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Platts Containers Update

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">At a time when U.S. exports to Asia are slowing and shipping capacity is expanding, ocean carriers i</div>

At a time when U.S. exports to Asia are slowing and shipping capacity is expanding, ocean carriers i

<div>At a time when U.S. exports to Asia are slowing and shipping capacity is expanding, ocean carriers in the Pacific say they will try to increase freight rates on most export commodities next year.Some shippers said carriers are dreaming if they really believe they can pull that off.The ocean carrier conference that sets rates on most exports to Asia announced Friday that rates on a wide variety of commodities, including animal feeds, household appliances and mixed containers, will increase by $60 per 40-foot container as of Jan. 1.The increases also will apply to canned goods, furniture, glass products, metals, mixed...

At a time when U.S. exports to Asia are slowing and shipping capacity is expanding, ocean carriers in the Pacific say they will try to increase freight rates on most export commodities next year. Some shippers said carriers are dreaming if they really believe they can pull that off.The ocean carrier conference that sets rates on most exports to Asia announced Friday that rates on a wide variety of commodities, including animal feeds, household appliances and mixed containers, will increase by $60 per 40-foot container as of Jan. 1. The increases also will apply to canned goods, furniture, glass products, metals, mixed chemicals but not to auto parts, dried fruit and nuts, animal hides or tobacco, according to the Transpacific Westbound Rate Agreement. Major independent lines also say they will increase rates. The TWRA on Friday also announced plans to increase origin container yard and container freight station charges by the same $60 per 40-foot container and $48 per 20-foot container. It also will begin charging an origin documentation fee of $15 for each bill of lading. While the TWRA announces rate increases at least once a year, whether the market is strong enough for the increase to actually take effect is another story. The increases also will not apply to cargo moving under service contract, a growing portion of the TWRA lines' business. Harry Chaney, manager of international water and air transportation at Monsanto Co. said he is not expecting his contract rates to increase by less than the announced level when the company's contract is renewed. Shippers greeted Friday's announcement with skepticism, citing the growing disarray in the Pacific trades caused by slack volumes, growing capacity and intense rivalry between conference and independent lines. ''I don't think it will fly. I don't think the community will accept it,'' said Michael Beckers, director of ocean exports for Circle International, a forwarder and consolidator that handles more than 80,000 20-foot containers a year. SEABORNE EXPORTS TO RISE Even carriers are not sure the full increase will hold. ''Maybe it will turn out $25-$30 (per 20-foot container), but the changes of getting an increase as of Jan. 1 are better than 50 percent,'' one carrier executive said. Seaborne exports to the top Asian markets are expected to grow by only 2 percent to 3 percent this year, down from 10 percent in 1995 and 17 percent in 1994, according to the Port Import/Export Reporting Service of The Journal of Commerce. No more than 4 percent growth is expected for 1997, according to PIERS. At the same time, Pacific capacity is expected to grow more than 10 percent next year as carriers continue taking delivery of the newest generation of giant containerships. Nevertheless, carrier executives said the debacle on import rates might end up stabilizing export rates in spite of the volume slowdown. Import rates have declined by more than 30 percent on several major moving commodities since late 1995 in the worst rate war in a decade. A CAUSE FOR CONCERN Globally, carrier revenue is off 10 percent to 15 percent because of rate erosion in the Eastbound trans-Pacific and Europe-Asia trades, an executive with a non-conference line said. Carriers are therefore looking wherever they can for opportunities to reverse that decline, and may have found one in the westbound Trans-Pacific. ''There is a lot of serious concern. Globally, all the carriers need to find a way to bolster revenue, not just to make money, but for self-preservation,'' the executive said, implying that carriers may be more interested in shoring up rates than building market share.

SHIP LINES VOW TO RAISE RATES ON EXPORTS TO ASIA

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Newfound pricing power for carriers has halted the steady rate declines seen on the trade since last August.</div>

Newfound pricing power for carriers has halted the steady rate declines seen on the trade since last August.

