News - Industry News
Scan Global becomes latest European forwarder to target Asia-based rival
<img class="img-responsive" src="https://www.joc.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/field_feature_image/ScanGlobal.jpg?itok=3XezQh3x" width="100" height="67" alt="" title="Copenhagen-headquartered Scan Global Logistics said Sea-Air Logistics will become part of the Scan group from July 5. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com." /> Sea-Air Logistics will increase Scan’s market share on the trans-Pacific, Asia-Europe, and intra-Asia trades through nine warehouses and offices in China, Hong Kong, and Singapore.
California truckers expect ‘business as usual’ amid AB5 implementation
<img class="img-responsive" src="https://www.joc.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/field_feature_image/LAtrucks.jpg?itok=ebjvRyUx" width="100" height="67" alt="" title="The California Trucking Association said 70,000 independent contractor drivers will eventually be forced to change their operating model under AB5. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com." /> Despite uncertainty over how implementation of AB5 will play out, California trucking executives say truck capacity in the state’s ports will not suddenly dry up with the peak-shipping season at hand.
Shippers renew concerns over potential disruption linked to USWC contract expiration
<img class="img-responsive" src="https://www.joc.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/field_feature_image/LB.0723_0.jpg?itok=IbCLAZw2" width="100" height="67" alt="" title="Neither the PMA nor the ILWU have indicated what the major contract issues are this year, although union resistance to the spread of automation is most likely a sticking point. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com." /> With Friday’s expiration of the contract between the ILWU and West Coast marine terminal employers, negotiations for a new deal enter a new and more unpredictable phase that has shippers on edge.
CMA CGM to cut targeted French contract rates from Aug. 1
<img class="img-responsive" src="https://www.joc.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/field_feature_image/Le%20havre.jpg?itok=lla_N_Mo" width="100" height="58" alt="" title="Long-term rates for cargo shipped from Asia to the French hub of Le Havre are up 53 percent year over year. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com." /> French carrier CMA CGM has responded to a government call for price cuts to help inflation-hit consumers by announcing a 500 Euro cut in long-term rates for imports of essential household goods through French ports.
Maersk resigns from ICS board amid push to hasten decarbonization
<img class="img-responsive" src="https://www.joc.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/field_feature_image/Maersk.1023_1.jpg?itok=Kzf_iYc4" width="100" height="67" alt="" title="Maersk has placed an order for eight 16,000 TEU capacity ships that run on green methanol, the first of which will be delivered in 2024. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com." /> Maersk’s decision to resign from the board of the International Chamber of Shipping is a sign of the divergence among shipowner group as pressure builds to more aggressively address climate change.
US shipping probes turn up heat on Europe block exemption: shipper group
<img class="img-responsive" src="https://www.joc.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/field_feature_image/shutterstock_1481560670.jpg?itok=pUzVyiRF" width="100" height="67" alt="" title="Shippers on the trades in and out of Europe have faced soaring rates and deteriorating service levels over the past two years. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com." /> A global shippers’ group believes US regulatory probes into container shipping practices through the pandemic will add pressure on the European Commission to formally review its carrier exemption from antitrust law.
ILWU study proposes surcharge penalties for LA-LB port automation
<img class="img-responsive" src="https://www.joc.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/field_feature_image/LA.Mar3022_0.jpg?itok=4x-j0ElU" width="100" height="67" alt="" title="An ILWU-commissioned study proposes creation of a surcharge to compensate California exporters for lost business when containers are returned empty to Asia. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com." /> A report commissioned by the International Longshore & Warehouse Union suggests California levy a tax on automated terminals in Los Angeles-Long Beach, with revenues directed to communities that suffer economic harm from the loss of dockworker jobs.
FMC’s Sola urges Biden to intervene in Leatherman terminal dispute
<img class="img-responsive" src="https://www.joc.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/field_feature_image/Charleston_0.jpg?itok=TNq6kNF4" width="100" height="67" alt="" title="The Port of Charleston’s Hugh K. Leatherman Terminal has only been 50 percent utilized despite as many as 27 ships waiting outside the port earlier this year. Photo credit: Daniel Wright98/Shutterstock.com." /> A Federal Maritime Commissioner is calling on the White House to step in and help end the labor dispute that has kept Charleston’s Hugh K. Leatherman Terminal significantly underutilized since its opening last year.
CMA CGM makes industrial scale move into biomethane production
<img class="img-responsive" src="https://www.joc.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/field_feature_image/CMA%20CGM%20JACQUES%20SAADE_Le%20Havre_%C2%A9Eric%20Houri-HAROPA.jpg?itok=cRzwTZ1h" width="100" height="56" alt="" title="The LNG-powered ships of CMA CGM can run on bio LNG or biomethane. Photo credit: CMA CGM." /> French carrier CMA CGM is investing in a green gas project that aims to ramp up the production of biomethane in support of shipping decarbonization efforts and to fuel the carrier’s own vessels.
