Commentary

The cyclical nature of container shipping hasn’t changed, but the industry has reached a point in which the big carriers can look forward to good long-term returns on investment and outside investor parties looking for a way in, writes Jeremy Masters.

It’s hard to see a world where AI isn’t a necessary component for financial durability in a sector that will always grapple with the volatility of freight rates and the ebbs and flows of demand and volumes.

The large fuel tanks needed for low-density alternative fuels could make them a non-starter for multipurpose vessels.

Beneficial cargo owners have numerous market factors and risks to weigh when formulating a strategy for negotiating next year’s service contracts, writes John McCauley.

Whether Kamala Harris or Donald Trump wins, the result will likely mean an accelerated supply chain shift out of China, but to different degrees, writes the supply chain director for industrial packaging firm Procon Pacific.

The container shipping industry has been slow to innovate its core commercial and customer service product, according to Jeremy Masters.

Despite sometimes disappointing outcomes even following the best of intentions, it is still worth the effort for shippers to take the steps toward building partnerships with carriers and forwarders that can withstand the ever more frequent swings in the market, writes Kristian Ording, consultant and former logistics director

Today, there are armies of the modern-day equivalent of longshoremen who, instead of moving heavy bags of sugar using steel hooks, are keying and rekeying the same data between various systems.

Post-election uncertainties in Europe have shined a light on complex problems hampering heavy transport across the EU, writes Ton Klijn, director of the European Association of Abnormal Road Transport and Mobile Cranes (ESTA).

Alone among the modes, the railroads are not able to say “no” to the demands of interior point intermodal (IPI), most recently seen in the surge of imports through the US Pacific Northwest and the congestion that followed, writes intermodal analyst Larry Gross.

The holy grail of end-to-end enablement within the container shipping booking process remains elusive, and automation can’t fix that, writes consultant John McCauley.

A recent survey found that almost 70% of surveyed ports have set formal goals for decarbonization, including net-zero or carbon-neutral goals that encompass emissions both in and out of the ports’ direct control, writes Panos Koutsourakis of the American Bureau of Shipping.

While shippers have become increasingly more sophisticated and demanding of transportation providers over the years, the railroads have failed to adapt and provide reliable, predictable service.

What if ocean carriers offered some hedging solutions to pricing volatility that differentiated them from their competition and for which they could charge a fair fee, wonders Jeremy Masters, managing director at consultancy Shipping Masters.

Like a game of “whack-a-mole,” precision scheduled railroading entails certain complicated tradeoffs — specifically in the industrial and intermodal segments, writes Ted Prince.

All BCOs and carriers have some form of relationship that falls within a short-term need focused on pricing, although most aspire for something more cooperative and steadier, writes John McCauley.

The on-time, ­damage-free delivery of cargo supporting project schedule integrity, including managing unexpected disruptions, is the common goal of logistics teams and their service providers.

Global freight requires reliability, but if the commercial backdrop lacks fast and accurate information flows or trustworthy ocean contracts, containers don’t move as needed.

The security situation in and around the Red Sea has lifted the lid on a few new factors in ocean shipping, and therefore has done much to dispel the binary view of the prevailing balance of power between carriers and BCOs, writes John McCauley.

Unicorns project an image of being visionary companies that can attract and retain private investors, but they are facing their own mortality as they suffer calamitous drops in value – or worse.

Product shortages, price shocks and escalating geopolitical disruptions are slated to hit simultaneously in 2024, forewarning industry leaders to prepare now to lessen the impact.

Europe’s CBER, which will be allowed to lapse next April, has not achieved increased competition or improved service levels provided by ocean carriers, writes industry veteran John McCauley.

With regulators watching carefully, some railroads have modified their message -- that lower expenses will actually enable them to compete more effectively for truck freight by offering better service at a lower price.

Borrowing a metaphor from the world of boxing to explain how logistics technology got to this point, many of the early champions underestimated their opponents, failed to stay in shape and punched themselves out in the early rounds of what’s proven to be a tough fight.

The work of the supply chain is underappreciated and undervalued, and from a public policy standpoint, that is the biggest long-term threat to the competitiveness of California’s ports, writes the head of the Pacific Merchant Shipping Association.

Every business should develop a risk assessment and profile for managing the obligations associated with the delivery of tangible goods, including which costs and risks they are best equipped to manage themselves as a seller or buyer.

The US faces the potential of a government shutdown in November, and importers should be considering now if their customs broker is ready to help them navigate the ensuing chaos.

FedEx has cost and pricing dynamics in its favor, and thus has a limited opportunity to cut charges for shippers to increase its market share, offer higher payments to its independent service providers, and generate a greater return for its shareholders, writes Satish Jindel.

These are issues with a myriad of complexity, but they are not beyond the ability of the talented individuals at the FMC and in our industry, who know intuitively and through their experience what is reasonable and just, writes an executive for BassTech International.

Not knowing how to navigate Incoterms rules can create true vulnerability for sellers and buyers of breakbulk and project cargo.

The South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) is pushing an indirect source emissions rule that would hold the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach responsible for emissions they do not control, potentially forcing them to reduce cargo volumes.

Teamsters members contemplating a strike at UPS would be well advised to rethink that strategy given that the company’s competitors can provide a huge pool of non-union workers for UPS to hire, warns industry executive and consultant Satish Jindel.

The timing of the next capacity challenge remains uncertain, but is approaching steadily. By preparing now, shippers will be better positioned to win the next capacity crisis.

The FMC proposed rulemaking to restrict billing to only those parties that have entered into a contractual agreement is sound policy, and one that is welcomed by the vast majority of the supply chain community, say the heads of three motor carrier groups.

For decades, the US Postal Service has been the only parcel carrier with rates for parcels weighing in ounces, partly a result of it having a monopoly on delivering those lightweight and small-size parcels to mailboxes.

A proposed change to the billable party for detention fees would simply pass the burden from the trucker, which controls a container’s movements and is directly witness to the circumstances that can disqualify detention charges, to the cargo owner, who has no such control or visibility.

Shifting capacity landscapes have caused several changes in the US freight industry — owner-operators have become company drivers or shut down, while small carriers with 10 or fewer trucks have begun exiting the market, says the executive vice president of 3PL Redwood Logistics.

The head of the NACPC says the group believes the open market — not a chassis provider’s contract with an ocean carrier — should determine the best chassis model to employ.

A forwarder's ability to adapt and offer valuable expertise in this uncertain environment will be a crucial factor in ensuring the success of shippers and the shipping industry as a whole, writes the CEO of Freight Right.

Any effort to dictate chassis pool models would reduce competition, innovation, and capital investment, making intermodal networks less resilient for the shippers and consumers who rely on them, writes the CEO of chassis provider DCLI.