News - Industry News

Record US imports from Asia accelerate even further in March

[caption caption="March marked the ninth consecutive month of record or near-record imports from Asia, an unprecedented streak of import volumes in the eastbound trans-Pacific. Photo caption: Shutterstock.com."][/caption]Already-booming US imports from Asia accelerated even further in March, jumping 22 percent from February to 1.66 million TEU, up a staggering 90.5 percent from the same month a year...

J.B. Hunt increases container order amid heavy demand

[caption caption="J.B. Hunt is by far the largest domestic container owner in the US, double the fleet size of its nearest competitor, and more than all the US railroad owned containers combined. Photo credit: Ted Tanner/Flickr."][/caption]J.B. Hunt Transport Services has doubled its target for the number of new intermodal containers...

Hong Kong quarantine lifted for cargo crew: Cathay Pacific

[caption caption="The constraints of losing pilots to quarantine for two weeks every time they returned to Hong Kong cut Cathay Pacific’s available capacity by almost 40 percent in the first quarter. Photo credit: Shutterstock."][/caption]Fully vaccinated Hong Kong-based crews for air freighters and cargo-only passenger flights will no longer be subject to a mandatory — and costly — 14-day quarantine...

Longshore labor availability improves significantly in LA-LB

[caption caption="A shortage of skilled equipment operators is the biggest contributor to the labor shortage on the docks in Los Angeles-Long Beach. Photo caption: Shutterstock.com."][/caption]The West Coast longshore employers’ association and union have hired and trained hundreds of dockworkers in Los Angeles-Long Beach in recent months to handle growing cargo volumes, but they both agree that more hiring...

Integration provider Chain.io gets VC funding to fuel logistics connectivity

[caption caption="Chain.io provides systems integrations to a range of logistics companies and shippers, helping them connect transportation and rate management tools to other enterprise systems. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com."][/caption]Logistics software integration specialist Chain.io has raised $5 million in venture funding to expand its ability to help third-party logistics providers (3PLs) and shippers connect with the...

MPV/HL boost from bulk, container vessel congestion won’t last: Drewry

[caption caption="The 31,000 dwt AAL Dalian discharging gas cooling units and refinery components in the US. Photo credit: AAL."][/caption]Breakbulk carriers are enjoying demand and freight rate growth not seen in years, according to multipurpose/heavy-lift (MPV/HL) market indicators, but carriers are not expecting the recovery, which has been at least partially driven by chaos in the container sector and spiking...

Container lines say low-carbon shipping needs more US support

[caption caption="Congress is urged to back the IMO's $5 billion R&D fund for low-carbon fuels. Photo credit: Shutterstock."][/caption]The US needs to get more involved in global efforts to decarbonize the shipping industry, the head of the top group representing major container lines told Congress Thursday, arguing that Europe’s push for carbon pricing could...

Shipper demand for ocean visibility growing, but slowly: Gartner

[caption caption="Approximately 90 percent of freight visibility spending is still tied to truckload and LTL transportation within a specific geographic region, according to Gartner. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com."][/caption]Shippers in the market for a freight visibility platform in North America and Europe are predominantly searching for better insight into their surface transportation...

Container shippers face 'new normal' of more balanced capacity

[caption caption="The days where a constant state of carrier overcapacity existed is unlikely to return. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com."][/caption]Much has been said and written about the Suez incident and the ramifications following from it – and with Ever Given now being held back in Egypt with a billion-dollar claim, the unfortunate saga...

US container shipping girds for new reality of undercapacity

[caption caption="There’s no end in sight to the Asian import surge, even if there are expectations that consumer goods spending will shift toward dining and travel as vaccinations increase. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com."][/caption]The US container shipping system has maxed out its capacity, and on the back of what’s shaping up to be the sharpest...

