<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">WiseTech Global is doubling down on its reach into US intermodal networks with its $414 million purchase of Blume Global three weeks after acquiring drayage tech provider Envase. </div>

WiseTech Global is doubling down on its reach into US intermodal networks with its $414 million purchase of Blume Global three weeks after acquiring drayage tech provider Envase.

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<div>Less than a month after announcing a major drayage-focused acquisition, WiseTech Global — the largest global forwarding software vendor by annual revenue — on Thursday said it’s extending its reach farther inland by acquiring intermodal and rail visibility specialist Blume Global for $414 million. The latest acquisition, on the heels of the $230 million deal to acquire drayage solutions provider Envase Technologies, gives WiseTech a foothold into the intermodal container and chassis flows of six of the seven Class I railroads in North America. Among many logistics providers promising visibility, Blume focuses on leveraging data from chassis use and location...

Less than a month after announcing a major drayage-focused acquisition, WiseTech Global — the largest global forwarding software vendor by annual revenue — on Thursday said it’s extending its reach farther inland by acquiring intermodal and rail visibility specialist Blume Global for $414 million. The latest acquisition, on the heels of the $230 million deal to acquire drayage solutions provider Envase Technologies, gives WiseTech a foothold into the intermodal container and chassis flows of six of the seven Class I railroads in North America. Among many logistics providers promising visibility, Blume focuses on leveraging data from chassis use and location rather than on trucking and container shipping visibility. For WiseTech, a resumption of its recently dormant acquisition strategy over the last year is a signal it intends to put space between its forwarding software competitors by better connecting ocean transportation to inland North American intermodal moves. “It further extends our capability in one of our six key CargoWise development priority areas, integrating rail into our landside logistics offering in North America, the most complex and largest logistics region in the world,” WiseTech CEO Richard White said in the statement. Blume was acquired in 2019 by Apollo Funds , a part of the private equity company Apollo Global Management, along with its then-sister company, chassis provider Direct ChassisLink, Inc. (DCLI), before being spun off as an independent technology provider. It rebranded in 2018 from its previous name REZ-1. Contact Eric Johnson at eric.johnson@ihsmarkit.com and follow him on Twitter: @LogTechEric .

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WiseTech continues acquisition campaign with $414 million Blume purchase

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Each month of last year saw reliability degrade compared with the corresponding month in 2023, although 2024 carried the burden of vessel diversions around southern Africa as carriers avoided the Suez Canal and Red Sea.</div>

Each month of last year saw reliability degrade compared with the corresponding month in 2023, although 2024 carried the burden of vessel diversions around southern Africa as carriers avoided the Suez Canal and Red Sea.

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<div class="phx-topic">Gemini Cooperation’s goal of 90% schedule reliability is being pitched as a money-saving proposition for shippers, with alliance partner Maersk saying ocean carrier customers are taking on added costs when only one out of every two ships arrives on time.During a webinar Monday, Johan Sigsgaard, chief product officer for A.P. Moller – Maersk, noted how global vessel schedule reliability hovered near 50% through 2024, most recently coming in at 53.8% in December, according to data from Sea-Intelligence Maritime Analysis. Each month of last year saw reliability degrade compared with the corresponding month in 2023, although 2024 carried the burden of vessel diversions around southern Africa as carriers avoided the Suez Canal and Red Sea.“We are simply put in a position where only one out of two [ships] are arriving on time,” Sigsgaard said on the webinar. “We have set this ambition of 90% [reliability] ... That’s basically the level we believe it will take for [shippers] to remove some of the costs that [are] right now associated with ships arriving delayed.” Those costs, he said, are often presented in the form of buffer inventory and even emergency transportation for in-demand products. According to Sigsgaard, global schedule reliability challenges are serving as an upstream source of service inconsistency, saying <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/gemini-cooperation-on-cusp-of-launching-bold-experiment-in-service-networks-5927215">Gemini Cooperation’s hub-and-spoke design</a> will be less burdened by compounding effects risked by making too many port calls. In one example, Sigsgaard cited a trade route reducing its number of port calls from seven to only three.“The biggest correlating factor to delays is actually the number of stops,” he said.Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd will launch Gemini on Feb. 1.Sigsgaard said the “agile” network will depend on three factors, including the use of dedicated shuttles that will enable a single port disruption to be isolated, upgraded hubs that will link shuttles to mainliners, and leaner mainline loops that will call fewer ports.Contact Laura Robb at <a href="mailto:laura.robb@spglobal.com">laura.robb@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

