<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">The Port of Virginia reported March volume of 229,410 20-foot-equivalent units — an increase of 16 percent year-over-year, and a port monthly record — but the increased volume has strained operations at Hampton Roads terminals.</div>

The Port of Virginia reported March volume of 229,410 20-foot-equivalent units — an increase of 16 percent year-over-year, and a port monthly record — but the increased volume has strained operations at Hampton Roads terminals.

<div>The Port of Virginia reported March volume of 229,410 20-foot-equivalent units — an increase of 16 percent year-over-year, and a port monthly record — but the increased volume <a>has strained operations</a> at Hampton Roads terminals.Import volume in TEUs jumped 28 percent, while exports rose 5.8 percent. During the first two months of this year, overall TEU volume increased 10.1 percent.<div><img>l</div>“That amount of volume, some of which was carried over from February, presented a challenge to our team at every phase of the operation,” CEO John F. Reinhart said in announcing the month’s volume.Reinhart said the strain on facilities “was most...

The Port of Virginia reported March volume of 229,410 20-foot-equivalent units — an increase of 16 percent year-over-year, and a port monthly record — but the increased volume has strained operations at Hampton Roads terminals. Import volume in TEUs jumped 28 percent, while exports rose 5.8 percent. During the first two months of this year, overall TEU volume increased 10.1 percent. l “That amount of volume, some of which was carried over from February, presented a challenge to our team at every phase of the operation,” CEO John F. Reinhart said in announcing the month’s volume. Reinhart said the strain on facilities “was most acute at Virginia International Gateway, where our operational consistency was overtaken by sheer TEU volume; our delivery of service at the VIG gate for the first three weeks of March was unacceptable. For more than a year, the port has been working to reduce chronic delays. Interim remedies have included reducing density in container terminal stacks, a temporary embargo on empty containers arriving by rail, the addition of more cargo-handling equipment, and extended operating hours at the gates. Truck moves and rail containers each increased 17 percent year-over-year in March. Virginia Inland Port in Port Royal saw a 3 percent increase in volume. Barge containers were down 6 percent, but vehicle units jumped 148 percent. “Our truck volumes did not let up any in March; we processed more than 81,000 truck moves despite the challenges,” Reinhart said. “We understand the hardship this period put on our motor carriers and customers, and are grateful for their patience through what has been a very difficult period. “We are not expecting volumes to abate, so we will carry forward many of the steps we implemented in March to help alleviate the congestion. We are continuing to invest in equipment, technology and people to create sustainability and improve the consistency in the port,” he said. Contact Joseph Bonney at jbonney@joc.com and follow him on Twitter: @JosephBonney .

North American ports

Virginia’s March TEU volume a port monthly record

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Much of the volume that has been locked up over the past month will come flooding back into the market after Washington and Beijing agreed to significantly slash their respective tariffs for 90 days. </div>

Much of the volume that has been locked up over the past month will come flooding back into the market after Washington and Beijing agreed to significantly slash their respective tariffs for 90 days.

