Breakbulk pop up 640x340 (1) (1) 1.png

Event Pop Up

Supply chain

Events

Breakbulk News

Port News

Transport, Trade and Regulation News

Marine terminals

International ports

Longshore labor

Maritime

Breakbulk Quarterly Intelligence

Breakbulk carriers

Ro/ro cargo

Energy projects

Heavy-haul transport

Project cargo

Trans-Atlantic

Forwarding

Trans-Pacific

Breakbulk ports

North American ports

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Technology that connects and automates packages, trucks, and sorting facilities will come to the fore at UPS this year as the largest US logistics provider positions itself for an economic rebound.</div>

Technology that connects and automates packages, trucks, and sorting facilities will come to the fore at UPS this year as the largest US logistics provider positions itself for an economic rebound.

3685977_FI.jpg

<div>UPS plans to double down on its investment in technology to improve its productivity and revenue quality this year as it copes with potential US and global recessions. “We expect 2023 to be a bumpy year,” with a mild recession in the first half of the year followed by a moderate recovery in the second half, Brian Newman, CFO of the largest US logistics provider, told Wall Street analysts Tuesday. Technology will help smooth some of the inevitable bumps in the road, Newman said when announcing the company’s fourth-quarter and full-year 2022 earnings. “We have increased both capital and operating...

UPS plans to double down on its investment in technology to improve its productivity and revenue quality this year as it copes with potential US and global recessions. “We expect 2023 to be a bumpy year,” with a mild recession in the first half of the year followed by a moderate recovery in the second half, Brian Newman, CFO of the largest US logistics provider, told Wall Street analysts Tuesday. Technology will help smooth some of the inevitable bumps in the road, Newman said when announcing the company’s fourth-quarter and full-year 2022 earnings. “We have increased both capital and operating expenses for projects that drive efficiency and growth,” he said. UPS expects some bigger bumps in its international business, with “macroeconomic softness” in Europe and China. This will be a year to “control what can be controlled” while investing in technology and infrastructure that will position UPS to move quickly when the economy rebounds, Newman and other UPS executives said during the earnings call. Capital spending will rise to about $5.3 billion from $4.6 billion last year, with $2.4 billion going to automated facilities and $1.3 billion to alternate fuel vehicles. UPS reported revenue of $100.3 billion for the full year and $27 billion for the fourth quarter. Net profit for the year was $11.6 billion, and $3.5 billion for the fourth quarter. IT initiatives UPS will invest $830 million in information technology this year, including about $246 million for its Smart Package/Smart Facility initiative, Newman and CEO Carol Tome said. That includes rolling out the smart package technology at all the company’s remaining 940 US facilities by the year’s end. That technology links packages, trucks, and facilities in a digital network, using RFID tags on packages. “Smart Package/Smart Facility really drives productivity inside the buildings, but it also improves the customer experience by reducing misloads,” cases where the wrong shipment is in the wrong package car, Newman said. Misloads are typically caused by human error, which the system is designed to reduce. The technology is reducing misloads from one in 400 to about one in 1,000, UPS said. Small businesses will play a bigger role in UPS’s growth this year, as volume from UPS’s largest customer, Amazon, continues to fall, and technology will help UPS reach more small businesses, Tome said. “We have seen enormous growth in our Digital Access Program,” Tome said. “When I started, it was less than $150 million [in revenue], now it’s over $2.3 billion and on its way to $3 billion in 2023.” The Digital Access Program, or DAP, is the e-commerce platform UPS uses to provide smaller businesses with order management, delivery, and tracking technology. Until this year, the DAP has been a US-based initiative, “and now we’re going outside the US,” Tome said, investing in an international expansion of the platform. “We’re investing in a customer that is underserved today.” Contact William B. Cassidy at bill.cassidy@spglobal.com and follow him on Twitter: @willbcassidy . JOC analyst Cathy Morrow Roberson contributed to this report.

Trucking News

Air Cargo

Surface

UPS to sharpen focus on ‘smart’ technology in ‘bumpy’ 2023

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">The agency ruled in 2024 that shippers can pick their own chassis when they arrange for truck transportation, but compliance with that ruling remains unclear. </div>

The agency ruled in 2024 that shippers can pick their own chassis when they arrange for truck transportation, but compliance with that ruling remains unclear.

