Transport, Trade and Regulation News

In this Notebook — Electronic logging devices, the US House of Representative's proposed HOURS act, and more about blockchain.

The immediate impact of lost export opportunities because of retaliation by US trading partners to the Trump administration’s tariffs is a major, negative development for US businesses. Even so, the longer-term damage from the erosion of the US’s reputation as a reliable supplier of agricultural products should really concern beneficial cargo owners, ag exporters have been told.

The UK logistics sector is becoming increasingly frustrated by the lack of post-Brexit trade system progress. While other EU states are recruiting extra customs officials at their leading ports, including Rotterdam, Antwerp, and Calais, the British government has yet to unveil its spending plans to ease post-Brexit traffic through the country’s key shipping hubs.

Brazil has displaced the United States as the top soy exporter, and it won’t be long before it moves ahead of the United States as the world’s leading corn exporter.

Two can play at the tariff game, as trade analysts warned, and US agriculture exporters will be hurt disproportionately by US trading partners’ initial retaliatory tariffs.

Two proposals moving forward at the Port of New York and New Jersey to cut truck moves and curb pollution would provide alternative routes for shippers moving cargo to or from Brooklyn, Queens, and Long Island by rail.

The new community, approved by the Russian Federal Anti-Monopoly Service and the Federal Customs Service, will work to speed port operations and and decrease shipper costs.

Shippers, carriers, and other participants in the supply chain are closely watching the US/China tariff volleys, but they say the effect on the market so far has been minimal, although that could change.

A coalition of trade groups wants Congress to advance a controversial plan that would get younger truck drivers on the road. Can they gain traction?

Shippers that send goods through the Port of Montreal, and other Canadian ports, should be wary that underlying their apparent efficiency is a union contract system that Madeleine Paquin, president and CEO of Logistec, believes could create problems due to its inflexibility and inability to create work practices in tune with a modern port.

US railroads and safety advocates are united in opposition to allowing the new, longer twin 33-foot trailers, while the trucking industry is split. Still, the players pushing for the change are large, well-financed, and politically savvy. The current truck driver shortage lends more credibility to their argument.

Brokers and shippers would have the first official checklist to follow when hiring truckers if an amendment to the Federal Aviation Administration Act reauthorization passes this year. Supporters believe it’s a step towards ensuring freight is safely moving on highways whereas opponents believe it’s a race to the bottom to find the cheapest transportation that would endanger others.

The truckers' strike in Brazil was costly, by several metrics, and no one would like to see a repeat. Still, the strike has prompted shippers, forwarders, and other trade stakeholders to reassess how they allocate transportation, with an eye toward reducing if not eliminating vulnerability.

The government, at a recent stakeholder review meeting regarding trade reforms, set a Sept. 30 deadline for nationwide radio-frequency identification operations.

This is known: in less than 18 months, the container shipping industry will be hit with a massive annual operating bill in the billions of dollars. What is less known is how the costs will be passed along to shippers, and how ocean carriers will adjust, both in terms of capital investment and operations.

In a strongly worded letter, Nik Delmeire, secretary general of the European Shippers Council (ESC), said container lines announced almost simultaneously that they would be applying a surcharge, which the ESC viewed as “tantamount to price signaling..."

By week’s end, truckers are expected to go on strike and blockade Argentina’s main arteries to secure a 27 percent pay increase, which union leaders claim is necessary to cover the nation's inflation rate.

The China head of a global logistics provider said that a number of local less-than-truckload drivers in Anhui and Jiangxi provinces called for a boycott of a trucking platform provider over mismanagement of their capacity.

Shippers are struggling with how to leverage e-commerce channels profitably, but the US Customs and Border Protection service is struggling similarly with regulating the sheer number of shipments crossing borders, especially since many of them now qualify under the $800 duty-free de minimis level.

The Temer administration’s deal to end the truckers’ strike included minimum freight rates that some shippers argue favored truckers too much.

Federal Maritime Commission final rule issued Wednesday will simplify the contracting process between non-vessel operating common carriers (NVOCCs) and their beneficial cargo owner (BCO) customers, concluding almost 15 years of petitioning by NVOCCs to allow them to negotiate with BCOs under the same terms enjoyed by ocean carriers.

An agreement between the International Longshoremen's Association and United States Maritime Alliance removes a great deal of uncertainty for shippers that send cargo through East Coast and Gulf Coast ports, and should spare them the need to take precautionary measures to prepare for a possible strike.

China's ban on waste imports is generating more volume than some ports can handle as shippers seek new markets.

Some shippers that send cargo through the Port of New York and New Jersey may take comfort from a federal judge’s ruling that the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor will continue to fight crime and oversee hiring in the port. Other shippers may be concerned that commission’s activities will continue, and hurt hiring and efficiency.

One group views the cabotage regulation change as an opportunity to lower domestic logistics cost and drive growth in India; the other, a domestic short-sea operators group, argues container line costs, port costs, inadequate infrastructure, and planning are hurting its transhipment business, not cabotage restricton.

Shippers that move goods in Mexico will want to watch the upcoming election and post-election period closely for signs that the country’s incoming leader is prepared to take steps to crack down on the growing rail/truck cargo threat from thieves.

One person was killed during the strike, which also resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars in cargo damages, mainly foodstuffs and meat, along with widespread cargo delays.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration Thursday provided guidance on when drivers can use trucks for personal conveyance, among other guidance areas.

Starting Friday, China Customs will require manifest submissions 24 hours prior to loading, or risk missing the intended sailing. One supply chain director called the order nothing new, but another called it a non-tariff barrier deployed mainly against the United States, but also Europe.

The provisional settlement came after officials from the Indian Ports Association met union leaders in Mumbai and expressed the government’s willingness to discuss and resolve workers’ charter of demands.

Shippers are suffering throughout the logistics chain, with essential supplies not getting through and imports and exports frozen at the country’s main ports. Perishables are rotting away in many trucks or are stuck at the “full to bursting” port facilities.

After a year of modest growth, chemical exporters face a more challenging market in 2018, largely due to tougher regulations in key markets, especially China.

The Canadian East Coast’s very stable market has recently changed significantly: it’s in a state of turmoil with many container port projects being considered — Quebec City (Beauport); Dartmouth, Halifax; Montreal (Contrecoeur); Melford, Nova Scotia; and Sydney, Nova Scotia (Novaporte).

The European Union and India announced their retaliation for US tariffs on steel and aluminum as the Trump Administration sent contradictory signals regarding its stance on tariffs and China.

Shippers that send cargo through the Port of New York and New Jersey may want to monitor the outcome of the debate over how a truck driver is defined — as an independent contractor or an employee — to determine whether a trucking group is correct that a change in the regulations could diminish the drayage service at the port.

The Chittagong Chambers of Commerce & Industry president said he spoke with the Road Transport and Highways minister and secretary and they assured him of issuing a directive relaxing the weight limit for trucks within a day or two.

China is increasing pressure on US exporters, creating costly delays.

Cost pressures and consumer preferences can change vehicle demand in a hurry. However, there’s another variable that can change it — and harm it — even faster.

BCOs fear imposing indirect source pollution restrictions on warehouses and distribution centers on top of LA-LB clean-air restrictions will raise the cost of shipping through the Southern California gateway.

It is an ambitious goal, but port officials, environmental experts, and other stakeholders at a summit offered substantial evidence that the commercially-feasible, zero-emissions, cargo-handling system will arrive sooner than many expect.