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<div class="phx-topic">The eastbound trans-Pacific will likely face insufficient ocean capacity to handle a surge of unlocked shipments from China to the US following the preliminary trade deal announced Monday, resulting in higher spot rates, surcharges and shortages of vessel space and equipment in the coming weeks, forwarders warned. “It's clear it will be a mad rush to get capacity,” Jason Cook, managing director at Arden Global Logistics, said. “Customers were already prebooking Friday and [early Monday]. Every day will count this week towards getting the booking plan and anticipated allocations with carriers.” Said Nerijus Poskus, Flexport’s head of ocean procurement: “I think we’re going to have a very significant peak season.” With just over a month having elapsed since the Trump administration slapped 145% tariffs on Beijing, a significant backlog of goods has built up in China, reflected in volumes dropping around 30% in recent weeks, according to Hapag-Lloyd and others. “For the first three weeks of May, 34% of capacity in the trans-Pacific has been taken out through blank sailings and service removals,” Poskus said. Now, much of that volume will come flooding back into the market with the US and China agreeing during weekend talks in Geneva to slash their respective tariffs for 90 days while negotiations continue. The 145% US tariffs will be cut to 30%, while China’s reciprocal 125% tariff on US goods will be lowered to10%. Those levels are clearly low enough to unleash much of the pent-up demand building over the past month. Indeed, container bookings for imports from China appear to have been strengthening even before the tariff announcement. Bookings jumped 29% last week compared to week prior, according to maritime visibility provider Vizion and data and analytics company Dun &amp; Bradstreet “Currently, ships are sailing 85% to 90% full, yet there is a huge backlog and that backlog at some point needs to be shipped,” Poskus said. “So if demand increases more than 10% — and it will — and if carriers put back 10% of capacity, we are at 100%. In other words, full. No space. And carriers have to add capacity such as extra loaders in order for importers to have space.” A space crunch will rapidly develop on the trans-Pacific since the ships needed to replenish capacity aren’t immediately available, Poskus said. “The issue is a lot of these ships have been deployed on other trade lanes — intra-Asia, Asia to Latin America, etc. They are not just sitting and waiting, so shifting back capacity to the [trans-Pacific] will be not as easy as it seems and will take time,” he said. “There is maybe a ship or two that can be deployed back right away but as for the market as a whole, it will take more than four weeks for any meaningful capacity to be injected back into the TP.” Ocean rapidly withdrew capacity and redeployed it to multiple other trade lanes including Asia-Europe, DHL Global Forwarding told customers in its most recent Ocean Freight Market Update. The forwarder warned of “significant equipment and capacity constraints that could lead to increasing rates” in the aftermath of a deal between the US and China. <h3>Port capacity could be overwhelmed </h3>Even before Monday’s announcement, others agreed that a volume surge would develop quickly after any trade deal reached between China and the US. “If a de-escalation was to happen, it is not unlikely that there would be a catch-up effect where, at some point, the situation resolves itself, and then you see a much stronger demand coming out of China,” Maersk CEO Vincent Clerc said on the company’s May 8 earning call. And any surge will potentially overwhelm US port capacity given that, as carrier executives told the recent Georgia Foreign Trade Conference, the system has no greater ability to absorb surge volumes than it did back in 2020. “Right now...volumes are down [30%-40%] and if that goes up, the sheer surge will test the system and disruption cannot be avoided,” said Charles van der Steene, president of Maersk North America. <div class="wrapper-narrow"><dynamic-object type="jocchartid" resource-id="e7a65aab-9aac-4f07-9b74-1793746c01ef"></dynamic-object></div>Other issues will further complicate the post-deal market, among them empty containers, Poskus said. “Carriers have repositioned a lot of empty containers to SE Asia, dropping the empties in Vietnam versus China or not taking them back at all yet,” he said. “That means for at least some carriers in some locations, not the whole market, but...certain places will start to face empty equipment shortages. “As carriers cancel or reduce capacity, that means empties are not able to be returned to Asia at the same pace as when they were brought into the US a few months earlier,” he Poskus added. The result will likely be a classic squeeze lasting several weeks, reminiscent of the aftermath of the post-financial crisis restocking surge the market experienced in early 2010. Spot rates, which currently are hovering around $2,400 to the US West Coast, could surge to multiple times that, while peak season surcharges (PSSs) will be likely be quickly imposed on fixed rate contracts. “If space gets very tight, premium products will be the easiest way to secure additional capacity,” Poskus said. “If your volume is 20 containers a week and you need 25, for the five extra you may need to pay spot market prices plus, possibly, a premium.” Contact Peter Tirschwell at <a href="mailto:peter.tirschwell@spglobal.com">peter.tirschwell@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

