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<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">U.S. railroads are riding a tailwind generated by federal stimulus programs but need to beware: That tailwind may turn out to be a gust that can’t be sustained.
 
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U.S. railroads are riding a tailwind generated by federal stimulus programs but need to beware: That tailwind may turn out to be a gust that can’t be sustained.

<div>U.S. railroads are riding a tailwind generated by federal stimulus programs but need to beware: That tailwind may turn out to be a gust that can’t be sustained. That’s the message gleaned from the latest traffic statistics that point to improving business in some traffic segments, interspersed with troubling signs in others. In short, while the worst of the recession is clearly past, it is too soon to say that a solid recovery is taking hold. For example, in the week ending Aug. 22 major U.S. railroads originated 279,478 carloads of cargoes including bulk commodities, chemicals, equipment, construction materials and...

U.S. railroads are riding a tailwind generated by federal stimulus programs but need to beware: That tailwind may turn out to be a gust that can’t be sustained. That’s the message gleaned from the latest traffic statistics that point to improving business in some traffic segments, interspersed with troubling signs in others. In short, while the worst of the recession is clearly past, it is too soon to say that a solid recovery is taking hold. For example, in the week ending Aug. 22 major U.S. railroads originated 279,478 carloads of cargoes including bulk commodities, chemicals, equipment, construction materials and scrap. That was the strongest carload performance in more than five months — right before traffic sunk to the lowest levels of the recession. But driving the growth was a spike in coal loadings that have vacillated up and down for weeks, as well as 2009 highs in loads of metal ores and scrap materials — both of which are likely still rising as a result of the federal “cash for clunkers” program. That month-long stimulus generated billions of dollars worth of new-car sales, propelled August sales to a 15-month high and spurred several carmakers to rev up production. The question is whether that economic push will last long enough for a sustainable recovery to take hold, or whether the goosed-up demand for cars and the trainloads of materials that go into them will dissipate in coming months. Lee Klaskow, a rail analyst with Independence, Ohio-based Longbow Research, underlines the dilemma. He toured a Toyota Logistics Services’ delivery center and marshaling yard in Fremont, Calif., and came away convinced the trade-in stimulus would have continuing effects — but only for a while. “We do not believe the recent weeks of increased automotive demand from consumers will be sustainable once the restocking at the dealers is complete,” Klaskow warned. “In the end, we view the cash-for-clunkers program as an incremental positive for the rails over the short run, since it has likely just pulled demand forward.” Until recently, rail traffic appeared to rise for a range of cargo linked to highway repairs and other infrastructure projects, or even to construction of buildings. Yet in August, despite heavy stimulus-related infrastructure spending by the Department of Transportation, railroads were hauling fewer loads of crushed stone, sand and gravel than in early June. The outlook for new homes or other buildings is also uncertain, amid reports that strength in home sales is still heavily tied to fire-sale pricing from foreclosures or distressed sellers. John Larkin, managing director of the transportation and logistics equity research group at Stifel Nicolaus, sees clear gains in recent rail traffic, as volume for Class I carriers over the first seven weeks of the third quarter was 6.4 percent higher than at a comparable point in the second quarter. He even speculates railroads may be experiencing some congestion as volume increases, as evidenced by recent measures of average train speeds and terminal dwell times. But Larkin told his clients the potential risks include “housing and automotive slowness that could last longer than expected,” or that auto-related shipments and those linked to retail demand could be hurt by “continued deceleration in consumer spending.” Even a pickup in July rail employment — for the first time this year — might say less about economic recovery than new federal regulations. The government’s industrywide employment report and a Class I-only report to the Surface Transportation Board showed a mild increase in railroad workers, with the STB report showing most of them coming in train and engine crews. That suggests railroads are increasing staff to match a pickup in traffic, but even that is not clear because mid-July also marks the time when railroads under last year’s rail safety law had to apply new limits to workers’ hours of service, a fatigue-fighting measure ordered by Congress. Limiting some workers’ time could mean railroads have to keep more crews active to run the same number of trains. Edward Wolfe of Wolfe Research notes rail executives in their discussions of second-quarter earnings said they were bringing back some furloughed workers “to handle a seasonal uptick in volume and to prepare for attrition and heavier vacation schedules.” But, he added, “We believe increased headcount is likely also related to the stricter hours-of-service rules now enforced.” Contact John D. Boyd at jboyd@joc.com .

Railroads’ Short-Lived Gains?

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Despite multiple highly disruptive exterior events, from hurricanes to labor strikes, there has not been an intermodal service meltdown in North America, writes Larry Gross.</div>

Despite multiple highly disruptive exterior events, from hurricanes to labor strikes, there has not been an intermodal service meltdown in North America, writes Larry Gross.