New funding to help short-haul broker Torch meet e-commerce demand

[caption caption="Short-haul loads can be unprofitable for brokers due to fixed costs associated with securing capacity and the difficulty to carve out margin on a smaller invoice. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com."][/caption]Short-haul truckload broker Torch Logistics has closed a $3.5 million seed funding round from a group of supply chain–focused investors to capitalize...

Boston hopes new cranes lure second Asia service

[caption caption="Massport port chief said Conley Terminal is in \"11th hour\" due to current inability to service vessels over 10,000 TEU. Photo credit: Massport."][/caption]The Port of Boston hopes three new ship-to-shore cranes at its Conley Terminal will bring a second Asia direct service back to the port and provide shippers with...

Biden nominates data-centric regulator to head FMCSA

[caption caption="Meera Joshi battled app-based ridesharing companies while chair and CEO of New York City"][/caption]A New York City taxi regulator who pioneered the use of data tools to weed out unsafe drivers and devised a pay protection program for drivers working for app-based services is the Biden administration’s nominee to head the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). Meera Joshi, who...

LaserShip, OnTrac top list of fastest-growing ‘trucking’ firms

[caption caption="A 44 percent increase in e-commerce sales brought two new parcel carriers to the 2020 rankings of the Top 50 Trucking Companies. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com."][/caption]The fastest-growing US trucking companies last year weren’t necessarily ‘trucking’ companies, but ground parcel carriers, according to research by SJ Consulting Group. Regional parcel carriers LaserShip and OnTrac led the fastest growing companies on the JOC.com Top...

No initial port slowdowns from Suez-delayed ships calling Europe, Asia

[caption caption="Rotterdam is the first port of call for many Asia-Europe services, and the vessels delayed by the Suez closure have been arriving in close succession all week. Photo credit: Port of Rotterdam Authority."][/caption]Major hub ports in North Europe and Asia have yet to feel the full impact of ship...

Lessors, carriers send new container orders soaring

[caption caption="Hapag-Lloyd said Wednesday it had ordered 150,000 TEU of dry freight containers at Chinese box makers for delivery this year. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com."][/caption]China International Marine Containers (CIMC) saw a surge in dry freight container sales in the first quarter as carriers and leasing companies invested in new boxes to tackle a global equipment...

Coming capacity wave may put brakes on near-term carrier profitability: analysts

[caption caption="Significant new capacity has been ordered by carriers in the past few months. Photo credit: Shutterstock."][/caption]Container lines are on track to be more profitable this year than last and stay in the black through 2022, but how demand measures up to a new wave of capacity due to be delivered starting 2023 will shape...

Capacity crunch traps Bangladesh-bound boxes at transshipment ports

[caption caption="Most of the Bangladesh-bound containers have been stuck in regional transshipment ports, including Sri Lanka’s Colombo (above). Photo credit: Shutterstock.com."][/caption]Nearly 20,000 TEU of Bangladesh-bound containers are stranded in regional transshipment ports owing to the dearth of feeder vessels amid a capacity crunch and congestion in Chittagong. Most of the containers have been stuck in Colombo, Singapore, and Port Klang for three weeks or more. Exacerbating the...

Yellow puts new president in charge of LTL transformation

[caption caption="Yellow is preparing to retire brand names such as YRC Freight, Holland, Reddaway, and New Penn as it integrates its networks. Photo credit: Yellow Corp."][/caption]The former YRC Worldwide is changing its leadership in addition to its brand identity, naming Darrel Harris president of Yellow, which is evolving from four distinct brands to become one multiregional less-than-truckload (LTL)...

US providers face higher costs after duty ruling on Chinese-made chassis

[caption caption="The unanimous 5-0 vote is the final step to enact a 39.14 percent countervailing duty, which North American producers such as Stoughton Trailers argue will make their chassis more competitive in the market. Photo credit: Joe Stewart/Flickr."][/caption]The US International Trade Commission (ITC) ruled unanimously Tuesday that the Chinese government’s subsidizing of China International Marine Chassis (CIMC) materially...