Feature image

<div class="phx-topic">The Federal Maritime Commission is launching its second probe into chassis restrictions ocean carriers put on truckers when hauling a container. The probe comes after the agency ruled in 2024 that shippers can choose their own chassis when they contract with their own trucker. In a federal register notice Friday, the FMC said it plans to open a 60-day window for comments about “service contract terms or other means to mandate that motor carriers (truckers) and shippers use the ocean common carriers’ designated chassis.” The comments are sought in relation to an investigation by the FMC over allegations that “ocean common carriers may be in violation of the Shipping Act by unjustly and unreasonably restricting truckers and shippers from negotiating and dealing with chassis providers.”The investigation stems from <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/fmc-rules-for-truckers-in-chassis-dispute-with-ocean-carriers-5234355">the 2024 agency ruling</a> that ocean carriers have to stop mandating what specific chassis must be used under merchant haulage contracts. The agency upheld an administrative law judge’s earlier decision in a case between the American Trucking Association and the Ocean Carrier Equipment Management Association (OCEMA) that c<a href="https://www.joc.com/article/ocema-appeals-chassis-ruling-to-fmc-commissioners-5193253">ontainer lines violate the Shipping Act when they restrict chassis choice</a> among shippers who are arranging their own container trucking. <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/fmc-says-investigating-potential-violations-of-recent-ruling-on-chassis-control-5192272">The FMC was already investigating compliance</a> with a cease-and-desist order in the 2024 ruling, which is still ongoing. The new probe is looking for “any information concerning new or ongoing ocean common carrier practices … to affect, restrict, or inhibit chassis provider selection,” the notice said. Part of the new probe involves whether ocean carriers designate single chassis providers at Chicago and Memphis rail ramps, if providers have enough chassis on-hand, any reimbursement for truckers on chassis split, and whether truckers are given notice about a container being under merchant or carrier haulage, the latter allowing an ocean carrier to choose a chassis. Along with the inland rail ramps, the FMC said its investigation is looking at chassis choice at the Savannah, Los Angeles, and Long Beach ports. As part of the probe into the Southern California market, the FMC is seeking how the “Pool of Pools” operated by the three main chassis providers for the LA-LB ports distinguishes between “carrier haulage and merchant haulage containers and coordinate billing accordingly,” the notice said. OCEMA did not immediately respond to a request for comment into the new investigation.Contact Michael Angell at <a href="mailto: michael.angell@spglobal.com">michael.angell@spglobal.com</a> </div>

The Federal Maritime Commission is launching its second probe into chassis restrictions ocean carriers put on truckers when hauling a container. The probe comes after the agency ruled in 2024 that shippers can choose their own chassis when they contract with their own trucker. In a federal register notice Friday, the FMC said it plans to open a 60-day window for comments about “service contract terms or other means to mandate that motor carriers (truckers) and shippers use the ocean common carriers’ designated chassis.” The comments are sought in relation to an investigation by the FMC over allegations that “ocean common carriers may be in violation of the Shipping Act by unjustly and unreasonably restricting truckers and shippers from negotiating and dealing with chassis providers.” The investigation stems from the 2024 agency ruling that ocean carriers have to stop mandating what specific chassis must be used under merchant haulage contracts. The agency upheld an administrative law judge’s earlier decision in a case between the American Trucking Association and the Ocean Carrier Equipment Management Association (OCEMA) that c ontainer lines violate the Shipping Act when they restrict chassis choice among shippers who are arranging their own container trucking. The FMC was already investigating compliance with a cease-and-desist order in the 2024 ruling, which is still ongoing. The new probe is looking for “any information concerning new or ongoing ocean common carrier practices … to affect, restrict, or inhibit chassis provider selection,” the notice said. Part of the new probe involves whether ocean carriers designate single chassis providers at Chicago and Memphis rail ramps, if providers have enough chassis on-hand, any reimbursement for truckers on chassis split, and whether truckers are given notice about a container being under merchant or carrier haulage, the latter allowing an ocean carrier to choose a chassis. Along with the inland rail ramps, the FMC said its investigation is looking at chassis choice at the Savannah, Los Angeles, and Long Beach ports. As part of the probe into the Southern California market, the FMC is seeking how the “Pool of Pools” operated by the three main chassis providers for the LA-LB ports distinguishes between “carrier haulage and merchant haulage containers and coordinate billing accordingly,” the notice said. OCEMA did not immediately respond to a request for comment into the new investigation. Contact Michael Angell at michael.angell@spglobal.com