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<div class="phx-topic">In one of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s famous Sherlock Holmes short stories, “Silver Blaze” — a mystery involving the disappearance of a famous racehorse and the death of its trainer — the culprit is ultimately identified in part by the fact that the stable’s watchdog was not heard barking that night. Holmes infers from this that the dog knew the murderer, and that the canine thought that this familiar individual offered no threat. <div class="wrapper-narrow float-right-element"><img src="/images/phoenix/5788792_0.1.jpg"></img></div>There is, perhaps, an intermodal equivalent of late, and that is the fact that despite multiple highly disruptive exterior events, there has not been an intermodal service meltdown. Yes, the system has seen some bending, but it has not broken. The news is mainly not the presence of stories covering a meltdown, but rather, the absence of them. A list of the disruptive elements thus far this year is enough to make your head spin. IPI (inland point intermodal) movements of ISO containers out of California rose 40% in the third quarter versus the prior year — a huge increase that necessitated massive repositioning of railcar and locomotive capacity. <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/canadas-labour-minister-orders-end-to-rail-work-stoppage-via-binding-arbitration-5709672">A rail strike in Canada</a>, although thankfully short-lived, completely shut down operations north of the border in late August. <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/us-truckload-market-edging-closer-to-equilibrium-following-hurricanes-5751947">Three major hurricanes</a> caused major impacts in the Southeast in late summer and fall. To top it all off (so far), <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/us-east-gulf-coast-ports-confident-of-smooth-post-strike-reopening-5742607">the brief longshore strike at the beginning of October</a> affected every port from Maine to Texas. This is not to say that intermodal’s performance has been immaculate. Far from it. There has been congestion on the West Coast and dwell times have lengthened. The metrics tracked by the US Surface Transportation Board (STB) <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/up-pins-performance-slip-on-lack-of-notice-from-ocean-carriers-5773561">have shown the strain</a>. Most notably, average intermodal train speeds have dropped well below average (29.1 mph in the most recent week versus an average of 30.5 mph for that week over the previous five years). In the same week, the number of loaded intermodal cars that did not move for 48 hours or more was up by about 25% versus the five-year average, another negative sign. But the number of intermodal trains that were holding prior to departure due to lack of crews, locomotives or other causes was still actually a bit below normal, indicating adequate supplies of these key capacity limiters. The takeaway is that while the intermodal network was laboring, it was still fluid and there was no service meltdown. <h3>Advance warning helped </h3>The railroads had an advantage in that most of these events, with the exception of the hurricanes, had plenty of advance warning, so they had time to put their contingency plans in place. Volume was proactively throttled in advance of the disruptions, preventing the system from clogging up and facilitating a quick recovery. Equipment was repositioned to handle the surges. Sufficient numbers of train-operating personnel, cars and locomotives were available and put to use. Helping the situation was the adequate availability of other non-railroad indicators that were in short supply the last time around. This includes drayage capacity, chassis capacity and warehouse space, both at transload sites near the ports and at inland locales. These all combined to keep the pipelines open and flowing. The results point toward the conclusion that lessons were learned during the recent meltdowns and improvements have been made. The performance hasn’t been perfect, but as Winston Churchill is reputed to have said: “Perfection is the enemy of progress.” Contact Larry Gross at <a href="mailto:lgross@intermodalindepth.com">lgross@intermodalindepth.com</a>. </div>

In one of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s famous Sherlock Holmes short stories, “Silver Blaze” — a mystery involving the disappearance of a famous racehorse and the death of its trainer — the culprit is ultimately identified in part by the fact that the stable’s watchdog was not heard barking that night. Holmes infers from this that the dog knew the murderer, and that the canine thought that this familiar individual offered no threat. There is, perhaps, an intermodal equivalent of late, and that is the fact that despite multiple highly disruptive exterior events, there has not been an intermodal service meltdown. Yes, the system has seen some bending, but it has not broken. The news is mainly not the presence of stories covering a meltdown, but rather, the absence of them. A list of the disruptive elements thus far this year is enough to make your head spin. IPI (inland point intermodal) movements of ISO containers out of California rose 40% in the third quarter versus the prior year — a huge increase that necessitated massive repositioning of railcar and locomotive capacity. A rail strike in Canada , although thankfully short-lived, completely shut down operations north of the border in late August. Three major hurricanes caused major impacts in the Southeast in late summer and fall. To top it all off (so far), the brief longshore strike at the beginning of October affected every port from Maine to Texas. This is not to say that intermodal’s performance has been immaculate. Far from it. There has been congestion on the West Coast and dwell times have lengthened. The metrics tracked by the US Surface Transportation Board (STB) have shown the strain . Most notably, average intermodal train speeds have dropped well below average (29.1 mph in the most recent week versus an average of 30.5 mph for that week over the previous five years). In the same week, the number of loaded intermodal cars that did not move for 48 hours or more was up by about 25% versus the five-year average, another negative sign. But the number of intermodal trains that were holding prior to departure due to lack of crews, locomotives or other causes was still actually a bit below normal, indicating adequate supplies of these key capacity limiters. The takeaway is that while the intermodal network was laboring, it was still fluid and there was no service meltdown. Advance warning helped The railroads had an advantage in that most of these events, with the exception of the hurricanes, had plenty of advance warning, so they had time to put their contingency plans in place. Volume was proactively throttled in advance of the disruptions, preventing the system from clogging up and facilitating a quick recovery. Equipment was repositioned to handle the surges. Sufficient numbers of train-operating personnel, cars and locomotives were available and put to use. Helping the situation was the adequate availability of other non-railroad indicators that were in short supply the last time around. This includes drayage capacity, chassis capacity and warehouse space, both at transload sites near the ports and at inland locales. These all combined to keep the pipelines open and flowing. The results point toward the conclusion that lessons were learned during the recent meltdowns and improvements have been made. The performance hasn’t been perfect, but as Winston Churchill is reputed to have said: “Perfection is the enemy of progress.” Contact Larry Gross at lgross@intermodalindepth.com .

Intermodal providers

Intermodal bent, but didn’t break, during recent disruptive events: analyst

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Sources also noted that some recent sailings on the trade lane have had difficulty filling space at Nhava Sheva and Mundra in line with declared allocation plans.</div>

Sources also noted that some recent sailings on the trade lane have had difficulty filling space at Nhava Sheva and Mundra in line with declared allocation plans.

<div class="phx-topic">Container lines on the India-US trades are navigating intense rate pressure amid the downturn in headhaul volumes, according to local market updates. Spot rates from West India to the US East Coast have dropped between $2,500 and $3,000 per TEU over the last month or so, freight forwarders who spoke with the Journal of Commerce say. Sources put current average rates at $2,200 per TEU and $2,300 per FEU for the lead carriers on the trade lane, while reporting even lower rates from a few carriers working on slot rights, mainly OOCL and HMM, for large-volume accounts. By carrier, published booking rates as of Thursday for loads from Nhava Sheva/Mundra to New York stand at: Maersk — $2,097 per TEU and $2,385 per FEU; CMA CGM — $2,332 and $2,732; Hapag-Lloyd — $2,432 and $2,832; Ocean Network Express — $2,539 and $2,784; Cosco Shipping — $2,246 and $2,501; and OOCL — $2,146 and $2,401, data obtained from forwarders shows. Forwarder executives generally expect booking prices on the route to fall to $2,000 per TEU by late November and to about $1,800 in early December, a level at which carriers were signing contracts in May before the sharp spike that began in mid-June. Platts, a sister company of the Journal of Commerce within S&amp;P Global, pegged India-USEC spot rates at $2,450 per FEU as of Nov. 5, the lowest since mid-June and down from $5,300 per FEU two months ago. <div class="wrapper-narrow"><dynamic-object type="jocchartid" resource-id="893ffa5c-0a69-45c7-a555-425e44318711"></dynamic-object></div>“India-USEC ocean rates seem to be going back to the late-second-quarter trendline,” a sales executive at a Mumbai-based forwarding house who didn’t want to be identified told the Journal of Commerce. “This downward shift could continue through December.” Forwarders also noted that some recent India-USEC sailings have had difficulty filling space at Nhava Sheva and Mundra in line with declared allocation plans. Schedule disruptions also persist on the trade lane because of the Red Sea-linked diversions and network realignments, with three November calls out of West India expected to be voided. Still, major carriers have lined up a fresh round of rate increases for early December, including a $1,000-per-container hike announcement by Hapag-Lloyd. However, forwarders do not believe carriers have an opportunity to attempt any measurable price hikes in the immediate future. Contact Bency Mathew at <a href="mailto:bencyvmathew@gmail.com">bencyvmathew@gmail.com</a>. </div>

