<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">India's growth potential elevates prospects for breakbulk and heavy-lift shipments.</div>

India's growth potential elevates prospects for breakbulk and heavy-lift shipments.

<div>Economic growth, infrastructure upgrades, energy-related projects, and efforts to weed out trade barriers and customs red tape are combining to make India a bright spot for breakbulk and heavy-lift shipments.“There is heavy demand for construction equipment. Sectors such as roads, airports, power, and seaports have become very attractive for both domestic and foreign investors,” said Captain Sandeep Anand, CEO of projects and engineering solutions at third-party logistics provider Allcargo.The Indian government’s new flagship program, Make In India, aims to boost domestic manufacturing via private participation, and is expected to bolster demand for heavy construction.India’s breakbulk and project cargo imports historically...

Economic growth, infrastructure upgrades, energy-related projects, and efforts to weed out trade barriers and customs red tape are combining to make India a bright spot for breakbulk and heavy-lift shipments. “There is heavy demand for construction equipment. Sectors such as roads, airports, power, and seaports have become very attractive for both domestic and foreign investors,” said Captain Sandeep Anand, CEO of projects and engineering solutions at third-party logistics provider Allcargo. The Indian government’s new flagship program, Make In India, aims to boost domestic manufacturing via private participation, and is expected to bolster demand for heavy construction. India’s breakbulk and project cargo imports historically have exceeded exports. The country’s economy continued to expand while the 2008 financial meltdown battered much of the world. India’s GDP has grown more than 7 percent annually in the last three fiscal years, and most forecasts call for growth to accelerate. East Asia, especially China, accounts for the majority of India’s breakbulk inbound traffic, followed by western Europe, Russia, and the United States. India’s breakbulk exports, dominated by steel pipes and sheets and machinery, move primarily to Europe, the United States, and China. Most Indian ports have facilities to handle multipurpose vessels, but breakbulk and project cargo is concentrated at Mumbai, Kandla, and Mundra on the west coast and Chennai and Visakhapatnam on the east coast. Breakbulk carriers serving India include well-known industry names such as Rickmers-Linie, Conti Lines, Chipolbrok, BBC Chartering, and Hansa Heavy Lift. Roll-on, roll-off (ro-ro) carriers such as Hoegh Autoliners also call at the ports of Mumbai, Pipavav, Mundra, and Chennai. Breakbulk services at India are generally on an inducement basis, with no fixed liner schedule. In the fiscal year ending March 2016, Mumbai had the most breakbulk vessel calls of any Indian port, with 656, up from 608 the previous year. Kandla was next with 454, up from 371, followed by Chennai with 382, down from 426 in fiscal 2014 to 2015. India’s major public ports together handled 28.11 million metric tons of breakbulk cargo in the last fiscal year, a 6.3 percent increase from the previous year. l Cargo opportunities and a weak global market for container ships have encouraged container lines to compete for oversize and out-of-gauge shipments to India, in addition to using containers, where possible, for project shipments. Zim Integrated Shipping Services recently set up a strategic partnership with Allcargo Logistics to provide inland logistics services for all types of cargo, including oversize loads. Singapore’s Pacific International Lines is another new entrant into India’s logistics segment through cooperation with domestic partner Apollo LogiSolutions. Transportation of heavy, over-dimensional loads is a struggle in a country plagued with chronic supply chain bottlenecks. The location of most major Indian ports near busy population centers complicates movement of these cargoes by road. The government has been working to address the bottlenecks. In its 2012 to 2017 five-year plan, it allocated about 20 percent of the plan’s outlay to infrastructure. But there’s a long way to go. Much already has been done to remove supply chain inefficiencies — for example, better use of online services for port and customs processes — but port and inland delays remain challenging. “There are perennial congestion issues at ports, as a result of which project cargo is given less priority,” Anand said. Although customs procedures have been simplified and automated, project shippers are still exposed to lengthy delays in interstate border clearances in the absence of a well-defined, national regulatory policy for the project logistics sector. Movement of over-dimensional loads on national highways is controlled by India’s Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, but state authorities control movements over state highways, major district roads, and interior roads, which raises costs for shippers, Anand said. The lifting of cabotage restrictions to allow foreign-flag ro-ro operators to transport cargo between Indian points could enable some of these heavy loads to move by sea instead over overland. The government is encouraging development of coastal shipping and considering standardization of the movement of long-haul trucks with oversize loads on national highways. “Needless to mention that water transport is the cheapest mode of transport,” Shipping minister Nitin Gadkari said. Under the National Waterways Bill 2015 seeking to promote inland waterways for freight transportation, three new multimodal terminals have been planned at Varanasi, Sahebganj, and Haldia. Logistics costs as a percentage of GDP are about 18 percent, compared with 10 to 12 percent in Europe, and about 10 percent in the United States. “Our focus is on bringing down the logistics costs from 18 percent to 12 percent by developing coastal shipping and inland waterways,” Gadkari said. Construction of dedicated freight rail shipments between major ports and hinterlands is expected to boost rail shipments. The government also is increasing its emphasis on development of last-mile rail projects at major ports. The overriding goal is to reduce logistics costs. l India has the world’s second-largest road network, spanning some 5.23 million kilometers (3.25 million miles). The government has set a target to award road works covering 25,000 kilometers on national highways in the current fiscal year, an increase from the 10,000 kilometers of contract awards during the previous year. “The government is very focused on increasing the pace of development with the budget announcements supporting it,” said Vishal Sharma, India subcontinent CEO of Damco, Maersk Group’s logistics and freight forwarding unit. “Project cargo, which requires expertise in handling, has a huge potential in the Indian logistics industry due to growing infrastructural developments in India,” said Vineet Agarwal, managing director of Transport Corp. of India. “India, despite being a low-cost country, has higher logistics cost due to various issues and challenges faced by the industry. Apart from being entangled in complex tax structure, the industry is also affected by poor rate of customs efficiency of clearance processes and procedures, thus affecting the international export logistics stratum.” Trade facilitation measures under way include creation of an intelligent transportation system in line with those at the ports of Singapore and Rotterdam, establishment of a single window system to ease procedural requirements, and introduction of electronic systems for terminal gate operations. Though high logistics costs remain a major industry concern, Sharma said the impending rollout of a single indirect tax program — the Goods and Services Tax, or GST — would be a game changer for logistics. “The good thing is that as an industry, shipping and logistics players are constantly engaged with the government because the issues we face often find redressal,” Sharma said. “In many recent cases, we have seen customs officers extending themselves to assist with the prompt clearance of cargo and help the parties involved, which is a welcome sign.” These and other changes are needed if India is to keep pace with project cargo demand that is forecast to rise at a compound annual growth rate of 17 percent, to $19 billion, by 2020. Although infrastructure and real estate development remains the backbone of India’s construction industry, government initiatives to step up domestic gas production through private investments in underutilized offshore gas fields could create new growth opportunities for heavy-lift carriers. Another driver of project cargo growth is the increasing participation of Indian public and private conglomerates in turnkey projects in the Gulf and African regions. India is investing in the upgrade of Iran’s Chabahar port through a special-purpose company set up by Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust and Kandla Port Trust. Logistics providers have benefited from these and other projects. Mumbai-based Allcargo recently transported 60,000 metric tons of cargo for the construction of a power plant in Bangladesh. Damco recently handled a contract involving airlifting of heavy equipment from Germany for a refinery project in North India, and is moving breakbulk shipments from India to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam. Despite infrastructure challenges, India’s strong growth provides a respite for generally soft cargo environment, Damco CEO Klaus Rud Sejling said. “Contrary to the bleakness of global trade,” he said, “the future looks promising for India.”

