which it said implied 10.5% effective capacity growth in 2025 compared with 2.7% volume growth. Contact Greg Knowler at <a href="mailto:greg.knowler@spglobal.com">greg.knowler@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

Rising competitive pressure as ocean carriers adjust to the restructured alliances is likely to place downward pressure on rates on the main east-west trades, according to Sea-Intelligence Maritime Analysis. There has already been a steady decline in average rate levels on the trans-Pacific and Asia-Europe trade lanes since December; as the new alliances and Mediterranean Shipping Co.’s standalone network are rolled out, there is no sign of an end to the slide. “There are clear shifts in the relative competitive power between the different players in the new alliances versus the situation we have been used to for the past eight years,” Sea-Intelligence noted in its latest Sunday Spotlight newsletter, adding that for shippers, the downward pressure on rates would intensify. Holding the leading market share on three of the four main trade lanes out of Asia — Asia-US West Coast, Asia-US East Coast and Asia-North Europe — is the Ocean Alliance of Cosco Shipping, CMA CGM, OOCL and Evergreen. MSC is the largest capacity provider on Asia-Mediterranean. Ocean Alliance will be the market leader on the Asia-North America West Coast trade with 35% of the planned capacity, while operating 37% of Asia-North America East Coast capacity and 35% on Asia-North Europe, Sea-Intelligence data shows. MSC will be market leader on Asia-Mediterranean with 30% of the capacity, although Ocean Alliance is just behind at 29%. The Gemini Cooperation between Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd is the smallest player on both the Asia-North America West Coast and East Coast trade lanes, just behind the Premier Alliance of Ocean Network Express (ONE), Yang Ming and HMM. Signs of a rate war As carriers reposition ships and take bookings for their new networks, Kathy Liu, vice president of global sales and marketing at Taiwan-based forwarder Dimerco Express Group, said there were increasing signs of a battle for market share emerging, at least on the Asia-Europe trade lane. “With demand slowing ... shipping lines need to fill their capacity, so there will for sure be a price war,” she told the Journal of Commerce. Average spot rates from North Asia to the US West Coast were at $3,700 per FEU Monday, down from $5,250/FEU at the beginning of January, according to Platts, a sister company of the Journal of Commerce within S&P Global. Current Asia-US East Coast rates of $5,500/FEU were $2,200 lower than at the beginning of the year. It was a similar picture on Asia-North Europe, where the rate of $3,000/FEU this week was down from $5,000 in the first week of January, while the current Asia-Mediterranean rate of $4,300/FEU has slipped $1,000. There is little clarity into how rates will perform following the late January start to the Lunar New Year and widespread uncertainty into when carriers will resume shorter Suez Canal transits . The base case from global bank HSBC is for Red Sea transits to resume from mid-2025, which it said implied 10.5% effective capacity growth in 2025 compared with 2.7% volume growth. Contact Greg Knowler at greg.knowler@spglobal.com .

Spot rates falling as new ocean networks roll out: Sea-Intelligence

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Shipowners in the sector view the ambitious SHIPS for America legislation as unrealistic, with the domestic shipbuilding industry under-skilled and lacking the capacity needed to meaningfully contribute to the specialized MPV fleet.</div>

Shipowners in the sector view the ambitious SHIPS for America legislation as unrealistic, with the domestic shipbuilding industry under-skilled and lacking the capacity needed to meaningfully contribute to the specialized MPV fleet.