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<div class="phx-topic">Major container lines on the India-US East Coast trade seem to have found the bullish fundamentals to push through rate increases lined up for March amid lower capacity due to multiple blank sailings and demand tailwinds linked to fiscal year-end export flows. That pricing power has halted the steady rate declines seen on the trade since early August. Spot booking quotes from Hapag-Lloyd are already up by $500 per container for early-March sailings, freight forwarders told the Journal of Commerce, adding that a further $1,000-per-container hike from the liner beginning March 15 seems almost certain because the current “managed” market is supporting that push. Sources put Hapag-Lloyd’s updated spot prices for loads from Nhava Sheva to New York at $2,107 per TEU and $2,257 per FEU. Similarly, CMA CGM has told major forwarder clients it will increase spot rates by $1,000 per container from early March. “Bookings for shipments into March have peaked and carriers could potentially see their vessels sail full,” a sales executive at a digital forwarder told the Journal of Commerce. “CMA CGM has already declared its upcoming sailing, scheduled to call at Nhava Sheva on March 9, sold out.” Maersk, which now has an enhanced allocation out of India, has extended its current spot rates through the latter part of March, and will instead announce revised pricing from March 23. According to forwarders, that approach is because the Danish carrier has had some cargo backups to manage due to its recent MECL schedule disruptions. Platts, a sister of company of the Journal of Commerce within S&amp;P Global, pegged India-USEC spot rates at $1,400 per FEU as of Feb. 26, up 5% on the week. <h3>A half-dozen blanks for March </h3>Forwarder sources have reported six blank sailings in March for India-USEC loads — covering Hapag-Lloyd’s TPI, CMA CGM’s Indamex and Ocean Network Express’ WIN services. Additionally, the week 11 Indamex sailing with a declared estimated time of arrival in Nhava Sheva of March 9 is known to be running a few days behind schedule, which forwarders believe will complicate loading plans, particularly on space allotted to its co-loaders, Cosco Shipping and OOCL. Both partners were recently denied slots by CMA CGM because of schedule dislocations, sparking shipper concerns. <div class="wrapper-narrow"><dynamic-object type="jocchartid" resource-id="893ffa5c-0a69-45c7-a555-425e44318711"></dynamic-object></div>Some carriers have also published rate hike plans for April, with Hapag-Lloyd instituting a $500-per-box hike starting April 1. But forwarders see that more as a tactic to keep up the pricing power ahead of contract negotiations that typically begin in May. “We do not think carriers have an opportunity to sustain the pricing momentum into April,” another forwarder noted. “Even with a few blanks, turning the table could be a big call.” Contact Bency Mathew at <a href="bencyvmathew@gmail.com">bencyvmathew@gmail.com.</a></div>

Major container lines on the India-US East Coast trade seem to have found the bullish fundamentals to push through rate increases lined up for March amid lower capacity due to multiple blank sailings and demand tailwinds linked to fiscal year-end export flows. That pricing power has halted the steady rate declines seen on the trade since early August. Spot booking quotes from Hapag-Lloyd are already up by $500 per container for early-March sailings, freight forwarders told the Journal of Commerce, adding that a further $1,000-per-container hike from the liner beginning March 15 seems almost certain because the current “managed” market is supporting that push. Sources put Hapag-Lloyd’s updated spot prices for loads from Nhava Sheva to New York at $2,107 per TEU and $2,257 per FEU. Similarly, CMA CGM has told major forwarder clients it will increase spot rates by $1,000 per container from early March. “Bookings for shipments into March have peaked and carriers could potentially see their vessels sail full,” a sales executive at a digital forwarder told the Journal of Commerce. “CMA CGM has already declared its upcoming sailing, scheduled to call at Nhava Sheva on March 9, sold out.” Maersk, which now has an enhanced allocation out of India, has extended its current spot rates through the latter part of March, and will instead announce revised pricing from March 23. According to forwarders, that approach is because the Danish carrier has had some cargo backups to manage due to its recent MECL schedule disruptions. Platts, a sister of company of the Journal of Commerce within S&P Global, pegged India-USEC spot rates at $1,400 per FEU as of Feb. 26, up 5% on the week. A half-dozen blanks for March Forwarder sources have reported six blank sailings in March for India-USEC loads — covering Hapag-Lloyd’s TPI, CMA CGM’s Indamex and Ocean Network Express’ WIN services. Additionally, the week 11 Indamex sailing with a declared estimated time of arrival in Nhava Sheva of March 9 is known to be running a few days behind schedule, which forwarders believe will complicate loading plans, particularly on space allotted to its co-loaders, Cosco Shipping and OOCL. Both partners were recently denied slots by CMA CGM because of schedule dislocations, sparking shipper concerns. Some carriers have also published rate hike plans for April, with Hapag-Lloyd instituting a $500-per-box hike starting April 1. But forwarders see that more as a tactic to keep up the pricing power ahead of contract negotiations that typically begin in May. “We do not think carriers have an opportunity to sustain the pricing momentum into April,” another forwarder noted. “Even with a few blanks, turning the table could be a big call.” Contact Bency Mathew at bencyvmathew@gmail.com.