The eastbound trans-Pacific will likely face insufficient ocean capacity to handle a surge of unlocked shipments from China to the US following the preliminary trade deal announced Monday, resulting in higher spot rates, surcharges and shortages of vessel space and equipment in the coming weeks, forwarders warned. “It's clear it will be a mad rush to get capacity,” Jason Cook, managing director at Arden Global Logistics, said. “Customers were already prebooking Friday and [early Monday]. Every day will count this week towards getting the booking plan and anticipated allocations with carriers.” Said Nerijus Poskus, Flexport’s head of ocean procurement: “I think we’re going to have a very significant peak season.” With just over a month having elapsed since the Trump administration slapped 145% tariffs on Beijing, a significant backlog of goods has built up in China, reflected in volumes dropping around 30% in recent weeks, according to Hapag-Lloyd and others. “For the first three weeks of May, 34% of capacity in the trans-Pacific has been taken out through blank sailings and service removals,” Poskus said. Now, much of that volume will come flooding back into the market with the US and China agreeing during weekend talks in Geneva to slash their respective tariffs for 90 days while negotiations continue. The 145% US tariffs will be cut to 30%, while China’s reciprocal 125% tariff on US goods will be lowered to10%. Those levels are clearly low enough to unleash much of the pent-up demand building over the past month. Indeed, container bookings for imports from China appear to have been strengthening even before the tariff announcement. Bookings jumped 29% last week compared to week prior, according to maritime visibility provider Vizion and data and analytics company Dun & Bradstreet “Currently, ships are sailing 85% to 90% full, yet there is a huge backlog and that backlog at some point needs to be shipped,” Poskus said. “So if demand increases more than 10% — and it will — and if carriers put back 10% of capacity, we are at 100%. In other words, full. No space. And carriers have to add capacity such as extra loaders in order for importers to have space.” A space crunch will rapidly develop on the trans-Pacific since the ships needed to replenish capacity aren’t immediately available, Poskus said. “The issue is a lot of these ships have been deployed on other trade lanes — intra-Asia, Asia to Latin America, etc. They are not just sitting and waiting, so shifting back capacity to the [trans-Pacific] will be not as easy as it seems and will take time,” he said. “There is maybe a ship or two that can be deployed back right away but as for the market as a whole, it will take more than four weeks for any meaningful capacity to be injected back into the TP.” Ocean rapidly withdrew capacity and redeployed it to multiple other trade lanes including Asia-Europe, DHL Global Forwarding told customers in its most recent Ocean Freight Market Update. The forwarder warned of “significant equipment and capacity constraints that could lead to increasing rates” in the aftermath of a deal between the US and China. Port capacity could be overwhelmed Even before Monday’s announcement, others agreed that a volume surge would develop quickly after any trade deal reached between China and the US. “If a de-escalation was to happen, it is not unlikely that there would be a catch-up effect where, at some point, the situation resolves itself, and then you see a much stronger demand coming out of China,” Maersk CEO Vincent Clerc said on the company’s May 8 earning call. And any surge will potentially overwhelm US port capacity given that, as carrier executives told the recent Georgia Foreign Trade Conference, the system has no greater ability to absorb surge volumes than it did back in 2020. “Right now...volumes are down [30%-40%] and if that goes up, the sheer surge will test the system and disruption cannot be avoided,” said Charles van der Steene, president of Maersk North America. Other issues will further complicate the post-deal market, among them empty containers, Poskus said. “Carriers have repositioned a lot of empty containers to SE Asia, dropping the empties in Vietnam versus China or not taking them back at all yet,” he said. “That means for at least some carriers in some locations, not the whole market, but...certain places will start to face empty equipment shortages. “As carriers cancel or reduce capacity, that means empties are not able to be returned to Asia at the same pace as when they were brought into the US a few months earlier,” he Poskus added. The result will likely be a classic squeeze lasting several weeks, reminiscent of the aftermath of the post-financial crisis restocking surge the market experienced in early 2010. Spot rates, which currently are hovering around $2,400 to the US West Coast, could surge to multiple times that, while peak season surcharges (PSSs) will be likely be quickly imposed on fixed rate contracts. “If space gets very tight, premium products will be the easiest way to secure additional capacity,” Poskus said. “If your volume is 20 containers a week and you need 25, for the five extra you may need to pay spot market prices plus, possibly, a premium.” Contact Peter Tirschwell at peter.tirschwell@spglobal.com .

Maritime

Supply chain

Port News

Transport, Trade and Regulation News

Container Shipping News

Capacity crunch beckons on eastbound trans-Pacific after US-China deal

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Despite a ceasefire announced over the weekend between India and Pakistan, the combined impact of the recent tensions and enhanced port security protocols has left container supply chains out of India’s west coast corridor in a state of flux.</div>

Despite a ceasefire announced over the weekend between India and Pakistan, the combined impact of the recent tensions and enhanced port security protocols has left container supply chains out of India’s west coast corridor in a state of flux.

