News - Industry News

Retailers bank on themselves to handle final mile

<img class="img-responsive" src="https://www.joc.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/field_feature_image/Shutterstock_2051919698.jpg?itok=8zGlqhoI" width="100" height="67" alt="" title="The move by retailers to bring home delivery management in-house stems in part from a need to own the final touch of the customer relationship. Photo credit: Olivier Le Moal / Shutterstock.com." /> Retailers that have seen final-mile costs more than double during the pandemic are increasingly making investments in their last-leg delivery networks.

Inefficient US terminal flow at core of COVID-related chaos

<img class="img-responsive" src="https://www.joc.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/field_feature_image/PT_0.jpg?itok=FfM1rwb6" width="100" height="67" alt="" title="Some industry leaders who have spoken with JOC.com in recent weeks are highly skeptical that anything can be done to meaningfully improve US terminal flow. Photo credit: SNEHIT PHOTO / Shutterstock.com. " /> If there’s one lesson from the pandemic, it’s that working to ensure efficient container flow through US ports during sustained cargo surges must be the highest priority, whether it’s achievable or not, writes JOC’s Peter Tirschwell.

Landside logistics next step in decarbonization drive: Maersk

<img class="img-responsive" src="https://www.joc.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/field_feature_image/Maersk%20photo.PNG?itok=TltmnOWR" width="100" height="56" alt="" title="Just over 3 percent of Maersk’s total volume is currently shipped using its decarbonized transport solutions that use green fuel. Photo credit: Maersk." /> The expanding platform provided by shippers seeking green transport has allowed Maersk to ramp up its ocean sustainability efforts, with greening landside logistics the next target.

New K+N freighter flies into slowing air cargo market

<img class="img-responsive" src="https://www.joc.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/field_feature_image/K%2BN%20brander%20747-8%20freighter.jpg?itok=2LSnuJpt" width="100" height="59" alt="" title="Kuehne + Nagel has chartered the last two Boeing 747-8 freighters to be produced by the plane maker, with the first aircraft handed over Wednesday sporting the forwarder’s corporate colors. Photo credit: K+N. " /> Forwarder Kuehne + Nagel is receiving new freighter capacity as global demand wanes and rate levels tumble through a non-existent peak season.

Intra-Asia liners reinstate South India call amid improved schedule reliability

<img class="img-responsive" src="https://www.joc.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/field_feature_image/VOC.jpg?itok=R8HYbGgh" width="100" height="67" alt="" title="The Dakshin Bharat Gateway Terminal at India’s VOC port (above) handles the majority of the port’s volumes. Photo credit: Ivan Kuzkin/Shutterstock.com." /> The resumed service at India’s VOC comes as the port has embarked on a raft of new infrastructure projects to position itself as an alternative transshipment hub to Sri Lanka’s Colombo Port.

Drought-stricken Mississippi disrupts northbound breakbulk cargo

<img class="img-responsive" src="https://www.joc.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/field_feature_image/AAl%20to%20barge_Float%20Freight_small.jpg?itok=vjMdJQit" width="100" height="67" alt="" title="Project cargo is discharged from an AAL heavy-lift ship to a deck barge at Coastal Cargo’s breakbulk terminal at the Port of New Orleans. Photo credit: Float Freight." /> Drought is keeping the Mississippi River at historically low water levels, tying up barge capacity and extending the southbound grain season.

Overcapacity, falling spot rates risk trans-Pacific rate war

<img class="img-responsive" src="https://www.joc.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/field_feature_image/shutterstock_2165081403.jpg?itok=NtFnuxX5" width="100" height="55" alt="" title="The decline in US imports from Asia accelerated in October, falling to the lowest level in 20 months. Pictured: Port of Cat Lai, Vietnam. Photo Credit: Huy Thoai/Shutterstock.com." /> The highs for the container shipping industry, as measured by profits and pricing power, hit atmospheric levels, raising questions of just how steep a fall is in store.

LA-LB, NY-NJ at or near normal cargo fluidity: APM Terminals

<img class="img-responsive" src="https://www.joc.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/field_feature_image/Shutterstock_2020532558.jpg?itok=9-fNT3Di" width="100" height="67" alt="" title="Ports may have to rely on long-dwell container fees and temporary storage of containers at near-dock yards as long as congestion persists. Photo credit: rblfmr/Shutterstock.com." /> The cargo surge that began with the COVID-19 recovery in mid-2020 forced US ports to develop a new playbook to cope with the unprecedented port and inland supply chain congestion that resulted, according to APM Terminals.

Maritime sector turns up heat on Europe’s ETS lawmakers

<img class="img-responsive" src="https://www.joc.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/field_feature_image/Shutterstock_2228126071%20%281%29.png?itok=v1F4WV5q" width="100" height="49" alt="" title="From Jan. 1, the maritime sector will join a host of other European industries in the regional Emissions Trading System. Photo credit: Darunrat Wongsuvan/Shutterstock.com. " /> Europe’s executive bodies head into their final round of negotiations to set the parameters governing shipping’s inclusion in the regional Emissions Trading System with industry stakeholders watching closely.

South Korea plans $2 billion shipping fund to weather container market downturn

<img class="img-responsive" src="https://www.joc.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/field_feature_image/Busan_0.jpg?itok=lOY6gHoH" width="100" height="67" alt="" title="South Korea is creating its own container freight index in a bid to better reflect rates from Busan (above) to major export markets, including the US and Europe. Photo credit: Panwasin Seemala/Shutterstock.com." /> The fund is one of several measures taken by South Korea’s government to help the country’s shipping sector weather the downturn in container trade.