India-US carriers attempt strategic capacity cuts to prop up March GRI plans

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Acquisition activity in the truckload space continues, with price benchmarking vendor Greenscreens.ai the latest to sell. </div>

Acquisition activity in the truckload space continues, with price benchmarking vendor Greenscreens.ai the latest to sell.

<div class="phx-topic">Financial and technology solutions company Triumph on Wednesday said it has acquired truckload spot pricing technology provider Greenscreens.ai for $160 million in cash and equity. The deal helps Triumph, which specializes in payments, factoring and banking products for the transportation industry, consolidate its growing presence in freight intelligence. The acquisition is its second in recent months, after Triumph’s December acquisition of Isometric Technologies, which provided information on carrier performance, for an undisclosed amount. “With our recent acquisition of Isometric Technologies, we laid the groundwork for performance-based intelligence,” Triumph CEO Aaron Graft said in a statement. “The acquisition of Greenscreens.ai will expand our capabilities into pricing intelligence.” Greenscreens CEO Dawn Salvucci-Favier, who founded the company in 2020, will move to Triumph as part of the deal. Greenscreens has 49 employees. Salvucci-Favier, a veteran of transportation software, started Greenscreens to establish a neutral provider of short-term truckload pricing data to help brokers better manage their buying and selling activity with carriers and shippers. “Since day one, our mission has been to provide the industry’s leading neutral platform for pricing and revenue optimization,” she said in the statement. “As a part of Triumph, we can broaden our impact and accelerate innovation in freight pricing.” The deal is expected to close in the second quarter. Contact Eric Johnson at <a href="mailto:eric.johnson@spglobal.com">eric.johnson@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

Financial and technology solutions company Triumph on Wednesday said it has acquired truckload spot pricing technology provider Greenscreens.ai for $160 million in cash and equity. The deal helps Triumph, which specializes in payments, factoring and banking products for the transportation industry, consolidate its growing presence in freight intelligence. The acquisition is its second in recent months, after Triumph’s December acquisition of Isometric Technologies, which provided information on carrier performance, for an undisclosed amount. “With our recent acquisition of Isometric Technologies, we laid the groundwork for performance-based intelligence,” Triumph CEO Aaron Graft said in a statement. “The acquisition of Greenscreens.ai will expand our capabilities into pricing intelligence.” Greenscreens CEO Dawn Salvucci-Favier, who founded the company in 2020, will move to Triumph as part of the deal. Greenscreens has 49 employees. Salvucci-Favier, a veteran of transportation software, started Greenscreens to establish a neutral provider of short-term truckload pricing data to help brokers better manage their buying and selling activity with carriers and shippers. “Since day one, our mission has been to provide the industry’s leading neutral platform for pricing and revenue optimization,” she said in the statement. “As a part of Triumph, we can broaden our impact and accelerate innovation in freight pricing.” The deal is expected to close in the second quarter. Contact Eric Johnson at eric.johnson@spglobal.com .

Triumph acquires broker-focused pricing technology provider Greenscreens.ai

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">A drop in consumer confidence, spurred by higher inflation and tariff fears, makes a significant increase in freight demand and truck rates less likely until late in 2025. </div>

A drop in consumer confidence, spurred by higher inflation and tariff fears, makes a significant increase in freight demand and truck rates less likely until late in 2025.