<div class="phx-topic">The military conflict between India and Pakistan that sent shudders through maritime stakeholders across South Asia last week is seeing a thaw, at least for now, following a tentative ceasefire announced by both sides over the weekend. But the combined <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/indias-ban-on-pakistan-cargo-raises-disruption-risk-5997588">impact of recent tensions and enhanced port security protocols</a> has left container supply chains out of India’s hotly sought-after west coast corridor in a state of flux. Mundra Port, the country’s busiest freight handler, is working to fix operational chaos after it was forced to suspend vessel dockings multiple times due to the high security risk environment that involved electrical blackouts during night hours over the past week. “Mundra terminals are now berthing vessels on a first-in, first-out basis instead of on fixed window slots,” an operations executive at a European carrier who didn’t want to be identified told the Journal of Commerce. “The residual port congestion is expected to take some days to get any better.” Mundra port owner Adani Ports (APSEZ), in a trade notice on Friday, urged its terminal users to plan for anticipated delays, adding it was “evaluating the situation under the guidance of civil administration.” Additionally, Mundra's busiest container terminal, Adani International Container Terminal (AICTPL), a joint venture between APSEZ and Mediterranean Shipping Co. (MSC), had a scheduled 12-hour suspension of inter-terminal container (ITT) movements on Friday for gate infrastructure upgrades, amplifying supply chain woes. ITT operations are typically critical to transshipment cargo handling, which MSC has significantly expanded out of Mundra for its regional trade interests. <h3>Bypassing Mundra </h3>Sensing long berthing delays, major carriers on Indian trades are already bypassing Mundra to keep their schedules in line. Maersk has told customers it will skip Mundra on its MECL service between West India and North America until further notice. The weekly MECL in February included a stop at Mundra in a service shakeup to boost Indian loading capacity. Local shipping sources told the Journal of Commerce the carrier will instead roll MECL Indian export bookings over to its Mawingu Express service for relays over to Salalah Port in Oman, a key Maersk hub for the region. MECL India imports will be rerouted to APM Terminals Pipavav, another West India gateway, using the capacity on its Mawingu and/or FI3 Northeast Asia trade services. Other known current week westbound sailings skipping Mundra calls include the Houston Express and Baltimore Express, both operated by Hapag-Lloyd on India-Europe trade (IOS) as part of the Gemini Cooperation network, known as the ME1 for Maersk. Meanwhile, <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/cma-cgm-levies-emergency-surcharges-on-pakistani-trade-amid-india-tensions-6001112">more carriers have hit Pakistan shippers with contingency surcharges</a> to recoup extra costs. Hapag-Lloyd will levy an add-on of $500 per container on Pakistani exports to Europe and Africa, and $300 per box on the reverse leg, beginning May 21. Contact Bency Mathew at <a href="mailto:bencyvmathew@gmail.com">bencyvmathew@gmail.com</a>. </div>

