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<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Economic indicators and mid-year reports show contract truckload rates still trending downward, with a truckload recovery proving to be slow going.</div>

Economic indicators and mid-year reports show contract truckload rates still trending downward, with a truckload recovery proving to be slow going.

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<div>Fewer US shippers are expecting significant rate increases from truckload carriers in early 2025 as economic indicators and reports point to slower economic growth than recently anticipated and uncertainty about freight demand. Spot US truckload rates have risen since May but are sticking close to last year’s prices. The national average dry-van spot rate from DAT Freight &amp; Analytics was $1.64 per mile for the week ending Aug. 4, up 1 cent per mile from the same week one year ago. DAT’s average spot rate has ranged between 1 and 6 cents per mile higher than one year ago, excluding...

Fewer US shippers are expecting significant rate increases from truckload carriers in early 2025 as economic indicators and reports point to slower economic growth than recently anticipated and uncertainty about freight demand. Spot US truckload rates have risen since May but are sticking close to last year’s prices. The national average dry-van spot rate from DAT Freight & Analytics was $1.64 per mile for the week ending Aug. 4, up 1 cent per mile from the same week one year ago. DAT’s average spot rate has ranged between 1 and 6 cents per mile higher than one year ago, excluding fuel surcharges, since the second week of June, indicating that an “inflection” has already hit the spot market. “We’re seeing more upward movement in national average spot rates,” Dean Croke, principal analyst at DAT, told the Journal of Commerce. “The market is trying its hardest to claw its way back off the bottom, but it’s slow going.” But the truckload contract market hasn’t reached a turning point, Croke said. “Shippers are still beating contract rates down on average,” he said. Replacement rates in truckload contract routing guides are down about 2% year over year. “Across our data, shippers still have pricing power,” said Croke. DAT’s national average dry-van contract rate dropped from $2.01 per mile in July to $1.97 in August to date, excluding fuel surcharges, down from $2.04 per mile in August 2023. Shippers that were expecting an increase in contract truckload rates early next year are now having second thoughts. Logistics executives have told the Journal of Commerce they will try to hold the line on truckload pricing longer to keep rates flat year over year. “If the market increase is only 1% to 2%, we’re going to go for flat,” said a large consumer goods shipper who didn’t want to be identified. However, that shipper and others also have said they want to keep and reward incumbents when contracts come up for renewal. Cautious optimism In recent second-quarter earnings calls, truckload executives have been cautiously optimistic about the second half and the first quarter of 2025 . “We’ve actually taken three rate increases in the last 45 days and we haven’t done that in two years,” David Ray Parker, CEO of Covenant Logistics, told Wall Street analysts during a July 25 earnings call. “We don’t have the momentum yet to go full-fledged and roll out rate increases all over to every customer, but we’re looking at that,” he said. “With better freight choices expected in the second half, we will be methodical and proactive in transitioning our one-way [truckload] portfolio to higher rates throughout the end of the year and into 2025,” Derek Leathers, CEO of Werner Enterprises, said in a July 30 earnings call. However, rising US unemployment and turmoil in stock markets have dampened some economic enthusiasm since July. Stuck in slow motion In its 2024 Q3 market update, released Wednesday, Uber Freight said it expects a slow, supply-driven recovery in the second half, “at best.” The logistics provider did see truckload improvement in the second quarter, with overall demand flat from the first quarter but up 1.2% year over year. Uber Freight attributed those gains mostly to a 2.3% year-over-year rise in consumer spending. Long-distance truckload employment also dropped 1.7% year over year in the second quarter but was still higher than in 2019. The Journal of Commerce For-Hire Trucking Employment Index was 4 percentage points lower in July than a year earlier. Unadjusted employment numbers show trucking employment is down about 2% from July 2023, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. The drop in truckload employment, along with continued cuts to large truckload fleet tractor counts and the departure of smaller carriers from the market, have yet to make a dent big enough in truckload capacity to shift pricing power back to carriers. “While long-distance truckload employment decreased slightly [in the second quarter] compared to 2023, the overall supply only fell 0.3% year over year thanks to higher-than-anticipated sales of Class 8 trucks,” Uber Freight said in its report. The report noted that first tender acceptance rates in truckload fell to 92% in July but remained near record highs. “These numbers suggest that most spot volume on the market is intentional or attributable to one-off shipments,” Uber said. They also show contract truckload carriers continue to haul most of the freight offered to them, even when prices trend lower than a year ago. Contact William B. Cassidy at bill.cassidy@spglobal.com .