<div class="phx-topic">Hopes for an inflection in US freight demand this year are moderating, if not fading, only two months into 2025. Potential disruption from US tariffs, especially on Canada and Mexico, is calling the extent of a potential freight recovery into question. US truckload rates, both spot and contract, <a href="https://www.jjoc.com/article/us-truckload-spot-rates-rising-but-shippers-keeping-lid-on-contract-rates-5919921">are rising</a>, but slowly, and the pace of rate increases seems likely to remain slow, absent an unforeseen influx of demand. Tariffs <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/tariffs-introduce-uncertainty-amid-growth-in-us-steel-imports-5941731">expected to take effect in March</a> are combining with other factors such as inflation, slowing growth in the services sector and high home mortgage rates to slow activity that would generate freight demand. US manufacturing is one bright spot, although a comparably weak one. As a result, US shippers appear likely <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/shippers-balance-near-term-market-long-term-forecasts-in-trucking-bids-5925145">to keep the pricing power</a> they’ve held for the past two years longer than expected in 2025 amid a slowing economy. Inventories built up in advance of tariffs are reducing pressure for new orders that would generate freight. “We’ve exited the pandemic trucking cycle, with the new rate differential rising to 2.6% in January,” Chris Caplice, chief scientist at DAT Freight &amp; Analytics, told the Journal of Commerce. The new rate differential measures the difference between new rates in shipper contracts and the prices they replace. That measure has been positive, in the low single-digit range, for several months, Caplice said. It shows carriers making some gains in contract talks. <div class="wrapper-narrow"><dynamic-object type="jocchartid" resource-id="949edfd1-bde1-4178-8bc3-b818539048c2"></dynamic-object></div>The old cycle may have ended, but the new cycle is just beginning, he said. “It’s not going to be the pandemic cycle all over again,” said Caplice, who also is a senior research scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “This is a slow gradual grind toward equilibrium, unless there’s a change in freight demand.” <h3>Sagging consumer sentiment </h3>But the catalyst for a change in freight demand remains elusive. The US consumer appears to be less sanguine about the condition of the US economy and household finances now than at the start of the year, when optimism approached a post-election peak. “Consumers are putting big-ticket purchases on hold while continuing to prioritize spending on services,” third-party logistics provider RXO said Monday in its RXO Curve Q1 2025 Truckload Market Forecast, formerly known as the Coyote Curve report. The Conference Board on Tuesday reported the largest monthly decline in its Consumer Confidence Index since August 2021. That followed a 10% month-to-month slide in the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index for February, released Friday. Inflation is on consumers’ minds. US inflation rose 0.5% in January from the previous month after rising 0.4% in December, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The trailing 12-month inflation rate was 3% in January, the BLS said earlier this month. Home mortgages have dropped from their peak but remain above 6% in late February, not low enough to spur the level of home purchasing and lending that would generate freight, said Avery Vise, vice president of trucking at FTR Transportation Intelligence. The availability of existing or new homes “remains a challenge as stubbornly high mortgage rates are chilling sales,” Vise said Monday in FTR’s Trucking Market Update podcast. New construction of single-family homes was down 2% year over year in January, he said. <h3>Flash US PMI drops </h3>A sharp deceleration in the pace of US economic growth was evident in the S&amp;P Global US Composite Flash Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) Output released Friday. The composite advanced PMI, which measures goods and services output, fell from 52.7 in January to 50.4 in February. Much of the drop in the composite PMI was on the services side, however, with manufacturing output rising for the second straight month. Many manufacturers reported the rise in production was linked in part to efforts to stay ahead of potential US tariffs. <div class="wrapper-narrow"><dynamic-object type="jocchartid" resource-id="3dcdb0d9-6e05-4e4d-9587-eb6b0580d4f4"></dynamic-object></div>The increases in the S&amp;P Global and Institute of Supply Management (ISM) manufacturing PMIs in January encouraged optimism among motor carriers and shippers. But it will take time before rising orders and output transform into shipments on road or rail. “The upturn in manufacturing output was also in part linked to the front-running of tariffs, hinting at merely a temporary boost,” S&amp;P Global, parent company of the Journal of Commerce, said in its Flash US PMI report. And the impact of tariffs on US imports is still unknown, although 25% tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada are slated to take effect March 4. A 25% tariff on aluminum and steel imports is coming March 12, unless the Trump administration changes course. <h3>Missing volume </h3>With all those factors at play, the freight market shift toward stronger demand and even higher rates, many trucking executives have said they expect by this summer may take longer to materialize. Absent unforeseen developments, that shift may not come until perhaps the end of 2025. “When we talk to our customers, they see a pickup by the end of ’25,” Alain Bedard, CEO of Canadian transportation company TFI International, said during an earnings call last week. “That is not helping us in the early days of ’25.” At the moment, “we’re still in a very deep freight recession,” Bedard said. “The volumes are not there.” TFI operates less-than-truckload (LTL) subsidiaries, led by TForce Freight in the US, and truckload and specialized carriers, including US-based Daseke. When TFI last October made its plans for 2025, “we never anticipated this kind of situation which is still difficult in terms of volumes, both truckload and LTL,” Bedard said. J.B. Hunt Transport Services expects pricing and demand to improve over the course of the year, Bradley W. Hicks, the company’s president of Dedicated Contract Services, told Citigroup during an investor event last week. Shippers believe “truckload rates will go up,” he said. But Hicks expects more movement on pricing “toward the end of the bid season” and the year. “I don’t think we’re going to get it all back in one bid season,” he said. “I think it may take a couple of cycles to inch forward through this one.” Contact William B. Cassidy at <a href="mailto:bill.cassidy@spglobal.com">bill.cassidy@spglobal.com</a>.</div>