Container lines on the India-US trades are navigating intense rate pressure amid the downturn in headhaul volumes, according to local market updates. Spot rates from West India to the US East Coast have dropped between $2,500 and $3,000 per TEU over the last month or so, freight forwarders who spoke with the Journal of Commerce say. Sources put current average rates at $2,200 per TEU and $2,300 per FEU for the lead carriers on the trade lane, while reporting even lower rates from a few carriers working on slot rights, mainly OOCL and HMM, for large-volume accounts. By carrier, published booking rates as of Thursday for loads from Nhava Sheva/Mundra to New York stand at: Maersk — $2,097 per TEU and $2,385 per FEU; CMA CGM — $2,332 and $2,732; Hapag-Lloyd — $2,432 and $2,832; Ocean Network Express — $2,539 and $2,784; Cosco Shipping — $2,246 and $2,501; and OOCL — $2,146 and $2,401, data obtained from forwarders shows. Forwarder executives generally expect booking prices on the route to fall to $2,000 per TEU by late November and to about $1,800 in early December, a level at which carriers were signing contracts in May before the sharp spike that began in mid-June. Platts, a sister company of the Journal of Commerce within S&P Global, pegged India-USEC spot rates at $2,450 per FEU as of Nov. 5, the lowest since mid-June and down from $5,300 per FEU two months ago. “India-USEC ocean rates seem to be going back to the late-second-quarter trendline,” a sales executive at a Mumbai-based forwarding house who didn’t want to be identified told the Journal of Commerce. “This downward shift could continue through December.” Forwarders also noted that some recent India-USEC sailings have had difficulty filling space at Nhava Sheva and Mundra in line with declared allocation plans. Schedule disruptions also persist on the trade lane because of the Red Sea-linked diversions and network realignments, with three November calls out of West India expected to be voided. Still, major carriers have lined up a fresh round of rate increases for early December, including a $1,000-per-container hike announcement by Hapag-Lloyd. However, forwarders do not believe carriers have an opportunity to attempt any measurable price hikes in the immediate future. Contact Bency Mathew at bencyvmathew@gmail.com .

India-USEC rates hit four-month low amid sagging cargo volumes: forwarders

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">There are no signs of any rush to frontload ahead of potential tariff increases on European imports by the new US administration or to get cargo moving before a possible second strike by the ILA.</div>

There are no signs of any rush to frontload ahead of potential tariff increases on European imports by the new US administration or to get cargo moving before a possible second strike by the ILA.

<div class="phx-topic">The trans-Atlantic ocean corridor has returned to the “calm waters” mode that typically characterizes the westbound trade lane, with rates trending down into November and US import volume flattening out into the fourth quarter. There is no sign of any rush to frontload ahead of potential tariff increases on European imports by the new US administration or to get cargo moving before a possible second strike by the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) when <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/ila-usmx-say-to-resume-talks-on-new-master-contract-in-november-5778794">its extended contract expires on Jan. 15</a>. “The trans-Atlantic is back in calm waters ... for the moment we see a rather stable scenario,” Markus Panhauser, CEO for Germany and Switzerland at DHL Global Forwarding, told the Journal of Commerce this week. Still, “today you never know which disruption comes next,” he added. Average spot rate levels on the trans-Atlantic began to spike in early August, reaching a 2024 peak of $2,700 per FEU on Oct. 11. But rates have declined over the past three weeks, according to data from Platts, a sister company of the Journal of Commerce within S&amp;P Global. <div class="wrapper-narrow"><dynamic-object type="jocchartid" resource-id="6d191095-d9b3-4aa6-8694-88b003ef4024"></dynamic-object></div>The North Europe to US East Coast rate this week was at $2,300 per FEU, down 5% compared with last week, Platts data showed. Mediterranean to US East Coast average spot rates are currently at $3,305 per FEU, virtually flat since the end of September, according to rate benchmarking platform Xeneta. The demand picture shows US East Coast imports from North Europe and the Mediterranean rising year over year through September, according to the latest data available from PIERS, a sister product of the Journal of Commerce within S&amp;P Global. But the subsequent rate decline through October and into November suggests a slowdown in volume into the fourth quarter. The latest data from Container Trades Statistics shows US September import volume from Europe at 435,540 TEUs, up just 1% on August. Peter Sand, chief analyst at Xeneta, also referred to the trans-Atlantic as being back in “calm waters,” calling the trade “solid and stable” with cargo owners in no rush to ship. "It appears shippers are not expecting much disruption from a port strike or after the [US] presidential election,” he said. “There is no big surge expected in terms of volume in the coming months, but also no big drop, and instead more of a rebalancing of the inventory ratio.” <h3>Carriers removing capacity </h3>Not even the removal of 91,100 TEUs in capacity from the trade so far this year could prop up rates, with Alphaliner reporting that by October, container slots in the trans-Atlantic fleet had decreased by 8.2% year over year. The analyst said in a recent newsletter that the cellular fleet reduction was not only the result of the closure of a few loops, but also due to large ships being replaced by smaller units. The largest capacity reductions come from CMA CGM, which has withdrawn 30.9% of its trans-Atlantic capacity this year, while Cosco Shipping has cut 22.7% and Maersk 12.1%. Mediterranean Shipping Co., the largest tonnage provider on the trade lane with a 41% market share, has cut trans-Atlantic capacity this year by 7.9%, according to Alphaliner. Hapag-Lloyd is the only carrier to increase its trans-Atlantic fleet, adding 12,500 TEUs, or 6%, in the first 10 months of this year. Panhauser said the additional capacity from Hapag-Lloyd was to accommodate demand for its popular “Quality Freight Product,” a fixed rate contract aimed at removing fluctuating prices. ”The QFP gave them stable volume at a healthy rate level and gave them the opportunity to secure further market volume,” he said. <div class="wrapper-narrow"><dynamic-object type="jocchartid" resource-id="aa9f3efb-4a9c-45c3-a66c-91651b8ebc75"></dynamic-object></div>Ocean Network Express (ONE) is the only carrier that has not yet announced its trans-Atlantic service offering from February next year. Alphaliner expects ONE will soon announce a slot deal with a member of the Ocean Alliance, either CMA CGM, Cosco Shipping, OOCL or Evergreen. The Japanese-owned carrier is currently the fourth-largest carrier on the trade with a 7% market share, and most of its ships are trading in the all-water North Europe-West Coast North America loop of THE Alliance, which also serves Halifax and Port Everglades. ONE is in a position to jointly offer three loops out of North Europe to the US East Coast, Gulf Coast and West Coast. Contact Greg Knowler at <a href="mailto:greg.knowler@spglobal.com">greg.knowler@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