Gemini Cooperation’s goal of 90% schedule reliability is being pitched as a money-saving proposition for shippers, with alliance partner Maersk saying ocean carrier customers are taking on added costs when only one out of every two ships arrives on time. During a webinar Monday, Johan Sigsgaard, chief product officer for A.P. Moller – Maersk, noted how global vessel schedule reliability hovered near 50% through 2024, most recently coming in at 53.8% in December, according to data from Sea-Intelligence Maritime Analysis. Each month of last year saw reliability degrade compared with the corresponding month in 2023, although 2024 carried the burden of vessel diversions around southern Africa as carriers avoided the Suez Canal and Red Sea. “We are simply put in a position where only one out of two [ships] are arriving on time,” Sigsgaard said on the webinar. “We have set this ambition of 90% [reliability] ... That’s basically the level we believe it will take for [shippers] to remove some of the costs that [are] right now associated with ships arriving delayed.” Those costs, he said, are often presented in the form of buffer inventory and even emergency transportation for in-demand products. According to Sigsgaard, global schedule reliability challenges are serving as an upstream source of service inconsistency, saying Gemini Cooperation’s hub-and-spoke design will be less burdened by compounding effects risked by making too many port calls. In one example, Sigsgaard cited a trade route reducing its number of port calls from seven to only three. “The biggest correlating factor to delays is actually the number of stops,” he said. Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd will launch Gemini on Feb. 1. Sigsgaard said the “agile” network will depend on three factors, including the use of dedicated shuttles that will enable a single port disruption to be isolated, upgraded hubs that will link shuttles to mainliners, and leaner mainline loops that will call fewer ports. Contact Laura Robb at laura.robb@spglobal.com .

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Gemini to save shippers money by besting schedule reliability challenges: Maersk

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">The Belgian port has restored the throughput that was lost following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, filling the gap in part by capturing market share from its northern range rivals.</div>

The Belgian port has restored the throughput that was lost following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, filling the gap in part by capturing market share from its northern range rivals.

<div class="phx-topic">Throughput at Antwerp-Bruges jumped just over 8% in 2024 to 13.5 million TEUs as Europe’s second-largest port returned its container volumes to a level last seen in 2022. It has taken the Belgian port two years to claw back the 1 million TEUs in volume that was lost following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, as Antwerp-Bruges was able to fill the gap in part by capturing market share from its northern range rivals. “There were 500,000 TEUs to Russia alone before the war in Ukraine and that disappeared completely,” Jacques Vandermeiren, CEO of the Port of Antwerp-Bruges, said in a results webinar Monday. “Looking at 2024 and where we are today without the Russian market, we are at a comparable level again and that is an indication that we have absorbed the loss of an export market and are attractive for container shippers in this region,” he added. Total throughput at the port across all types of cargo reached 278 million tons, up 2.3% over 2023. But the containerized cargo segment was the driving force behind the port’s growth, Vandermeiren noted. Reefer containers increased by 9.2% and accounted for 8.6% of the total container traffic last year. The rising volume saw Antwerp-Bruges’ market share in Northern Europe’s Hamburg-Le Havre Range grow by 0.7 of a percentage point to 30.6% in the first nine months of last year. Other segments felt the impact of challenging market conditions, however. The port’s chemicals sector had its worst year since 2009, falling almost 6% year over year to 83.6 million metric tons. Sectors such as construction and automotive were under pressure from high energy and raw material prices and low demand. <h3>Daily fight against cyber-attacks, drugs </h3>While positive in his outlook for the container shipping and energy sectors, Vandermeiren painted a grim picture of Antwerp-Bruges under siege from cybersecurity attacks and drug smuggling. “It is a daily fight, but the results last year were impressive,” he told the webinar. “For the first time in 10 years we intercepted much lower quantities in drugs than before, down from 110 tons to 42 tons in last year. “We introduced the certified pick-up application, and more than 1 million import containers need to use it, which is safe and involves customs and terminals before the box is delivered to the barge or train,” he added. “This is the main reason for the decrease in the amount of drugs being intercepted.” But in the cybersecurity arena, Vandermeiren said although it was not a new risk, it was a constant and growing issue. “We receive massive attacks on our data centers and servers day and night from Russia or Russian-friendly countries, and it is also being seen in the ports of Rotterdam, Le Havre, Hamburg and Bremen,” he said. “This is not peace time anymore. We are somewhere between peace and real war and cyber-attacks are the first indications,” he added. “More recently, we see nautical maneuvers around wind farms in the North Sea and the Baltic Sea destroying data cables and gas pipes.” Vandermeiren said as the risks increased, ports are having to “collaborate more intensely” with national security agencies and at the level of NATO to protect data and physical infrastructure. Contact Greg Knowler at <a href="mailto:greg.knowler@spglobal.com">greg.knowler@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