Hopes for an inflection in US freight demand this year are moderating, if not fading, only two months into 2025. Potential disruption from US tariffs, especially on Canada and Mexico, is calling the extent of a potential freight recovery into question. US truckload rates, both spot and contract, are rising , but slowly, and the pace of rate increases seems likely to remain slow, absent an unforeseen influx of demand. Tariffs expected to take effect in March are combining with other factors such as inflation, slowing growth in the services sector and high home mortgage rates to slow activity that would generate freight demand. US manufacturing is one bright spot, although a comparably weak one. As a result, US shippers appear likely to keep the pricing power they’ve held for the past two years longer than expected in 2025 amid a slowing economy. Inventories built up in advance of tariffs are reducing pressure for new orders that would generate freight. “We’ve exited the pandemic trucking cycle, with the new rate differential rising to 2.6% in January,” Chris Caplice, chief scientist at DAT Freight & Analytics, told the Journal of Commerce. The new rate differential measures the difference between new rates in shipper contracts and the prices they replace. That measure has been positive, in the low single-digit range, for several months, Caplice said. It shows carriers making some gains in contract talks. The old cycle may have ended, but the new cycle is just beginning, he said. “It’s not going to be the pandemic cycle all over again,” said Caplice, who also is a senior research scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “This is a slow gradual grind toward equilibrium, unless there’s a change in freight demand.” Sagging consumer sentiment But the catalyst for a change in freight demand remains elusive. The US consumer appears to be less sanguine about the condition of the US economy and household finances now than at the start of the year, when optimism approached a post-election peak. “Consumers are putting big-ticket purchases on hold while continuing to prioritize spending on services,” third-party logistics provider RXO said Monday in its RXO Curve Q1 2025 Truckload Market Forecast, formerly known as the Coyote Curve report. The Conference Board on Tuesday reported the largest monthly decline in its Consumer Confidence Index since August 2021. That followed a 10% month-to-month slide in the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index for February, released Friday. Inflation is on consumers’ minds. US inflation rose 0.5% in January from the previous month after rising 0.4% in December, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The trailing 12-month inflation rate was 3% in January, the BLS said earlier this month. Home mortgages have dropped from their peak but remain above 6% in late February, not low enough to spur the level of home purchasing and lending that would generate freight, said Avery Vise, vice president of trucking at FTR Transportation Intelligence. The availability of existing or new homes “remains a challenge as stubbornly high mortgage rates are chilling sales,” Vise said Monday in FTR’s Trucking Market Update podcast. New construction of single-family homes was down 2% year over year in January, he said. Flash US PMI drops A sharp deceleration in the pace of US economic growth was evident in the S&P Global US Composite Flash Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) Output released Friday. The composite advanced PMI, which measures goods and services output, fell from 52.7 in January to 50.4 in February. Much of the drop in the composite PMI was on the services side, however, with manufacturing output rising for the second straight month. Many manufacturers reported the rise in production was linked in part to efforts to stay ahead of potential US tariffs. The increases in the S&P Global and Institute of Supply Management (ISM) manufacturing PMIs in January encouraged optimism among motor carriers and shippers. But it will take time before rising orders and output transform into shipments on road or rail. “The upturn in manufacturing output was also in part linked to the front-running of tariffs, hinting at merely a temporary boost,” S&P Global, parent company of the Journal of Commerce, said in its Flash US PMI report. And the impact of tariffs on US imports is still unknown, although 25% tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada are slated to take effect March 4. A 25% tariff on aluminum and steel imports is coming March 12, unless the Trump administration changes course. Missing volume With all those factors at play, the freight market shift toward stronger demand and even higher rates, many trucking executives have said they expect by this summer may take longer to materialize. Absent unforeseen developments, that shift may not come until perhaps the end of 2025. “When we talk to our customers, they see a pickup by the end of ’25,” Alain Bedard, CEO of Canadian transportation company TFI International, said during an earnings call last week. “That is not helping us in the early days of ’25.” At the moment, “we’re still in a very deep freight recession,” Bedard said. “The volumes are not there.” TFI operates less-than-truckload (LTL) subsidiaries, led by TForce Freight in the US, and truckload and specialized carriers, including US-based Daseke. When TFI last October made its plans for 2025, “we never anticipated this kind of situation which is still difficult in terms of volumes, both truckload and LTL,” Bedard said. J.B. Hunt Transport Services expects pricing and demand to improve over the course of the year, Bradley W. Hicks, the company’s president of Dedicated Contract Services, told Citigroup during an investor event last week. Shippers believe “truckload rates will go up,” he said. But Hicks expects more movement on pricing “toward the end of the bid season” and the year. “I don’t think we’re going to get it all back in one bid season,” he said. “I think it may take a couple of cycles to inch forward through this one.” Contact William B. Cassidy at bill.cassidy@spglobal.com .