The trans-Atlantic ocean corridor has returned to the “calm waters” mode that typically characterizes the westbound trade lane, with rates trending down into November and US import volume flattening out into the fourth quarter. There is no sign of any rush to frontload ahead of potential tariff increases on European imports by the new US administration or to get cargo moving before a possible second strike by the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) when its extended contract expires on Jan. 15 . “The trans-Atlantic is back in calm waters ... for the moment we see a rather stable scenario,” Markus Panhauser, CEO for Germany and Switzerland at DHL Global Forwarding, told the Journal of Commerce this week. Still, “today you never know which disruption comes next,” he added. Average spot rate levels on the trans-Atlantic began to spike in early August, reaching a 2024 peak of $2,700 per FEU on Oct. 11. But rates have declined over the past three weeks, according to data from Platts, a sister company of the Journal of Commerce within S&P Global. The North Europe to US East Coast rate this week was at $2,300 per FEU, down 5% compared with last week, Platts data showed. Mediterranean to US East Coast average spot rates are currently at $3,305 per FEU, virtually flat since the end of September, according to rate benchmarking platform Xeneta. The demand picture shows US East Coast imports from North Europe and the Mediterranean rising year over year through September, according to the latest data available from PIERS, a sister product of the Journal of Commerce within S&P Global. But the subsequent rate decline through October and into November suggests a slowdown in volume into the fourth quarter. The latest data from Container Trades Statistics shows US September import volume from Europe at 435,540 TEUs, up just 1% on August. Peter Sand, chief analyst at Xeneta, also referred to the trans-Atlantic as being back in “calm waters,” calling the trade “solid and stable” with cargo owners in no rush to ship. "It appears shippers are not expecting much disruption from a port strike or after the [US] presidential election,” he said. “There is no big surge expected in terms of volume in the coming months, but also no big drop, and instead more of a rebalancing of the inventory ratio.” Carriers removing capacity Not even the removal of 91,100 TEUs in capacity from the trade so far this year could prop up rates, with Alphaliner reporting that by October, container slots in the trans-Atlantic fleet had decreased by 8.2% year over year. The analyst said in a recent newsletter that the cellular fleet reduction was not only the result of the closure of a few loops, but also due to large ships being replaced by smaller units. The largest capacity reductions come from CMA CGM, which has withdrawn 30.9% of its trans-Atlantic capacity this year, while Cosco Shipping has cut 22.7% and Maersk 12.1%. Mediterranean Shipping Co., the largest tonnage provider on the trade lane with a 41% market share, has cut trans-Atlantic capacity this year by 7.9%, according to Alphaliner. Hapag-Lloyd is the only carrier to increase its trans-Atlantic fleet, adding 12,500 TEUs, or 6%, in the first 10 months of this year. Panhauser said the additional capacity from Hapag-Lloyd was to accommodate demand for its popular “Quality Freight Product,” a fixed rate contract aimed at removing fluctuating prices. ”The QFP gave them stable volume at a healthy rate level and gave them the opportunity to secure further market volume,” he said. Ocean Network Express (ONE) is the only carrier that has not yet announced its trans-Atlantic service offering from February next year. Alphaliner expects ONE will soon announce a slot deal with a member of the Ocean Alliance, either CMA CGM, Cosco Shipping, OOCL or Evergreen. The Japanese-owned carrier is currently the fourth-largest carrier on the trade with a 7% market share, and most of its ships are trading in the all-water North Europe-West Coast North America loop of THE Alliance, which also serves Halifax and Port Everglades. ONE is in a position to jointly offer three loops out of North Europe to the US East Coast, Gulf Coast and West Coast. Contact Greg Knowler at greg.knowler@spglobal.com .

‘Calm’ trans-Atlantic ocean trade shrugs off market disruption

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">The disruptions coming out of disagreements during port work contract negotiations in North America have intensified, as seen currently in Western Canada and Montreal, and possibly again on the US East and Gulf coasts come mid-January. </div>

The disruptions coming out of disagreements during port work contract negotiations in North America have intensified, as seen currently in Western Canada and Montreal, and possibly again on the US East and Gulf coasts come mid-January.