<div class="phx-topic">The lofty ambitions of the proposed <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/us-flag-vessel-owners-investors-tout-wave-of-support-for-expanding-fleet-5819921">SHIPS for America Act</a> could have ramifications for the global multipurpose vessel (MPV) fleet, but only if it manages to achieve the tall order of injecting new life into the US’ stagnating shipbuilding industry.<div class="wrapper-narrow float-right-element"><img src="/images/phoenix/5935841_0.1.jpg"></img></div>The bipartisan act seeks to rebuild the US shipbuilding industry and make US-flagged vessels commercially competitive. At the same time, it aims to reduce the dominance of China on the US maritime fleet. That last goal might be the hardest to achieve, however. In 2024, China delivered 34% of all newbuildings to the global fleet, compared with 11% from Japan, 7% from South Korea and just 2% from the US, according to S&amp;P Global, parent company of the Journal of Commerce. A year earlier, China was the number one shipbuilder in the world, accounting for 50.7% of global shipbuilding in gross tons, whereas the US was ranked 15th with a market share of just 0.1%, according to the UNCTAD Review of Maritime Transport 2024. <div class="wrapper-narrow"><dynamic-object type="jocchartid" resource-id="c2866ed5-af04-4a92-8187-96d99d694de3"></dynamic-object></div>Title IV of the SHIPS Act establishes the Strategic Commercial Fleet Program, with the goal of creating a fleet of 250 privately owned, US-built, US-flagged, US-crewed vessels that operate in international trade. One multipurpose ship owner told the Journal of Commerce that the capacity to build general cargo vessels and the timelines set out in the proposed bill are “not realistic.” The cost to build an MPV vessel in the US — if capacity and specialization were available, which they are not — is currently about four to five times the cost to build in Asia, particularly China. Additionally, costs to operate under the US flag are significantly more than under the popular open registry of Panama. Therefore, any MPV built and maintained under the parameters of the act would be considerably more expensive to operate. The legislation has an answer for that: The fleet program will provide annual support payments to cover that difference in capital and operating costs. MPVs would be included in the US fleet for seven years and therefore eligible for the payments, with the option to renew twice. However, this assumes a vessel lifespan of just 21 years, which, in MPV terms, is at least nine short of expected demolition.<h3>Notable omission of cargo preference</h3>There are also concerns among US-flag shipowners who spoke with the Journal of Commerce that although the act talks about shipbuilding and ownership, there is little in it related to cargo preference. “Cargo preference” is the general term used to describe US laws, regulations and policies that require the use of US-flag vessels in the movement of cargo that is owned, procured, furnished or financed by the US government. For US Export Import Bank (EXIM) cargo, the percentage required is 100%; for civilian agency cargo, it is 50%. Increasing the cargo preference requirements may come further down the line, though, as the act aims to establish a commercial cargo preference, requiring that within 15 years, 10% of all cargo imported into the US from China will be imported on US-flag vessels. Title IV of the act also increases the percentage of US government cargo that must sail on US-flag vessels from 50% to 100%. But there is no mention of an increase in general cargo preference, crucial for MPVs. For the legislation to be successful, MPV shipowners have told the Journal of Commerce that there need to be guarantees on cargo running in parallel with the investment in shipbuilding — or shipowners will not sign on the dotted line. Yard capacity is another barrier to success. The two main yards that build commercial (as opposed to military) vessels are Philly and NASSCO. Philly Shipyard is headquartered in Oslo, Norway, with the operating subsidiary in Philadelphia. On the commercial side, it builds tankers and container ships. General Dynamics’ NASSCO has locations on both the US West and East coasts. It specializes in auxiliary and support ships for the US Navy. There are currently seven NASSCO-built heavy-lift semisubmersible vessels trading on behalf of the US government, with one more on the order book to be built at NASSCO, according to S&amp;P Global.However, these yards build very few, if any, general cargo ships and no specialized project carriers. Their order books are full for the tonnage that they do build, which include military, small container ships and tankers. This means that there is limited capacity before 2027–28. Substantial investment will be needed to create additional capacity. The legislation has caught the attention of the MPV sector, with Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” campaign prioritizing these types of protectionist measures. But to succeed, the SHIPS Act needs to force a shift change in an industry that currently lacks the capacity and the expertise to produce ocean-going vessels at scale. Contact Susan Oatway at <a href="mailto:susan.oatway@spglobal.com">susan.oatway@spglobal.com</a>.</div>