Soft US freight demand, economic uncertainty restrains truckload pricing

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Tariff concerns and fears of labor unrest helped grow volumes at key ports along the West Coast last month, with the gains coming at the expense of the Northeast and mid-Atlantic.</div>

Tariff concerns and fears of labor unrest helped grow volumes at key ports along the West Coast last month, with the gains coming at the expense of the Northeast and mid-Atlantic.

<div class="phx-topic">International intermodal volumes surged in January along the US West Coast amid import frontloading and cargo diversions driven by concerns over new US tariffs and potential labor unrest along the East and Gulf coasts. The West Coast growth in international intermodal continued a trend in place since last fall in the ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach, Seattle, and Tacoma and came at the expense of volumes in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic, which have remained lackluster. It remains uncertain whether <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/ila-ratifies-new-six-year-deal-with-higher-entry-pay-automation-protection-5951338">new labor peace along the East and Gulf coasts</a> and at least some clarity on tariffs will cause volumes to slow in the coming months or shift back to the East Coast. Across North America, international intermodal traffic jumped 15% in January compared with a year earlier, according to data from the Intermodal Association of North America (IANA). International intermodal volume from the Southwest to the Midwest rose 36.7% year over year in January, according to IANA. Railroads moved about 45,000 ocean containers from Los Angeles to Chicago last month, up from about 34,000 a year ago, according to estimates from the Journal of Commerce. Volumes rose 23% from the Pacific Northwest to the Midwest as railroads transported 10,000 to 15,000 ocean containers from the ports of Seattle and Tacoma to Chicago, according to IANA and Journal of Commerce estimates. In January 2024, railroads moved approximately 4,000 to 7,000 loads on that route. The Los Angeles-to-Chicago route set a new record for January volume, while the Seattle-to-Chicago corridor recorded its strongest January since 2019. Demand was robust in both directions, with loaded volume from the Midwest rising 34.6% to the Southwest and surging 96.6% to the Pacific Northwest, according to the IANA data. <h3>East Coast declines </h3>What West Coast ports won in international intermodal volume came at the expense of the East Coast. Rail volumes declined 13.8% from the Northeast to the Midwest and dropped 12.3% in the opposite direction, reflecting losses on lanes linking the Port of New York and New Jersey and the Port of Virginia to inland markets such as Chicago, Cincinnati, Columbus, Cleveland, Detroit and Louisville. Rail traffic hauled about 2,000 fewer containers from New York/New Jersey to Chicago and 1,500 to 2,000 fewer boxes from Virginia to Chicago compared with January 2024, according to Journal of Commerce estimates. International rail volumes within the Southeast — lanes connecting Charleston and Savannah to Atlanta, Charlotte, Nashville and Memphis — were flat or slightly down in January, according to IANA. The volume between Savannah and Atlanta held steady compared with January 2024 with imports totaling about 10,000 containers and exports near 5,000. Contact Ari Ashe at <a href="mailto:ari.ashe@spglobal.com">ari.ashe@spglobal.com</a>.</div>