Container lines

Drayage

FMC takes second look at ocean carrier limits on chassis choice

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Transflo, which sells automation software to transportation providers, is using AI agents to build identifying specific exceptions common to LTL billing errors.</div>

Transflo, which sells automation software to transportation providers, is using AI agents to build identifying specific exceptions common to LTL billing errors.

<div class="phx-topic">Transflo, a provider of workflow software for freight transportation companies, has launched an invoice audit and resolution product for less-than-truckload (LTL) shipments, targeting error rates that touch nearly a third of shipments in that mode. The product is geared toward solving the interactions between LTL carriers and brokers that result in the manual management of exceptions on inaccurate freight bills by instead using automated invoice matching and validation. ”We designed this solution to address the inherent complexity of LTL billing, reducing invoice resolution from days to minutes, accelerating payments, and delivering transparency for all parties,” Transflo CEO Renee Krug said in a statement Thursday. The product, called Workflow AI for LTL, is built around artificial intelligence (AI) agents trained to handle specific invoice exception types, as opposed to general purpose AI agents that are trained over time to automate a range of transportation processes. Ultimately, Transflo said, the goal is to make auditing teams 10 times more productive in handling additional invoices without adding headcount. The company estimates that 30% to 40% of less-than-truckload invoices are inaccurate. The new product is an example of so-called agentic AI overlapping with process automation in the freight transportation industry. A range of providers have sprung up in the last two years building AI agents, also called digital workers, to help brokers avoid adding headcount. Most of those companies are taking aim at workflow processes, from responding to shipper quote requests to automating appointment scheduling to invoice auditing, reconciling, and payment, like Transflo’s product. The focus on LTL is also unique in that the majority of third-party automation software has been trained on the much larger and more fragmented truckload industry, leaving LTL brokers and carriers to largely develop their own internal solutions to automate processes. Because of the differences in pricing, quoting, and network operations between LTL and truckload, the technologies are rarely transferable. Contact Eric Johnson at <a href="mailto:eric.johnson@spglobal.com">eric.johnson@spglobal.com.</a></div>

Transflo, a provider of workflow software for freight transportation companies, has launched an invoice audit and resolution product for less-than-truckload (LTL) shipments, targeting error rates that touch nearly a third of shipments in that mode. The product is geared toward solving the interactions between LTL carriers and brokers that result in the manual management of exceptions on inaccurate freight bills by instead using automated invoice matching and validation. ”We designed this solution to address the inherent complexity of LTL billing, reducing invoice resolution from days to minutes, accelerating payments, and delivering transparency for all parties,” Transflo CEO Renee Krug said in a statement Thursday. The product, called Workflow AI for LTL, is built around artificial intelligence (AI) agents trained to handle specific invoice exception types, as opposed to general purpose AI agents that are trained over time to automate a range of transportation processes. Ultimately, Transflo said, the goal is to make auditing teams 10 times more productive in handling additional invoices without adding headcount. The company estimates that 30% to 40% of less-than-truckload invoices are inaccurate. The new product is an example of so-called agentic AI overlapping with process automation in the freight transportation industry. A range of providers have sprung up in the last two years building AI agents, also called digital workers, to help brokers avoid adding headcount. Most of those companies are taking aim at workflow processes, from responding to shipper quote requests to automating appointment scheduling to invoice auditing, reconciling, and payment, like Transflo’s product. The focus on LTL is also unique in that the majority of third-party automation software has been trained on the much larger and more fragmented truckload industry, leaving LTL brokers and carriers to largely develop their own internal solutions to automate processes. Because of the differences in pricing, quoting, and network operations between LTL and truckload, the technologies are rarely transferable. Contact Eric Johnson at eric.johnson@spglobal.com.

