Commentary

Connectivity is changing the world, and that includes the shipping industry, and it offers numerous benefits. However, this connectedness makes it more vulnerable to cyber threats, but there are straightforward measures that can ensure the security of our data and infrastructure.

The year ahead holds major challenges for ocean carriers, and the challenges can be even more acute for midsize carriers such as Yang Ming, requiring even more prescience and agility.

At the JOC Logistics Technology Conference, we separated the hype from reality in a startup-flush sector where the actual impact has been difficult to see so far. But know this: a technology-led transformation is coming in logistics. It just isn’t here yet.

The single most important thing you can do is to add broker capacity and service that looks, tastes, smells, and delivers in exactly the same ways as your most trusted carriers.

Despite private sector-based gains, the Surface Transportation Board, the agency in charge of overseeing private US freight railroads, has taken steps to impose onerous regulations on railroad operators that would erase much of the industry’s progress over the last 40 years.

Japan has had a long and interesting history in infrastructure investment in Myanmar, learning some important and tough lessons along the way.

Are you prepared to document your role and why you qualify as importer of record? If not, best to get ready now.

If one put in the wrong address but it was still showing a domestic billing, would that be any different and again could the carrier claim Section 7 is nullified?

While a lot of well-deserved attention is being paid to the steel, aluminum and China tariffs, and the new US-Mexico-Canada Agreement, change is afoot in many other ways.

Japan has played an interesting game with China; some might say it has taken an interesting gamble.

One senior carrier executive said that there would be “no negotiation” on bunker fuel surcharges beginning as early as 2019 annual contracts that won’t even extend into 2020, let alone trans-Pacific contracts signed as of May 1, 2019, that will extend well into 2020. That may well be so, but ocean carriers' track record is less promising.

On Sept. 27, 2018, the FMCSA posted their advance notice of proposed rulemaking regarding the "broker and freight forwarder financial responsibility." This is the second time the FMCSA has initiated a rulemaking initiative pertaining to MAP-21. The advance notice delineates eight areas of inquiry in which new rules are being considered by the agency.

With no dramatic changes in sourcing or the state of trade tensions, shippers will be forced to pass on higher costs to customers – something that will affect trade volume.

Demurrage is arguably one of the most disputed contract terms in the transportation industry. The application of smart contracts could address many of the issues that make demurrage claims costly and inefficient, providing the industry can reconcile the technology with the uncertainties of the physical supply chain.

The wind is at the intermodal sector’s back in the North American markets, but there is one headwind that, and as of now, the scope and ultimate impact is unknown.

What will the US trucking capacity situation be in five years? Will it be tighter than today, looser, or about the same? A show of hands to those questions at a panel — which I moderated at the Council of Supply Chain Management Professional’s 2018 Edge Conference — revealed most expect further tightness come 2023. Fundamentally, yours truly does not fully agree.

In order to relieve itself of legal liability for damage, a carrier has to prove that what went on adds up to one of the excepted causes allowing for such relief.

Ocean carriers and shippers, although mutually dependent, continue to act in ways that are adversarial and self-destructive, and they're doing so while the industry is about to face major challenges, including slowing global demand growth, overcapacity, and the low-sulfur bunker fuel rule.

Not all blockchains are the same. Some projects describe themselves as blockchain-based yet are effectively protected databases. These private blockchains are just another proprietary system, forcing participants to use the solution in a particular way. A better system? Open, or public, blockchains.

A driver-centric social network could not only become part of the trucking ecosystem, but establish itself as the very core of driver and industry interaction.

The Port of New York and New Jersey will face multiple-port competition for discretionary cargo in the decade ahead and with the head of the seaport departing, that intensifying competition calls out for a leader with operating experience.

On the surface, China’s Asia-Europe rail subsidies seem like a slam-dunk win for shippers, a free lunch. But as the axiom states, “There’s no such thing as a free lunch.” And that axiom applies to international shipping as well.

With the internet and various complementary technology already in place, the road has been cleared for logistics service providers to launch a new vehicle for shippers to take advantage of — the online freight-forwarding platform.

One way shippers can improve efficiency is to leverage the benefits of dimensioning technology. Dimensioning is measuring the area or volume of a product being shipped, and the use of scanning technology now enables shippers to quickly and accurately calculate storage, box size, and weight to determine the best packaging or storage for space optimization.

Safeguards large businesses are implementing aren't exclusive to big business. Here are some basic actions midsized businesses can take to limit additional cost and risk during the United States' ongoing trade disputes.

Trade negotiations and subsequent tariffs have been top of mind for many business leaders. While no one can predict the outcome of negotiations, companies can take steps to mitigate risks while driving down costs associated with supply chain functions.

Who would have thought that the container — one of the world’s greatest universal standards and one that’s creating untold benefits for trade and prosperity — would be followed by decades of inadequate progress regarding the standardization of processes that move that container?

The Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) is the body that oversees the activities of ocean freight forwarders and non-vessel-operating common carriers. In order to ensure that forwarders and carriers will comply with the law, the FMC requires such professionals to obtain a surety bond.

Will the new terms the Trump administration is currently negotiating create the auto jobs renaissance for which it has been pining? That’s a tough question to answer because of a number of factors.

The dairy dispute has become a not-so-unexpected red herring in talks between Ottawa and Washington.

The glaring omission of anything to do with trade in services, one of the fastest-growing sectors of the US economy, is perhaps most striking.

It should come as no surprise that industries need to adopt new technologies in order to be competitive, and railways are no exception. However, an outdated federal regulatory atmosphere is preventing our railways from keeping pace.

Revenue from 53-foot trailer-on-flat-car (TOFC) moves in North America is up. Is that a telling statistic? Is 53-foot TOFC revenue an accurate leading indicator of overall domestic intermodal demand?

Just call this latest idea a “ray of light” regarding a solution to the decades-long problem of chassis in the United States.

It’s always a good idea to document business relationships properly, and the bill of lading is the means of doing this in transportation.

The container shipping industry has a number of counter-productive and, ultimately, self-defeating habits. Several stakeholders are involved in the above, but ocean carriers surely can take the lead and correct many of them.

Necessity is leading to creative and effective solutions in US surface transportation.

When shippers say they want visibility, what is important is not the location of a container at any given point in time. What is important is knowing when there is a deviation — when a ship will arrive late, and by how much. So why aren’t ocean carriers investing in the sensor technology that can achieve it?

The capacity challenges described here are not unique to railroad networks and terminals; they are persistent through the US supply chain. Further, while some solutions lie far in the future, there are several initiatives that could improve rail/intermodal service overnight.

A motor carrier questions his responsibility to pay again after initial filing — and payment — for damages.