Top unions split on tentative agreement with US rails

<img class="img-responsive" src="https://www.joc.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/field_feature_image/engineer-mouii.jpg?itok=XjSQZhMR" width="100" height="67" alt="" title="The two largest rail unions, which announced vote totals on Monday, represent nearly half the 110,000 workers that could go on strike in December. Photo credit: Mouiii/Shutterstock.com." /> Lawmakers in Washington will face pressure to bridge the divide between rail labor and management because any job action could snarl supply chains in the weeks leading up to end-of-year holidays.

Mobile’s breakbulk dockworkers to strike Tuesday after talks halted

<img class="img-responsive" src="https://www.joc.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/field_feature_image/Mobile_ASD_George_Dodd_III_.jpg?itok=D2IQ-kcC" width="100" height="65" alt="" title="Union breakbulk dockworkers in Mobile have not had a contract with their employer since 2018. Photo credit: George Dodd III/Shutterstock.com. " /> The Port of Mobile’s breakbulk dockworkers will go ahead with a strike against stevedoring firm CSA Equipment after a month-long cooling period failed to produce a new contract.

UP to lift demurrage caps at seven inland terminals

<img class="img-responsive" src="https://www.joc.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/field_feature_image/up-g4-truck.jpg?itok=iJ1zs4TM" width="100" height="67" alt="" title="Union Pacific Railroad began capping demurrage fees after ocean containers became trapped in Chicago’s Global IV terminal in mid-2021, causing some shippers to incur penalties of more than $10,000 on inaccessible cargo. Photo credit: Ari Ashe/JOC.com." /> Union Pacific Railroad will no longer cap storage fees at seven inland ramps beginning next week, citing declining import volumes on the West Coast that has restored more typical cargo flow.

Richard Lidinsky, ex-FMC chair and champion of shippers, dead at 76

<img class="img-responsive" src="https://www.joc.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/field_feature_image/shutterstock_1561178548.jpg?itok=yaAoEWJw" width="100" height="66" alt="" title="Richard Lidinsky, a Baltimore native (port pictured), urged US ports to expand and improve productivity to stay competitive with their Canadian counterparts. Photo credit: WWK Photography/Shutterstock.com." /> Richard Lidinsky, a former chairman for the US Federal Maritime Commission, leaves a legacy of agency reform whose work echoes through the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022.

Canada’s transport chief wants more say in ports, railroads

<img class="img-responsive" src="https://www.joc.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/field_feature_image/Vancouver_SherSS_Shutterstock.jpg?itok=f75blmE5" width="100" height="67" alt="" title="Canada’s supply chain has seen several major disruptions since July 2021. Photo credit: SherSS/Shutterstock.com. " /> Canada’s transport regulator has introduced a new bill that would give the government more authority to monitor port activity and address rail issues faster.

2M and Zim suspend USEC service as rates, volumes drop near year’s end

<img class="img-responsive" src="https://www.joc.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/field_feature_image/NYNJ_APM_rblfmr_Shutterstock.jpg?itok=lEn_NMlG" width="100" height="66" alt="" title="Full-year 2022 volumes into New York-New Jersey are expected to be roughly flat with 2021. Photo credit: rblfmr / Shutterstock.com. " /> Maersk and MSC have suspended a trans-Pacific US East Coast service as freight rates and volumes continue to slump as 2022 winds down.

Annual air cargo contracts vanish as market weakens

<img class="img-responsive" src="https://www.joc.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/field_feature_image/Shutterstock_1840750873.jpg?itok=AvOuZEor" width="100" height="67" alt="" title="Cathay Pacific saw October volume fall 20 percent year over year. Photo credit: LPatricK297/Shutterstock.com." /> Growing uncertainty over demand levels and falling rates is making longer-term traditional air freight block space agreements unattractive.

India–US rates fall to 18-month low as liners struggle with overcapacity

<img class="img-responsive" src="https://www.joc.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/field_feature_image/India_0.png?itok=tIWcr6eD" width="100" height="67" alt="" title="Average contract rates for carrier bookings from West India to New York have dropped 25 percent since the end of October. Photo credit: PSA Mumbai." /> While a stabilization of rates on the trades out of India was always in the cards, the speed at which the market turned has caught carriers off guard, says the head of the country’s container shipping lobby group.

Green shipping corridor report highlights huge decarbonization hurdles

<img class="img-responsive" src="https://www.joc.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/field_feature_image/Shutterstock_2216783917.jpg?itok=3VhlG1kY" width="100" height="57" alt="" title="The creation of maritime green corridors is regarded as a crucial step toward reaching 2030 emissions-reduction targets. Photo credit: Andrey Sharpilo / Shutterstock.com. " /> Developing green ocean trade lanes will become increasingly complex as the number of stakeholders increases and cooperation deepens across the value chain.

Trans-Pacific volume decline picks up pace in October

<img class="img-responsive" src="https://www.joc.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/field_feature_image/Port%20Hong%20Kong%20terminal%20cloudy%20day.jpg?itok=shrC9Sdh" width="100" height="67" alt="" title="Year-to-date US imports from Asia rose 2.4 percent from January to October 2021 due to a strong first half of the year. Photo credit: Gil Meshulam/Shutterstock.com." /> Plunging imports from Asia in October, normally one of the busiest months of the year, signals a continued “flattening” of eastbound trans-Pacific demand in the coming months, according to Ben Hackett, principal at Hackett Associates.