Breakbulk News

Supply chain

Project cargo prospects brighten in India

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">While the draft language of the tentative agreement was not disclosed, the two sides said the deal includes language that covers the contentious issue of port automation and new technologies. </div>

While the draft language of the tentative agreement was not disclosed, the two sides said the deal includes language that covers the contentious issue of port automation and new technologies.

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<div class="phx-topic">The International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) and the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) late Wednesday said they have reached a tentative agreement on a new master contract that covers ports from Maine to Texas. While the deal needs approval from ILA locals and USMX members, it avoids another port strike and ensures shippers of labor peace along the US East and Gulf coasts for the next six years. ILA and the USMX, in a joint statement, said the agreement includes language that covers the contentious issue of port automation and new technologies. While the draft language of the tentative agreement was not available, one source said that marine terminals will have some leeway in implementing new technologies in return for more longshore jobs. Talks on a new master contract broke down in November due to the union’s concerns about the impact on jobs from <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/ila-targets-rail-mounted-gantry-cranes-amid-impasse-in-port-labor-talks-5874742">the use of semi-automated rail-mounted gantry cranes</a> (RMGs) at marine terminals. “This agreement protects current ILA jobs and establishes a framework for implementing technologies that will create more jobs while modernizing East and Gulf coast ports – making them safer and more efficient and creating the capacity they need to keep our supply chains strong,” the statement said. Details of the agreement were not publicly disclosed, pending final approval by both sides. The deal was reached a week before a Jan. 15 strike deadline that was set <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/ila-usmx-agree-on-new-wage-offer-and-contract-extension-that-reopens-ports-5741882">in October at the end of the three-day ILA strike</a> that was settled with an agreement on wages. The 45,000 dockworkers at East and Gulf coast ports will work under the current contract until the tentative agreement is ratified by the wage-scale committees of local unions. But sources indicate that the locals are likely to support the contract negotiated by ILA President Harold Daggett and Executive Vice President Dennis Daggett. The breakthrough came after four days of talks in Teaneck, N.J., on a new master contract. Those talks included side discussions on the impact of new technology on longshore jobs, ahead of <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/ila-usmx-contract-talks-set-for-jan-7-restart-ahead-of-strike-deadline-sources-5913854">broader talks that restarted on Jan. 7</a> that covered benefits and specific longshore crafts such as checkers and clerks. In December, the union enlisted President-elect Donald Trump to advocate on behalf of their stance against automation. On Wednesday, the ILA issued its own statement thanking Trump for his “bold stance (that) helped prevent a second coastwide strike.” “President Trump clearly demonstrated his unwavering support for our ILA union and longshore workers with his statement “heard round the world” backing our position to protect American longshore jobs against the ravages of automated terminals,” Harold Daggett said in the statement. Contact Michael Angell at <a href="mailto:michael.angell@spglobal.com">michael.angell@spglobal.com.</a></div>