Logistics Technology News

Software provider targets LTL invoice inaccuracies with automation solution

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Despite 2025 being shaped by geopolitics and trade upheaval, France’s largest container port of Le Havre was able to capitalize on significant investments to modernize its terminal infrastructure.</div>

Despite 2025 being shaped by geopolitics and trade upheaval, France’s largest container port of Le Havre was able to capitalize on significant investments to modernize its terminal infrastructure.

<div class="phx-topic">France’s Haropa Port, operator of the Northern Europe hub Le Havre, on Friday reported record container volumes for 2025, supported by huge investments into terminals partly owned by three of the world’s largest ocean carriers. Haropa Port comprises the ports of Le Havre, Rouen and Paris. Despite a year shaped by geopolitics and trade upheaval, container traffic at Haropa increased 4% in 2025, setting a record with more than 3.2 million TEUs handled during the year. Transhipment was up 2.4%, with hinterland traffic up 4% at 2.3 million TEUs. “The performance of the port will be strengthened in 2026 and 2027 and the coming years by the huge investment, led by the by the main terminal operators,” Kris Danaradjou, deputy CEO in charge of development at Haropa Port, told the Journal of Commerce. Mediterranean Shipping Co. (MSC), CMA CGM and Hapag-Lloyd were among the investors that committed €1.2 billion ($1.4 billion) to modernize Haropa’s infrastructure. Danaradjou said Haropa’s operations were shaped by “an extremely unpredictable” international environment, marked by the introduction of US tariffs, the reshuffling of carrier alliances and strategies, and the normalization of vessel routing via the Cape of Good Hope instead of the Suez Canal. <h3>Return to Red Sea could ‘challenge’ port </h3>Asked how Le Havre was preparing for a potential return of shipping to Suez and Red Sea transits and the congestion that shift was expected to bring, Danaradjou acknowledged it would be a challenge. “What will be the trickiest period is the transition when you have some vessels going through the Suez and others going around the Cape of Good Hope, and when you receive this kind of traffic in the same period, it could be a challenge,” he said. But Danaradjou said Le Havre had significant land available to terminals if they needed to clear their yards, and road, rail and barge options to move import containers to their inland destinations. “We are also a deep-water port so there is little waiting time, and we can move ships from the mooring area to the quay within an hour,” he said. Haropa Port has made multimodality a priority to improve decarbonization, the French port operator said in a statement. On the River Seine corridor that stretches from Le Havre to Paris, modal share of barge traffic grew from 19.7% in 2024 to 20.3% last year, in line with objectives set in Haropa’s 2020–2025 strategic plan. River container traffic measured at the Paris terminals grew 1% after several record years, but rail container transport from Le Havre to the hinterland reached a record 145,000 TEUs last year, up18%. Despite US tariffs on the European Union, trade between France and the US East Coast remained stable in 2025 with around 180,000 TEUs moved on the trans-Atlantic. The US is Haropa’s largest export market with around 30% of the cargo comprising wine and spirits, and the rest made up of commodities including chemicals, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and dairy products. Contact Greg Knowler at <a href="greg.knowler@spglobal.com">greg.knowler@spglobal.com.</a></div>

