News - Industry News

Video: More than cost, more than speed

Along the supply chain, the freight forwarder is the link between multiple parties and integrator of data, Samuel Shapiro & Co.’s Director of Supply Chain Angela Czajkowski noted at the 2018 JOC Logistics Technology Conference. In this interview, Czajkowski discussed the steps freight forwarders need to take to remain relevant...

Block exemption debate intensifies as EC readies ruling

[caption caption="The European Commission is expected to make a final ruling on whether to renew the liner shipping consortia block exemption regulation by mid-year. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com."][/caption]Lobbying from both sides of the liner shipping consortia block exemption regulation (BER) argument is picking up as the European Commission (EC) prepares to...

Data standards an accelerator for tech adoption

[caption caption="Kontainers chief technology officer Charles Lee told JOC.com that with an “ontology” that shippers, carriers, and 3PLs could agree on, technology providers will be forced to \"solve the same problems over and over again.” Photo credit: Shutterstock.com."][/caption]The feasibility and usefulness of data standards development in container shipping is generally...

Historic Omaha floods wrack supply chains

[caption caption="As of Monday, the Nebraska DOT had determined 11 flood-damaged bridges would need to be replaced, and more than 200 miles of roadway repaired, according to the Omaha World-Herald. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com."][/caption]Record-breaking floods sweeping the Midwest are disrupting the flow of domestic and international freight, swamping rail lines and...

Declining volumes undercut US truckload rates

[caption caption="Covenant Transportation Group lowered its earnings guidance for the first quarter, telling investors the trucking market isn't as good as the company anticipated in 2019. Photo credit: Covenant Transport"][/caption]Shippers are tendering less freight to truckload carriers than a year ago in early 2019, prompting industry analysts to wonder whether...

US port ‘champion’ Cernak dies at 63

[caption caption="Steven M. Cernak served as CEO of the ports of Galveston and Everglades, helping the latter to become the second-largest port in Florida. Photo credit: Port Everglades."][/caption]Steven M. Cernak, who led key dredging and port development projects as CEO at the ports of Galveston and Everglades and helped make...

Flood of empty container returns delays LA-LB recovery

[caption caption="“The empty returns are a major problem. I believe the biggest problem at the ports right now is those empties,” Ed DeNike, president of SSA Containers, tells JOC.com. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com."][/caption]Despite declining post-Lunar New Year import volumes and canceled vessel sailings, Los Angeles-Long Beach is experiencing only incremental improvements...

Australian dockworkers to strike at DP World terminals

[caption caption="DP World Australia is the country's largest terminal operator, handling roughly 3 million TEU annually. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com."][/caption]Australian shippers are raising concerns over a planned industrial action by dockworkers employed by DP World slated to begin Friday at the four largest container ports in the country, saying the impact...

APM readies NY-NJ appointment system

[caption caption="The Port of New York and New Jersey handled 5.01 million loaded TEU in 2018, a 6.5 percent year-over-year increase. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com."][/caption]APM Terminals in the Port of New York and New Jersey says it is planning to launch its new appointment system — the port’s second — in...

BlackBerry sensor aimed at asset-based LSPs

[caption caption="BlackBerry's Radar H2 asset tracking product is designed to help logistics providers improve utilization of trailers, containers, and chassis, among other things. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com."][/caption]The number of asset-based tracking options available to logistics service providers (LSPs) continues to grow as the hardware becomes more durable, battery life improves, and...

Falling US imports spell more trans-Pacific blankings

[caption caption="US imports from Asia fell just under 1 percent year over year to 2.73 million TEU in January-February, according to PIERS, a JOC.com sister product within IHS Markit. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com."][/caption]US importers and exporters should anticipate increased blank sailings in the coming weeks as carriers respond to declining imports...

ILA president seeks third term

[caption caption="Harold Daggett's reelection bid comes just over a year after the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) and the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) agreed to a new six-year master contract prohibiting operators from deploying automated terminal equipment. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com."][/caption]Harold Daggett, who last year led the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA)...

UP’s ingate embargo underscores Chicago woes

[caption caption="Union Pacific is running short on well cars in Chicago to carry double-stack containers, so trucks are prohibited from bringing in boxes through Sunday. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com."][/caption]Union Pacific Railroad is prohibiting trucks from bringing containers into three Chicago-area terminals until Sunday because of a lack of well cars, sending...

A broker has no rights to this shipment

Q: We are a freight broker and facilitated a load for a Canadian customer to go to the border in North Dakota more than 180 days ago.The customer paid a deposit, and the carrier we booked picked up the load. While the shipment was in transit, the customer was nowhere...

MSC wants full control to turn around Gioia Tauro

[caption caption="Medcenter Container Terminal in the Italian port of Gioia Tauro has an annual capacity of 4.2 million TEU, but the port has struggled to arrest declining volume following the departure of Maersk Line in 2017. Photo credit: MCT."][/caption]Mediterranean Shipping Co. aims to take full control of the southern Italian...

US private intermodal outperforming rail-owned units

[caption caption="Domestic container loadings grew 4.9 percent in 2018, according to data from the Intermodal Association of North America’s (IANA) ETSO system. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com."][/caption]In recent months, the pace of growth in intermodal domestic container loadings has been slowing. But the top-line figure has masked a significant divergence in the...

Infographic: SE inland ports offer alternatives to drayage

[caption caption="Click to enlarge"][/caption] Related stories:Rail lift gains show deeper East Coast port reachNew US grants prop up port, highway, rail projectsNew inland port serving Savannah to offer direct rail service  ...

CSX rolling out truck reservation system

[caption caption="Truckers in Chicago are unhappy about a new reservation system implemented by CSX because they say it takes days to get a slot. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com."][/caption]CSX Transportation has begun requiring truckers to book appointments to return empty boxes or drop off loaded containers, an operational change that hasn’t been...

Pay hikes cut US driver turnover at big truck fleets

[caption caption="Driver turnover at large truckload carriers fell from 87 percent in the third quarter of 2018 to 78 percent in the fourth quarter, according to the American Trucking Associations (ATA). Photo credit: Shutterstock.com."][/caption]Could higher truck driver pay actually be working to keep more drivers in truck cabs? That looks...

CMA CGM extends India rail reach

[caption caption="Rail hauls represent 25-30 percent of all container moves at Mundra port, well above the 15 percent share at Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT). Photo credit: Shutterstock.com."][/caption]Intermodal rail service is gaining traction in India as ocean carriers and forwarders look to increase connections to a growing consumer base in...