North American ports

The Viau and Maisonneuve marine terminals closed to ship, rail and truck traffic Thursday morning as members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 375, which represents 1,200 dockworkers at Montreal, walked off the job.

While conventional retailers were decreasing their orders, the growth of e-commence shipments from Asia was more consistent as elevated air cargo rates pushed more shippers to move goods via ocean transport, the carrier’s CEO said.

The Environmental Protection Agency will disburse nearly $3 billion in federal funds meant to offset the costs of upgrading thousands of pieces of yard equipment from diesel to electric power.

Import demand from Asia, which typically tapers ahead of Black Friday sales, is holding steady, fueled by resilient retail sales, tariff concerns and the mid-January expiration of the tentative ILA labor agreement.

The port will see almost half of its container capacity go offline beginning Thursday as the local longshore union declares an unlimited strike against two of Montreal’s largest marine terminals.

The completion of initial clearance improvements allows CSX to operate double-stack rail service on a temporary route from Baltimore along its network in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and into the Midwest.

Maritime employers and the longshore union representing dockworkers along the US East and Gulf coasts will restart negotiations in New Jersey next month, with automation the main issue at hand.

McBeth, who passed away last week at age 83, was remembered as instrumental in the development of the Prince Rupert container terminal.

Shippers and forwarders are reporting slowdowns at several inland gateways that are linked to seasonality, equipment placement, labor disruption and carrier behavior.

The agency said it has secured more refunds and waivers for shippers in disputes with ocean carriers over detention and demurrage charges, with more investigations pending.

The Port of Montreal’s maritime employers warn that even a brief strike will add to shipper uncertainty over routing cargo through the port given other recent job actions taken by the union.

The ruling from the Canada Industrial Relations Board said union longshore foremen moved too late in raising the issue of automation’s impact on jobs at the Port of Vancouver.

A report from the US Governmental Accountability Office shows the possible, but narrow, path for adoption of automation at US ports as maritime employers and longshore labor along the East and Gulf coasts attempt to hammer out a new master contract.

The US Department of Transportation’s latest round of infrastructure grants also target port-adjacent roadways, berth expansions and yard equipment electrification.

The group, comprising ONE, HMM and Yang Ming, said the changes apply to two trans-Pacific services and an Asia-Mediterranean service.

The port’s main container terminals are among the facilities affected by the overtime strike that Montreal’s dockworkers have deployed as part of contentious contract negotiations.

Forwarders say their containers are sitting at some terminals for 10 days or longer before they can be retrieved, although some relief in import volumes and dwell times is expected next month.

Barbara Melvin says 2024 hit Charleston in unexpected ways, but the full reopening of the Leatherman terminal was a major achievement for the port’s future expansion.

While longshore wages will not increase until a formal contract is signed, the container shipping industry is starting to tally up the billions in new costs that will come with the almost 62% wage hike, according to a Journal of Commerce analysis

The port reopened on Saturday after engineering firm Woolpert performed a survey to check for storm debris in shipping channels.

Some have speculated that specific issues were raised that persuaded at least some of the carrier group CEOs to direct their representatives on the USMX to boost their offer of a pay increase.

Port officials say their facilities did not experience widespread flooding but are still being affected by power issues, adding that port tenants will make independent decisions on when to resume their operations.

The huge import volumes that moved across US docks in August are also muting the post-Golden Week bounce that normally occurs in mid-October when retailers ship their high-value holiday merchandise through the West Coast.

Local freight forwarders say carriers on the trade lane are willing to strike special rate deals with large-volume customers on a per-sailing or short-term contract basis.

If ports operated by ILA labor were for decades a dependable alternative to those reliant on the ILA’s perpetually disruptive West Coast counterpart, the ILWU, that assumption no longer holds true, writes Peter Tirschwell.

Last week’s three-day longshore strike on the East and Gulf coasts is not expected to disrupt transportation supply chains ahead of the traditional beginning of the holiday shopping season, the National Retail Federation said.

The union’s refusal to work overtime has prompted Montreal’s employer group in turn to decline to pay longshore crews that do not have a full complement of workers.

With the 62% wage increase being an unprecedented offer to the union, the USMX will be hard-pressed to give in on other key demands the ILA is making, sources tell the Journal of Commerce.

Ports on the US East and Gulf coasts say they have spare capacity and expect minor disruptions as they process more than 60 ships backlogged by a three-day strike

The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach registered their best year ever in reducing emissions, but they still face daunting challenges as they strive to reduce pollution that remains from vessel, cargo handling, truck and rail sources.

Maritime employers and the union representing some 45,000 East and Gulf coast dockworkers have reportedly closed the gap in wage expectations to just $1 per hour per year.

Refrigerated container shippers using US East and Gulf coast ports are tapping some non-unionized terminals, but they fear produce stuck on ships and in ports will spoil, and equipment will become scarcer if the strike lasts longer than a week.

Ocean carriers appear to be banking on a short port strike, allowing ships to remain on scheduled calls or sit at anchorage, but those plans could change if East and Gulf ports remain closed through the end of the week.

Several groups are calling on the White House to invoke the Taft-Hartley Act to stop the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) strike that began on Tuesday at midnight.

The International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) rejected a last-minute offer from maritime employers that included higher wages and retirement contributions, as the first strike by East and Gulf coast port workers since 1977 got underway.

Trucking companies rushed to remove containers at East and Gulf coast ports before a Tuesday strike as nearby yards swell with container equipment and chassis.

The increased fees are the latest sign that freight demand in California remains red hot in September, while other high-volume lanes are seeing minimal growth from 2023 levels.

The strike will affect about 40% of Montreal’s container capacity and comes as port employers remain in protracted talks with the longshore union over a new contract.

The White House may finally be looking to take a firmer hand in stalled talks between the ILA and maritime employers with an expected strike just days away.

Israel-based Zim said its new alliance with MSC will offer customers extensive port reach and enhanced service levels.