Forwarding

New Zealand freight and logistics company Kotahi has pledged to provide Maersk Line with 2.5 million 20-foot containers of exports over the next 10 years.

Damco, Maersk Group’s logistics unit, has started operations at the first international container freight station in Myanmar.

Kongsberg Norcontrol IT will lead a new three-year research project, SESAME Straits, that it hopes will improve ship traffic management in the straits of Malacca and Singapore and lay groundwork for the International Maritime Organization’s e-navigation implementation strategy.

Several container lines have planned general rate increases in multiple trade routes to take effect in July...

Overcapacity problems in both maritime and air freight markets will continue to hurt the industry in the coming months, according to a new Stifel survey.

Multiple container lines have planned general rate increases in various trade routes to take effect in July...

Happy days are here again, at least for non-vessel-operating common carriers.

A port shutdown due to an impasse in ILWU contract negotiations would be disastrous for agricultural exporters in the short term, but the loss of business resulting from a failure to address persistent productivity issues would be even more damaging to West Coast ports and dockworkers in the long term, the Agriculture Transportation Coalition said today.

A small business based in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, took home one of the state’s most coveted business awards with an aggressive export strategy.

The trade community is looking to the negotiations in San Francisco to see if an agreement will be reached without disruptions at West Coast ports.

Numerous container lines have planned general rate increases in various trade routes to take effect July 1, although any gains achieved could be fleeting as overcapacity and sluggish global demand continue.

Fesco Transportation Group’s revenue and earnings declined in the first quarter.

Multiple container lines have planned general rate increases in various trade routes in June and July, although any gains achieved could be temporary as overcapacity and sluggish global demand continue.

New low-sulfur limits for ships that come into effect in North America and northern Europe at the beginning of 2015 could add almost $50 to the cost of transporting a standard container across the Atlantic Ocean.

Some of the fastest-climbing companies on the JOC’s Top 100 Importers and Exporters rankings share a common trait: They either partner with or are part of a conglomerate that allows them to create synergies of scale.

Carriers on the Asia-Europe trade will have growth in China’s new export orders and growing factory output for support as they try to levy general rate increases in June.

Though containerized toy imports coming to the United States are down, the toy industry’s bottom line doesn’t seem to be hurting.

Several carriers have planned general rate increases in multiple trade routes in June and July, although any gains achieved could be fleeting as overcapacity and sluggish global demand continue.

Negotiations are underway for a new contract between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and employers represented by the Pacific Maritime Association. This JOC resource provides answers to common questions regarding the negotiations and their potential impact.

Much of the attention paid to the container shipping industry in the last few years has focused on the relentless drive of carriers to cut costs by ordering bigger, more fuel-efficient ships.

U.S. shippers haven’t been this optimistic about volume growth in the coming 12 months since The Hurt Locker won the Academy Award for Best Picture and an Icelandic volcano disrupted flights to and from Europe.

Robust April imports through several U.S. ports are at least partly related to initial effects of shippers accelerating import shipments to avoid potential disruption at West Coast ports tied to longshore labor negotiations.

For the first time since the 2008-09 Great Recession, shippers have a “small smile on their faces” when it comes to the economy, National Industrial Transportation League President and CEO Bruce Carlton said. Their increasing optimism in the economy, however, doesn’t quell their concerns over a myriad of other issues, from tightening capacity to infrastructure investment. Carlton recently spoke with JOC senior editors William B. Cassidy and Mark Szakonyi about the expectations NITL members have for the coming months.

Seven years after overweight containers contributed to the dramatic breakup of a vessel in the English Channel, the United Nations said today it will require all containers to be weighed starting in July 2016.

Multiple carriers have planned general rate increases in various trade lanes in June and July, although any gains achieved could be fleeting as overcapacity and sluggish global demand continue.

Two-thirds of shippers who participated in a JOC survey this week plan to divert at least some cargo away from U.S. West Coast ports to avoid disruption that could emerge from contract negotiations between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and West Coast employers.

As West Coast waterfront employers launch contract negotiations on May 12 with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, many beneficial cargo owners are planning to ship their freight through alternative gateways in the event of disruptions or a work stoppage.

Multiple carriers have planned general rate increases in various trade lanes in May and June, although any gains achieved could be fleeting as overcapacity and sluggish global demand continue.

What a difference a year makes. In 2012, Lazaro Cardenas, Mexico, and Prince Rupert, British Columbia, dominated other JOC Top 25 North American container ports, with double-digit growth in exports, imports and total trade. The story was much different in 2013.

Some shippers welcome larger container ships and carrier alliances as a way to add capacity and restore carriers’ health, but they warn that ports will have to adjust to avoid bottlenecks and added costs.

A trend in shipping from air to ocean that has cost the air cargo industry 2 percentage points of average annual growth since 2000 has now resulted in a meaningful expansion of the ocean reefer market, but only a miniscule increase in total container volumes.

With a cautious eye on the West Coast longshore contract negotiations that will begin on May 12, U.S. retailers expect containerized imports in May to increase 3.5 percent over May 2013, with year-over-year growth tapering through September.

U.S. containerized footwear imports plunged 22.4 percent year-over-year in the first quarter of 2014, according to statistics compiled by PIERS, the data division of the JOC Group.

After suffering through the longest recession in the crisis-ridden eurozone since World War II, roll-on, roll-off carriers could use an injection of good news.

Several carriers have planned general rate increases in multiple trade lanes in May and June, although any gains achieved could be temporary as overcapacity and sluggish global demand continue.

China’s relentless urbanization will likely keep imports of U.S. containerized logs and lumber brisk in the coming year.

The Port of Rotterdam Authority has signed a joint venture with a Brazilian consortium to develop a new deep-sea multi-purpose port in South America’s largest nation.

Similar to how airline ticket aggregator sites find passengers the cheapest airfare, a new deal between e-shipping platform INTTRA and multimodal rate provider Catapult International will allow shippers and freight forwarders to find carrier rates online before they book shipments through INTTRA.

Multiple carriers have scheduled general rate increases in various trade lanes in May, June and July, although any gains achieved could be fleeting as overcapacity and sluggish global demand continues.