US shippers resisting truckload rate hikes amid ongoing market softness

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Strong demand for much of the year has kept North European ports under pressure, slowing attempts to ease the bottlenecks.</div>

Strong demand for much of the year has kept North European ports under pressure, slowing attempts to ease the bottlenecks.

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<div class="phx-topic">BRUSSELS – North European ports will continue to face disruption and congestion “for many more months” with little improvement in the series of factors contributing to the ongoing bottlenecks, according to an executive with the port of Antwerp-Bruges. Luc Arnouts, vice president of international relations and networks at Europe’s busiest port, said container yards were full at the main hubs, ships were arriving outside their berthing windows, intermittent strikes at some ports were having a knock-on effect, carrier alliances reshuffling capacity, low water on the Rhine and delays in hinterland moves were all holding up traffic. “Terminal occupancy is high in all the major ports so when ships do not arrive within their berthing window and arrive a day later, that disrupts the whole operation,” he told the CHAINge Europe supply chain conference here this week. Strong demand for much of the year has kept North European ports under pressure, slowing attempts to mitigate the bottlenecks. The latest Asia-to-Europe volume data from Container Trades Statistics (CTS) is for April, when 1.64 million TEUs were transported westward, an increase of 8.6% year over year and a 6% gain from March. In the first four months of 2025, total Asia-Europe volume was up 9% year over year at 6.13 million TEUs, with the Asia-North Europe segment rising 6.6%, to 3.72 million TEUs, and Asia-Mediterranean surging 12.14%, to 2.4 million TEUs, according to CTS. Kuehne + Nagel’s SeaExplorer port visibility tool noted that port congestion in North European ports like Antwerp, Hamburg and Bremerhaven was extending transit times with delays in berthing, operational disruptions and high yard utilisation. The platform reported that container yards in Antwerp-Bruges were at 100% and carriers were reporting waiting times of up to three days, with truck slots limited and fully booked early each day. Container yards at Bremerhaven, one of the hubs for Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd's Gemini Cooperation, is currently at 85%, while some terminals in Rotterdam are reportedly at 80% utilization. Michael Aldwell, Kuehne +Nagel’s executive vice president of sea logistics, said ports in southern European were also seeing congestion due to longer transits around the Cape of Good Hope as Mediterranean importers began to stock up earlier for the winter holiday sales season. “There were lower inventories in Europe and stronger sales than importers expected,” he told the Journal of Commerce this week, with the reshuffling of alliances adding to the bottlenecks. “When you've got the redeployment of the new alliances happening, you're always going to have some initial operational challenges when things start arriving at different berthing windows, different setups,” he said. “And, of course, you have the traditional labor challenges,” he added. <h3>Dockworker strikes add to port woes </h3>Those labor challenges were coming on top of the high demand and operational challenges, with dockworker strikes continuing to impact European ports. A nationwide strike in Belgium on May 20 brought vessel traffic at the Port of Antwerp-Bruges to a halt, further stretching the system. Another national “day of action” will be held by unions in Belgium on June 25. Dockworker unions in Sweden launched strikes and blockade actions at multiple ports this week, with APM Terminals Gothenburg to be impacted on June 23 and 24. “There is not much free space in in the system, so this all has a knock-on impact,” Arnouts said. “If you are at a high level of frequency, you can imagine that adds to the disruption, on top of the uncertainty over tariffs that create shocks in cargo flows.” The latest data from Sea-Intelligence shows global schedule reliability has improved from 51.4% in January to 58.7% in April. Despite the steady improvement this year, Arnouts said it was too early to determine whether the better on-time performance was being seen in the port. He also highlighted a lack of transparency across the cargo supply chain that was a source of continuing frustration. ”When a container arrives at a container terminal, often we don’t know the next mode of transport,” he said. “Can you imagine that a container comes in, needs to go the next day on a barge to Basel or on a truck to Duisburg and often we don’t know that. “There is so much communication in the supply chain but still we need to fight to get the right ETA (estimated time of arrival) of a ship that's a part of the supply chain as well,” he added. “If you don't know when the ship arrives, you don't know what the next step will be.” Contact Greg Knowler at <a href="mailto:greg.knowler@spglobal.com">greg.knowler@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