The lofty ambitions of the proposed SHIPS for America Act could have ramifications for the global multipurpose vessel (MPV) fleet, but only if it manages to achieve the tall order of injecting new life into the US’ stagnating shipbuilding industry. The bipartisan act seeks to rebuild the US shipbuilding industry and make US-flagged vessels commercially competitive. At the same time, it aims to reduce the dominance of China on the US maritime fleet. That last goal might be the hardest to achieve, however. In 2024, China delivered 34% of all newbuildings to the global fleet, compared with 11% from Japan, 7% from South Korea and just 2% from the US, according to S&P Global, parent company of the Journal of Commerce. A year earlier, China was the number one shipbuilder in the world, accounting for 50.7% of global shipbuilding in gross tons, whereas the US was ranked 15th with a market share of just 0.1%, according to the UNCTAD Review of Maritime Transport 2024. Title IV of the SHIPS Act establishes the Strategic Commercial Fleet Program, with the goal of creating a fleet of 250 privately owned, US-built, US-flagged, US-crewed vessels that operate in international trade. One multipurpose ship owner told the Journal of Commerce that the capacity to build general cargo vessels and the timelines set out in the proposed bill are “not realistic.” The cost to build an MPV vessel in the US — if capacity and specialization were available, which they are not — is currently about four to five times the cost to build in Asia, particularly China. Additionally, costs to operate under the US flag are significantly more than under the popular open registry of Panama. Therefore, any MPV built and maintained under the parameters of the act would be considerably more expensive to operate. The legislation has an answer for that: The fleet program will provide annual support payments to cover that difference in capital and operating costs. MPVs would be included in the US fleet for seven years and therefore eligible for the payments, with the option to renew twice. However, this assumes a vessel lifespan of just 21 years, which, in MPV terms, is at least nine short of expected demolition. Notable omission of cargo preference There are also concerns among US-flag shipowners who spoke with the Journal of Commerce that although the act talks about shipbuilding and ownership, there is little in it related to cargo preference. “Cargo preference” is the general term used to describe US laws, regulations and policies that require the use of US-flag vessels in the movement of cargo that is owned, procured, furnished or financed by the US government. For US Export Import Bank (EXIM) cargo, the percentage required is 100%; for civilian agency cargo, it is 50%. Increasing the cargo preference requirements may come further down the line, though, as the act aims to establish a commercial cargo preference, requiring that within 15 years, 10% of all cargo imported into the US from China will be imported on US-flag vessels. Title IV of the act also increases the percentage of US government cargo that must sail on US-flag vessels from 50% to 100%. But there is no mention of an increase in general cargo preference, crucial for MPVs. For the legislation to be successful, MPV shipowners have told the Journal of Commerce that there need to be guarantees on cargo running in parallel with the investment in shipbuilding — or shipowners will not sign on the dotted line. Yard capacity is another barrier to success. The two main yards that build commercial (as opposed to military) vessels are Philly and NASSCO. Philly Shipyard is headquartered in Oslo, Norway, with the operating subsidiary in Philadelphia. On the commercial side, it builds tankers and container ships. General Dynamics’ NASSCO has locations on both the US West and East coasts. It specializes in auxiliary and support ships for the US Navy. There are currently seven NASSCO-built heavy-lift semisubmersible vessels trading on behalf of the US government, with one more on the order book to be built at NASSCO, according to S&P Global. However, these yards build very few, if any, general cargo ships and no specialized project carriers. Their order books are full for the tonnage that they do build, which include military, small container ships and tankers. This means that there is limited capacity before 2027–28. Substantial investment will be needed to create additional capacity. The legislation has caught the attention of the MPV sector, with Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” campaign prioritizing these types of protectionist measures. But to succeed, the SHIPS Act needs to force a shift change in an industry that currently lacks the capacity and the expertise to produce ocean-going vessels at scale. Contact Susan Oatway at susan.oatway@spglobal.com .

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<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">A slow shift away from one-way truckload toward dedicated is reshaping the top tier of truckload carriers, a transformation that may accelerate in a freight recovery. </div>

A slow shift away from one-way truckload toward dedicated is reshaping the top tier of truckload carriers, a transformation that may accelerate in a freight recovery.