International intermodal volumes surged in January along the US West Coast amid import frontloading and cargo diversions driven by concerns over new US tariffs and potential labor unrest along the East and Gulf coasts. The West Coast growth in international intermodal continued a trend in place since last fall in the ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach, Seattle, and Tacoma and came at the expense of volumes in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic, which have remained lackluster. It remains uncertain whether new labor peace along the East and Gulf coasts and at least some clarity on tariffs will cause volumes to slow in the coming months or shift back to the East Coast. Across North America, international intermodal traffic jumped 15% in January compared with a year earlier, according to data from the Intermodal Association of North America (IANA). International intermodal volume from the Southwest to the Midwest rose 36.7% year over year in January, according to IANA. Railroads moved about 45,000 ocean containers from Los Angeles to Chicago last month, up from about 34,000 a year ago, according to estimates from the Journal of Commerce. Volumes rose 23% from the Pacific Northwest to the Midwest as railroads transported 10,000 to 15,000 ocean containers from the ports of Seattle and Tacoma to Chicago, according to IANA and Journal of Commerce estimates. In January 2024, railroads moved approximately 4,000 to 7,000 loads on that route. The Los Angeles-to-Chicago route set a new record for January volume, while the Seattle-to-Chicago corridor recorded its strongest January since 2019. Demand was robust in both directions, with loaded volume from the Midwest rising 34.6% to the Southwest and surging 96.6% to the Pacific Northwest, according to the IANA data. East Coast declines What West Coast ports won in international intermodal volume came at the expense of the East Coast. Rail volumes declined 13.8% from the Northeast to the Midwest and dropped 12.3% in the opposite direction, reflecting losses on lanes linking the Port of New York and New Jersey and the Port of Virginia to inland markets such as Chicago, Cincinnati, Columbus, Cleveland, Detroit and Louisville. Rail traffic hauled about 2,000 fewer containers from New York/New Jersey to Chicago and 1,500 to 2,000 fewer boxes from Virginia to Chicago compared with January 2024, according to Journal of Commerce estimates. International rail volumes within the Southeast — lanes connecting Charleston and Savannah to Atlanta, Charlotte, Nashville and Memphis — were flat or slightly down in January, according to IANA. The volume between Savannah and Atlanta held steady compared with January 2024 with imports totaling about 10,000 containers and exports near 5,000. Contact Ari Ashe at ari.ashe@spglobal.com .

International intermodal surge continued in January on US West Coast

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Labor peace at US East and Gulf coast ports is now ensured through September 2030 after the union’s rank and file approved the new labor agreement. </div>

Labor peace at US East and Gulf coast ports is now ensured through September 2030 after the union’s rank and file approved the new labor agreement.