France’s Haropa Port, operator of the Northern Europe hub Le Havre, on Friday reported record container volumes for 2025, supported by huge investments into terminals partly owned by three of the world’s largest ocean carriers. Haropa Port comprises the ports of Le Havre, Rouen and Paris. Despite a year shaped by geopolitics and trade upheaval, container traffic at Haropa increased 4% in 2025, setting a record with more than 3.2 million TEUs handled during the year. Transhipment was up 2.4%, with hinterland traffic up 4% at 2.3 million TEUs. “The performance of the port will be strengthened in 2026 and 2027 and the coming years by the huge investment, led by the by the main terminal operators,” Kris Danaradjou, deputy CEO in charge of development at Haropa Port, told the Journal of Commerce. Mediterranean Shipping Co. (MSC), CMA CGM and Hapag-Lloyd were among the investors that committed €1.2 billion ($1.4 billion) to modernize Haropa’s infrastructure. Danaradjou said Haropa’s operations were shaped by “an extremely unpredictable” international environment, marked by the introduction of US tariffs, the reshuffling of carrier alliances and strategies, and the normalization of vessel routing via the Cape of Good Hope instead of the Suez Canal. Return to Red Sea could ‘challenge’ port Asked how Le Havre was preparing for a potential return of shipping to Suez and Red Sea transits and the congestion that shift was expected to bring, Danaradjou acknowledged it would be a challenge. “What will be the trickiest period is the transition when you have some vessels going through the Suez and others going around the Cape of Good Hope, and when you receive this kind of traffic in the same period, it could be a challenge,” he said. But Danaradjou said Le Havre had significant land available to terminals if they needed to clear their yards, and road, rail and barge options to move import containers to their inland destinations. “We are also a deep-water port so there is little waiting time, and we can move ships from the mooring area to the quay within an hour,” he said. Haropa Port has made multimodality a priority to improve decarbonization, the French port operator said in a statement. On the River Seine corridor that stretches from Le Havre to Paris, modal share of barge traffic grew from 19.7% in 2024 to 20.3% last year, in line with objectives set in Haropa’s 2020–2025 strategic plan. River container traffic measured at the Paris terminals grew 1% after several record years, but rail container transport from Le Havre to the hinterland reached a record 145,000 TEUs last year, up18%. Despite US tariffs on the European Union, trade between France and the US East Coast remained stable in 2025 with around 180,000 TEUs moved on the trans-Atlantic. The US is Haropa’s largest export market with around 30% of the cargo comprising wine and spirits, and the rest made up of commodities including chemicals, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and dairy products. Contact Greg Knowler at greg.knowler@spglobal.com.

French port operator posts record volumes as carrier investments pay off 

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">The multimodal option is aimed at shippers wanting predictability in cross-border shipments and the ability to control costs.</div>

The multimodal option is aimed at shippers wanting predictability in cross-border shipments and the ability to control costs.

<div class="phx-topic">DHL Global Forwarding has launched a Truckair service between China and Turkey, with onward connections to points in Europe. The company this week said its Truckair multimodal service integrates air and road freight to move large-volume shipments, picking up cargo in China and transporting it by truck to Tashkent in Uzbekistan, then onward by air to Istanbul. From there, various modes are used to other European destinations. The service was launched two months ago, DHL said in a statement, with total transit time from China to Turkey at nine to 11 days. While that is longer than the typical four to seven days for all air freight, DHL cited the “cost-efficient” nature of its service. “Demand for agile and cost-efficient logistics solutions continues to rise, backed by sustained growth in China-Europe and broader Asia-Europe trade,” said Aditi Rasquinha, CEO of DHL Global Forwarding Greater China. The European Union was China’s second-largest trading partner in 2025, the company said, with bilateral trade up 5.4% year over year at $716 billion. DHL’s latest market update points to tight capacity and rate increases into Chinese New Year, with a demand peak expected in early February. The Truckair service is designed to help shippers avoid short-term volatility while maintaining predictable lead times. “Truckair was developed to meet this growing demand for greater flexibility and predictability in cross-border shipments, enabling businesses to control costs...,” Rasquinha said. Although costs vary from shipment to shipment, DHL maintains customers such as European retailers have reported savings of six-digit figures over the two months of using the multimodal service instead of all air freight. Still, shippers without time-to-market pressures continue to use the overland China-Europe rail network. In 2025, China-Europe freight trains made about 34,000 trips and carried 3.17 million TEUs, up 9.8% and 7.6% year over year, respectively, according to the China State Railway Group, which manages the network. Freight volume on the New Western Land-Sea Corridor, an initiative that began in 2017 to encourage development in China’s western regions, shot up 47.5% to 1.42 million TEUs in 2025, China State Railway Group said in a statement. Contact Greg Knowler at <a href="">greg.knowler@spglobal.com</a>.   </div>