UP realigning intermodal network ahead of Northern California expansion
<img class="img-responsive" src="https://www.joc.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/field_feature_image/slc-train.jpg?itok=RzY0YYPW" width="100" height="67" alt="" title="Union Pacific Railroad said it understands there needs to be more intermodal capacity in Lathrop, California, and realigning lanes to Oakland will allow construction work to begin to address the need. Photo credit: Andriy Blokhin/Shutterstock.com." /> Union Pacific Railroad will temporarily re-align its domestic intermodal network in Northern California to accommodate a construction project meant to expand container capacity in the region ahead of Schneider National bringing more volume in 2023.
Rising demand keeps China-Europe 'middle' rail route under pressure
<img class="img-responsive" src="https://www.joc.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/field_feature_image/shutterstock_2161151423.jpg?itok=PWUPBwLP" width="100" height="67" alt="" title="The Black Sea hub of Odessa has been closed since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February, with cargo diverted to other terminals in the region. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com." /> Elevated demand for rail cargo on the only viable China-Europe rail route continues to overwhelm the existing infrastructure, with congestion building at Central Asian intermodal points.
Convoy injects brokerage tech into MercuryGate TMS
<img class="img-responsive" src="https://www.joc.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/field_feature_image/Convoy2.jpg?itok=uVV8zQjU" width="100" height="67" alt="" title="Convoy for Brokers, launched in November, is software designed for other freight intermediaries to drive loads into Convoy’s base of truckload carriers. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com." /> Convoy has expanded existing relationships with transportation management software provider MercuryGate and forwarder Flexport to give brokers access to more automation and shippers access to transload activity.
FedEx forecasts strong profits for LTL division
<img class="img-responsive" src="https://www.joc.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/field_feature_image/FedExFreight_0.jpg?itok=GbSOL6m8" width="100" height="67" alt="" title="FedEx told investors that operating margins at trucking arm FedEx Freight will hit 20 to 22 percent by fiscal 2025, after reaching 17.4 percent in fiscal 2022. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com." /> FedEx expects its trucking operating profits to keep rising, despite what could be a rocky economic road in the second half of 2022, executives said at an investor meeting.
Development project threatens Port of Oakland’s future
<div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW267863779 BCX8"><p class="Paragraph SCXW267863779 BCX8">California agriculture needs the Port of Oakland. For decades, the port has been the primary gateway for <a class="Hyperlink SCXW267863779 BCX8" href="https://www.ams.usda.gov/sites/default/files/OaklandPort.pdf" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">California agricultural exports</a>.</p></div>
New House legislation would entice carriers to haul US exports
<img class="img-responsive" src="https://www.joc.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/field_feature_image/Dole.png?itok=oVo4VN8a" width="100" height="75" alt="" title="US farmers have lost an estimated $25 billion in agricultural exports in the past six months because of exporting issues, according to Zippy Duvall, president of the American Farm Bureau. Photo credit: Bill Cassidy/JOC.com." /> Hot on the heels of major shipping reform signed into law, two California Congressmen have introduced a bill that would incentivize vessels to carry US ag exports or call multiple US ports.
Chaotic ‘spillover’ market reveals value of breakbulk shipping skills
<img class="img-responsive" src="https://www.joc.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/field_feature_image/SPilloverShippers_AALBrisbane%2Bsmall%20.jpeg?itok=hsCHAFU3" width="100" height="67" alt="" title="AAL’s multipurpose AAL Brisbane transporting a deckload of containers in 2021. Photo credit: AAL." /> Old-fashioned breakbulk and supply chain skills have served shippers well in the “spillover” market, and some practices may linger after the container market normalizes.
Frontloading by US retailers driving inventory buildup
<img class="img-responsive" src="https://www.joc.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/field_feature_image/warehouse_1.jpg?itok=8W7C8g33" width="100" height="56" alt="" title="To get ahead of shipping delays, some retailers already have Christmas inventory on the water or in stores. Photo credit: Hit1912/Shutterstock.com." /> As US consumer sentiment fell to record lows in June, some retailers are sitting on higher inventory than expected heading into peak shipping season.
Tone not criticism undervalues CSCMP report
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Freight growth to continue despite inflation, rising oil prices: economists
<img class="img-responsive" src="https://www.joc.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/field_feature_image/containers.0110_3.jpg?itok=DZOtwREv" width="100" height="67" alt="" title="US gross domestic product is forecasted to increase 2.4 percent in 2022, in line with average annual GDP growth in pre-COVID years. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com." /> Modest growth in freight volumes will continue in the second half of the year even if inflation and oil prices remain high, according to trade economists who spoke at the SMC3 conference this week.
LTL outlook strong despite economic fears: SMC3
<img class="img-responsive" src="https://www.joc.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/field_feature_image/fedex%20freight%202.jpg?itok=7RGZ6kFK" width="100" height="67" alt="" title="LTL’s pricing discipline and expanded role in international shipments are seen as an advantage in a weakening economy. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com. " /> The less-than-truckload industry is positioned to ride through a rocky soft patch in the economy and even a short recession with higher pricing, carrier executives at the SMC3 Connections conference said.