<div class="phx-topic"><div class="wrapper-narrow float-right-element"><img src="/images/phoenix/5787232_0.1.jpg"></img></div>That six port worker unions stretching across North America were all negotiating their contracts over approximately the last 18 months was a fluke of timing. That negotiations with waterfront employees deteriorated in four of those contract cycles to the point that cargo flow was slowed or halted entirely at nearly all US ports on the East, Gulf and West coasts at some point can’t be easily written off. Of those six separate union negotiations, two were settled without labor action: the International Longshore and Warehouse Union’s (ILWU’s) office clerical unit agreed to a seven-year contract in late 2023, and Halifax union locals did the same for a contract lasting through 2025. Three of the union negotiations collapsed this fall, leading to <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/ships-waiting-out-bc-port-closures-in-hopes-of-quick-deal-with-longshore-union-5786677">marine terminals locking out foremen</a> in Western Canada this week amid <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/montreal-warns-of-vessel-diversions-as-strike-against-msc-terminals-begins-5783311">ongoing strikes at two Montreal marine terminals</a>, which came on the heels of the three-day strike early last month by the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) at ports along the US East and Gulf coasts. The extent and tactics of the labor actions deployed by the various unions during contract negotiations have varied. But the severity of labor actions and employer responses in three of the four recent and ongoing contracting cycles have arguably been greater than in respective past cycles. The one outlier was ILWU dockworkers engaging in quick-hit, rolling work slowdowns in the 15 months leading up to reaching a tentative agreement in August 2023 that were less severe than when negotiations hit a wall in the prior contract cycle. This year, it took three days before the White House turned up the heat on the ILA and the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX), which represents major container lines, to reach a tentative deal, ending the Oct. 1–3 strike. It was the first strike along those coasts in nearly 50 years and could occur again if both sides can’t come to an agreement on <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/despite-tentative-wage-deal-usmx-and-ila-have-bumpy-road-ahead-on-other-key-issues-5743997">automation and other issues</a> by Jan. 15. By Donald Trump’s second presidential inauguration on Jan. 20, the election pressure to avoid upsetting labor, which the Biden administration was under, will be gone. <h3>Strikes return to Western Canada port</h3>An anticipated change in power in Canada, as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau grasps to hold his seat in a shaky government coalition, may provoke more aggressive responses to port strikes there. But until then, the industry has learned to expect a weaker response from Ottawa to freight transportation disruptions compared with the prior Conservative government. During his nine-year tenure, Trudeau has waited more than two weeks to end various port strikes and a political protest in 2020 that shut down western rail networks. Under his watch, Canada in August experienced its first nationwide strike, albeit only 17 hours, involving both Class I railroads since 1987. Conservative coziness with organized labor has tempered Parliament from ordering unions back to work. In 2023, the ILWU launched a 13-day longshore strike at the ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert. Following a one-day strike, marine terminals locked out ILWU foremen Nov. 4. The ILWU Local 514 refuses to support the installation of remotely operated rail-mounted gantries. The ILWU Canada contract cycle used to be less fraught. In May 2019, there was an announcement of a 24-hour lockout by West Coast employers after contract negotiations hit a stalemate over the ILWU’s opposition to semi-automation at the rail facility serving the Deltaport terminal. However, Prince Rupert operations were unfazed, a sign of the calmer coastal labor atmosphere before the union local fully backed the nearly two-week strike in 2023. <h3>Montreal labor tension boils over </h3>To the east, relations between unionized port workers and Montreal waterfront employers have been rocky for years, with federal arbitration ending strikes in 2020 and 2021 but not bridging the deep divisions on salaries, wage guarantees and paid vacation in which workers aren’t on call. The Local 375 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees on Oct. 31 launched an indefinite strike against two marine terminals serving Mediterranean Shipping Co., the carrier deploying the most ocean capacity in Montreal and to Canada. Adding another dimension to the standoff, the ILA local representing Montreal clerks and checkers is resisting technology at both facilities that converts images to text, a move the union estimates will at least halve the needed labor force. While Montreal port workers and B.C. foremen’s labor actions may be emboldened by ILA labor uncertainty on the US East and Gulf coasts, unions negotiate separately and there is little history of coordinating to gain significant leverage. Rather, unions in general claim solidarity with their striking brethren but rarely refuse to handle diverted cargo, which would be operationally challenging. What unites the six unions is an existential fear of automation and a firmer understanding of their ability to control supply chains to get a larger piece of what they see as outstanding profits for the container shipping industry. Container lines are on track this year to nearly double their profits to $50 billion compared with last year, according to maritime consultancy Drewry. That the industry’s 2025 profits will pale in comparison with the $300 billion recorded in 2022 won’t likely change what labor thinks it deserves. Contact Mark Szakonyi at <a href="mark.szakonyi@spglobal.com">mark.szakonyi@spglobal.com</a>.</div>