The International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) and the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) late Wednesday said they have reached a tentative agreement on a new master contract that covers ports from Maine to Texas. While the deal needs approval from ILA locals and USMX members, it avoids another port strike and ensures shippers of labor peace along the US East and Gulf coasts for the next six years. ILA and the USMX, in a joint statement, said the agreement includes language that covers the contentious issue of port automation and new technologies. While the draft language of the tentative agreement was not available, one source said that marine terminals will have some leeway in implementing new technologies in return for more longshore jobs. Talks on a new master contract broke down in November due to the union’s concerns about the impact on jobs from the use of semi-automated rail-mounted gantry cranes (RMGs) at marine terminals. “This agreement protects current ILA jobs and establishes a framework for implementing technologies that will create more jobs while modernizing East and Gulf coast ports – making them safer and more efficient and creating the capacity they need to keep our supply chains strong,” the statement said. Details of the agreement were not publicly disclosed, pending final approval by both sides. The deal was reached a week before a Jan. 15 strike deadline that was set in October at the end of the three-day ILA strike that was settled with an agreement on wages. The 45,000 dockworkers at East and Gulf coast ports will work under the current contract until the tentative agreement is ratified by the wage-scale committees of local unions. But sources indicate that the locals are likely to support the contract negotiated by ILA President Harold Daggett and Executive Vice President Dennis Daggett. The breakthrough came after four days of talks in Teaneck, N.J., on a new master contract. Those talks included side discussions on the impact of new technology on longshore jobs, ahead of broader talks that restarted on Jan. 7 that covered benefits and specific longshore crafts such as checkers and clerks. In December, the union enlisted President-elect Donald Trump to advocate on behalf of their stance against automation. On Wednesday, the ILA issued its own statement thanking Trump for his “bold stance (that) helped prevent a second coastwide strike.” “President Trump clearly demonstrated his unwavering support for our ILA union and longshore workers with his statement “heard round the world” backing our position to protect American longshore jobs against the ravages of automated terminals,” Harold Daggett said in the statement. Contact Michael Angell at michael.angell@spglobal.com.

Container Shipping News

Port News

North American ports

Longshore labor

Maritime

ILA, USMX reach tentative deal that avoids another port strike

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">It’s important for railroads to prevent export containers from clogging their terminals because domestic and international intermodal cargo share terminal space.</div>

It’s important for railroads to prevent export containers from clogging their terminals because domestic and international intermodal cargo share terminal space.

<div class="phx-topic">Norfolk Southern Railway (NS) has begun to wind down accepting export containers for movement from inland terminals to key ports along the US East Coast ahead of a possible longshore strike next week. NS, in a “port curtailment” schedule issued to customers, said all exports from Cleveland to the Port of New York and New Jersey and the Port of Virginia will not be accepted after Wednesday. Freight going from Chicago to the Virginia International Gateway terminal must be tendered by Friday and to Norfolk Intermodal Terminals by Saturday. The railroad said freight from Detroit to the Port of Virginia will stop being accepted on Friday, with no freight to the Port of New York and New Jersey accepted as of Saturday. No exports going to terminals at the Port of Virginia will be accepted from any location after Friday, NS said. Exports from Chicago and Pittsburgh to the Port of New York and New Jersey will be accepted through Saturday, while no cargo will be accepted beginning Sunday from any location that is destined for the port’s Elizabeth Marine Terminal or Global Container Terminals. Norfolk Southern has not released a schedule yet for export cutoffs to ports in Charleston or Savannah. The International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) and United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) were meeting in New Jersey this week in a bid to hammer out the final details of a new master contract and head off a strike that would begin Jan. 15, suspending container operations at ports along the East and Gulf coasts. It is important for railroads to prevent exports or empties from clogging their terminals because domestic and international intermodal cargo share terminal space, except in Chicago. If too much international cargo gets stuck inside terminals, it can disrupt customers who ship 53-foot domestic containers via rail, as happened during the COVID-19 pandemic. On an average weekday, about 600 to 1,000 loaded exports are hauled on trains from inland hubs to the Port of New York and New Jersey and about 1,000 to 1,500 to the Port of Virginia, according to a Journal of Commerce analysis of data from the Association of American Railroads (AAR) and the Intermodal Association of North America (IANA). CSX Transportation, the other eastern Class I railroad hauling containers between the Midwest and East Coast, has not issued any deadlines to in-gate containers, but it will adjust if a strike occurs. “In the event of an East Coast port disruption, CSX is prepared to pause both interchange traffic as well as in-gate activity and temporarily adjust terminal reservations in accordance with port shutdown plans,” CSX said in a statement to the Journal of Commerce. “CSX is making every effort to accommodate as much freight as possible in a fluid situation.” During the three-day ILA strike in October, CSX took a similar approach of accepting and storing outbound loads until there was no available space left inside the terminals. Contact Ari Ashe at <a href="mailto:ari.ashe@spglobal.com">ari.ashe@spglobal.com</a>.</div>

