Industry News

A lack of vessel capacity in the trans-Pacific and a shortage of chassis won’t show the first signs of easing for at least six months, but even then US import pressures will continue to slow velocity through ports, rail ramps, and warehouses, according to industry analysts. “More than 400,000 TEU are just sitting there [off Southern California],” Lars Jensen, CEO

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Just two weeks after launching an audit of container lines, US maritime regulators have ordered eight carriers to show how congestion surcharges and other fees tied to the pandemic-driven supply chain disruption meet legal and regulatory requirements. Carriers have already begun levying a new wave of surcharges for August. The Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) on Wednesday said it was launching

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The Transatlantic team is monitoring the global situation carefully and currently pleased note: Ocean General conditions indicate that space is fully booked until mid-May. ONE/HPL/YML/HMM(EC6)/EMC(AUG) will launch a new direct service connecting Taiwan, South & Central China, and Busan to US Gulf Ports (Houston, Mobile, New Orleans). Maiden voyage is set for May 9, 2021. 2M(TP23)/ZIM(ZSE) will launch a new transpacific

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MONTREAL PORT STRIKE, Dear Ocean clients regarding an impending strike action by Longshoremen at the Port of Montreal, the Maritime Employers Association (MEA) has received 72 hours’ advance notice from the Longshoremen Union on Saturday, April 10th announcing the following Partial Strike action: Starting Tuesday, April 13 at 6:00 pm, employees will do no overtime / extension hours. Starting Tuesday,

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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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