DHL Global Forwarding has launched a Truckair service between China and Turkey, with onward connections to points in Europe. The company this week said its Truckair multimodal service integrates air and road freight to move large-volume shipments, picking up cargo in China and transporting it by truck to Tashkent in Uzbekistan, then onward by air to Istanbul. From there, various modes are used to other European destinations. The service was launched two months ago, DHL said in a statement, with total transit time from China to Turkey at nine to 11 days. While that is longer than the typical four to seven days for all air freight, DHL cited the “cost-efficient” nature of its service. “Demand for agile and cost-efficient logistics solutions continues to rise, backed by sustained growth in China-Europe and broader Asia-Europe trade,” said Aditi Rasquinha, CEO of DHL Global Forwarding Greater China. The European Union was China’s second-largest trading partner in 2025, the company said, with bilateral trade up 5.4% year over year at $716 billion. DHL’s latest market update points to tight capacity and rate increases into Chinese New Year, with a demand peak expected in early February. The Truckair service is designed to help shippers avoid short-term volatility while maintaining predictable lead times. “Truckair was developed to meet this growing demand for greater flexibility and predictability in cross-border shipments, enabling businesses to control costs...,” Rasquinha said. Although costs vary from shipment to shipment, DHL maintains customers such as European retailers have reported savings of six-digit figures over the two months of using the multimodal service instead of all air freight. Still, shippers without time-to-market pressures continue to use the overland China-Europe rail network. In 2025, China-Europe freight trains made about 34,000 trips and carried 3.17 million TEUs, up 9.8% and 7.6% year over year, respectively, according to the China State Railway Group, which manages the network. Freight volume on the New Western Land-Sea Corridor, an initiative that began in 2017 to encourage development in China’s western regions, shot up 47.5% to 1.42 million TEUs in 2025, China State Railway Group said in a statement. Contact Greg Knowler at  greg.knowler@spglobal.com .   

Air Cargo Forwarder News

DHL launches road-air service on busy China-Europe trade lane 

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">As the diversions away from the Suez Canal have shown over the past two years, global shipping is often at the mercy of global hotspots, writes Ted Prince.</div>

As the diversions away from the Suez Canal have shown over the past two years, global shipping is often at the mercy of global hotspots, writes Ted Prince.

<div class="phx-topic">Political science has been front of mind for many of us in the international maritime transportation industry as trade deals become enmeshed in tariffs and other policy matters. While the trans-Pacific remains the primary route for Asia-to-US West Coast cargo, the question of routing alternatives is at an all-time high. <div class="wrapper-narrow float-right-element"><img src="/images/phoenix/6157386_0.1.jpg"></img></div>Starting in 2023, military activity by Houthi militants in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden targeted commercial vessels and created a direct challenge to Suez Canal transits. This route from Asia to the US East Coast had seen significant growth with the deployment of mega-vessels within alliances utilizing slow steaming. Twenty years ago, conventional wisdom established Singapore as the fulcrum for east-west deployment. It was hard to imagine that Suez services would start in China; however, that is what happened. The Houthi threat resulted in most carriers rerouting from the Suez Canal to the Cape of Good Hope around southern Africa. This added up to two weeks in transit and resulted in almost all spare capacity being absorbed. While there has been some discussion of Suez transits resuming, the political instability in Iran has caused some hesitation because of the knock-on risks to crew and cargo. The Suez route now has a theoretical challenge from the Northern Sea Route — which is estimated to be 20% to 40% shorter than the Suez. It could reduce transit time by weeks but still has significant seasonality concerns. Even summer and autumn transits require icebreaker escorts, although navigability is increasing with Arctic warming. Donald Trump’s focus on Greenland has certainly raised the stakes here. Likewise, with the Panama Canal. In his Jan. 20, 2025, inaugural address, Trump stated his intention to “take back” the Panama Canal, especially from alleged Chinese port control. That political pressure no doubt helped push CK Hutchison to arrange the sale of its extensive marine terminal portfolio to a consortium led by US investors (BlackRock/Global Infrastructure Partners, along with Mediterranean Shipping Co./Terminal Investment Limited) less than two months later for approximately $22.8 billion. Since then, political contention between the US, Panama and China has complicated the deal, so its status remains unresolved at present. <h3>Costly alternatives </h3>Among these “canal conundrums,” there is no shortage of ideas seeking to provide alternative routings: 1) The Kra (or Thai) Canal, a waterway across Thailand’s Kra Isthmus, connecting the Gulf of Thailand (Pacific Ocean) to the Andaman Sea (Indian Ocean), has been under consideration, literally for centuries. It would be bypassing the Strait of Malacca to shorten shipping routes between East Asia and the Suez Canal. 2) A canal transiting Nicaragua (Nicaragua Canal or Grand Oceanic Canal) has been considered for almost as long (as early as 1825). Both have been considered within the scope of China’s Belt and Road initiative; however, astronomical costs along with political and environmental hurdles make these likely to remain on the drawing board for some time. Finally, intermodal options have been proposed across southern Mexico (The Interoceanic Corridor of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec); Honduras (National Interoceanic Railway); and Nicaragua (Canal Interoceanico de Nicaragua). These also present multi-billion price tags and seek to replicate what already exists with the Panama Canal Railroad — which is owned by APM Terminals. There is no question that we live in increasingly turbulent political times. However, for the time being, it seems that we will continue to live in a world where the three main vessel routing alternatives will remain in place. Ted Prince is founder and CEO of Tri-Cities Intermodal LLC. Contact him at <a href="mailto:ted@tricitiesintermodal.com">ted@tricitiesintermodal.com</a>.</div>