<div class="phx-topic">Members of the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) have approved a new six-year master contract covering US East and Gulf coast ports that not only includes a hefty raise for all dockworkers but an even higher salary bump for new hires. The new contract is retroactive to Oct. 1, 2024, and will be in effect until Sept. 30, 2030. It will be signed in the next two weeks. While the union secured further protections against automation, maritime employers won room for efficiency gains through remote operation of terminal equipment and the use of operator assistance technology at ports. The ILA said late Tuesday that a majority of <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/ila-officials-to-meet-next-week-as-ratification-of-usmx-deal-looms-5934580">its 45,000 registered members</a> ratified <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/ila-usmx-reach-tentative-deal-that-avoids-another-port-strike-5919519">the new contract</a> that was tentatively agreed to in early January between union leadership and the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX). ILA President Harold Daggett said in a statement the contract, which involved three years of negotiations and a three-day strike last October, is a “gold standard” for labor thanks to its wage and benefit increases and protections against technology that could impact labor. “The ILA stayed strong and unified throughout and successfully won the greatest contract in ILA history and maybe the strongest collective bargaining agreement ever negotiated by any union,” Daggett said. The ILA highlighted <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/ila-usmx-agree-on-new-wage-offer-and-contract-extension-that-reopens-ports-5741882">the 62% wage increase</a> as measured against the contract’s top wage tier, equating to an average $4 per hour raise for all dockworkers during the contract’s term. But the contract also includes other wage concessions that mean the lowest-paid longshore workers will receive even larger percentage wage increases. The starting wage for first-year longshore workers goes from $20 per hour to $27 under the new six-year agreement. By 2026, the starting wage will increase to $30 per hour. The new contract also includes four wage tiers instead of the six under the previous master contract, allowing longshore workers to climb up the pay scale faster. A marine terminal source familiar with the new contract says that the higher starting wage means a 35% increase for new longshore workers in the first year alone. <h3>Automation protections </h3>The ILA also touted the new agreement’s provisions for the implementation of new technologies at ports. Much like the previous agreement, the new contract includes a ban on marine terminals implementing any type of full automation that is devoid of human oversight. The implementation of semi-automation technology at marine terminals will have to undergo a more thorough vetting process. During contract negotiations, the ILA drew a hard line on <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/ila-targets-rail-mounted-gantry-cranes-amid-impasse-in-port-labor-talks-5874742">the further rollout of rail-mounted gantry cranes (RMGs)</a>, saying the technology impacted jobs for longshore workers. Under the new agreement, the ILA secured a guarantee that at least one longshore worker will handle each RMG. However, maritime employers also secured the ability to have RMGs, along with rubber tire gantry cranes, operated remotely, which saves time on shift changes. Marine terminals will also be able to use operator-assistance technology at marine terminals. The contract is expected to be formally signed on March 10. Contact Michael Angell at <a href="mailto:michael.angell@spglobal.com">michael.angell@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

Members of the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) have approved a new six-year master contract covering US East and Gulf coast ports that not only includes a hefty raise for all dockworkers but an even higher salary bump for new hires. The new contract is retroactive to Oct. 1, 2024, and will be in effect until Sept. 30, 2030. It will be signed in the next two weeks. While the union secured further protections against automation, maritime employers won room for efficiency gains through remote operation of terminal equipment and the use of operator assistance technology at ports. The ILA said late Tuesday that a majority of its 45,000 registered members ratified the new contract that was tentatively agreed to in early January between union leadership and the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX). ILA President Harold Daggett said in a statement the contract, which involved three years of negotiations and a three-day strike last October, is a “gold standard” for labor thanks to its wage and benefit increases and protections against technology that could impact labor. “The ILA stayed strong and unified throughout and successfully won the greatest contract in ILA history and maybe the strongest collective bargaining agreement ever negotiated by any union,” Daggett said. The ILA highlighted the 62% wage increase as measured against the contract’s top wage tier, equating to an average $4 per hour raise for all dockworkers during the contract’s term. But the contract also includes other wage concessions that mean the lowest-paid longshore workers will receive even larger percentage wage increases. The starting wage for first-year longshore workers goes from $20 per hour to $27 under the new six-year agreement. By 2026, the starting wage will increase to $30 per hour. The new contract also includes four wage tiers instead of the six under the previous master contract, allowing longshore workers to climb up the pay scale faster. A marine terminal source familiar with the new contract says that the higher starting wage means a 35% increase for new longshore workers in the first year alone. Automation protections The ILA also touted the new agreement’s provisions for the implementation of new technologies at ports. Much like the previous agreement, the new contract includes a ban on marine terminals implementing any type of full automation that is devoid of human oversight. The implementation of semi-automation technology at marine terminals will have to undergo a more thorough vetting process. During contract negotiations, the ILA drew a hard line on the further rollout of rail-mounted gantry cranes (RMGs) , saying the technology impacted jobs for longshore workers. Under the new agreement, the ILA secured a guarantee that at least one longshore worker will handle each RMG. However, maritime employers also secured the ability to have RMGs, along with rubber tire gantry cranes, operated remotely, which saves time on shift changes. Marine terminals will also be able to use operator-assistance technology at marine terminals. The contract is expected to be formally signed on March 10. Contact Michael Angell at michael.angell@spglobal.com .

ILA ratifies new six-year deal with higher entry pay, automation protection

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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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