Throughput at Antwerp-Bruges jumped just over 8% in 2024 to 13.5 million TEUs as Europe’s second-largest port returned its container volumes to a level last seen in 2022. It has taken the Belgian port two years to claw back the 1 million TEUs in volume that was lost following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, as Antwerp-Bruges was able to fill the gap in part by capturing market share from its northern range rivals. “There were 500,000 TEUs to Russia alone before the war in Ukraine and that disappeared completely,” Jacques Vandermeiren, CEO of the Port of Antwerp-Bruges, said in a results webinar Monday. “Looking at 2024 and where we are today without the Russian market, we are at a comparable level again and that is an indication that we have absorbed the loss of an export market and are attractive for container shippers in this region,” he added. Total throughput at the port across all types of cargo reached 278 million tons, up 2.3% over 2023. But the containerized cargo segment was the driving force behind the port’s growth, Vandermeiren noted. Reefer containers increased by 9.2% and accounted for 8.6% of the total container traffic last year. The rising volume saw Antwerp-Bruges’ market share in Northern Europe’s Hamburg-Le Havre Range grow by 0.7 of a percentage point to 30.6% in the first nine months of last year. Other segments felt the impact of challenging market conditions, however. The port’s chemicals sector had its worst year since 2009, falling almost 6% year over year to 83.6 million metric tons. Sectors such as construction and automotive were under pressure from high energy and raw material prices and low demand. Daily fight against cyber-attacks, drugs While positive in his outlook for the container shipping and energy sectors, Vandermeiren painted a grim picture of Antwerp-Bruges under siege from cybersecurity attacks and drug smuggling. “It is a daily fight, but the results last year were impressive,” he told the webinar. “For the first time in 10 years we intercepted much lower quantities in drugs than before, down from 110 tons to 42 tons in last year. “We introduced the certified pick-up application, and more than 1 million import containers need to use it, which is safe and involves customs and terminals before the box is delivered to the barge or train,” he added. “This is the main reason for the decrease in the amount of drugs being intercepted.” But in the cybersecurity arena, Vandermeiren said although it was not a new risk, it was a constant and growing issue. “We receive massive attacks on our data centers and servers day and night from Russia or Russian-friendly countries, and it is also being seen in the ports of Rotterdam, Le Havre, Hamburg and Bremen,” he said. “This is not peace time anymore. We are somewhere between peace and real war and cyber-attacks are the first indications,” he added. “More recently, we see nautical maneuvers around wind farms in the North Sea and the Baltic Sea destroying data cables and gas pipes.” Vandermeiren said as the risks increased, ports are having to “collaborate more intensely” with national security agencies and at the level of NATO to protect data and physical infrastructure. Contact Greg Knowler at greg.knowler@spglobal.com .

Antwerp-Bruges claws back volumes lost over past two years

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">With voyages around southern Africa taking up to 45 days and most carriers continuing to divert away from the Red Sea, the shorter route cuts the transit time of Kawa Shipping’s China-Europe Express to just 26 days.</div>

With voyages around southern Africa taking up to 45 days and most carriers continuing to divert away from the Red Sea, the shorter route cuts the transit time of Kawa Shipping’s China-Europe Express to just 26 days.