Political science has been front of mind for many of us in the international maritime transportation industry as trade deals become enmeshed in tariffs and other policy matters. While the trans-Pacific remains the primary route for Asia-to-US West Coast cargo, the question of routing alternatives is at an all-time high. Starting in 2023, military activity by Houthi militants in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden targeted commercial vessels and created a direct challenge to Suez Canal transits. This route from Asia to the US East Coast had seen significant growth with the deployment of mega-vessels within alliances utilizing slow steaming. Twenty years ago, conventional wisdom established Singapore as the fulcrum for east-west deployment. It was hard to imagine that Suez services would start in China; however, that is what happened. The Houthi threat resulted in most carriers rerouting from the Suez Canal to the Cape of Good Hope around southern Africa. This added up to two weeks in transit and resulted in almost all spare capacity being absorbed. While there has been some discussion of Suez transits resuming, the political instability in Iran has caused some hesitation because of the knock-on risks to crew and cargo. The Suez route now has a theoretical challenge from the Northern Sea Route — which is estimated to be 20% to 40% shorter than the Suez. It could reduce transit time by weeks but still has significant seasonality concerns. Even summer and autumn transits require icebreaker escorts, although navigability is increasing with Arctic warming. Donald Trump’s focus on Greenland has certainly raised the stakes here. Likewise, with the Panama Canal. In his Jan. 20, 2025, inaugural address, Trump stated his intention to “take back” the Panama Canal, especially from alleged Chinese port control. That political pressure no doubt helped push CK Hutchison to arrange the sale of its extensive marine terminal portfolio to a consortium led by US investors (BlackRock/Global Infrastructure Partners, along with Mediterranean Shipping Co./Terminal Investment Limited) less than two months later for approximately $22.8 billion. Since then, political contention between the US, Panama and China has complicated the deal, so its status remains unresolved at present. Costly alternatives Among these “canal conundrums,” there is no shortage of ideas seeking to provide alternative routings: 1) The Kra (or Thai) Canal, a waterway across Thailand’s Kra Isthmus, connecting the Gulf of Thailand (Pacific Ocean) to the Andaman Sea (Indian Ocean), has been under consideration, literally for centuries. It would be bypassing the Strait of Malacca to shorten shipping routes between East Asia and the Suez Canal. 2) A canal transiting Nicaragua (Nicaragua Canal or Grand Oceanic Canal) has been considered for almost as long (as early as 1825). Both have been considered within the scope of China’s Belt and Road initiative; however, astronomical costs along with political and environmental hurdles make these likely to remain on the drawing board for some time. Finally, intermodal options have been proposed across southern Mexico (The Interoceanic Corridor of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec); Honduras (National Interoceanic Railway); and Nicaragua (Canal Interoceanico de Nicaragua). These also present multi-billion price tags and seek to replicate what already exists with the Panama Canal Railroad — which is owned by APM Terminals. There is no question that we live in increasingly turbulent political times. However, for the time being, it seems that we will continue to live in a world where the three main vessel routing alternatives will remain in place. Ted Prince is founder and CEO of Tri-Cities Intermodal LLC. Contact him at ted@tricitiesintermodal.com .