BRUSSELS – North European ports will continue to face disruption and congestion “for many more months” with little improvement in the series of factors contributing to the ongoing bottlenecks, according to an executive with the port of Antwerp-Bruges. Luc Arnouts, vice president of international relations and networks at Europe’s busiest port, said container yards were full at the main hubs, ships were arriving outside their berthing windows, intermittent strikes at some ports were having a knock-on effect, carrier alliances reshuffling capacity, low water on the Rhine and delays in hinterland moves were all holding up traffic. “Terminal occupancy is high in all the major ports so when ships do not arrive within their berthing window and arrive a day later, that disrupts the whole operation,” he told the CHAINge Europe supply chain conference here this week. Strong demand for much of the year has kept North European ports under pressure, slowing attempts to mitigate the bottlenecks. The latest Asia-to-Europe volume data from Container Trades Statistics (CTS) is for April, when 1.64 million TEUs were transported westward, an increase of 8.6% year over year and a 6% gain from March. In the first four months of 2025, total Asia-Europe volume was up 9% year over year at 6.13 million TEUs, with the Asia-North Europe segment rising 6.6%, to 3.72 million TEUs, and Asia-Mediterranean surging 12.14%, to 2.4 million TEUs, according to CTS. Kuehne + Nagel’s SeaExplorer port visibility tool noted that port congestion in North European ports like Antwerp, Hamburg and Bremerhaven was extending transit times with delays in berthing, operational disruptions and high yard utilisation. The platform reported that container yards in Antwerp-Bruges were at 100% and carriers were reporting waiting times of up to three days, with truck slots limited and fully booked early each day. Container yards at Bremerhaven, one of the hubs for Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd's Gemini Cooperation, is currently at 85%, while some terminals in Rotterdam are reportedly at 80% utilization. Michael Aldwell, Kuehne +Nagel’s executive vice president of sea logistics, said ports in southern European were also seeing congestion due to longer transits around the Cape of Good Hope as Mediterranean importers began to stock up earlier for the winter holiday sales season. “There were lower inventories in Europe and stronger sales than importers expected,” he told the Journal of Commerce this week, with the reshuffling of alliances adding to the bottlenecks. “When you've got the redeployment of the new alliances happening, you're always going to have some initial operational challenges when things start arriving at different berthing windows, different setups,” he said. “And, of course, you have the traditional labor challenges,” he added. Dockworker strikes add to port woes Those labor challenges were coming on top of the high demand and operational challenges, with dockworker strikes continuing to impact European ports. A nationwide strike in Belgium on May 20 brought vessel traffic at the Port of Antwerp-Bruges to a halt, further stretching the system. Another national “day of action” will be held by unions in Belgium on June 25. Dockworker unions in Sweden launched strikes and blockade actions at multiple ports this week, with APM Terminals Gothenburg to be impacted on June 23 and 24. “There is not much free space in in the system, so this all has a knock-on impact,” Arnouts said. “If you are at a high level of frequency, you can imagine that adds to the disruption, on top of the uncertainty over tariffs that create shocks in cargo flows.” The latest data from Sea-Intelligence shows global schedule reliability has improved from 51.4% in January to 58.7% in April. Despite the steady improvement this year, Arnouts said it was too early to determine whether the better on-time performance was being seen in the port. He also highlighted a lack of transparency across the cargo supply chain that was a source of continuing frustration. ”When a container arrives at a container terminal, often we don’t know the next mode of transport,” he said. “Can you imagine that a container comes in, needs to go the next day on a barge to Basel or on a truck to Duisburg and often we don’t know that. “There is so much communication in the supply chain but still we need to fight to get the right ETA (estimated time of arrival) of a ship that's a part of the supply chain as well,” he added. “If you don't know when the ship arrives, you don't know what the next step will be.” Contact Greg Knowler at greg.knowler@spglobal.com .

Months of congestion ahead for North Europe ports: Antwerp-Bruges

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">A more than 30% one-week drop in rates from Asia to the US West Coast is showing that the import rush sparked by the temporary pause in higher US tariffs will apparently be short-lived.</div>

A more than 30% one-week drop in rates from Asia to the US West Coast is showing that the import rush sparked by the temporary pause in higher US tariffs will apparently be short-lived.