<div class="phx-topic">Kawa Shipping’s new China-Europe Express service is being routed via the Suez Canal, enabling the carrier to offer a 26-day transit direct from Ningbo to Germany’s JadeWasserPort in Wilhelmshaven, billed as the fastest service on the Asia-Europe trade lane. The first ship of the CEX expedited service was the 2,500-TEU Kawa Ningbo that called at JadeWasser Port last week carrying time-sensitive products, including batteries and consumer goods. As a Hong Kong-listed carrier with no affiliation to Israel, Kawa Shipping has been able to offer the new CEX service using the shorter route through the Red Sea, apparently with no fear of facing attacks by Houthi militants that have forced most ocean carriers to divert around southern Africa for the past 14 months. “Since the Chinese shipping company, Kawa Shipping, does not make a stop in an Israeli port because the CEX is a direct service between China and Northern Europe, the company does not expect any problems with the route selection through the Suez Canal,” a spokesperson for JadeWeserPort told the Journal of Commerce Monday. While using the shorter route through the Suez gives Kawa Shipping a competitive advantage over its peers, the carrier is only offering a monthly service From Ningbo to Wilhelmshaven for the first half of the year. It will be operated by four vessels ranging from 1,600 TEUs to 2,500 TEUs, with plans to expand to a fortnightly service using 5,000-TEU ships in the second half of the year. Marc-Oliver Hauswald, managing director of Container Terminal Wilhelmshaven JadeWeserPort Marketing, said the CEX service was a unique link between two strong economic regions — the Shanghai River Delta and Northern Europe. “This waterborne fast lane will connect Northern Europe and China in just 26 days without any further stopovers, complementing existing liner services,” Hauswald said in a statement Monday, adding that JadeWeserPort was fast developing as a regional hub with a hinterland rail network reaching as far inland as Budapest. Wilhelmshaven is also one of the hubs for <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/gemini-cooperation-on-cusp-of-launching-bold-experiment-in-service-networks-5927215">the new Gemini Cooperation alliance</a> between Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd that launches next week. It is Germany’s only deepwater port that is not affected by tidal flows that can limit access of large container ships. <h3>Diversions continue despite Houthi pledge </h3>Most of the world’s ocean carriers continue to divert their ships around southern Africa, a route that takes about 45 days from China to North Europe, <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/carriers-eye-red-sea-transits-after-houthi-rebels-pledge-restraint-5925939">despite recent pledges by the Houthi</a> that attacks will now be limited to ships affiliated with Israel. Ocean carriers are closely monitoring the situation in the Red Sea, with CMA CGM noting that despite the <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/return-to-suez-not-a-certainty-even-after-israel-hamas-ceasefire-analysts-5923830">positive progress being made toward stability</a> in the region, the fragile nature of that stability meant it was not yet possible to end diversions around Africa. “Given the ongoing tensions and associated risks for commercial vessels in certain areas, CMA CGM will for the time being continue to prioritize alternative routes, including a significant reliance on passage via the Cape of Good Hope,” CMA CGM said in its latest update. However, the carrier did not completely close the door on Red Sea transits. “While this approach applies to the majority of our network, adjustments may be made on a case-by-case basis depending on security and global operational conditions,” it said. Contact Greg Knowler at <a href="mailto:greg.knowler@spglobal.com">greg.knowler@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