Norfolk Southern Railway (NS) has begun to wind down accepting export containers for movement from inland terminals to key ports along the US East Coast ahead of a possible longshore strike next week. NS, in a “port curtailment” schedule issued to customers, said all exports from Cleveland to the Port of New York and New Jersey and the Port of Virginia will not be accepted after Wednesday. Freight going from Chicago to the Virginia International Gateway terminal must be tendered by Friday and to Norfolk Intermodal Terminals by Saturday. The railroad said freight from Detroit to the Port of Virginia will stop being accepted on Friday, with no freight to the Port of New York and New Jersey accepted as of Saturday. No exports going to terminals at the Port of Virginia will be accepted from any location after Friday, NS said. Exports from Chicago and Pittsburgh to the Port of New York and New Jersey will be accepted through Saturday, while no cargo will be accepted beginning Sunday from any location that is destined for the port’s Elizabeth Marine Terminal or Global Container Terminals. Norfolk Southern has not released a schedule yet for export cutoffs to ports in Charleston or Savannah. The International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) and United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) were meeting in New Jersey this week in a bid to hammer out the final details of a new master contract and head off a strike that would begin Jan. 15, suspending container operations at ports along the East and Gulf coasts. It is important for railroads to prevent exports or empties from clogging their terminals because domestic and international intermodal cargo share terminal space, except in Chicago. If too much international cargo gets stuck inside terminals, it can disrupt customers who ship 53-foot domestic containers via rail, as happened during the COVID-19 pandemic. On an average weekday, about 600 to 1,000 loaded exports are hauled on trains from inland hubs to the Port of New York and New Jersey and about 1,000 to 1,500 to the Port of Virginia, according to a Journal of Commerce analysis of data from the Association of American Railroads (AAR) and the Intermodal Association of North America (IANA). CSX Transportation, the other eastern Class I railroad hauling containers between the Midwest and East Coast, has not issued any deadlines to in-gate containers, but it will adjust if a strike occurs. “In the event of an East Coast port disruption, CSX is prepared to pause both interchange traffic as well as in-gate activity and temporarily adjust terminal reservations in accordance with port shutdown plans,” CSX said in a statement to the Journal of Commerce. “CSX is making every effort to accommodate as much freight as possible in a fluid situation.” During the three-day ILA strike in October, CSX took a similar approach of accepting and storing outbound loads until there was no available space left inside the terminals. Contact Ari Ashe at ari.ashe@spglobal.com .

Rail News

North-American rail

Norfolk Southern begins limiting export container moves ahead of possible strike

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Capacity will continue to be the greatest challenge facing cargo owners moving goods from Asia by air this year. </div>

Capacity will continue to be the greatest challenge facing cargo owners moving goods from Asia by air this year.

