News - Industry News

US logistics growth losing steam after 2018 boost

[caption caption="US logistics costs that rose 11.4 percent last year will drop back to a more modest growth rate this year, but CSCMP and A.T. Kearney don’t see a steep decline ahead. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com"][/caption]US logistics costs that rose 11.4 percent last year will drop back to a more modest...

GCT Bayonne plans full-day appointment system

[caption caption="Trucks arriving at the gates of GCT Bayonne in the Port of New York and New Jersey won"][/caption]GCT Bayonne is preparing to extend its appointment system by three hours to the entire working day in a bid to further enhance cargo flow in and out of the terminal in...

Infographic: Warehouse hubs mitigate storage crunch at NY-NJ port

[caption caption="Click to enlarge"][/caption]Related articles:Newark land seizure opens port warehousing potentialBuffalo inland port to provide NY-NJ relief valveInland port serving NY-NJ moves forwardNY-NJ port importers flock to Lehigh Valley...

Industry lobbies to pull tariffs on port equipment

[caption caption="ZPMC cranes in Wilmington, North Carolina. These cranes are subject to a 25 percent tariff under the latest list being reviewed by a division of the US Trade Representative. Photo credit: North Carolina State Ports Authority."][/caption]Marine industry leaders are seeking a federal review of a new round of tariffs...

Third-party PO management can bring supply chain stability

It’s no secret that international shipping rates have grown more unpredictable. An oversupply or undersupply of vessels or planes can cause rates to change drastically, and sailings and flights can be unexpectedly canceled as carriers adjust supply to maintain profitability. As a result, shippers can struggle to consistently obtain space...

India’s Concor looks to expand beyond rail

[caption caption="India’s Concor saw its domestic and international containerized movement jump 8 percent in fiscal year 2018-19, with combined lifts hitting 3.82 million TEU. Photo credit: APM Terminals Mumbai."][/caption]State-owned containerized rail giant Container Corporation of India (Concor) is cementing its coastal shipping portfolio — a transformation of intermodal into an integrated...

Major banks aligning with IMO 2050 emissions goals

[caption caption="Leading international banks Citi, Societe Generale, and DNB worked with industry leaders to create the Poseidon Principles, an agreement to disclose climate alignment of shipping portfolios. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com."][/caption]A group of eleven major banks, financing 20 percent of the global shipping fleet, have agreed to adjust their lending procedures...

Multipurpose index flat in face of slowing economy

[caption caption="Toepfer’s Multipurpose Index (TMI), an average of time charter rates for 12,500 dwt multipurpose/heavy-lift (MPV/HL) F-type vessels, rose 2.8 percent year over year in June 2019. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com."][/caption]Chartering activity for the slice of multipurpose/heavy-lift (MPV/HL) shipping measured by Toepfer’s Multipurpose Index (TMI) was flat from May to June,...

Houston success undaunted by ship size restrictions

[caption caption="The Houston Ship Channel’s national impact is more than $800 billion each year, sustaining 3.2 million jobs and providing $38 billion in tax revenue. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com."][/caption]The story of Houston is one of unprecedented success. The growth and achievements of this city are tied to many different enterprises, but...

US agriculture exporters under low-sulfur fuel pressure

  [caption caption="In terms of base freight rate, carriers always charge more for the high-volume, higher-priced consumer merchandise that moves in the head haul than they do for the low-value back-haul commodities. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com."][/caption]TACOMA — US agriculture exporters worried that higher fuel prices tied to the global low-sulfur mandate will...

Chicago truckers publishing rail turn times

[caption caption="BNSF Logistics Park in Elwood, Illinois. The terminal has the second longest turn times of all Chicago intermodal facilities, behind only CN Harvey. Photo credit: Ari Ashe"][/caption]The Illinois Trucking Association has begun to publish monthly rail turn times in Chicago to highlight the problem of terminal congestion and its...

Vessel size limit law puts spotlight on Houston channel widening

[caption caption="Port officials are accelerating the planned expansion of the Houston Ship Channel after lawmakers to closed it to vessels of size larger than 9,500 TEU unless the board of pilots concludes that they can traverse the channel safely and efficiently. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com."][/caption]On Friday, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed...

Cyber attack hits US LTL trucker A. Duie Pyle

[caption caption="Ransomware attacks against all types of businesses are on the rise, cyber crime authorities say. Photo credit: A. Duie Pyle."][/caption]Hackers attacked the communications network of A. Duie Pyle last weekend, disrupting the northeastern US regional trucking company’s ability to communicate with shippers and shutting down its website. In a...

JNPT users press for review of mixed rail charges

[caption caption="The group representing ship agents at India’s Jawaharlal Nehru Port says extra charges levied by terminal operators are not justified. Photo credit: DP World Subcontinent."][/caption]An inter-terminal rail handling dispute that has dogged Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) since the opening of a PSA International facility a year ago is...

Chassis provider urges revamp of regional pools

[caption caption="Variations of chassis pools now in use typically favor some users while disadvantaging others. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com."][/caption]TACOMA — Ports and rail hubs are struggling to find the chassis model that works best for their transportation communities, although a consensus is building that establishing a regional hub with a single...

Consolidation lifts trans-Pacific carrier pricing power

[caption caption="Carriers are likely to continue to benefit from the effects of consolidation for years to come. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com."][/caption]There were identifiable reasons — all related to unique conditions in 2019 — why container carriers in the recent trans-Pacific contract negotiations achieved base rate increases as well as guarantees of...

Rail project completion boosts NY-NJ port’s Midwest reach

[caption caption="The new rail terminal at GCT Bayonne in the Port of New York and New Jersey is expected to help the terminal attract more discretionary cargo, in part with a two day dwell time. Photo credit: Hugh R. Morley."][/caption]Staking a larger share of Midwest cargo handled by West Coast...

Truck rates heat up in US Southeast, California

[caption caption="DAT Solutions believes spot truckload demand is rising and may be stronger through June into July. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com."][/caption]Truckload rates out of Atlanta have risen double digits in the last few weeks, and more freight appears to be moving inland from the US West Coast, positive signs in a...

Samskip preps for Brexit cargo shifting to sea

[caption caption="An estimated 14,000 trucks cross the UK-EU border every day, with the port of Dover (above) handling 17 percent of the UK’s total trade in goods. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com."][/caption]European multimodal carrier Samskip is expecting UK exporters and importers to begin switching from trailer transport to containerization soon, repeating a...

More China tariff pressure ahead for US agricultural exporters

[caption caption="US containerized agricultural exports to China declined 24.5 percent in 2018 from the previous year, according to PIERS, a JOC.com sister company within IHS Markit. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com."][/caption]TACOMA — With containerized agricultural exports from the US down 2.9 percent in the first four months of the year, and neither China...