<div class="phx-topic">Spot rates in the eastbound trans-Pacific are in rapid retreat, a sign the import surge that came on the heels of the temporary pause in higher US tariffs won’t have the staying power many initially believed, market sources say. Rates to the West Coast were at $3,500 per FEU as of June 17, down 32% in just one week, according to Platts, a sister company of the Journal of Commerce within S&amp;P Global. East Coast rates of $6,500 were 11% lower on the week. Forwarders peg current rates from Asia to the West Coast in the low $3,000s per FEU, with East Coast rates in the low $6,000s per FEU. As recently as June 6, the West Coast rate was in the low $6,000s and the East Coast rate was in the low $7,000s, according to Platts. “It’s quite the turnaround,” said Robert Khachatryan, CEO of the forwarder Freight Right Global Logistics. “What’s driving this? [Declining] demand primarily.” Bookings at Asian load ports have dropped, Khachatryan said, even as carriers have injected more capacity into the eastbound trans-Pacific recently to <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/pause-on-tariffs-prompts-us-retailers-to-upgrade-summer-import-forecast-6022230">take advantage of the demand</a> that resulted from the Trump administration in mid-May pausing its proposed 145% tariffs on China for 90 days. A separate tariff pause on other trading partners ends July 9. But the demand sparked by those moves appears fleeting. “I think everybody was expecting that big boom to last a lot longer,” a forwarder told the Journal of Commerce. “It might be over.” <div class="wrapper-narrow"><dynamic-object type="jocchartid" resource-id="e8c13a3e-9f5a-412f-8741-adbf5e1a7779"></dynamic-object></div>Just how “over” is uncertain. While some carriers may believe there will be another surge in demand when the Trump administration finally decides the fate of the tariffs on China and other countries in July and August, forwarders don’t see that happening. “I don’t expect it to increase again,” a second forwarder said. “This is all speculation. Anything could happen, but the trend doesn’t show for that.” <h3>Has peak season begun? </h3>Also in the mix is peak shipping season, which in typical years runs from August through October. But in the year of tariffs, nothing is showing to be typical. Some market participants say the recent demand surge could be considered the start of an early peak season that still has room to run. A carrier executive told the Journal of Commerce he does not believe rates in the eastbound trans-Pacific are inevitably headed lower still in the coming weeks.“Shippers are in a ‘wait and see’ mode on tariffs and seeking clarity on Trump’s declaration of deal with China bringing tariffs to 55%, meaning there might be another [demand] surge,” the executive said.Until then, prices are undoubtedly softening. “Vessel-specific rates to the East Coast from some China ports are a lot lower [than indexes] — $5,500,” Khachatryan said. “I saw $2,700 [to the West Coast] out there,” said Jason Cook, CEO of the forwarder Ardent Global Logistics. Cook said an indicator of where rates in the trans-Pacific may be headed will come on July 1, when a number of carriers will apparently attempt to implement another general rate increase. “On July 1, they’ll try to do an increase,” he said. “They may try again in mid-month.” Contact Bill Mongelluzzo at <a href="mailto:bill.mongelluzzo@spglobal.com">bill.mongelluzzo@spglobal.com</a>.Contact Laura Robb at <a href="mailto:laura.robb@spglobal.com">laura.robb@spglobal.com</a>.</div>