<div class="phx-topic">The big picture: Capacity constraints on outbound air cargo routes from Asia, particularly China, will persist in 2025, with volumes continuing to outstrip available space. Airlines have been postponing the retirement of freighters to cope with booming e-commerce demand in the US and Europe, but many of those aircraft are at the end of their working life, and production delays at both Boeing and Airbus are slowing the arrival of any new capacity. <div class="wrapper-narrow float-right-element"><img src="/images/phoenix/5914611_0.1.png"></img></div>A look back: Air cargo on the two main trade lanes from Asia to North America and Europe was stuck in a perpetual peak season throughout 2024. Following the traditional air freight peak season in the fourth quarter of 2023, hostilities in the Red Sea — and the resulting diversion of container ships around southern Africa — forced shippers of time-sensitive cargo into the air. As planes leaving Asia began to quickly fill up, competition for space emerged from an unexpected source: e-commerce platforms contracting directly with airlines. Even as online shopping demand accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic, the major e-commerce platforms typically had fulfillment centers in destination markets. Chinese e-commerce giants Temu and Shein changed all that, cutting out forwarders and contracting space directly with airlines to move packages into the US and Europe. US package imports by the end of September were more than 1 billion units compared with 140 million units in 2023, according to a White House briefing, as the platforms made use of its generous “de minimis” value threshold; shipments valued at less than $800 in the US and €150 in the EU are exempt from import duties. The e-commerce platforms in the past year have factored this into their US and EU supply chains, which almost exclusively use air cargo. Although available capacity increased almost 5% during the first 10 months of the year, demand grew more than 12%, according to rate benchmarking and analytics platform Xeneta, pushing global load factors and rates to their highest levels in two years. A look ahead: Capacity will continue to be the greatest challenge facing cargo owners moving goods from Asia by air in 2025. As e-commerce siphons off huge amounts of space directly from airlines, forwarders are coming under increasing pressure to secure capacity for their customers shipping traditional cargo. That pressure is often translated into forwarders chartering freighter capacity at a high cost, adding further upward pressure on rates, especially during historical peaks around Lunar New Year and November online sales promotions. Exacerbating ongoing space constraints for shippers is an increasing shortage of intra-Asia capacity as airlines shift planes to the more lucrative long-haul routes. The heavy competition for limited space will likely keep rates elevated throughout 2025. Scrutiny of Chinese online platforms by US authorities is also likely to intensify next year, with plans in place to reform the US de minimis program that will almost certainly be accelerated by the new Trump administration. The next inflection: Even if the US significantly lowers the de minimis value threshold, however, it is unlikely to have any real impact on air cargo demand out of China. The average value order of US e-commerce transactions is about $170, according to Hong Kong-based CEIC economists. More important is a US proposal put forward in September 2024 by the Biden administration that, if adopted, could result in 40% of e-commerce products no longer covered by de minimis regulations and include 70% of textile and apparel exports from China. That would have a significant negative impact on sales via e-commerce platforms that rely on direct shipments to US consumers from China. Contact Greg Knowler at <a href="mailto:greg.knowler@spglobal.com">greg.knowler@spglobal.com.</a></div>

The big picture: Capacity constraints on outbound air cargo routes from Asia, particularly China, will persist in 2025, with volumes continuing to outstrip available space. Airlines have been postponing the retirement of freighters to cope with booming e-commerce demand in the US and Europe, but many of those aircraft are at the end of their working life, and production delays at both Boeing and Airbus are slowing the arrival of any new capacity. A look back: Air cargo on the two main trade lanes from Asia to North America and Europe was stuck in a perpetual peak season throughout 2024. Following the traditional air freight peak season in the fourth quarter of 2023, hostilities in the Red Sea — and the resulting diversion of container ships around southern Africa — forced shippers of time-sensitive cargo into the air. As planes leaving Asia began to quickly fill up, competition for space emerged from an unexpected source: e-commerce platforms contracting directly with airlines. Even as online shopping demand accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic, the major e-commerce platforms typically had fulfillment centers in destination markets. Chinese e-commerce giants Temu and Shein changed all that, cutting out forwarders and contracting space directly with airlines to move packages into the US and Europe. US package imports by the end of September were more than 1 billion units compared with 140 million units in 2023, according to a White House briefing, as the platforms made use of its generous “de minimis” value threshold; shipments valued at less than $800 in the US and €150 in the EU are exempt from import duties. The e-commerce platforms in the past year have factored this into their US and EU supply chains, which almost exclusively use air cargo. Although available capacity increased almost 5% during the first 10 months of the year, demand grew more than 12%, according to rate benchmarking and analytics platform Xeneta, pushing global load factors and rates to their highest levels in two years. A look ahead: Capacity will continue to be the greatest challenge facing cargo owners moving goods from Asia by air in 2025. As e-commerce siphons off huge amounts of space directly from airlines, forwarders are coming under increasing pressure to secure capacity for their customers shipping traditional cargo. That pressure is often translated into forwarders chartering freighter capacity at a high cost, adding further upward pressure on rates, especially during historical peaks around Lunar New Year and November online sales promotions. Exacerbating ongoing space constraints for shippers is an increasing shortage of intra-Asia capacity as airlines shift planes to the more lucrative long-haul routes. The heavy competition for limited space will likely keep rates elevated throughout 2025. Scrutiny of Chinese online platforms by US authorities is also likely to intensify next year, with plans in place to reform the US de minimis program that will almost certainly be accelerated by the new Trump administration. The next inflection: Even if the US significantly lowers the de minimis value threshold, however, it is unlikely to have any real impact on air cargo demand out of China. The average value order of US e-commerce transactions is about $170, according to Hong Kong-based CEIC economists. More important is a US proposal put forward in September 2024 by the Biden administration that, if adopted, could result in 40% of e-commerce products no longer covered by de minimis regulations and include 70% of textile and apparel exports from China. That would have a significant negative impact on sales via e-commerce platforms that rely on direct shipments to US consumers from China. Contact Greg Knowler at greg.knowler@spglobal.com.

Air Cargo Forwarder News

Air Cargo Carriers News

Air Cargo

Ex-Asia air freight capacity constraints to persist in 2025

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Shippers have long outsourced drayage to third parties, but farming out allocation decisions to managed transportation providers threads the needle between access to capacity and neutrality.</div>

Shippers have long outsourced drayage to third parties, but farming out allocation decisions to managed transportation providers threads the needle between access to capacity and neutrality.