<div class="phx-topic">Driven by the capacity needs of customers and desire for more stable revenue and margins, large US truckload carriers are increasingly focused on dedicated trucking, with many companies moving greater numbers of trucks and drivers to dedicated divisions. That shift is a <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/us-shippers-expanding-private-truck-fleets-to-haul-more-of-their-own-freight-5712761">long-term trend</a> that is being accelerated by a freight downcycle that has lasted nearly three years. It also reflects shipper demand for more stable capacity and is tied to the expansion of <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/us-shippers-expanding-private-truck-fleets-to-haul-more-of-their-own-freight-5712761">shipper-owned private fleets</a> since the COVID-19 pandemic. The growth of dedicated services is leading to a significant rebalancing of the upper tier of the truckload market, which includes giant carriers such as Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings, J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Schneider National and Werner Enterprises. All of these trucking companies have made dedicated business — in which they provide guaranteed capacity to shippers in the form of an outsourced private fleet — a top priority heading into 2025. Dedicated is a key part of their broader diversification plans. With an end to the so-called freight recession expected — although not certain — by the second half of the year, shippers tell the Journal of Commerce they are once again concerned about truck capacity, even though that capacity is abundant and demand slow in the first quarter. That creates opportunities for dedicated trucking providers. At Green Bay, Wisconsin-based Schneider National, 70% of its 12,700 tractors are now in dedicated service, a percentage bolstered by the $421 million acquisition of dedicated trucking company Cowan Systems, company officials told Wall Street analysts last Thursday. When Schneider became a publicly traded company in 2017, dedicated services represented only 33% of its fleet, which underscores the scope of the transformation. “Our dedicated business has demonstrated [a] resilient earnings profile over freight cycles and is an important part of our strategy to create enduring shareholder value,” Mark B. Rourke, president and CEO of Schneider, said during a fourth-quarter earnings call. In contrast, the traditional over-the-road (OTR) truckload business “continues to be challenged” and was not profitable in the last quarter, Rourke said. “The freight market is continuing its path towards recovery, and we are playing the long game.” <h3>Driven to diversify </h3>That game requires belt-tightening and diversification as carriers roll toward what they hope will be the end of a freight downturn that began in 2022. Truckload carriers have seen volatile pricing swings since the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Dedicated business tends to have higher profit margins and longer-term contracts, encouraging an even greater shift when typical truckload margins are either in single digits or negative. At J.B. Hunt, for example, the average dedicated contract length is five years. The margin goal for dedicated at J.B. Hunt is 12% to 14%, company officials said. The carrier’s truckload division had an operating margin of about 4.7% in the fourth quarter, while its dedicated operating margin was 10.8%, according to quarterly earnings data. The higher margin is in the difference between dedicated and traditional truckload. “When we’re putting together a dedicated solution, it’s truly dedicated, it is a multiyear agreement,” James Filter, group vice president of transportation and logistics at Schneider, said during Schneider’s earnings call. “It’s structured so that it has teeth in it for both sides and is not something that is going to be replaced by lower-cost spot pricing.” Allocating more capital to dedicated trucking as well as to less-than-truckload (LTL) services is the strategy Phoenix-based Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings is pursuing to reduce its dependence on the volatile one-way, irregular-route truckload market. Knight-Swift’s truckload segment currently operates 15,800 irregular-route trucks and 6,400 dedicated trucks across its truckload subsidiaries, which include Knight and Swift Transportation as well as Barr-Nunn, Abilene Motor Express and U.S. Xpress. “We’re going to build our dedicated fleet,” CFO Andrew Hess said during a Jan. 22 earnings call. Knight-Swift looks to boost dedicated operations at U.S. Xpress, which it acquired in 2023 for $808 million. “We believe [dedicated] has an opportunity for growth,” Hess said. J.B. Hunt Transport Services President and CEO Shelley Simpson, in a Jan. 16 earnings call, called her company’s dedicated service “remarkably resilient” despite the freight downturn. J.B. Hunt puts the value of the overall dedicated trucking market at $90 billion. J.B. Hunt’s dedicated business did come under pressure as truckload spot rates dropped by double digits from 2022 through 2024. That pricing collapse gave some shippers an opportunity to shift more expensive dedicated business to the open market. “We certainly combated that challenge throughout the year,” Bradley W. Hicks, Hunt’s president of dedicated contract services, said during the earnings call. He expects pressure from “fleet losses” to continue through the early part of the second quarter. After that, however, Hicks sees a clearer road to growth ahead. “We see our retention rates on customers rebounding,” with more trucks in demand, he said. Schneider also expects rising demand will allow it to deploy more dedicated trucks in 2025. “We have line of sight to several hundred trucks of new business awards slated for start-up in the first half of 2025,” Rourke said. The CEO said Schneider has “trucks at the ready” for a few large startups that were delayed from 2024 into 2025. Contact William B. Cassidy at <a href="mailto:bill.cassidy@spglobal.com">bill.cassidy@spglobal.com</a>.</div>