The military conflict between India and Pakistan that sent shudders through maritime stakeholders across South Asia last week is seeing a thaw, at least for now, following a tentative ceasefire announced by both sides over the weekend. But the combined impact of recent tensions and enhanced port security protocols has left container supply chains out of India’s hotly sought-after west coast corridor in a state of flux. Mundra Port, the country’s busiest freight handler, is working to fix operational chaos after it was forced to suspend vessel dockings multiple times due to the high security risk environment that involved electrical blackouts during night hours over the past week. “Mundra terminals are now berthing vessels on a first-in, first-out basis instead of on fixed window slots,” an operations executive at a European carrier who didn’t want to be identified told the Journal of Commerce. “The residual port congestion is expected to take some days to get any better.” Mundra port owner Adani Ports (APSEZ), in a trade notice on Friday, urged its terminal users to plan for anticipated delays, adding it was “evaluating the situation under the guidance of civil administration.” Additionally, Mundra's busiest container terminal, Adani International Container Terminal (AICTPL), a joint venture between APSEZ and Mediterranean Shipping Co. (MSC), had a scheduled 12-hour suspension of inter-terminal container (ITT) movements on Friday for gate infrastructure upgrades, amplifying supply chain woes. ITT operations are typically critical to transshipment cargo handling, which MSC has significantly expanded out of Mundra for its regional trade interests. Bypassing Mundra Sensing long berthing delays, major carriers on Indian trades are already bypassing Mundra to keep their schedules in line. Maersk has told customers it will skip Mundra on its MECL service between West India and North America until further notice. The weekly MECL in February included a stop at Mundra in a service shakeup to boost Indian loading capacity. Local shipping sources told the Journal of Commerce the carrier will instead roll MECL Indian export bookings over to its Mawingu Express service for relays over to Salalah Port in Oman, a key Maersk hub for the region. MECL India imports will be rerouted to APM Terminals Pipavav, another West India gateway, using the capacity on its Mawingu and/or FI3 Northeast Asia trade services. Other known current week westbound sailings skipping Mundra calls include the Houston Express and Baltimore Express, both operated by Hapag-Lloyd on India-Europe trade (IOS) as part of the Gemini Cooperation network, known as the ME1 for Maersk. Meanwhile, more carriers have hit Pakistan shippers with contingency surcharges to recoup extra costs. Hapag-Lloyd will levy an add-on of $500 per container on Pakistani exports to Europe and Africa, and $300 per box on the reverse leg, beginning May 21. Contact Bency Mathew at bencyvmathew@gmail.com .

Asia-Europe

West India container trade facing delays, vessel skips after regional tensions

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">A request for industry comment on trucking regulations that could be modified or ended generated 896 responses in one month, with electronic logging devices and hours of service rules at the top of the list.</div>

A request for industry comment on trucking regulations that could be modified or ended generated 896 responses in one month, with electronic logging devices and hours of service rules at the top of the list.

<div class="phx-topic">If the Trump administration wants to deregulate trucking, it will find no lack of suggestions where to start. Comments on a Department of Transportation (DOT) request for information on rules that could or should be modified or replaced drew 896 comments in one month from industry organizations, state transportation officials, businesses and individuals. The comment period closed this week, and the list of regulations the respondents want amended or eliminated is long. Many of those responding were independent truckers. In particular, they targeted proposed mandates that would require speed limiting devices on truck engines and automatic emergency brakes (AEB) in heavy trucks, truck driver hours of service (HOS) rules, the electronic logging device (ELD) mandate and more. Those proposals and rules have been controversial since their inception. The current HOS rules and the ELD mandate were issued during the first Trump administration. It may be easier for regulators to drop or postpone pending regulations, such as a proposed requirement that trucks be equipped with speed limiters, than to rewrite existing rules such as the ELD mandate and HOS regulations. Many of the requests regarding those rules echo debates with prior administrations. Proposals that would mandate speed limiters were issued in 2016 under the Obama administration and then under the Biden White House in 2022. That last proposal remains active but has not advanced to a final rulemaking. The ELD mandate, implemented in late 2017, reshaped trucking, making it much more difficult to evade HOS limits. Many comments from truck drivers simply suggested some variant of ending the use of electronic logs and going back to paper logs. The request for information and the flood of responses are part of the Trump administration’s effort to identify and cut rules it considers unconstitutional, unlawful, unauthorized and unnecessarily burdensome. But respondents also called for new regulation that would help deter cargo crime and fraud. The National Association of Small Trucking Companies (NASTC) called for a permanent freight fraud enforcement task force with the DOT Office of the Inspector General. “This task force should be solely tasked with enforcing laws against fraud in transportation by investigating incidents and developing cases to bring to the Department of Justice,” the NASTC said in its comments. The organization also wants the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to “diligently maintain” its National Consumer Complaint Database to fight fraud cases. Contact William B. Cassidy at <a href="mailto:bill.cassidy@spglobal.com">bill.cassidy@spglobal.com</a>.</div>