Spot rates in the eastbound trans-Pacific are in rapid retreat, a sign the import surge that came on the heels of the temporary pause in higher US tariffs won’t have the staying power many initially believed, market sources say. Rates to the West Coast were at $3,500 per FEU as of June 17, down 32% in just one week, according to Platts, a sister company of the Journal of Commerce within S&P Global. East Coast rates of $6,500 were 11% lower on the week. Forwarders peg current rates from Asia to the West Coast in the low $3,000s per FEU, with East Coast rates in the low $6,000s per FEU. As recently as June 6, the West Coast rate was in the low $6,000s and the East Coast rate was in the low $7,000s, according to Platts. “It’s quite the turnaround,” said Robert Khachatryan, CEO of the forwarder Freight Right Global Logistics. “What’s driving this? [Declining] demand primarily.” Bookings at Asian load ports have dropped, Khachatryan said, even as carriers have injected more capacity into the eastbound trans-Pacific recently to take advantage of the demand that resulted from the Trump administration in mid-May pausing its proposed 145% tariffs on China for 90 days. A separate tariff pause on other trading partners ends July 9. But the demand sparked by those moves appears fleeting. “I think everybody was expecting that big boom to last a lot longer,” a forwarder told the Journal of Commerce. “It might be over.” Just how “over” is uncertain. While some carriers may believe there will be another surge in demand when the Trump administration finally decides the fate of the tariffs on China and other countries in July and August, forwarders don’t see that happening. “I don’t expect it to increase again,” a second forwarder said. “This is all speculation. Anything could happen, but the trend doesn’t show for that.” Has peak season begun? Also in the mix is peak shipping season, which in typical years runs from August through October. But in the year of tariffs, nothing is showing to be typical. Some market participants say the recent demand surge could be considered the start of an early peak season that still has room to run. A carrier executive told the Journal of Commerce he does not believe rates in the eastbound trans-Pacific are inevitably headed lower still in the coming weeks. “Shippers are in a ‘wait and see’ mode on tariffs and seeking clarity on Trump’s declaration of deal with China bringing tariffs to 55%, meaning there might be another [demand] surge,” the executive said. Until then, prices are undoubtedly softening. “Vessel-specific rates to the East Coast from some China ports are a lot lower [than indexes] — $5,500,” Khachatryan said. “I saw $2,700 [to the West Coast] out there,” said Jason Cook, CEO of the forwarder Ardent Global Logistics. Cook said an indicator of where rates in the trans-Pacific may be headed will come on July 1, when a number of carriers will apparently attempt to implement another general rate increase. “On July 1, they’ll try to do an increase,” he said. “They may try again in mid-month.” Contact Bill Mongelluzzo at bill.mongelluzzo@spglobal.com .Contact Laura Robb at laura.robb@spglobal.com .

Trans-Pacific spot rates falling as tariff-linked demand surge loses steam

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">OTR Solutions had alleged in a lawsuit that load board provider DAT violated a non-compete agreement by acquiring a rival factoring company. </div>

OTR Solutions had alleged in a lawsuit that load board provider DAT violated a non-compete agreement by acquiring a rival factoring company.

<div class="phx-topic">DAT Freight &amp; Analytics has <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/court-orders-dat-to-temporarily-halt-trucking-factoring-service-6024606">resolved a legal dispute</a> with a freight factoring company that filed a lawsuit against DAT for allegedly violating a non-compete agreement by <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/dat-adds-in-house-factoring-services-with-latest-acquisition-6005462">acquiring a competitor</a> in mid-May. Terms of the settlement reached this week were not disclosed by DAT, the largest truckload load board in North America, or its former partner, OTR Solutions. Georgia-based OTR, whose OTR Capital division provides factoring services to carriers and brokers, on Monday filed a voluntary dismissal of the lawsuit. “DAT thanks OTR for their years of partnership and their collaboration in reaching a constructive outcome,” DAT said in a statement Wednesday. The lawsuit stemmed from DAT’s acquisition of Outgo, an early-stage factoring provider that is being integrated as a product within the DAT One platform for truckload carrier customers. OTR had filed the lawsuit to stop DAT from providing factoring services through Outgo, saying the acquisition violated a non-compete agreement between DAT and OTR and violated a judge’s order to stop offering factoring services via Outgo until a hearing on the matter could be held. Freight factoring is a financial service in which carriers sell their unpaid invoices to a third party that advances them the cash they are owed, generally in exchange for a single-digit percentage of the invoice amount. DAT has offered factoring services to its carrier customers since 2007 via external partnerships, most recently with OTR. Contact Eric Johnson at <a href="mailto:eric.johnson@spglobal.com">eric.johnson@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