<div class="phx-topic">The outsourcing dilemma that hangs over the transportation departments of most shippers is particularly thorny when it comes to managing US drayage allocation. <div class="wrapper-narrow float-right-element"><img src="/images/phoenix/5919204_0.1.jpg"></img></div>Because drayage is typically the lowest-cost leg of any import container move, it has chronically been subject to the least amount of attention from shippers. That has resulted in an environment where <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/drayage-diversification-emerging-as-shipper-priority-amid-supply-chain-volatility-5916296">shippers are either reliant on single drayage providers</a> in a specific port or they hand off drayage allocation decisions to third-party logistics providers (3PLs) or the container lines handling the ocean leg. A proportion of shippers, especially large ones, do handle drayage allocation themselves, but the sophistication of that apportionment of their volume doesn’t always reflect diversification strategies for other parts of their supply chain. In other words, the same large shipper that uses three container lines, four US ports, and five global forwarders might only use one drayage provider per gateway, or they might let the forwarder or container lines decide which drayage provider to use. “Some would see pushing the work to a third-party to manage would be losing the relationship with the dray carrier and knowledge of what is happening day to day,” said Reade Kidd, CEO of EDRAY, a managed transportation platform that helps importers coordinate their shipments, including drayage allocation. “I’m obviously biased, but the increased complexities, disruptions and changing landscape is requiring an increased and almost local competency for the shipper that third-party providers are more equipped to manage at scale.” <h3>Wider net for disruptions </h3>Whether it’s local events such as a terminal closure, a regional issue such s chassis provisioning, or macro issues such as Panama Canal transit restrictions, US port strikes or the collapse of the Key Bridge in Baltimore, most third parties feel they are in a better position to offer alternatives to a shipper than a shipper themselves might be able to discern. Kidd said EDRAY focuses on insights and industry benchmarking, not just executing a shipment on behalf of an importer. And the managed transportation approach drives natural drayage carrier diversification, as managed transportation providers tend to favor dual sourcing through any single gateway. EDRAY is an example of a neutral managed transportation provider, one not attached to a larger 3PL. From a shipper perspective, the water is muddied when 3PLs engage in managed transportation services that are not clearly noted as being attached to a 3PL, either asset-based or not. The rise of 3PLs as managed transportation providers has been ongoing for decades. That trend means shippers need to understand the difference between handing off drayage allocation decisions to a 3PL versus having that 3PL make broad transportation decisions before and after the drayage leg as well. “A typical broker does not have the technology or personnel expertise to manage the complexities of ocean container drayage,” said Paul Brashier, vice president of global supply chain at the third-party logistics provider ITS Logistics. “There is a gulf between a ‘broker’ and an asset-light transportation provider that uses brokerage authority to aggregate capacity.” Brashier said shippers should have 3PLs demonstrate their ability to manage and aggregate capacity in multiple locations throughout North America at competitive rates, as well as accessorial management. That decision-making process also needs to take into account a 3PL’s technology and the experience of its operation teams. “Additional capacity is always needed as geopolitical forces and shipper booking patterns change,” Brashier said. “Do you want to onboard the capacity to manage those headwinds in the moment or have them in place to execute when needed?” <h3>‘Quick pivots’ </h3>One advantage of a managed transportation team associated with a 3PL is they tend to be able to make “quick pivots to the changes that can happen, in many cases overnight, in ocean container logistics,” Brashier added. But buyers beware, said Michael Kroul, CEO of drayage broker KTI, who bemoaned a relative lack of investment in drayage technology over the past decade as other areas landed big funding rounds from venture capital firms. “Most of the managed transportation options are really just fronts for brokerages and the terms they want you to sign make it hard for carriers and brokers to work with them,” Kroul said. “There are very few 3PLS and carriers that can handle all of the shipper needs in all markets.” Using managed transportation is just one option for shippers, who can also access capacity from specialist drayage brokers, the brokerage divisions of asset-based dray carriers and the dray divisions of multimodal brokers. With a huge number of permutations available, shippers need to consider the right mix of those options set against their own operational needs, such as the number of gateways they use, whether they require transload services and what data they require of their partners. Key dimensions to consider, according to drayage sources, include whether to primarily use national carriers that can serve multiple port gateways or local carriers with potentially stronger local port relationships. Another consideration is whether to use brokers, either as a primary source that provides natural diversification or as a supplementary source to back up asset-based carriers. Contact Eric Johnson at <a href="mailto:eric.johnson@spglobal.com">eric.johnson@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