If the Trump administration wants to deregulate trucking, it will find no lack of suggestions where to start. Comments on a Department of Transportation (DOT) request for information on rules that could or should be modified or replaced drew 896 comments in one month from industry organizations, state transportation officials, businesses and individuals. The comment period closed this week, and the list of regulations the respondents want amended or eliminated is long. Many of those responding were independent truckers. In particular, they targeted proposed mandates that would require speed limiting devices on truck engines and automatic emergency brakes (AEB) in heavy trucks, truck driver hours of service (HOS) rules, the electronic logging device (ELD) mandate and more. Those proposals and rules have been controversial since their inception. The current HOS rules and the ELD mandate were issued during the first Trump administration. It may be easier for regulators to drop or postpone pending regulations, such as a proposed requirement that trucks be equipped with speed limiters, than to rewrite existing rules such as the ELD mandate and HOS regulations. Many of the requests regarding those rules echo debates with prior administrations. Proposals that would mandate speed limiters were issued in 2016 under the Obama administration and then under the Biden White House in 2022. That last proposal remains active but has not advanced to a final rulemaking. The ELD mandate, implemented in late 2017, reshaped trucking, making it much more difficult to evade HOS limits. Many comments from truck drivers simply suggested some variant of ending the use of electronic logs and going back to paper logs. The request for information and the flood of responses are part of the Trump administration’s effort to identify and cut rules it considers unconstitutional, unlawful, unauthorized and unnecessarily burdensome. But respondents also called for new regulation that would help deter cargo crime and fraud. The National Association of Small Trucking Companies (NASTC) called for a permanent freight fraud enforcement task force with the DOT Office of the Inspector General. “This task force should be solely tasked with enforcing laws against fraud in transportation by investigating incidents and developing cases to bring to the Department of Justice,” the NASTC said in its comments. The organization also wants the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to “diligently maintain” its National Consumer Complaint Database to fight fraud cases. Contact William B. Cassidy at bill.cassidy@spglobal.com .

Trucking News

Truckload

Surface

Truckers send Trump administration long list of rules to rewrite or kill

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">The US’ second-largest intermodal carrier has not yet felt the effects of US tariffs on China but notes the delay in impact between the ports and the rails could take a few weeks.</div>

The US’ second-largest intermodal carrier has not yet felt the effects of US tariffs on China but notes the delay in impact between the ports and the rails could take a few weeks.

<div class="phx-topic">Hub Group, the US’ second-largest intermodal carrier, is warning that a drop in domestic intermodal volumes linked to US tariffs on China could emerge on the West Coast between mid-May and the end of June. Approximately a quarter of Hub Group’s West Coast business is tied to US imports, and about 30% of that originates in China, the company said during its first-quarter earnings call Thursday evening. The intermodal carrier laid out three potential outcomes based on how shippers respond to the evolving trade environment. “At the high end of the range is a short West Coast slowdown of China imports and strong bounce back of demand in the West Coast leading to a surge of volume in the back half of the year,” Hub Group CEO Phil Yeager said on the call. “The low end of the range would be an extended slowdown in China imports or the weakening of consumer spending.” Yeager said the more likely occurrence is a middle-ground scenario in which intermodal volumes decline modestly in the second half of the year without peak season surcharges. Last year, some shippers faced <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/up-joins-peers-in-assessing-peak-season-surcharges-for-southern-california-5709819">peak surcharges</a> when they exceeded their contractual allotments out of Southern California. A year of flat rates Hub Group’s intermodal volume rose 8% year over year in the first quarter, but revenue per load dropped 12%. One likely reason for the revenue decline is that Hub Group has taken a more aggressive pricing position than competitor Schneider National, according to several shippers the Journal of Commerce has spoken with. Another factor is the mix of freight. While Hub Group’s local East Coast volume rose 13% year over year, its transcontinental freight originating on the West Coast declined 1%. Shorter hauls on the East Coast naturally generate less revenue per load than longer intermodal routes from Southern California to inland markets such as Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, or Memphis. Hub Group said intermodal contract rates remained flat, echoing the data in the Journal of Commerce’s <a href="https://www.joc.com/resources/special-reports/intermodal-savings-index">Intermodal Savings Index</a>. Hub Group does not anticipate any changes through the end of the year. “In the initial onset of bid season, carriers were trying to push truckload rates up … what we’ve seen now in the second portion is more truckload competition [due to geopolitical trade tensions],” Yeager said. “In the second quarter, 38% of our business is getting bid out. I would say it’s been a little bit more aggressive, which is leading us to say we think flattish on pricing for the full year.” Yeager also said Hub Group does not plan to purchase additional containers in 2025; as much as 25% of the company’s containers are currently stacked and out of service. While the company does not disclose its total fleet size, independent estimates suggest Hub Group has idled about 10,000 containers nationwide. Those estimates come from Jason Hilsenbeck, the founder of drayage platform Loadmatch.com, which tracks domestic container fleet sizes across the US. Contact Ari Ashe at <a href="mailto:ari.ashe@spglobal.com">ari.ashe@spglobal.com</a>.</div>