DAT Freight & Analytics has resolved a legal dispute with a freight factoring company that filed a lawsuit against DAT for allegedly violating a non-compete agreement by acquiring a competitor in mid-May. Terms of the settlement reached this week were not disclosed by DAT, the largest truckload load board in North America, or its former partner, OTR Solutions. Georgia-based OTR, whose OTR Capital division provides factoring services to carriers and brokers, on Monday filed a voluntary dismissal of the lawsuit. “DAT thanks OTR for their years of partnership and their collaboration in reaching a constructive outcome,” DAT said in a statement Wednesday. The lawsuit stemmed from DAT’s acquisition of Outgo, an early-stage factoring provider that is being integrated as a product within the DAT One platform for truckload carrier customers. OTR had filed the lawsuit to stop DAT from providing factoring services through Outgo, saying the acquisition violated a non-compete agreement between DAT and OTR and violated a judge’s order to stop offering factoring services via Outgo until a hearing on the matter could be held. Freight factoring is a financial service in which carriers sell their unpaid invoices to a third party that advances them the cash they are owed, generally in exchange for a single-digit percentage of the invoice amount. DAT has offered factoring services to its carrier customers since 2007 via external partnerships, most recently with OTR. Contact Eric Johnson at eric.johnson@spglobal.com .

Former partner reaches settlement with DAT over recent acquisition

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Despite ongoing efforts to clear out logjams triggered by the brief work stoppage, berth waiting times for vessels arriving at the country’s busiest port have risen to their highest this year. </div>

Despite ongoing efforts to clear out logjams triggered by the brief work stoppage, berth waiting times for vessels arriving at the country’s busiest port have risen to their highest this year.

<div class="phx-topic">One month after a four-day strike by customs workers at Mexico’s Port of Manzanillo, cargo operations at the country’s busiest container gateway have yet to show any noticeable improvement, stakeholders say. Despite ongoing efforts to clear out <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/disruption-lingers-at-mexicos-manzanillo-port-weeks-after-brief-strike-6016411">logjams triggered by the brief strike</a>, berth waiting times for arriving vessels at Manzanillo have risen to their highest this year — 1.8 days, according to data from maritime visibility provider Vizion and data and analytics company Dun &amp; Bradstreet. Terminal operators had previously said they expected the congestion to clear by early June, but extended weekend hours at the port and an increase in customs personnel have not yet had an impact on the delays. Carlos Tamayo, director of logistics in Mexico for logistics provider C.H. Robinson, told the Journal of Commerce that customers have seen delays of up to two weeks due to the congestion. “Container throughput [at Manzanillo] has decreased by approximately 50% as a result of extended wait times for entering and exiting the port,” Tamayo said. “For freight that hasn’t shipped yet, we’re advising customers to move up bookings by at least three to four weeks and consider alternate ports like Lázaro Cárdenas.” Shippers who use Manzanillo might face additional costs if they don’t meet their scheduled gate-out window due to congestion. “If [that happens], there is a high risk the container won’t complete the clearance process,” said Ernesto Hernandez Jr., a customs broker at HEMA Logistics. “The consignee would need to request a new gate-out date and attempt the process again, leading to additional storage charges and potential demurrage costs.” Manzanillo terminal operators Contecon and SSA declined to comment. Contact Laura Robb at <a href="mailto:Laura.Robb@spglobal.com">laura.robb@spglobal.com</a>.  </div>

One month after a four-day strike by customs workers at Mexico’s Port of Manzanillo, cargo operations at the country’s busiest container gateway have yet to show any noticeable improvement, stakeholders say. Despite ongoing efforts to clear out logjams triggered by the brief strike , berth waiting times for arriving vessels at Manzanillo have risen to their highest this year — 1.8 days, according to data from maritime visibility provider Vizion and data and analytics company Dun & Bradstreet. Terminal operators had previously said they expected the congestion to clear by early June, but extended weekend hours at the port and an increase in customs personnel have not yet had an impact on the delays. Carlos Tamayo, director of logistics in Mexico for logistics provider C.H. Robinson, told the Journal of Commerce that customers have seen delays of up to two weeks due to the congestion. “Container throughput [at Manzanillo] has decreased by approximately 50% as a result of extended wait times for entering and exiting the port,” Tamayo said. “For freight that hasn’t shipped yet, we’re advising customers to move up bookings by at least three to four weeks and consider alternate ports like Lázaro Cárdenas.” Shippers who use Manzanillo might face additional costs if they don’t meet their scheduled gate-out window due to congestion. “If [that happens], there is a high risk the container won’t complete the clearance process,” said Ernesto Hernandez Jr., a customs broker at HEMA Logistics. “The consignee would need to request a new gate-out date and attempt the process again, leading to additional storage charges and potential demurrage costs.” Manzanillo terminal operators Contecon and SSA declined to comment. Contact Laura Robb at laura.robb@spglobal.com . 