That six port worker unions stretching across North America were all negotiating their contracts over approximately the last 18 months was a fluke of timing. That negotiations with waterfront employees deteriorated in four of those contract cycles to the point that cargo flow was slowed or halted entirely at nearly all US ports on the East, Gulf and West coasts at some point can’t be easily written off. Of those six separate union negotiations, two were settled without labor action: the International Longshore and Warehouse Union’s (ILWU’s) office clerical unit agreed to a seven-year contract in late 2023, and Halifax union locals did the same for a contract lasting through 2025. Three of the union negotiations collapsed this fall, leading to marine terminals locking out foremen in Western Canada this week amid ongoing strikes at two Montreal marine terminals , which came on the heels of the three-day strike early last month by the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) at ports along the US East and Gulf coasts. The extent and tactics of the labor actions deployed by the various unions during contract negotiations have varied. But the severity of labor actions and employer responses in three of the four recent and ongoing contracting cycles have arguably been greater than in respective past cycles. The one outlier was ILWU dockworkers engaging in quick-hit, rolling work slowdowns in the 15 months leading up to reaching a tentative agreement in August 2023 that were less severe than when negotiations hit a wall in the prior contract cycle. This year, it took three days before the White House turned up the heat on the ILA and the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX), which represents major container lines, to reach a tentative deal, ending the Oct. 1–3 strike. It was the first strike along those coasts in nearly 50 years and could occur again if both sides can’t come to an agreement on automation and other issues by Jan. 15. By Donald Trump’s second presidential inauguration on Jan. 20, the election pressure to avoid upsetting labor, which the Biden administration was under, will be gone. Strikes return to Western Canada port An anticipated change in power in Canada, as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau grasps to hold his seat in a shaky government coalition, may provoke more aggressive responses to port strikes there. But until then, the industry has learned to expect a weaker response from Ottawa to freight transportation disruptions compared with the prior Conservative government. During his nine-year tenure, Trudeau has waited more than two weeks to end various port strikes and a political protest in 2020 that shut down western rail networks. Under his watch, Canada in August experienced its first nationwide strike, albeit only 17 hours, involving both Class I railroads since 1987. Conservative coziness with organized labor has tempered Parliament from ordering unions back to work. In 2023, the ILWU launched a 13-day longshore strike at the ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert. Following a one-day strike, marine terminals locked out ILWU foremen Nov. 4. The ILWU Local 514 refuses to support the installation of remotely operated rail-mounted gantries. The ILWU Canada contract cycle used to be less fraught. In May 2019, there was an announcement of a 24-hour lockout by West Coast employers after contract negotiations hit a stalemate over the ILWU’s opposition to semi-automation at the rail facility serving the Deltaport terminal. However, Prince Rupert operations were unfazed, a sign of the calmer coastal labor atmosphere before the union local fully backed the nearly two-week strike in 2023. Montreal labor tension boils over To the east, relations between unionized port workers and Montreal waterfront employers have been rocky for years, with federal arbitration ending strikes in 2020 and 2021 but not bridging the deep divisions on salaries, wage guarantees and paid vacation in which workers aren’t on call. The Local 375 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees on Oct. 31 launched an indefinite strike against two marine terminals serving Mediterranean Shipping Co., the carrier deploying the most ocean capacity in Montreal and to Canada. Adding another dimension to the standoff, the ILA local representing Montreal clerks and checkers is resisting technology at both facilities that converts images to text, a move the union estimates will at least halve the needed labor force. While Montreal port workers and B.C. foremen’s labor actions may be emboldened by ILA labor uncertainty on the US East and Gulf coasts, unions negotiate separately and there is little history of coordinating to gain significant leverage. Rather, unions in general claim solidarity with their striking brethren but rarely refuse to handle diverted cargo, which would be operationally challenging. What unites the six unions is an existential fear of automation and a firmer understanding of their ability to control supply chains to get a larger piece of what they see as outstanding profits for the container shipping industry. Container lines are on track this year to nearly double their profits to $50 billion compared with last year, according to maritime consultancy Drewry. That the industry’s 2025 profits will pale in comparison with the $300 billion recorded in 2022 won’t likely change what labor thinks it deserves. Contact Mark Szakonyi at mark.szakonyi@spglobal.com .

Employer-labor tensions in North America disrupting more cargo

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Cross-border supply chains need to become more integrated and efficient to increase capacity on both sides of a constricted border, logistics executives say. </div>

Cross-border supply chains need to become more integrated and efficient to increase capacity on both sides of a constricted border, logistics executives say.

<div class="phx-topic">Rapid growth in US-Mexico trade is forcing a maturation of cross-border supply chain networks that logistics executives say will be critical as freight volumes rise. New warehouses and logistics facilities are opening almost weekly at freight crossings such as Laredo and El Paso, Texas. But those facilities are only the tip of the spear. Behind them lie complicated communication and transportation lines linking those nodes that form cross-border supply chains. Those networks take more work to build than the nodes themselves. And the strength of those networks is becoming more critical. The networks taking shape today are more diverse, transparent and intermodal than those in place before the COVID-19 pandemic, shippers and their logistics partners say. Shippers that once relied on one or two border crossings now must consider multiple lanes and crossings as well as greater use of intermodal rail and other modes. Despite the number of new logistics centers and warehouses going up, the number of border crossings is finite and difficult to expand. That makes more efficient networks, powered by technology, key to creating the capacity needed to keep up with trade. From January through September, the value of US trade with Mexico reached $632.3 billion, 36.5% higher than the same period in 2019, according to US Census Bureau data. The number of northbound trucks entering the US from Mexico is rising, too, climbing 18.1% in the first nine months of 2024 compared with the same period in 2019, according to data from the US Bureau of Transportation Statistics. There are only 21 truck border crossings along the US-Mexico border. Efforts are underway to expand the number of lanes at some crossings, but construction takes time. “Building and expanding networks drives scalability,” said Mike Burkhart, vice president for Mexico and Canada business at third-party logistics company C.H. Robinson Worldwide. And scalability is needed to keep up with increased cross-border freight demand. “However, it’s also important to build contingences in the event that a portion of your network changes,” Burkhart told the Journal of Commerce. Border crossings can be shut down or become congested quickly thanks to inspections or <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/mexican-systems-failures-disrupting-cross-border-trade-with-us-5222387">customs systems failures</a>. <h3>New partnerships</h3>More action is taking place outside the warehouse walls. Global freight forwarder Gebrüder Weiss, for example, is partnering with Cargado, an invite-only <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/new-cross-border-trucking-platform-aims-to-enable-brokers-5731985">cross-border load board</a>. Its goal is to make cross-border shipping more interconnected and transparent. A major difference between 2024 and the pre-pandemic era is the availability of better visibility tools, said Joe Aguirre, director of southern border solutions for Gebrüder Weiss in El Paso. “We need to know if and when we might need another 300 trucks,” Aguirre said. Cargado will help provide that visibility and greater access to truckload capacity. The need for greater supply-chain visibility extends beyond the US-Mexico border, said Aguirre. “If it takes a vessel five days longer to reach a port than scheduled, that can dramatically affect a customer’s production at factories in Mexico,” he said. When container ships backed up in Long Beach and Los Angeles during the pandemic due to high volumes, Gebrüder Weiss diverted some cargo to the Mexican port of Manzanillo. “We went from 95 days from Shanghai to El Paso to 35 days from Shanghai to Juárez,” Aguirre said. Agile and fast systems are needed to affect that type of switch. “You need experience, not just within the four walls of the warehouse, but from the data perspective as well,” he said. Hub Group and Mexican drayage carrier Transportes Easo last <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/hub-group-boosts-cross-border-business-in-jv-with-mexican-dray-carrier-5745355">month formed a joint venture to share resources</a> on cross-border intermodal moves. And less-than-truckload (LTL) carrier Southeastern Freight Lines added a new lane to Las Cruces, New Mexico, part of the Borderplex region that includes El Paso and Ciudad Juárez. All these developments underscore the desire and need to extend and strengthen cross-border transportation networks as the volumes moving through border crossings such as Laredo, El Paso, Otay Mesa and many smaller ports of entry continue to grow. “This is a challenge now and it will become even more complicated over the next few years,” Jesus Ojeda, executive vice president for Mexico business at Uber Freight, told the Journal of Commerce. Uber Freight manages 2,000 cross-border US-Mexico shipments daily. The logistics provider is gaining more cross-border business from existing customers in a variety of industries. That shipper base has increased its cross-border activity with Uber Freight by 77% this year, the company said, and Ojeda doesn’t see that trend slowing. “Our customers are experiencing increasing volumes, and they’re trying to push more materials out from their facilities, more shipments, so they can produce more,” he said. <h3>Efficiency adds capacity </h3>Short of building more bridges and warehouses, the quickest way to gain needed capacity is by increasing efficiency in cross-border moves and end-to-end supply chains. “Efficiency, meaning expedient processes and systems, is going to be crucial in the development of these supply chains,” Gabriel Guajardo, director for the southern US border at Echo Global Logistics, told the Journal of Commerce. “Either you become more efficient to create capacity, or you just have to get more equipment,” Guajardo said. “The ability to use technology to quickly release equipment, avoiding delays, is going to be very important as we continue to grow.” That means implementing existing technology such as yard management systems (YMSs) and transportation management systems (TMSs) to create metrics and measure efficiency. “A streamlined process is going to be very attractive” to carriers and shippers, Guajardo said. At some point, streamlining may mean moving freight faster to locations beyond the border. Laredo is the flashpoint for logistics construction, but logistics development activity stretches from border crossings to hubs such as Dallas, Phoenix and beyond. “Is there a way to establish an Inland Empire of sorts in Texas?” Holly Pearce, director of North American Logistics for Otis Elevator Company, said at the Journal of Commerce Inland Distribution Conference (Inland24) last month, referring to the Southern California warehouse hub. Pearce, who in previous jobs has managed cross-border supply to maquila factories in Mexico, said expediting pre-cleared tractor-trailers from Mexico to foreign trade zones in Texas may be a partial solution to the congestion/capacity problem at the border. ”As shippers, we need to commit to this,” she said. “We need to say ‘yes, we’re in. We’re going to put our roots down as well.’” US-Mexico trade “is only going to get bigger, and unless we have investment in infrastructure, it’s just going to be chaos,” Pearce said. Contact William B. Cassidy at <a href="mailto:bill.cassidy@spglobal.com">bill.cassidy@spglobal.com</a>.</div>