The outsourcing dilemma that hangs over the transportation departments of most shippers is particularly thorny when it comes to managing US drayage allocation. Because drayage is typically the lowest-cost leg of any import container move, it has chronically been subject to the least amount of attention from shippers. That has resulted in an environment where shippers are either reliant on single drayage providers in a specific port or they hand off drayage allocation decisions to third-party logistics providers (3PLs) or the container lines handling the ocean leg. A proportion of shippers, especially large ones, do handle drayage allocation themselves, but the sophistication of that apportionment of their volume doesn’t always reflect diversification strategies for other parts of their supply chain. In other words, the same large shipper that uses three container lines, four US ports, and five global forwarders might only use one drayage provider per gateway, or they might let the forwarder or container lines decide which drayage provider to use. “Some would see pushing the work to a third-party to manage would be losing the relationship with the dray carrier and knowledge of what is happening day to day,” said Reade Kidd, CEO of EDRAY, a managed transportation platform that helps importers coordinate their shipments, including drayage allocation. “I’m obviously biased, but the increased complexities, disruptions and changing landscape is requiring an increased and almost local competency for the shipper that third-party providers are more equipped to manage at scale.” Wider net for disruptions Whether it’s local events such as a terminal closure, a regional issue such s chassis provisioning, or macro issues such as Panama Canal transit restrictions, US port strikes or the collapse of the Key Bridge in Baltimore, most third parties feel they are in a better position to offer alternatives to a shipper than a shipper themselves might be able to discern. Kidd said EDRAY focuses on insights and industry benchmarking, not just executing a shipment on behalf of an importer. And the managed transportation approach drives natural drayage carrier diversification, as managed transportation providers tend to favor dual sourcing through any single gateway. EDRAY is an example of a neutral managed transportation provider, one not attached to a larger 3PL. From a shipper perspective, the water is muddied when 3PLs engage in managed transportation services that are not clearly noted as being attached to a 3PL, either asset-based or not. The rise of 3PLs as managed transportation providers has been ongoing for decades. That trend means shippers need to understand the difference between handing off drayage allocation decisions to a 3PL versus having that 3PL make broad transportation decisions before and after the drayage leg as well. “A typical broker does not have the technology or personnel expertise to manage the complexities of ocean container drayage,” said Paul Brashier, vice president of global supply chain at the third-party logistics provider ITS Logistics. “There is a gulf between a ‘broker’ and an asset-light transportation provider that uses brokerage authority to aggregate capacity.” Brashier said shippers should have 3PLs demonstrate their ability to manage and aggregate capacity in multiple locations throughout North America at competitive rates, as well as accessorial management. That decision-making process also needs to take into account a 3PL’s technology and the experience of its operation teams. “Additional capacity is always needed as geopolitical forces and shipper booking patterns change,” Brashier said. “Do you want to onboard the capacity to manage those headwinds in the moment or have them in place to execute when needed?” ‘Quick pivots’ One advantage of a managed transportation team associated with a 3PL is they tend to be able to make “quick pivots to the changes that can happen, in many cases overnight, in ocean container logistics,” Brashier added. But buyers beware, said Michael Kroul, CEO of drayage broker KTI, who bemoaned a relative lack of investment in drayage technology over the past decade as other areas landed big funding rounds from venture capital firms. “Most of the managed transportation options are really just fronts for brokerages and the terms they want you to sign make it hard for carriers and brokers to work with them,” Kroul said. “There are very few 3PLS and carriers that can handle all of the shipper needs in all markets.” Using managed transportation is just one option for shippers, who can also access capacity from specialist drayage brokers, the brokerage divisions of asset-based dray carriers and the dray divisions of multimodal brokers. With a huge number of permutations available, shippers need to consider the right mix of those options set against their own operational needs, such as the number of gateways they use, whether they require transload services and what data they require of their partners. Key dimensions to consider, according to drayage sources, include whether to primarily use national carriers that can serve multiple port gateways or local carriers with potentially stronger local port relationships. Another consideration is whether to use brokers, either as a primary source that provides natural diversification or as a supplementary source to back up asset-based carriers. Contact Eric Johnson at eric.johnson@spglobal.com .

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Drayage outsourcing a path to solving diversification challenge

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">With shippers under pressure to finalize production plans with Asian factories amid ongoing vessel diversions around Africa and elevated rates, there is little point in delaying the signing of annual contracts.</div>

With shippers under pressure to finalize production plans with Asian factories amid ongoing vessel diversions around Africa and elevated rates, there is little point in delaying the signing of annual contracts.