Cargo bottlenecks persist at Mexico’s Manzanillo port one month after strike

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">The inability to predict the next move on tariffs is unsettling for cargo owners and their service providers, the CEO of the Association for Supply Chain Management tells the Journal of Commerce. </div>

The inability to predict the next move on tariffs is unsettling for cargo owners and their service providers, the CEO of the Association for Supply Chain Management tells the Journal of Commerce.

<div class="phx-topic">BRUSSELS — The US tariff whiplash is forcing those who manage supply chains to shrink planning horizons, increase inventory carrying costs and put strategic investment on hold, according to the CEO of the Association for Supply Chain Management. While the Trump administration pursues its so-called “reciprocal trade agenda,” Abe Eshkenazi said the inability to predict the next tariff move was unsettling for cargo owners and their service providers. “A lot of the strategic investments and a lot of the capital investments have been put on hold,” Eshkenazi told the Journal of Commerce in an interview this week at the CHAINge Europe supply chain conference. “It’s hard to convince a CEO to spend $2 billion on a new plant when he doesn’t know if you’re going to manufacture for local markets or for a global marketplace,” he added. “As a [beneficial cargo owner], this is going to be the life that you lead over the next few years.” Eshkenazi said planning horizons have shrunk because of the lack of visibility in ever-changing tariff-driven demand, especially on the trans-Pacific. He emphasized that the tariff disruption to global trade was not a supply and demand issue, which supply chains were well-suited to handle, but rather a pricing issue. “That is a big problem for us because it changes constantly,” he said. “How much is the tariff? When is it going to be applied? Is it consistent? We are accustomed to disruption, but more in the form of long-term issues, as opposed to something that’s on today, off tomorrow, or 20% now, then 50% or 100%.” A pause on higher tariffs on most of the US’ trading partners is in effect until July 9, while the pause on the 145% tariff on imports from China is due to expire Aug. 14. President Donald Trump wrote last week on his social media platform that a deal with Beijing will see US tariffs set at 55% for Chinese imports, up from 30%, while China’s tariffs on US goods remain at 10%. However, there has not yet been a formal deal signed between Beijing and Washington. <h3>Importers building inventory buffers </h3>Eshkenazi warned that cargo owners in the US were being forced to carry too much inventory as a risk management strategy, and that “can only last so long.” “You can’t continue to build up inventories or your CFO is going to have a conversation and ask why you are draining capital for stock just sitting there and nobody moving it,” he noted. Trade disruption caused by the US tariffs dominated discussions at the Brussels conference, with attendees expressing their frustration at managing cargo flows in such a fluid environment. “It has taken us almost three years to go through the additional inventory built up to cope with supply chain disruptions and we are now having to bring in buffer stocks again to try to manage the risk,” the supply chain director for a global shipper said. A US importer said if the intention of the Trump tariffs was to bring manufacturing back to the US, “no one would buy our products because they would be too expensive.” Other roundtable attendees highlighted the recent trans-Pacific rate environment where carriers were rolling out general rate increases every two weeks to take advantage of what had been heavy demand after tariffs on China were paused in May and importers rushed to get shipments on the water. But spot rates on the two main Asia-US trade lanes are now falling. The Asia-US West Coast rate this week of $3,500 per FEU is down 32% from the previous week, according to Platts, a sister company of the Journal of Commerce within S&amp;P Global. Rates from Asia to the US East Coast fell 11% week over week to $6,500/FEU. <h3>Doubt, hesitancy in investment circles </h3>The uncertainty linked to tariffs has extended beyond supply chains and into financial markets, creating doubt and hesitancy in terms of investment. “Everyone is waiting to find out what the final rules of the road are so we can apply them,” Eshkenazi said. “In the short term, there’s a lot of ’wait and see,’ and in the long term we’re already seeing a hesitancy on investment in supply chain infrastructure as well as in securing capital. “That will be an extraordinary problem down the road, because the consumer is still going to want to buy,” he added. “The question is, ‘what does your market demand look like, and where do you serve it from?’” Eshkenazi noted that companies in the US were looking at diversifying both suppliers and manufacturing facilities, but much of the investment was on pause. “Companies are not developing plants that sit idle, or having staff sit idle at home waiting to be actuated,” he said. “No investment is going to be done in parallel activities just in case.” Contact Greg Knowler at <a href="mailto:greg.knowler@spglobal.com">greg.knowler@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

