Port News

Truckers agree that improvements made by terminal operators and facilitated by PierPass Inc. over the past year have contributed to improved turn times in Los Angeles-Long Beach, but the Harbor Trucking Association called for more uniformity among the 12 terminals in the harbor.

Ports have undergone a “digital transformation” in recent years in order to meet new challenges and develop new capabilities, but that has come hand-in-hand with growing cyber-related risks, according to a new EU study.

An analysis of new Indian container data shows importers and exporters are increasingly shifting cargo to private, minor terminals, and Adani Group is the beneficiary of much of that diversion.

The extent to which US retailers rebuild their inventories post-Christmas will provide a hint as to how consumers will respond to mixed economic signals and higher prices on some Chinese goods.

A 30-year shipping industry veteran who heads up Modern Terminals in the Port of Hong Kong will become president of Ports America in February.

The Port of Halifax will meet its self-imposed deadline to handle two mega vessels simultaneously by March, when the extension of a berth at one of the port’s two container terminals is completed.

Mexico is moving ahead with a plan to create a cabotage program in the first quarter of 2020 to enable shippers to move cargo over water within the country’s borders, providing an alternative to trucking.

JAXPORT expects terminal upgrades and a dredging project will attract larger vessels and more volumes when work is complete in 2023.

East and Gulf Coast ports in the first 10 months of 2019 were largely unaffected by US-China trade war, but West Coast ports, which are heavily dependent upon imports from China, registered a 3.2 percent decline in total imports from Asia.

Asset-monitoring technology will help Canadian Pacific and intermodal shippers to locate and better utilize the railroad’s chassis pool.

Shippers and truckers can now use chassis from Milestone Equipment Holdings when they move cargo in or out of the GCT New York terminal in the Port of New York and New Jersey, expanding the number of chassis options available at the terminal and increasing the number of suppliers.

The acquisition of Emergent Cold gives US-based Lineage Logistics greater access to Asian markets and facilities at three US ports.

SM Line will bring direct liner service back to Portland after a two-year absence even as the ILWU deals with a recent $93 million judgment against the union for damages the terminal operator incurred during five years of work slowdowns at the Oregon port.

Using technology to correct documentation errors before trucker appointments are made and the terminals’ use of appointment systems to meter gate traffic reduced turn times in in the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach to a six-year low in October.

The Port of New York and New Jersey has been a beneficiary of the nearly two-decade shift in container cargo from the West Coast to East and Gulf coasts, but its growth has not kept pace with its competitors in the Southeast, particularly with regard to discretionary cargo moving inland via rail.

Trucking companies that employ owner operator drivers in the Port of New York and New Jersey are again battling an attempt to change the rules that determine whether a worker is an independent contractor or an employee, while unions are pushing for the legislation to become law.

Abu Dhabi Ports officials will initiate talks with Indian counterparts to draw up a roadmap for establishing integration links between their respective digital logistics portals.

Danny Wan has been named executive director of the Port of Oakland, replacing Chris Lytle, who retired in July after six years in the top spot.

West Coast employers are somewhat hopeful the ILWU will view the unprecedented $93 million judgment in Portland as a wakeup call to improve labor relations and stop the bleed of cargo to ports on other coasts.

Virginia Governor Ralph Northam unveiled an international trade plan to boost exports by 50 percent in the next 15 years, a key initiative since laden exports fell between January and August for the second consecutive year.

The increasing cargo and vessel size at the Port of New York and New Jersey will present a major test to the port’s new leadership as the port seeks to consolidate its dominance on the East Coast container market while improving fluidity.

A New Jersey law that reshapes the way the state assesses whether a worker is an independent contractor or an employee has triggered opposition from truckers who say it will damage the Port of New York and New Jersey’s drayage fleet.

If AB5 becomes law on Jan. 1, the ability of more than 70,000 truckers in California to provide services as independent owner-operators will be severely compromised, the head of the California Trucking Association warned Tuesday.

The ongoing upgrade of the sole container terminal at the Port of Boston will get a $20 million boost from the US Department of Transportation to help pay for a yard expansion and a new connecting road.

The Port of Los Angeles anticipates a very soft fourth quarter due to US tariffs on Chinese imports, which a new report said threatens 1.5 million US jobs and more than $186 billion in economic activity.

The Indian government shows it is taking a long-term view in implementing regulatory reforms for supply chain logistics by agreeing to modify one controversial proposal.

Shippers in Bangladesh fear a cut in profit margins following a cyclone that temporarily closed Chittagong port, creating a queue of vessels that will take at least a week to clear.

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union wants a retrial of a case that resulted in a $93 million jury award against the union for damages suffered by container operator ICTSI Oregon Inc., from a union slowdown in the Port of Oregon.

JAXPORT received a $20 million grant from the USDOT, which will fund a portion of the $238 million cost of expanding the Blount Island terminal in Jacksonville as part of a long-term plan to drive more traffic and larger containerships to the port.

Australia’s competition watchdog says terminal infrastructure charges have surged more than 60 percent in the past year, prompting shippers to press for government intervention.

Unless the Los Angeles-Long Beach ports attract more cargo, they could wind up stuck with a hefty bill for the intermodal corridor’s bond debt, a report says.

The container growth rate at Indian ports during the first seven months of the fiscal year shrunk to 3 percent, down from 8.4 percent in the same period a year ago.

The Port of Philadelphia is planning for an increase in rail cargo and refrigerated goods as it as it prepares to handle larger vessels when the dredging of the Delaware River is complete.

A group of agricultural exports blames ocean carriers and terminal operators for creating crippling terminal congestion and then profiting off the problem.

While India’s supply chain reforms move forward, stakeholders say they need more clarity on the changes in order to allow for a smooth implementation.

Talk of a port-wide interoperable chassis pool no longer dominates discussions about how to increase efficiency in supplying chassis at the Port of New York and New Jersey, where a series of smaller measures have helped provide fluidity for truckers.

The Hong Kong Seaport Alliance (HKSPA) — consisting of Hongkong International Terminals, Modern Terminals, COSCO-HIT Terminals and Asia Container Terminals — said last month it standardized operation policies for the 12 dedicated barge berths.

The Indian government has been forced to offer incentives to encourage trade activity on the low-volume shipping corridor linking Afghanistan via Chabahar port in Iran.

The Port of Philadelphia hopes its new auto processing center will help the port compete for business with other major auto-moving ports, like New York-New Jersey, Baltimore, Brunswick, and Jacksonville.

The “port optimizer” information portal continues to expand, but a lack of trust among BCOs who fear they’ll lose their competitive advantage has prevented accumulation of a critical mass of shipment data in Los Angeles-Long Beach.