Latest news

Amazon Freight has created its first direct integration with a transportation management system provider, piping its capacity of 40,000 owned trailers and third-party drivers to MercuryGate’s base of shipper users.

With elevated contract rates already locked in, Hapag-Lloyd says a deteriorating spot market will not be enough to prevent another year of record profitability for the carrier.

A work stoppage this week at Colombo in Sri Lanka was just the latest blow to operations at the key transshipment hub, with the ripple effects being felt at other ports in the region.

Demand for LTL capacity is rising even faster than carriers can add terminals and doors, pushing rates higher still.

There is ample evidence that shippers during the COVID-19 pandemic have torn up the supply chain playbook that served them effectively for years, but questions remain over whether those changes will be permanent.

ShipBob and Flexport are connecting ocean freight with order fulfillment for China-origin goods sold by US merchants, as e-commerce tech providers help merchants rationalize ocean costs and transit times.

The share of US imports from China compared to all Asia imports plunged roughly 6 percentage points between February and April amid COVID-19 lockdowns in Shenzhen and Shanghai.

Truckload spot rates out of California have fallen for five straight months, but some believe demand will rebound as the COVID outbreak in China subsides and front-loaded cargo ordered to beat potential labor disruption on the West Coast hits the ports.

Rotterdam believes the gradual reopening of factories in China’s locked-down manufacturing areas will release slow and steady volumes into the ocean supply chain rather than unleashing a huge wave of cargo.

Stord, which provides technology and supply chain services to shippers, has used expansion into transportation and fulfillment to attract capital that it sees as protection in a market where investment may be harder to capture.

A tightening supply of multipurpose ships bodes well for carriers and their bottom lines, but signals a higher “new normal” ahead for breakbulk and project shippers.

Forward Air is acquiring a Seattle-based drayage company as part of its strategy to direct more transloaded international container freight to its expedited LTL network.

Retail giant Walmart has opened its newest import distribution center near the Port of Charleston, a move expected to increase the port’s already record cargo volumes.

The presence of container shippers at JOC’s recent breakbulk conference shows that while global container volumes are slowing, plenty of logistics managers are concerned enough about future capacity on US trades.

Maersk plans to open a distribution center in Toronto later this year as part of its ongoing strategy to become an end-to-end supply chain integrator and increase non-ocean revenue.

A Port of Rotterdam initiative has identified a way to make green hydrogen available at scale for European industry and inland transport providers in a move designed to help meet regional zero-carbon targets.

For-hire trucking employment soared past seasonal expectations in April, underscoring strong demand despite declining spot market pricing.

The latest newbuild order from Japan’s MOL continues a flurry of vehicle carrier orders made in the last month that will result in a bigger — and greener fleet — global fleet.

Honour Lane’s sale of a majority stake in the company comes at a time when NVOs are gaining ground in the trans-Pacific versus direct carrier contracts and looking to create more integrated offerings.

US retailers are moving shipments forward in a bid to build inventories before inflation drives prices too high and weakens consumer spending.

Sources interpreted the release of PMA’s port automation study as the group anticipating the potential for debate on the hot-button issue to gain widespread attention in the public domain during upcoming West Coast labor talks.

Shippers converting ocean consignments into air freight to avoid port bottlenecks along the US East Coast are filling all available air cargo capacity on the trans-Atlantic trade lane.

China’s COVID lockdowns, the war in Ukraine, soaring energy prices, and declining global container volumes are muddying the trade outlook waters this year.

Only four of the JOC Top 25 North American Container Ports handled fewer imports in 2021, but growth at major West Coast gateways lagged that of their East Coast competitors, resulting in a shift in market share.

The head of the Pacific Maritime Association said he is optimistic about a smooth outcome for upcoming contract negotiations with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, though he defended automation as a key tool to grow terminal volumes.

The Global Shipping Business Network, a consortium building a global trade data exchange, has launched products that tether bill of lading information to title transfer and proof of shipment notices.

California’s two senators are pushing ocean carriers to provide more export containers to stem billions of dollars in losses they say the state’s agricultural industry has suffered recently.

Ocean forwarder UWL has introduced a new bi-weekly service from Vietnam into the US Pacific Northwest as shippers seek out additional vessel capacity to tap a growing source of imports.

After a “cyber incident” downed parts of Blume Global’s system last week, the company is working to fully restore service and taking additional safety measures involving customer account information and billing processes.

Amid heightened scrutiny from Washington, US regulators want the three major container shipping alliances to report more detailed information on pricing and capacity deployment on services in which they share slot capacity.

For the second time in two weeks, a container line has been assessed a US civil penalty for collecting detention fees last year when it allegedly did not provide drayage providers with a means to return empty containers.

Winding down operations in Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine has come with a hefty price tag, but transport providers are mostly playing down the impact.

Intermodal shippers saw record-high savings under contracts signed in Q1, but a recent slide in the spot truckload market could diminish the savings that rails can provide on one-off business over the next three months.

Hapag-Lloyd’s investment in container tracking hardware has visibility providers hoping to capitalize on better container location data to feed to their shipper customers.

The aftermath of February’s cyberattack has so far cost forwarder Expeditors International tens of millions of dollars, perhaps giving Blume Global some insight into what it faces after its own outage last week.

Chinese exporters could produce another trans-Pacific bullwhip when stalled shipments start moving again, with major stakeholders warning of a surge of delayed shipments.

Maersk has most of its capacity locked in under annual or multi-year deals, which company executives believe will drive continued profitability even with falling spot rates and slowing demand.

Beyond COVID, it’s time to start thinking about coming developments in ocean shipping, including the potential breakup — and reassembly — of the container carrier alliances, writes JOC analyst Lars Jensen. 

Charleston has used several efficiency measures to slash the number of anchored vessels from 27 to five in two months — the lowest count of any major port along the US East Coast.

Breakbulk importers must navigate complex sanctions rules and a CBP crackdown on goods made with forced labor, attendees at JOC’s 2022 Breakbulk and Project Cargo conference were told.