BRUSSELS — The US tariff whiplash is forcing those who manage supply chains to shrink planning horizons, increase inventory carrying costs and put strategic investment on hold, according to the CEO of the Association for Supply Chain Management. While the Trump administration pursues its so-called “reciprocal trade agenda,” Abe Eshkenazi said the inability to predict the next tariff move was unsettling for cargo owners and their service providers. “A lot of the strategic investments and a lot of the capital investments have been put on hold,” Eshkenazi told the Journal of Commerce in an interview this week at the CHAINge Europe supply chain conference. “It’s hard to convince a CEO to spend $2 billion on a new plant when he doesn’t know if you’re going to manufacture for local markets or for a global marketplace,” he added. “As a [beneficial cargo owner], this is going to be the life that you lead over the next few years.” Eshkenazi said planning horizons have shrunk because of the lack of visibility in ever-changing tariff-driven demand, especially on the trans-Pacific. He emphasized that the tariff disruption to global trade was not a supply and demand issue, which supply chains were well-suited to handle, but rather a pricing issue. “That is a big problem for us because it changes constantly,” he said. “How much is the tariff? When is it going to be applied? Is it consistent? We are accustomed to disruption, but more in the form of long-term issues, as opposed to something that’s on today, off tomorrow, or 20% now, then 50% or 100%.” A pause on higher tariffs on most of the US’ trading partners is in effect until July 9, while the pause on the 145% tariff on imports from China is due to expire Aug. 14. President Donald Trump wrote last week on his social media platform that a deal with Beijing will see US tariffs set at 55% for Chinese imports, up from 30%, while China’s tariffs on US goods remain at 10%. However, there has not yet been a formal deal signed between Beijing and Washington. Importers building inventory buffers Eshkenazi warned that cargo owners in the US were being forced to carry too much inventory as a risk management strategy, and that “can only last so long.” “You can’t continue to build up inventories or your CFO is going to have a conversation and ask why you are draining capital for stock just sitting there and nobody moving it,” he noted. Trade disruption caused by the US tariffs dominated discussions at the Brussels conference, with attendees expressing their frustration at managing cargo flows in such a fluid environment. “It has taken us almost three years to go through the additional inventory built up to cope with supply chain disruptions and we are now having to bring in buffer stocks again to try to manage the risk,” the supply chain director for a global shipper said. A US importer said if the intention of the Trump tariffs was to bring manufacturing back to the US, “no one would buy our products because they would be too expensive.” Other roundtable attendees highlighted the recent trans-Pacific rate environment where carriers were rolling out general rate increases every two weeks to take advantage of what had been heavy demand after tariffs on China were paused in May and importers rushed to get shipments on the water. But spot rates on the two main Asia-US trade lanes are now falling. The Asia-US West Coast rate this week of $3,500 per FEU is down 32% from the previous week, according to Platts, a sister company of the Journal of Commerce within S&P Global. Rates from Asia to the US East Coast fell 11% week over week to $6,500/FEU. Doubt, hesitancy in investment circles The uncertainty linked to tariffs has extended beyond supply chains and into financial markets, creating doubt and hesitancy in terms of investment. “Everyone is waiting to find out what the final rules of the road are so we can apply them,” Eshkenazi said. “In the short term, there’s a lot of ’wait and see,’ and in the long term we’re already seeing a hesitancy on investment in supply chain infrastructure as well as in securing capital. “That will be an extraordinary problem down the road, because the consumer is still going to want to buy,” he added. “The question is, ‘what does your market demand look like, and where do you serve it from?’” Eshkenazi noted that companies in the US were looking at diversifying both suppliers and manufacturing facilities, but much of the investment was on pause. “Companies are not developing plants that sit idle, or having staff sit idle at home waiting to be actuated,” he said. “No investment is going to be done in parallel activities just in case.” Contact Greg Knowler at greg.knowler@spglobal.com .

Changing US tariffs force structural shift in global supply chains: ASCM

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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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