Kawa Shipping’s new China-Europe Express service is being routed via the Suez Canal, enabling the carrier to offer a 26-day transit direct from Ningbo to Germany’s JadeWasserPort in Wilhelmshaven, billed as the fastest service on the Asia-Europe trade lane. The first ship of the CEX expedited service was the 2,500-TEU Kawa Ningbo that called at JadeWasser Port last week carrying time-sensitive products, including batteries and consumer goods. As a Hong Kong-listed carrier with no affiliation to Israel, Kawa Shipping has been able to offer the new CEX service using the shorter route through the Red Sea, apparently with no fear of facing attacks by Houthi militants that have forced most ocean carriers to divert around southern Africa for the past 14 months. “Since the Chinese shipping company, Kawa Shipping, does not make a stop in an Israeli port because the CEX is a direct service between China and Northern Europe, the company does not expect any problems with the route selection through the Suez Canal,” a spokesperson for JadeWeserPort told the Journal of Commerce Monday. While using the shorter route through the Suez gives Kawa Shipping a competitive advantage over its peers, the carrier is only offering a monthly service From Ningbo to Wilhelmshaven for the first half of the year. It will be operated by four vessels ranging from 1,600 TEUs to 2,500 TEUs, with plans to expand to a fortnightly service using 5,000-TEU ships in the second half of the year. Marc-Oliver Hauswald, managing director of Container Terminal Wilhelmshaven JadeWeserPort Marketing, said the CEX service was a unique link between two strong economic regions — the Shanghai River Delta and Northern Europe. “This waterborne fast lane will connect Northern Europe and China in just 26 days without any further stopovers, complementing existing liner services,” Hauswald said in a statement Monday, adding that JadeWeserPort was fast developing as a regional hub with a hinterland rail network reaching as far inland as Budapest. Wilhelmshaven is also one of the hubs for the new Gemini Cooperation alliance between Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd that launches next week. It is Germany’s only deepwater port that is not affected by tidal flows that can limit access of large container ships. Diversions continue despite Houthi pledge Most of the world’s ocean carriers continue to divert their ships around southern Africa, a route that takes about 45 days from China to North Europe, despite recent pledges by the Houthi that attacks will now be limited to ships affiliated with Israel. Ocean carriers are closely monitoring the situation in the Red Sea, with CMA CGM noting that despite the positive progress being made toward stability in the region, the fragile nature of that stability meant it was not yet possible to end diversions around Africa. “Given the ongoing tensions and associated risks for commercial vessels in certain areas, CMA CGM will for the time being continue to prioritize alternative routes, including a significant reliance on passage via the Cape of Good Hope,” CMA CGM said in its latest update. However, the carrier did not completely close the door on Red Sea transits. “While this approach applies to the majority of our network, adjustments may be made on a case-by-case basis depending on security and global operational conditions,” it said. Contact Greg Knowler at greg.knowler@spglobal.com .

Asia-Europe

Suez routing allows rapid transit of new expedited China-Europe service

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">While a bit softer since the start of the year, rates are not falling at the same pace they were in the second half of 2024 when prices plummeted from almost $11,000 per FEU in early August.</div>

While a bit softer since the start of the year, rates are not falling at the same pace they were in the second half of 2024 when prices plummeted from almost $11,000 per FEU in early August.

<div class="phx-topic">Container lines active on the India-US East Coast trade have been able to arrest the sharp decline in spot rates, with local freight forwarder sources citing lower capacity due to a string of blank calls for West India across all the lead services this month. The known declared capacity cuts include two sailings voided on the Ocean Network Express (ONE) WIN service, as well as one blanking each for Hapag-Lloyd’s TPI, CMA CGM’s Indamex and Mediterranean Shipping Co.’s Indusa strings. “Capacity shortfalls have opportunistically helped carriers stave off a further [sharp] reduction in rate levels,” a sales manager at a Mumbai-based forwarding house who didn’t want to be identified told the Journal of Commerce. “The market continues to be volatile.” Forwarder sources put average spot booking rates from Nhava Sheva to New York at between $1,350 and $1,500 per FEU, with Cosco Shipping and its subsidiary OOCL usually quoting the lowest prices. Platts, a sister company of the Journal of Commerce within S&amp;P Global, pegged spot rates on the trade lane at $1,480 per FEU as of Jan. 24, down from $1,575 per FEU three weeks ago. While a bit softer since the start of the year, rates are not falling at the same pace they were in the second half of 2024 when prices plummeted from almost $11,000 per FEU in early August. <div class="wrapper-narrow"><dynamic-object type="jocchartid" resource-id="56199e2b-5df4-468f-a149-b18ae7c32e51"></dynamic-object></div>Major carriers, meanwhile, remain skeptical about their ability to push through general rate increases (GRIs) or peak season surcharges (PSSs) lined up for February, mostly in the range of $1,000 per container. Indeed, there are already some signs they are unlikely to stick with those plans as Maersk has canceled a Feb. 9 PSS due to what it called “current market conditions,” while others are reportedly considering resetting the implementation date from Feb. 1 to Feb. 15. “We do not expect any rate hikes to work for now,” a trade manager at a European carrier said. Daniel Krassenstein, global supply chain director of US-based industrial packaging manufacturer Procon Pacific, reiterated the uncertainty looming over new carrier rate efforts. “Overall, any GRI plans at this juncture will not be successful, but they instead could act to prevent further rate erosion on certain trade lanes,” Krassenstein told the Journal of Commerce. “If the Suez starts to even partially reopen to container shipping, then India-USEC rates could drop quickly due to extreme overcapacity on the lane.” Contact Bency Mathew at <a href="mailto:bencyvmathew@gmail.com">bencyvmathew@gmail.com</a>.</div>