Rapid growth in US-Mexico trade is forcing a maturation of cross-border supply chain networks that logistics executives say will be critical as freight volumes rise. New warehouses and logistics facilities are opening almost weekly at freight crossings such as Laredo and El Paso, Texas. But those facilities are only the tip of the spear. Behind them lie complicated communication and transportation lines linking those nodes that form cross-border supply chains. Those networks take more work to build than the nodes themselves. And the strength of those networks is becoming more critical. The networks taking shape today are more diverse, transparent and intermodal than those in place before the COVID-19 pandemic, shippers and their logistics partners say. Shippers that once relied on one or two border crossings now must consider multiple lanes and crossings as well as greater use of intermodal rail and other modes. Despite the number of new logistics centers and warehouses going up, the number of border crossings is finite and difficult to expand. That makes more efficient networks, powered by technology, key to creating the capacity needed to keep up with trade. From January through September, the value of US trade with Mexico reached $632.3 billion, 36.5% higher than the same period in 2019, according to US Census Bureau data. The number of northbound trucks entering the US from Mexico is rising, too, climbing 18.1% in the first nine months of 2024 compared with the same period in 2019, according to data from the US Bureau of Transportation Statistics. There are only 21 truck border crossings along the US-Mexico border. Efforts are underway to expand the number of lanes at some crossings, but construction takes time. “Building and expanding networks drives scalability,” said Mike Burkhart, vice president for Mexico and Canada business at third-party logistics company C.H. Robinson Worldwide. And scalability is needed to keep up with increased cross-border freight demand. “However, it’s also important to build contingences in the event that a portion of your network changes,” Burkhart told the Journal of Commerce. Border crossings can be shut down or become congested quickly thanks to inspections or customs systems failures . New partnerships More action is taking place outside the warehouse walls. Global freight forwarder Gebrüder Weiss, for example, is partnering with Cargado, an invite-only cross-border load board . Its goal is to make cross-border shipping more interconnected and transparent. A major difference between 2024 and the pre-pandemic era is the availability of better visibility tools, said Joe Aguirre, director of southern border solutions for Gebrüder Weiss in El Paso. “We need to know if and when we might need another 300 trucks,” Aguirre said. Cargado will help provide that visibility and greater access to truckload capacity. The need for greater supply-chain visibility extends beyond the US-Mexico border, said Aguirre. “If it takes a vessel five days longer to reach a port than scheduled, that can dramatically affect a customer’s production at factories in Mexico,” he said. When container ships backed up in Long Beach and Los Angeles during the pandemic due to high volumes, Gebrüder Weiss diverted some cargo to the Mexican port of Manzanillo. “We went from 95 days from Shanghai to El Paso to 35 days from Shanghai to Juárez,” Aguirre said. Agile and fast systems are needed to affect that type of switch. “You need experience, not just within the four walls of the warehouse, but from the data perspective as well,” he said. Hub Group and Mexican drayage carrier Transportes Easo last month formed a joint venture to share resources on cross-border intermodal moves. And less-than-truckload (LTL) carrier Southeastern Freight Lines added a new lane to Las Cruces, New Mexico, part of the Borderplex region that includes El Paso and Ciudad Juárez. All these developments underscore the desire and need to extend and strengthen cross-border transportation networks as the volumes moving through border crossings such as Laredo, El Paso, Otay Mesa and many smaller ports of entry continue to grow. “This is a challenge now and it will become even more complicated over the next few years,” Jesus Ojeda, executive vice president for Mexico business at Uber Freight, told the Journal of Commerce. Uber Freight manages 2,000 cross-border US-Mexico shipments daily. The logistics provider is gaining more cross-border business from existing customers in a variety of industries. That shipper base has increased its cross-border activity with Uber Freight by 77% this year, the company said, and Ojeda doesn’t see that trend slowing. “Our customers are experiencing increasing volumes, and they’re trying to push more materials out from their facilities, more shipments, so they can produce more,” he said. Efficiency adds capacity Short of building more bridges and warehouses, the quickest way to gain needed capacity is by increasing efficiency in cross-border moves and end-to-end supply chains. “Efficiency, meaning expedient processes and systems, is going to be crucial in the development of these supply chains,” Gabriel Guajardo, director for the southern US border at Echo Global Logistics, told the Journal of Commerce. “Either you become more efficient to create capacity, or you just have to get more equipment,” Guajardo said. “The ability to use technology to quickly release equipment, avoiding delays, is going to be very important as we continue to grow.” That means implementing existing technology such as yard management systems (YMSs) and transportation management systems (TMSs) to create metrics and measure efficiency. “A streamlined process is going to be very attractive” to carriers and shippers, Guajardo said. At some point, streamlining may mean moving freight faster to locations beyond the border. Laredo is the flashpoint for logistics construction, but logistics development activity stretches from border crossings to hubs such as Dallas, Phoenix and beyond. “Is there a way to establish an Inland Empire of sorts in Texas?” Holly Pearce, director of North American Logistics for Otis Elevator Company, said at the Journal of Commerce Inland Distribution Conference (Inland24) last month, referring to the Southern California warehouse hub. Pearce, who in previous jobs has managed cross-border supply to maquila factories in Mexico, said expediting pre-cleared tractor-trailers from Mexico to foreign trade zones in Texas may be a partial solution to the congestion/capacity problem at the border. ”As shippers, we need to commit to this,” she said. “We need to say ‘yes, we’re in. We’re going to put our roots down as well.’” US-Mexico trade “is only going to get bigger, and unless we have investment in infrastructure, it’s just going to be chaos,” Pearce said. Contact William B. Cassidy at bill.cassidy@spglobal.com .