Geopolitical risks prompt thoughts of supply chain routing alternatives

Use code GTW595 at checkout and save $900 on first year of an annual Gold subscription!

Upgrade Subscription - Gold Trials

Become a Gold Subscriber and Save!

Arm your team with the most trusted information portal for the international container shipping industry.

Group Subscriptions - Wide Box

Get into a group subscription today

Use code NYW26 at checkout to save 25% on a Silver or Silver Plus annual subscription! 

Subscribe Now - FT to S/SP - Wide Box

NEW YEAR SALE

Use code NYW595 and upgrade to Gold for just $595! Valid for first year of subscription.

Upgrade Subscription - S/SP to Gold - Wide Box

Subscribe today using code NYW26 at checkout and save 25% on a Silver or Silver Plus annual subscription!

Subscribe Now - Anonymous to S/SP - Wide Box

Use code NYW995 at checkout to save $500 on first year of a Gold subscription!

Subscribe Now - FT to Gold - Wide Box

Get into a Gold subscription today and save $500 by using code NYW995 at checkout!

Subscribe Now - Anonymous to Gold - Wide Box

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>

SMC3rates_shutterstock_5247046 (1).jpg

Truckload

Truck brokers

Trucking labor

Filling the Supply Chain Education Gap with LTL Education Courses

NEW YEAR SALE: Use code NYW26 to save 25% on first year of a Silver or Silver Plus annual subscription!


Subscribe Now - FT to S/SP - Offer Box

Subscribe and Save

NEW YEAR SALE: Subscribe today using code NYW26 at checkout and save 25% on a Silver or Silver Plus annual subscription!

Subscribe Now - Anonymous to S/SP - Offer Box

SUBSCRIBE TODAY

UPGRADE TO GOLD AND SAVE: Use code GTW595 at checkout and save $900 on first year of a Gold subscription!

Upgrade Subscription

NEW YEAR SALE: Get into a Gold subscription today and save $500 by using code NYW995 at checkout!

Subscribe Now - Anonymous to Gold - Offer Box

NEW YEAR SALE: Use code NYW595 and upgrade to Gold for just $595! Valid on first year of subscription.

Upgrade Subscription - S/SP to Gold - Offer Box

NEW YEAR SALE: Use code NYW995 at checkout to save $500 on a Gold subscription!

Subscribe Now - FT to Gold - Offer Box

SUBSCRIBE AND SAVE

Monthly publication providing an editorial deep dive into global supply chain news

Journal of Commerce Magazine - Rectangle Box

Journal of Commerce Magazine

A premium access index of savings using domestic intermodal vs. OTR 

ISI Report - Rectangle Box

Intermodal Savings Index

An in-depth analysis of transport trends in the multipurpose and heavy-lift fleet segment

Breakbulk Report - Rectangle Box

Breakbulk Quarterly

An extensive dashboard of charts organized by trade lane, mode, and topic

Gateway - Rectangle Box

Gateway

Customers scoring their intermodal partners to identify the best service providers

Intermodal Service Scorecard - Rectangle Box

Intermodal Service Scorecard

A premium access outlook critical to shippers and transportation providers

QI Report - Rectangle Box

Quarterly Intelligence

The premier conference for the global container shipping and supply chain community

TPM Conference - Rectangle Box

Attend TPM26

The only editorially independent conference for the breakbulk & project cargo industry

Breakbulk Conference - Rectangle Box

Attend Breakbulk26

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

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

Rail News

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

Latest News

More News & Analysis

FMC takes second look at ocean carrier limits on chassis choice

Software provider targets LTL invoice inaccuracies with automation solution

French port operator posts record volumes as carrier investments pay off