North American ports

The Port of Long Beach’s project to move over one-third of its container volumes to rail received a boost from the US Department of Transportation through a $52 million grant.

The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have excess on-dock rail capacity, so they are urging importers to ship more containers via intermodal rail to increase cargo velocity in Southern California.

The current surge in imports from Asia is expected to continue for at least the next six months as retailers will use the second quarter for inventory replenishment prior to another early peak shipping season in 2022.

The US Department of Transportation funds barge projects along the US East and Gulf coasts that aim to shift freight from highways to coastal and inland waterways.

Outbound truck spot rates to Chicago from US ports and border entry points are surging, with the biggest increases in eastbound lanes off the West Coast.

APM Terminals said it is pushing the enforcement date of missed appointment fees at Pier 400 to March 1 in order to “make more user-friendly changes" to its trucker appointment system

The use of drivers accustomed to hauling 53-foot containers to pick up 20-foot and 40-foot boxes shows how US retail giants are pulling every lever to get truck power into the ports.

APM Terminals will start imposing a missed appointment fee at its Mobile terminal in a bid to get truckers to follow through on container pickups.

With the number of anchored vessels already cut in half since September, the Port of Savannah is adding 400,000 TEU of capacity by Dec. 31 to the Garden City Terminal to further whittle down the backlog.

An extreme shortage of warehouse and distribution space across the US, fueled by record imports and last-mile demand, will continue to push up lease rates well into 2022, according to Jones Lang LaSalle.

The sky-high ocean freight rates into the US East Coast have beckoned an increasing number of ‘tramp’ ships trying to secure berth space for container discharge at the NY-NJ port.

A new set of fees at APM Terminals’ Pier 400 facility in the Port of Los Angeles aims to reduce the number of missed drayage appointments, but harbor truckers say the fees would punish them for conditions outside of their control

Initiatives involving the Los Angeles-Long Beach PierPass extended-gates program and CMA CGM’s incentives for removal of long-dwell containers are the latest efforts by terminals and carriers to reduce congestion.

Trans-Pacific carriers are slowing their vessels en route to Los Angeles–Long Beach, but the reduction in vessels at anchor does not mean cargo volumes have in any way been diminished.

Eight vessels are now anchored off the Port of Charleston following the brief closure of a berth earlier this month and a stevedore labor shortage over the long Thanksgiving weekend.

The Port of Charleston is concerned about the cost of chassis for its new pool now due to launch in 2023, while negotiations to secure an agreeable price took longer than expected.

The US Supreme Court will not hear the request by New York’s Waterfront Commission to overturn an appeals court ruling that effectively ends the seven decade-old police agency.

The Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are again delaying the implementation of new container dwell fees because importers are starting to clear out freight from the ports.

The Port of Vancouver was stranded from inland rail service and trucking was limited due to damage from last weekend’s widespread flooding.

The International Longshoremen’s Association is appealing a federal labor judge’s decision that it engaged in an unfair labor practice against South Carolina’s newest marine terminal.

The Port of Virginia is expanding the rail footprint of Norfolk International Terminals (NIT) to take advantage of import volumes that have grown at the fastest rate of any US Southeast port in 2021.

The North Carolina State Ports Authority said it will be able to offer customers opting for the Port of Wilmington a new, daily rail service into Midwest markets.

APM Terminals took another step with Plaquemines Port on the development of what would be among the US’ largest container terminals.

The White House has endorsed proposed shipping reform legislation and said the Department of Justice is ready to assist maritime regulators if they find alliances are violating the US Shipping Act.

The Port of New York and New Jersey’s longshore workforce is set to grow again in 2022 as the port’s volumes see double-digit increases through 2021.

The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have delayed by one week implementation of costly emergency fees on long-dwell containers as retailers rush to vacate those containers from the docks.

BNSF Railway and Union Pacific Railroad are concerned cargo owners will use trucks instead of trains in the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach due to the Excessive Container Dwell fee.

Marine terminal operators in Los Angeles and Long Beach want to double the current fee for daytime trucking moves to incentivize more nighttime moves and help relieve crippling congestion at the ports.

Strong growth in imports and a slight decline in exports over the past few years have thrown off the once balanced import-export flow in the US Gulf Coast, exposing Houston to the same terminal space issues and equipment imbalances that have plagued other import-dependent ports in 2021

Port managers and terminal executives in Los Angeles-Long Beach look to emergency fees on long-dwell containers and sweeper ships to vacate empty boxes as their best bet to relieve congestion amid record vessel arrivals.

The Port of Boston will be without an Asia direct service through most of January because the vessels in the service have been severely delayed by Savannah congestion.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is looking at how it can withstand climate change and not contribute to it through a series of initiatives that include reviewing port operations.

A clean truck fee in the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach is expected to generate more than $90 million, money that will be used in part to provide direct grants to truckers for zero-emission vehicles.

Although there are still more than 20 vessels anchored outside of Savannah, the Georgia Ports Authority said terminal fluidity has greatly improved compared with two months ago.

The California Chamber of Commerce urged the state’s lawmakers to enact a variety of measures that aim to relieve the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach of severe container congestion.

LA and LB harbor commission approve a 90-day change in its tariff during which time they will charge large fees to carriers, which will likely be passed on to shippers, on excessive-dwell containers.

A new agreement between California and the Biden administration seeks a more unified approach and “innovative” federal financing for port infrastructure projects that could speed goods inland.

Mediterranean Shipping Co. and Ocean Network Express are adding Oakland calls to their Asian services as the vessel congestion at the port abates.

Union Pacific Railroad plans on running longer trains from Long Beach to Utah as the Port of Long Beach works with Utah Inland Port Authority to move more containers onto rail.

With retailers failing to respond to incentives designed to mitigate excessive container dwell times on the docks, Los Angeles and Long Beach will hit carriers with punishing storage fees that the lines say they will pass on to their customers.