Container lines active on the India-US East Coast trade have been able to arrest the sharp decline in spot rates, with local freight forwarder sources citing lower capacity due to a string of blank calls for West India across all the lead services this month. The known declared capacity cuts include two sailings voided on the Ocean Network Express (ONE) WIN service, as well as one blanking each for Hapag-Lloyd’s TPI, CMA CGM’s Indamex and Mediterranean Shipping Co.’s Indusa strings. “Capacity shortfalls have opportunistically helped carriers stave off a further [sharp] reduction in rate levels,” a sales manager at a Mumbai-based forwarding house who didn’t want to be identified told the Journal of Commerce. “The market continues to be volatile.” Forwarder sources put average spot booking rates from Nhava Sheva to New York at between $1,350 and $1,500 per FEU, with Cosco Shipping and its subsidiary OOCL usually quoting the lowest prices. Platts, a sister company of the Journal of Commerce within S&P Global, pegged spot rates on the trade lane at $1,480 per FEU as of Jan. 24, down from $1,575 per FEU three weeks ago. While a bit softer since the start of the year, rates are not falling at the same pace they were in the second half of 2024 when prices plummeted from almost $11,000 per FEU in early August. Major carriers, meanwhile, remain skeptical about their ability to push through general rate increases (GRIs) or peak season surcharges (PSSs) lined up for February, mostly in the range of $1,000 per container. Indeed, there are already some signs they are unlikely to stick with those plans as Maersk has canceled a Feb. 9 PSS due to what it called “current market conditions,” while others are reportedly considering resetting the implementation date from Feb. 1 to Feb. 15. “We do not expect any rate hikes to work for now,” a trade manager at a European carrier said. Daniel Krassenstein, global supply chain director of US-based industrial packaging manufacturer Procon Pacific, reiterated the uncertainty looming over new carrier rate efforts. “Overall, any GRI plans at this juncture will not be successful, but they instead could act to prevent further rate erosion on certain trade lanes,” Krassenstein told the Journal of Commerce. “If the Suez starts to even partially reopen to container shipping, then India-USEC rates could drop quickly due to extreme overcapacity on the lane.” Contact Bency Mathew at bencyvmathew@gmail.com .

Sailing cuts slow pace of decline for India-USEC spot ocean rates

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Changes in supply chains, rising manufacturing demand and even the collapse of Yellow have more LTL trucking firms looking for business on the US-Mexico border.</div>

Changes in supply chains, rising manufacturing demand and even the collapse of Yellow have more LTL trucking firms looking for business on the US-Mexico border.

