March 2021

Air cargo shippers should prepare for at least another three years of elevated freight rates, according to Glyn Hughes, the newly appointed director general of The International Air Cargo Association (TIACA). Airlines will struggle to match capacity with highly uncertain passenger demand, Hughes and others told the JOC’s virtual TPM21 conference, while also facing the prospect that some lucrative business

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Shippers, carriers, and forwarders are reporting growing trans-Atlantic demand, but the strengthening westbound market is being tempered by equipment shortages and deteriorating service levels ahead of record rate increases. The trans-Atlantic has avoided the volatility in volume and rates experienced by the other east-west trades, but its stability is being rocked by fast-rising demand and the spillover effects of disruption

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Container lines, who were just as surprised as the rest of us at the V-shaped volume recovery that followed COVID-19 lockdowns last spring, returned all withdrawn capacity to the trans-Pacific trade and deployed 150 extra loaders in the second half, “and even then those very significant efforts weren’t enough in the end to completely cover the market,” Ocean Network Express

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Members of the US House of Representatives are joining a group of Senators in supporting a probe by the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) into the inability of agriculture exporters to secure containers, and want the FMC to provide monthly updates on the matter. In a letter sent Tuesday to the FMC, 112 House members said the delays facing agricultural shippers

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The e-commerce juggernaut and crowded international gateways are making many secondary airports attractive alternatives for freight transport providers, but few are growing like Chicago Rockford International Airport. Located about 70 miles northwest of Chicago’s O’Hare Airport, Rockford Airport (RFD) last year increased cargo throughput by 15% to a record 2.7 billion tons of cargo landed weight (aircraft plus payload) and

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Members of Congress are getting involved in a dispute between US agriculture exporters and container carriers over an alleged denial of service during the second half of last year, when a sudden and sustained surge in volumes sent spot trans-Pacific freight rates through the roof. US exporters, particularly those moving agricultural products, claim carriers have been systematically refusing bookings since last

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The liner shipping industry is at the beginning of an up-cycle that will be marked by rising container volumes, a reasonable balance between supply and demand, and a retention of pricing power by carriers, Lars Jensen, CEO of SeaIntelligence Consulting, told the JOC virtual TPM21 conference Wednesday. This short-term cycle will feature continued competition among shippers for vessel capacity, empty

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