Hub Group, the US’ second-largest intermodal carrier, is warning that a drop in domestic intermodal volumes linked to US tariffs on China could emerge on the West Coast between mid-May and the end of June. Approximately a quarter of Hub Group’s West Coast business is tied to US imports, and about 30% of that originates in China, the company said during its first-quarter earnings call Thursday evening. The intermodal carrier laid out three potential outcomes based on how shippers respond to the evolving trade environment. “At the high end of the range is a short West Coast slowdown of China imports and strong bounce back of demand in the West Coast leading to a surge of volume in the back half of the year,” Hub Group CEO Phil Yeager said on the call. “The low end of the range would be an extended slowdown in China imports or the weakening of consumer spending.” Yeager said the more likely occurrence is a middle-ground scenario in which intermodal volumes decline modestly in the second half of the year without peak season surcharges. Last year, some shippers faced peak surcharges when they exceeded their contractual allotments out of Southern California. A year of flat rates Hub Group’s intermodal volume rose 8% year over year in the first quarter, but revenue per load dropped 12%. One likely reason for the revenue decline is that Hub Group has taken a more aggressive pricing position than competitor Schneider National, according to several shippers the Journal of Commerce has spoken with. Another factor is the mix of freight. While Hub Group’s local East Coast volume rose 13% year over year, its transcontinental freight originating on the West Coast declined 1%. Shorter hauls on the East Coast naturally generate less revenue per load than longer intermodal routes from Southern California to inland markets such as Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, or Memphis. Hub Group said intermodal contract rates remained flat, echoing the data in the Journal of Commerce’s Intermodal Savings Index . Hub Group does not anticipate any changes through the end of the year. “In the initial onset of bid season, carriers were trying to push truckload rates up … what we’ve seen now in the second portion is more truckload competition [due to geopolitical trade tensions],” Yeager said. “In the second quarter, 38% of our business is getting bid out. I would say it’s been a little bit more aggressive, which is leading us to say we think flattish on pricing for the full year.” Yeager also said Hub Group does not plan to purchase additional containers in 2025; as much as 25% of the company’s containers are currently stacked and out of service. While the company does not disclose its total fleet size, independent estimates suggest Hub Group has idled about 10,000 containers nationwide. Those estimates come from Jason Hilsenbeck, the founder of drayage platform Loadmatch.com, which tracks domestic container fleet sizes across the US. Contact Ari Ashe at ari.ashe@spglobal.com .

North-American rail

Intermodal providers

Drop in USWC domestic intermodal volumes could come soon: Hub Group

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">The National Retail Federation also warned the negative growth will accelerate, with imports through the summer expected to be at least 20% lower than the corresponding month last year. </div>

The National Retail Federation also warned the negative growth will accelerate, with imports through the summer expected to be at least 20% lower than the corresponding month last year. 