More efficient cross-border networks needed as US-Mexico trade rises

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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

SSA Marine Mexico has made significant strides in modernizing its infrastructure at the Port of Manzanillo, investing $15 million to enhance operational efficiency and sustainability at its facilities. This move is part of the company's broader strategy to remain at the forefront of the shipping and logistics industry. •	Strengthening Sustainability with Advanced Technology <figure class="joc_admin__inline-image-position-left joc_admin__inline-image-size-medium" data-figure-size="medium" data-figure-position="left"><img src="/content-assets/1730488295264_Cranes%20arrival%20to%20TEC%20I.png" alt="Cranes arrival to TEC I" class="joc_admin__inline-image-inherit"></figure> In July, SSA Marine Mexico added seven state-of-the-art E-RTG (Electric Rubber-Tired Gantry) cranes to its fleet, valued at $14 million. These advanced cranes were distributed across its two terminals: four cranes were assigned to the Multipurpose Terminal, and three to the Specialized Container Terminal I. What sets these cranes apart is their dual-operation capability, allowing them to function either on electric power or diesel fuel. This innovation plays a critical role in reducing the environmental impact of operations, contributing to a 7% increase in energy efficiency. This efficiency improvement is equivalent to eliminating nearly 4,000 tons of CO2 emissions annually, underscoring SSA Marine Mexico's commitment to sustainability. Through this acquisition, SSA Marine Mexico not only enhances its cargo-handling capabilities but also reinforces its leadership in integrating cutting-edge, eco-friendly technology in the maritime industry. The company continues to push the boundaries of efficiency and sustainability, ensuring long-term value for both its customers and the environment. •	Upgraded Facilities to Meet Growing Demand <figure class="joc_admin__inline-image-position-left joc_admin__inline-image-size-medium" data-figure-size="medium" data-figure-position="left"><img src="/content-assets/1730488350634_Multipurpose%20terminal.png" alt="Multipurpose Terminal" class="joc_admin__inline-image-inherit"></figure> In addition to the new cranes, SSA Marine Mexico has completed crucial modernization and repair work across its Multipurpose Terminal and Specialized Facility at the Port of Manzanillo. This $1 million investment targeted critical infrastructure enhancements, focusing on both structural integrity and operational functionality. Key improvements included leveling approximately 12,000 square meters in the dock area, along with the removal of outdated concrete curbs and asphalt layers. The upgraded space now features high-resistance pavers designed to optimize water drainage and prevent pooling, ensuring safer and more efficient operations. Moreover, the Specialized Facility saw significant upgrades, including the leveling of key warehouse areas to facilitate smoother cargo handling processes. These infrastructure improvements directly enhance the handling of TEUS (Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit containers), further demonstrating SSA Marine Mexico's unwavering commitment to continuous modernization, operational safety, and efficiency. With these initiatives, SSA Marine Mexico is well-positioned to meet the growing demands of the global shipping industry while setting new standards in sustainable port operations. LINK:<a href="https://www.ssamarine.mx/ssa-ing/index" rel="noreferrer" class="joc_admin__link"> https://www.ssamarine.mx/ssa-ing/index</a>

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SSA Marine Mexico Modernizes Facilities with $15 Million Investment 

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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The Journal of Commerce’s analysis and coverage of North American and global rail news encompasses Class I railroad, intermodal marketing providers, and supporting drayage and truckload services. Reporting on freight railroad news today, journalists track volume, intermodal freight rates, service levels, precision schedule railroading, transloading, regulation, union labor and network investment at domestic and international intermodal terminals.

Stay updated with our rail transport news and trends. Journal of Commerce covers intermodal news, and port connectivity news in the container rail transport sector.

Rail News | Journal of Commerce

The Journal of Commerce’s surface transport news and analysis focuses on landside transport movement — from railroad news to trucking news — including full load trucking, less-than-truckload (LTL), refrigerated (or reefer) trucking, flatbed and domestic and international intermodal rail, and how it connects with seaports, inland rail hubs, distribution centers and transloading operations. Reporting on the surface transport sector covers the movement of domestic shipments within the United States and international cargoes transported via domestic equipment including trailers and 53-foot containers.

Discover comprehensive trucking news and trends with Journal of Commerce - from trucking LTL to regulation and trucking supply and demand.

Trucking News | Journal of Commerce

Explore the world of ground transport news - from trucks to railroads, intermodal connections, and port ties. Daily insights on US and global shipments.

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More News & Analysis

Intermodal bent, but didn’t break, during recent disruptive events: analyst

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‘Calm’ trans-Atlantic ocean trade shrugs off market disruption