<div class="phx-topic">Undeterred by tariff threats and inspired by projected growth in Mexican manufacturing, US LTL providers are building a bigger presence on the US-Mexico border. In doing so, LTL companies are pursuing a larger share of cross-border business historically handled more by truckload carriers and intermodal rail providers, while answering demand from US importers for more frequent, smaller shipments. Increased LTL participation in cross-border trucking may also help reduce an entrenched imbalance in truck capacity at the US-Mexico border that exacerbates costs. Truck-borne US trade with Mexico is steadily growing. In the first 11 months of 2024, the northbound truck count from Mexico was up 3.6% year over year, according to the US Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), surpassing 7 million trucks. In 2023, cross-border truck volume from Mexico rose 1.4% but was up 14.2% from 2019 and 35.9% from 2014, according to BTS data. Behind much of that growth is long-term expansion by manufacturers with close ties to US markets, as well as direct foreign investment in manufacturing plants in Mexico. Global companies pumped $31 billion in direct foreign investment into Mexico in the first half of 2024, a 7% annualized increase, according to Mexico’s Ministry of Economy. But current weakness in US manufacturing creates a drag south of the border. The S&amp;P Global Mexico Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) fell 0.1 percentage point in December to 49.8, just short of the line between expansion and contraction. Heightened flexibility will be needed as US-Mexico trade outpaces infrastructure development along the border. There are only 21 US-Mexico truck border crossings and about 88 truck lanes, although more are under construction. That means US-bound freight will move through a narrower funnel as demand rises. <h3>LTL to the border </h3>Pitt Ohio’s launch this week of a new express LTL lane from the Midwest to six crossing points on the US-Mexico border is the latest in a series of LTL cross-border expansions. XPO last year expanded its number of cross-border service centers <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/xpo-expands-cross-border-services-as-ltl-interest-in-mexico-grows-5703043">from two to seven</a> and through its partners added dozens of terminals in Mexico. Saia extended its cross-border reach by <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/saia-fletes-mexico-enter-cross-border-ltl-partnership-5199951">partnering with Fletes Mexico</a>, one of Mexico’s largest LTL companies. TFI International, the largest trucking company in Canada and parent company of US LTL carrier TForce Freight, last year acquired cross-border <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/canadas-tfi-buys-hercules-forwarding-extending-ltl-cross-border-reach-5214694">LTL specialist Hercules Forwarding</a>. Regional LTL provider Southeastern Freight Lines added a new lane to Las Cruces in New Mexico, part of the Borderplex region that includes El Paso and Ciudad Juárez. That LTL rush to the border in part followed the July 2023 bankruptcy of Yellow, then the third-largest US LTL provider. “When Yellow was doing good, they were the largest LTL carrier in the cross-border business,” said Satish Jindel, president of transportation research firm SJ Consulting Group. “Saia gained a lot of that business from Yellow and has kept it.” Practically every LTL carrier of note is pursuing US-Mexico shipments, even those such as Pitt Ohio, whose headquarters are on Pennsylvania’s Allegheny River, far from the Rio Grande. Pitt Ohio will consolidate shipments in Cincinnati and use team drivers to expedite deliveries to Averitt Express terminals in Texas, beginning with San Antonio. “We see opportunities with consolidation of raw materials going south to plants in Mexico,” said Geoffrey Muessig, chief marketing officer at Pitt Ohio. <h3>Consolidate, deconsolidate, repeat </h3>That’s similar to a cross-border strategy employed by Contract Freighters (CFI), a truckload subsidiary of Heartland Express and pioneer in US-Mexico trucking. Since 2020, <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/truck-capacity-constraints-worsen-on-us-mexico-border-5249492">CFI has consolidated LTL shipments headed to Mexico</a> at US distribution centers and shipped them south in full truckloads. Deconsolidation takes place in Mexico, where CFI then distributes goods using its own network of LTL terminals and providers. Supply chain disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic inspired that service, but the strategy fits growing demand for faster replenishment and smaller shipments. Those smaller shipments are often of components used in manufacturing of numerous types of products in the US. About 40% of the components used to turn out US-made cars and trucks are now sourced in Mexico, according to the US Department of Commerce. Those components may flow back and forth across the US border several times. That shift is helping to fuel <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/ryder-expands-footprint-in-laredo-after-truck-border-crossings-rose-5-last-year-5200239">continued growth in cross-docking and warehousing</a> in Laredo, the biggest US border crossing, and other crossing points along the border. The entrenched capacity imbalance at the border, with as many as five truckloads headed north for each truckload going south, also means more shipments are being broken down. Greater transloading of freight is facilitating more use of LTL and partial truckload to meet precise delivery requirements. Improvements in technology, especially visibility tools, also make it easier for logistics providers and shippers to shift between modes. Cross-border trucking may become more complex, but carriers believe it can become more efficient as well. And they believe the business will grow — perhaps faster than purely domestic demand. As a Northeast regional carrier, “we never really participated in the import boom from Asia,” Pitt Ohio’s Muessig said. “Our mindset is we need to participate in the import boom coming out of Mexico.” Contact William B. Cassidy at <a href="mailto:bill.cassidy@spglobal.com">bill.cassidy@spglobal.com</a>.</div>