Driven by the capacity needs of customers and desire for more stable revenue and margins, large US truckload carriers are increasingly focused on dedicated trucking, with many companies moving greater numbers of trucks and drivers to dedicated divisions. That shift is a long-term trend that is being accelerated by a freight downcycle that has lasted nearly three years. It also reflects shipper demand for more stable capacity and is tied to the expansion of shipper-owned private fleets since the COVID-19 pandemic. The growth of dedicated services is leading to a significant rebalancing of the upper tier of the truckload market, which includes giant carriers such as Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings, J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Schneider National and Werner Enterprises. All of these trucking companies have made dedicated business — in which they provide guaranteed capacity to shippers in the form of an outsourced private fleet — a top priority heading into 2025. Dedicated is a key part of their broader diversification plans. With an end to the so-called freight recession expected — although not certain — by the second half of the year, shippers tell the Journal of Commerce they are once again concerned about truck capacity, even though that capacity is abundant and demand slow in the first quarter. That creates opportunities for dedicated trucking providers. At Green Bay, Wisconsin-based Schneider National, 70% of its 12,700 tractors are now in dedicated service, a percentage bolstered by the $421 million acquisition of dedicated trucking company Cowan Systems, company officials told Wall Street analysts last Thursday. When Schneider became a publicly traded company in 2017, dedicated services represented only 33% of its fleet, which underscores the scope of the transformation. “Our dedicated business has demonstrated [a] resilient earnings profile over freight cycles and is an important part of our strategy to create enduring shareholder value,” Mark B. Rourke, president and CEO of Schneider, said during a fourth-quarter earnings call. In contrast, the traditional over-the-road (OTR) truckload business “continues to be challenged” and was not profitable in the last quarter, Rourke said. “The freight market is continuing its path towards recovery, and we are playing the long game.” Driven to diversify That game requires belt-tightening and diversification as carriers roll toward what they hope will be the end of a freight downturn that began in 2022. Truckload carriers have seen volatile pricing swings since the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Dedicated business tends to have higher profit margins and longer-term contracts, encouraging an even greater shift when typical truckload margins are either in single digits or negative. At J.B. Hunt, for example, the average dedicated contract length is five years. The margin goal for dedicated at J.B. Hunt is 12% to 14%, company officials said. The carrier’s truckload division had an operating margin of about 4.7% in the fourth quarter, while its dedicated operating margin was 10.8%, according to quarterly earnings data. The higher margin is in the difference between dedicated and traditional truckload. “When we’re putting together a dedicated solution, it’s truly dedicated, it is a multiyear agreement,” James Filter, group vice president of transportation and logistics at Schneider, said during Schneider’s earnings call. “It’s structured so that it has teeth in it for both sides and is not something that is going to be replaced by lower-cost spot pricing.” Allocating more capital to dedicated trucking as well as to less-than-truckload (LTL) services is the strategy Phoenix-based Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings is pursuing to reduce its dependence on the volatile one-way, irregular-route truckload market. Knight-Swift’s truckload segment currently operates 15,800 irregular-route trucks and 6,400 dedicated trucks across its truckload subsidiaries, which include Knight and Swift Transportation as well as Barr-Nunn, Abilene Motor Express and U.S. Xpress. “We’re going to build our dedicated fleet,” CFO Andrew Hess said during a Jan. 22 earnings call. Knight-Swift looks to boost dedicated operations at U.S. Xpress, which it acquired in 2023 for $808 million. “We believe [dedicated] has an opportunity for growth,” Hess said. J.B. Hunt Transport Services President and CEO Shelley Simpson, in a Jan. 16 earnings call, called her company’s dedicated service “remarkably resilient” despite the freight downturn. J.B. Hunt puts the value of the overall dedicated trucking market at $90 billion. J.B. Hunt’s dedicated business did come under pressure as truckload spot rates dropped by double digits from 2022 through 2024. That pricing collapse gave some shippers an opportunity to shift more expensive dedicated business to the open market. “We certainly combated that challenge throughout the year,” Bradley W. Hicks, Hunt’s president of dedicated contract services, said during the earnings call. He expects pressure from “fleet losses” to continue through the early part of the second quarter. After that, however, Hicks sees a clearer road to growth ahead. “We see our retention rates on customers rebounding,” with more trucks in demand, he said. Schneider also expects rising demand will allow it to deploy more dedicated trucks in 2025. “We have line of sight to several hundred trucks of new business awards slated for start-up in the first half of 2025,” Rourke said. The CEO said Schneider has “trucks at the ready” for a few large startups that were delayed from 2024 into 2025. Contact William B. Cassidy at bill.cassidy@spglobal.com .

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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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