<div class="phx-topic">Asia-Europe shippers have begun locking in annual contracts as the capacity-constrained trade lane is likely to remain firmly in favor of ocean carriers through the traditional post-Lunar New Year slowdown. Short-term rates have hovered near $5,000 per FEU on the Asia-North Europe lane since mid-December, according to the pricing indices, as healthy demand and ongoing diversions around southern Africa absorb significant amounts of capacity — estimated at more than 10% by analysts and carriers. With little expectation of any return to Suez transits this year, and with pressure mounting to set 2025 production plans with factories in Asia, Asia-Europe shippers are agreeing to annual contracts. “We know that shippers have monitored and analyzed the market closely throughout last year, postponing the signing of new contracts as much as possible, but at some point, you must strike,” Peter Sand, chief analyst for rate benchmarking platform Xeneta, told the Journal of Commerce Wednesday. “It seems to be the case that many shippers have moved forward with their tendering processes amidst the turbulent market as no massive postponement has taken place,” he added. <div class="wrapper-narrow"><dynamic-object type="jocchartid" resource-id="db6ec523-b5f8-4a58-9f56-029ba9f0b967"></dynamic-object></div>Data from Xeneta shows long-term rates signed in the last three months on Asia-North Europe were up 52% year over year at $2,804 per FEU, while Asia-Mediterranean routes were flat at $2,436 per FEU. However, Sand said shippers should not be “overly disappointed” considering contract rates on both trade lanes are down sharply since September. Chantal McRoberts, director and head of advisory for the Drewry Supply Chain team, said China-North Europe contracts agreed in December were about $1,400 to $1,600 per FEU higher than the rates in the same period in 2023. “This jump in costs may have changed with the contracts just starting, but there has clearly been a 30%-plus inflation in recent contract negotiations on this trade route,” she told the Journal of Commerce, adding that Drewry was also hearing of some “strong” offers on quarterly rates in the Asia-Europe market. <h3>Stronger leverage </h3>In a container market update Wednesday, Jefferies Equity Research also highlighted moves by cargo owners to lock in long-term rates. “Liners have much stronger negotiating leverage, as evidenced by recent 2025 Asia-Europe contracts concluding at $2,500-$3,000 per FEU as compared to 2024 contracts which were concluded at best at $2,000,” the Jefferies update said. “Freight rates have ebbed and flowed at elevated levels since Red Sea diversions began and more recently have benefited from the normal pre-Lunar New Year ordering, which has been compounded by uncertainty related to looming US tariffs and potential US East Coast port disruptions,” the bank added. Jefferies is expecting the higher contract levels to have a positive impact on carrier financial results in the first quarter. “We are raising our 1Q25 estimates to reflect a strong start to 2025,” the bank noted. “We expect earnings to be front-loaded this year due to the normal pullback following Lunar New Year and potential destocking later in 2025.” Contact Greg Knowler at <a href="mailto:greg.knowler@spglobal.com">greg.knowler@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

Asia-Europe shippers have begun locking in annual contracts as the capacity-constrained trade lane is likely to remain firmly in favor of ocean carriers through the traditional post-Lunar New Year slowdown. Short-term rates have hovered near $5,000 per FEU on the Asia-North Europe lane since mid-December, according to the pricing indices, as healthy demand and ongoing diversions around southern Africa absorb significant amounts of capacity — estimated at more than 10% by analysts and carriers. With little expectation of any return to Suez transits this year, and with pressure mounting to set 2025 production plans with factories in Asia, Asia-Europe shippers are agreeing to annual contracts. “We know that shippers have monitored and analyzed the market closely throughout last year, postponing the signing of new contracts as much as possible, but at some point, you must strike,” Peter Sand, chief analyst for rate benchmarking platform Xeneta, told the Journal of Commerce Wednesday. “It seems to be the case that many shippers have moved forward with their tendering processes amidst the turbulent market as no massive postponement has taken place,” he added. Data from Xeneta shows long-term rates signed in the last three months on Asia-North Europe were up 52% year over year at $2,804 per FEU, while Asia-Mediterranean routes were flat at $2,436 per FEU. However, Sand said shippers should not be “overly disappointed” considering contract rates on both trade lanes are down sharply since September. Chantal McRoberts, director and head of advisory for the Drewry Supply Chain team, said China-North Europe contracts agreed in December were about $1,400 to $1,600 per FEU higher than the rates in the same period in 2023. “This jump in costs may have changed with the contracts just starting, but there has clearly been a 30%-plus inflation in recent contract negotiations on this trade route,” she told the Journal of Commerce, adding that Drewry was also hearing of some “strong” offers on quarterly rates in the Asia-Europe market. Stronger leverage In a container market update Wednesday, Jefferies Equity Research also highlighted moves by cargo owners to lock in long-term rates. “Liners have much stronger negotiating leverage, as evidenced by recent 2025 Asia-Europe contracts concluding at $2,500-$3,000 per FEU as compared to 2024 contracts which were concluded at best at $2,000,” the Jefferies update said. “Freight rates have ebbed and flowed at elevated levels since Red Sea diversions began and more recently have benefited from the normal pre-Lunar New Year ordering, which has been compounded by uncertainty related to looming US tariffs and potential US East Coast port disruptions,” the bank added. Jefferies is expecting the higher contract levels to have a positive impact on carrier financial results in the first quarter. “We are raising our 1Q25 estimates to reflect a strong start to 2025,” the bank noted. “We expect earnings to be front-loaded this year due to the normal pullback following Lunar New Year and potential destocking later in 2025.” Contact Greg Knowler at greg.knowler@spglobal.com .

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Ocean carriers in control on Asia-Europe trade as cargo contracts closed

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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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