Undeterred by tariff threats and inspired by projected growth in Mexican manufacturing, US LTL providers are building a bigger presence on the US-Mexico border. In doing so, LTL companies are pursuing a larger share of cross-border business historically handled more by truckload carriers and intermodal rail providers, while answering demand from US importers for more frequent, smaller shipments. Increased LTL participation in cross-border trucking may also help reduce an entrenched imbalance in truck capacity at the US-Mexico border that exacerbates costs. Truck-borne US trade with Mexico is steadily growing. In the first 11 months of 2024, the northbound truck count from Mexico was up 3.6% year over year, according to the US Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), surpassing 7 million trucks. In 2023, cross-border truck volume from Mexico rose 1.4% but was up 14.2% from 2019 and 35.9% from 2014, according to BTS data. Behind much of that growth is long-term expansion by manufacturers with close ties to US markets, as well as direct foreign investment in manufacturing plants in Mexico. Global companies pumped $31 billion in direct foreign investment into Mexico in the first half of 2024, a 7% annualized increase, according to Mexico’s Ministry of Economy. But current weakness in US manufacturing creates a drag south of the border. The S&P Global Mexico Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) fell 0.1 percentage point in December to 49.8, just short of the line between expansion and contraction. Heightened flexibility will be needed as US-Mexico trade outpaces infrastructure development along the border. There are only 21 US-Mexico truck border crossings and about 88 truck lanes, although more are under construction. That means US-bound freight will move through a narrower funnel as demand rises. LTL to the border Pitt Ohio’s launch this week of a new express LTL lane from the Midwest to six crossing points on the US-Mexico border is the latest in a series of LTL cross-border expansions. XPO last year expanded its number of cross-border service centers from two to seven and through its partners added dozens of terminals in Mexico. Saia extended its cross-border reach by partnering with Fletes Mexico , one of Mexico’s largest LTL companies. TFI International, the largest trucking company in Canada and parent company of US LTL carrier TForce Freight, last year acquired cross-border LTL specialist Hercules Forwarding . Regional LTL provider Southeastern Freight Lines added a new lane to Las Cruces in New Mexico, part of the Borderplex region that includes El Paso and Ciudad Juárez. That LTL rush to the border in part followed the July 2023 bankruptcy of Yellow, then the third-largest US LTL provider. “When Yellow was doing good, they were the largest LTL carrier in the cross-border business,” said Satish Jindel, president of transportation research firm SJ Consulting Group. “Saia gained a lot of that business from Yellow and has kept it.” Practically every LTL carrier of note is pursuing US-Mexico shipments, even those such as Pitt Ohio, whose headquarters are on Pennsylvania’s Allegheny River, far from the Rio Grande. Pitt Ohio will consolidate shipments in Cincinnati and use team drivers to expedite deliveries to Averitt Express terminals in Texas, beginning with San Antonio. “We see opportunities with consolidation of raw materials going south to plants in Mexico,” said Geoffrey Muessig, chief marketing officer at Pitt Ohio. Consolidate, deconsolidate, repeat That’s similar to a cross-border strategy employed by Contract Freighters (CFI), a truckload subsidiary of Heartland Express and pioneer in US-Mexico trucking. Since 2020, CFI has consolidated LTL shipments headed to Mexico at US distribution centers and shipped them south in full truckloads. Deconsolidation takes place in Mexico, where CFI then distributes goods using its own network of LTL terminals and providers. Supply chain disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic inspired that service, but the strategy fits growing demand for faster replenishment and smaller shipments. Those smaller shipments are often of components used in manufacturing of numerous types of products in the US. About 40% of the components used to turn out US-made cars and trucks are now sourced in Mexico, according to the US Department of Commerce. Those components may flow back and forth across the US border several times. That shift is helping to fuel continued growth in cross-docking and warehousing in Laredo, the biggest US border crossing, and other crossing points along the border. The entrenched capacity imbalance at the border, with as many as five truckloads headed north for each truckload going south, also means more shipments are being broken down. Greater transloading of freight is facilitating more use of LTL and partial truckload to meet precise delivery requirements. Improvements in technology, especially visibility tools, also make it easier for logistics providers and shippers to shift between modes. Cross-border trucking may become more complex, but carriers believe it can become more efficient as well. And they believe the business will grow — perhaps faster than purely domestic demand. As a Northeast regional carrier, “we never really participated in the import boom from Asia,” Pitt Ohio’s Muessig said. “Our mindset is we need to participate in the import boom coming out of Mexico.” Contact William B. Cassidy at bill.cassidy@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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