Supply chain

The potential merger of Canadian Pacific and Norfolk Southern railways, and the resulting tie-up such consolidation could spur, would shake up the Class I industry — and their shipper customers — to a degree not seen since the Staggers Act of 1980 dramatically reduced the number of major railroads operating in the U.S.

U.S. customs brokers and forwarders are asking Customs and Border Protection to halt all software changes tied a system aimed at streamlining the filing of import and export documentation just weeks before it’s set to take effect, saying the Automated Commercial Environment, or single window, isn’t ready.

When a container without a signed weight declaration shows up at a marine terminal as of July 1, when a new SOLAS rule takes effect, what happens next? Will the terminal allow the container in, hoping that the weight will arrive in time for the container to be handled and loaded without having to be pulled aside? Or does the terminal avoid the risk, telling the carrier and its customer that containers without the Verified Gross Mass won’t be allowed in under any circumstances?

Maersk Line had added a new service from Latin America to Europe and a new call on an existing service in the trade lane in an effort to tap one of the areas where container lines can still gain steadily profitable business: reefer cargo.

The world is awash in steel, but it won’t solve the problems of breakbulk carriers struggling with overcapacity, flat demand and low rates for their multipurpose vessels.

Two large chemical plants in Tianjin will be relocated at a cost of $4.4 billion this year after the conclusion of safety checks that began after deadly explosions tore through the north China port in August.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration tells trucking and shipping interests it "can't do it alone" in 2016, seeks a better partnership with those it regulates in the Obama administration's last year.

Despite unexpected volatility in the first few weeks of 2016, Cushman & Wakefield anticipates one more year of strong absorption of industrial real estate space before demand in the warehouse and distribution sector slows down.

Kerry Logistics in less than two months will complete the acquisition of an as-yet-unnamed U.S. forwarder, the latest part of the company’s expansion via acquisitions and joint ventures.

Adding the 300 vehicles, seven UK depots and training capabilities of Circle Express will bolster Rico's same-day delivery capabilities. The acquisition points to growing global interest in same-day service.

Jawaharal Nehru Port Trust, India’s biggest container handler, last week more than doubled its refrigerated cargo-handling capacity when it opened a new reefer site in the harbor.

The support of China’s state-owned energy companies is central to the success of plans by the central government to reduce the output of emissions from ships that pose a danger to public health in the vicinity of its major ports.

A seemingly widespread lack of clarity in China surrounding the implementation of the new container weighing requirements does not bode well for the global regulations that will become law in just five months and apply to every container loaded on to a ship.

Breakbulk shipping has retained a share of the market for U.S. imports of natural rubber, despite a global trend toward use of containers to transport the essential but damage-sensitive industrial commodity.

Wind energy equipment has been a rich source of cargo for breakbulk and project cargo carriers, but local and regional sourcing is cutting into international transportation providers’ share of the business.

Container lines are well known for making almost any concession to get or keep a customer, from dropping rates to offering extended free time on terminals, extended use of containers, or late cutoffs at gates. But they will have no room to budge on the requirement that a certified weight based on an actual measurement accompany every container tendered to the carrier as of July 1.

Global changes in container shipping are confronting the U.S. Federal Maritime Commission with some of the most difficult decisions in its 55-year history. How FMC Chairman Mario Cordero and his four fellow commissioners respond this year and next could determine how the industry deals with carrier consolidation, the increasing influence of vessel-sharing alliances and U.S. port congestion.

New Orleans Cold Storage has more than doubled the size of its facility near Charleston, South Carolina, with an 81,000-square-foot expansion that more than doubles its blast-freezing capacity.

With China’s slowing economy casting shadows across the global maritime and trade sector, news this week of multiple investments in African port and supply chain infrastructure points to one place where industry leaders are clearly turning for growth opportunities.

Russian intermodal container operator Ruscon posted a traffic increase in the third-quarter of 2015 because of new services, more shipments of refrigerated cargo and new customers.

Greece’s privatization agency will today weigh an improved offer from China’s Cosco Pacific for a majority stake in the port of Piraeus.

China is about to begin its latest Five Year Plan, and while it is easy to dismiss the planned approach as a Soviet-style relic of the past, the next few years will be critical to a country undergoing a chaotic transition from an export and industry focus to a consumption and services model.

The port of Antwerp has said that it expects the European Commission to clear it of a charge from logistics group Katoen Natie that it had been guilty of discrimination in its treatment of the port’s leading container terminal operators.

India’s merchandise exports fell for the 13th month in a row in December, the longest streak of declines on record, but at a slower pace than the previous four months, according to preliminary foreign trade figures published by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

European cargo terminal operators today called on their national governments to clarify regulations requiring all containers to be weighed before they are loaded onto ships.

News that China’s GDP had slowed to 6.8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2015, with a full-year economic growth of 6.9 percent, set off the usual frenzy of analysis across financial media platforms, with little useful information to be gleaned from all the chatter.

Shippers in Bangladesh are finding new ways of getting their air cargo to Australia after the government Down Under slapped a ban on shipments heavier than 500 grams being carried on freighters and passenger planes from several countries, with the South Asia garment-producing giant among them.

Thanks partly to its acquisition of non-asset truckload specialist Coyote Logistics, UPS is opening new routes into shippers' cross-border supply chains.

Freight demand is likely to stay even lower than usual in early 2016, thanks to retail inventories that climbed higher in November and a drop in December retail sales, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.

More than 100 shippers groups urged the U.S. Department of Transportation to drill down on port productivity metrics via a new initiative aimed at helping Uncle Sam better monitor marine terminal congestion.

Deutsche Bahn is said to be facing growing opposition from the German government to its plan to partially privatize its DB Schenker Logistics unit as part of a broad restructuring to finance growth and cut debt.

Canadian Pacific and Norfolk Southern railway would have to convince U.S. rail regulators that a potential merger won’t set off a wave of Class I consolidation in order to get the greenlight, U.S. Surface Transportation Board Chairman Daniel Elliott said Thursday.

Money, environmental and labor issues are complicating the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey’s effort to replace or retrofit old trucks with newer, less-polluting engines.

Maersk Line said it will appeal Russia’s ruling that the container line violated anti-competitive laws, saying that the publishing of general rate increases is legal and key to informing customers.

From the opening of the Panama Canal’s expanded locks to container weight regulations and the impact of mergers and acquisitions, 2016 will feature a new round of challenges and opportunities for shippers, carriers and transportation providers. Three shippers — Alison Leavitt of the Wine and Spirits Shippers Association, Greg Boyle of Philips, and Susan Pellechio of Staples — discuss their concerns for the year ahead.

Stubbornly high inventories helped pushed freight volumes down in December, according to the Cass Freight Index, and could become more costly for shippers in 2016.

A class-action complaint filed with the U.S. Federal Maritime Commission seeks damages for alleged shipping act violations by 10 roll-on, roll-off carriers already entangled in criminal and civil price-fixing investigations.

Asia’s shippers are beginning to devote more time and energy to understanding the new global container weight rule that will be enforced from mid-year, but it is no easy task to assess what the regulation will mean to their supply chains.

China’s transport infrastructure and trade-focused regional development plans, together with an increasing number of trade liberalization agreements, will support Asia Pacific in remaining the fastest growing and most dynamic region in the world economy in 2016.

Shippers, lawmakers and other railroads are already petitioning federal regulators to reject the proposed tie-up of Canadian Pacific Railway and Norfolk Southern Railway even though the former has yet to file any legal notice with U.S. rail regulators.