<div class="phx-topic">US imports this month will see their first year-over-year decline in more than a year and a half as the “true impact” of the Trump administration’s tariffs come to fruition, a major retail group said Friday. The National Retail Federation (NRF) also warned the negative growth will accelerate, with imports from June through September expected to be at least 20% lower than the corresponding month last year.  “We are starting to see the true impact of President Trump’s tariffs on the supply chain,” Jonathan Gold, NRF’s vice president for Supply Chain and Customs Policy, said in the group’s newly released Global Port Tracker (GPT) published with Hackett Associates. Gold said the US tariffs will result in “higher costs for businesses as well as reduced cargo volumes.”  “In the end, these tariffs will affect consumers in the form of higher prices and less availability on store shelves,” he said.  That less availability will begin in May, with projected imports of 1.81 million TEUs down almost 13% from May 2024 and the first year-over-year drop in imports in 19 months, according to the GPT. Imports for June through September are projected to see year-over-year declines of 20.2%, 23.4%, 21.5% and 21.2%, respectively. Expected June imports of 1.71 million TEUs would be the lowest for any month since March 2023, the GPT said. Tariff impacts Tariffs implemented by President Donald Trump in April “come at the most important time in the buying process” for retailers, said Gold, adding that many retailers are being forced to delay or cancel orders — with small retailers being especially impacted. With a pre-tariff rush of imports that appears to have largely ended in January, the ratio of US retail inventories to sales, a barometer of inventory balance, was unchanged in February, at 1.31, according to US Census Bureau data. Amid US importers increasingly canceling or suspending orders, ocean carriers are making capacity adjustments in the form of <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/msc-suspends-two-us-services-rejigs-others-as-tariffs-hit-chinese-imports-6000649">suspended services</a> and blanked sailings. “Container carriers are indeed dropping voyages and consolidating cargo and service to ensure that their vessels are as full as possible and to maintain economies of scale as demand declines,” said Ben Hackett, founder of Hackett Associates.  While carriers have begun to suspend services on the trans-Pacific, Hackett added that reports of a “broken” supply chain and ships “making U-turns in mid-voyage” because of the tariffs are “very far from the truth and the reality on the ground.” The GPT expects 12.13 million TEUs in US imports for the first half of 2025, up just 0.3% on the year and a significant downgrade from the 5.7% growth that was forecast before tariffs were implemented. The GPT is published monthly using import data collected from 13 ports on the US East, West and Gulf coasts. Contact Laura Robb at <a href="">Laura.Robb@spglobal.com</a>.  </div>

US imports this month will see their first year-over-year decline in more than a year and a half as the “true impact” of the Trump administration’s tariffs come to fruition, a major retail group said Friday. The National Retail Federation (NRF) also warned the negative growth will accelerate, with imports from June through September expected to be at least 20% lower than the corresponding month last year.  “We are starting to see the true impact of President Trump’s tariffs on the supply chain,” Jonathan Gold, NRF’s vice president for Supply Chain and Customs Policy, said in the group’s newly released Global Port Tracker (GPT) published with Hackett Associates. Gold said the US tariffs will result in “higher costs for businesses as well as reduced cargo volumes.”  “In the end, these tariffs will affect consumers in the form of higher prices and less availability on store shelves,” he said.  That less availability will begin in May, with projected imports of 1.81 million TEUs down almost 13% from May 2024 and the first year-over-year drop in imports in 19 months, according to the GPT. Imports for June through September are projected to see year-over-year declines of 20.2%, 23.4%, 21.5% and 21.2%, respectively. Expected June imports of 1.71 million TEUs would be the lowest for any month since March 2023, the GPT said. Tariff impacts Tariffs implemented by President Donald Trump in April “come at the most important time in the buying process” for retailers, said Gold, adding that many retailers are being forced to delay or cancel orders — with small retailers being especially impacted. With a pre-tariff rush of imports that appears to have largely ended in January, the ratio of US retail inventories to sales, a barometer of inventory balance, was unchanged in February, at 1.31, according to US Census Bureau data. Amid US importers increasingly canceling or suspending orders, ocean carriers are making capacity adjustments in the form of suspended services and blanked sailings. “Container carriers are indeed dropping voyages and consolidating cargo and service to ensure that their vessels are as full as possible and to maintain economies of scale as demand declines,” said Ben Hackett, founder of Hackett Associates.  While carriers have begun to suspend services on the trans-Pacific, Hackett added that reports of a “broken” supply chain and ships “making U-turns in mid-voyage” because of the tariffs are “very far from the truth and the reality on the ground.” The GPT expects 12.13 million TEUs in US imports for the first half of 2025, up just 0.3% on the year and a significant downgrade from the 5.7% growth that was forecast before tariffs were implemented. The GPT is published monthly using import data collected from 13 ports on the US East, West and Gulf coasts. Contact Laura Robb at Laura.Robb@spglobal.com . 

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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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