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...

Big US truckload operators drive profits despite slowing volume

[caption caption="Despite gloomy freight economy indicators, publicly owned truckload carriers are rolling into the second quarter with stronger bottom-line profits. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com"][/caption]The largest US truckload carriers are boosting profitability and gaining freight despite an overall downward trend in shipping volumes, according to data from corporate earnings reports and research...

New plants put Savannah on track to double resin exports

[caption caption="Plastic Express will be opening a plant to package resins and export 25,000 containers out of Savannah in 2020. Photo credit: Ari Ashe."][/caption]The port of Savannah is on track to double the number of containerized exports it handles annually, after Plastic Express on Tuesday announced plans to invest $172...

CMA CGM enters instant quoting fray

[caption caption="CMA CGM is only the third liner carrier to offer instant quotes through its own website, following similar initiatives by Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com."][/caption]CMA CGM is offering instant quoting as part of a large release of electronic tools — including a rate management solution and priority loading...

Global container growth forecast to rebound

[caption caption="Global container volume increased by 4 percent to 146.4 million TEU, but that was down from the 5.6 percent growth recorded the previous year. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com."][/caption]A slowing world economy put the brakes on container growth in 2018, but global volume is expected to reverse this trend over the...

K+N throws down guaranteed transit gauntlet

[caption caption="Kuehne + Nagel’s KN Pledge offers shippers a money-back guarantee if they fail to hit pre-established transit times on port-to-port or door-to-door container shipments. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com."][/caption]A new guaranteed transit time full containerload (FCL) product tethered to instant quoting capabilities from the global freight forwarder Kuehne + Nagel (K+N) portends...

Trucker strike threat stokes Brazil shipper fears

[caption caption="Risk management consultancy Resolution 360 is advising shippers in Brazil to prepare contingency plans in the event of another truck driver blockade. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com."][/caption]Shippers in Brazil are becoming increasingly nervous as truckers in the South American country contemplate another strike over a lack of enforcement of a state-mandated...

Preventing misdeclared cargo dangers

Misdeclared cargo is a sensitive issue, and we like to think that nobody does it intentionally, but the numbers are telling. According to the National Cargo Bureau, as many as 20 percent of stowage plans in 2017 had errors with dangerous goods, and CINS estimates that 21 percent of cargo moves through ports...

Knight-Swift profits in ‘less robust’ US trucking market

[caption caption="Despite a \"less robust\" marketplace in the first quarter, Knight-Swift and its subsidiaries improved profitability significantly, with fewer tractors and less revenue. Photo Credit: Shutterstock.com."][/caption]A “less robust” market awash with storms and flooding siphoned first-quarter revenue from the largest US truckload operator, Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings. However, Knight-Swift boosted its...

LA-LB container dwells edge toward normalcy

[caption caption="Average container dwell times at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach fell to 2.68 days in March but remain above the three-year average of 2.14 days. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com."][/caption]The volume-driven congestion that gripped Los Angeles-Long Beach this winter is over, but work remains to be done to...

Buffalo inland port to provide NY-NJ relief valve

[caption caption="The planned intermodal port in Buffalo, New York, is expected to handle 30,000 container turns a year to and from the Port of New York and New Jersey. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com."][/caption]The further integration of Buffalo, New York, into the Port of New York and New Jersey’s rail network promises...

NS bullish on intermodal despite truck pressures

[caption caption="Norfolk Southern benefited from strong imports to the East Coast in the first quarter, sending container volume up 10 percent. Domestic business was weaker than a year ago. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com."][/caption]Norfolk Southern Railway says it expects intermodal revenue and volume to accelerate in 2019, shrugging off concerns that US...

Carrier hesitation hampers IMO-fueled scrubber rush

[caption caption="Alphaliner estimates the total number of scrubbers ordered so far exceeds 700 units, with about 200 units to be fitted on newbuildings and 500 units expected to be retrofitted on existing ships. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com."][/caption]Carrier hesitation over the route to low-sulfur fuel compliance means less than half of the...

Wallenius, SOL form forest products JV

[caption caption="Swedish breakbulk shipping JV Wallenius SOL has placed an order for up to four LNG-fueled ice-class vessels to be delivered by 2021. Photo credit: Wallenius SOL."][/caption]Two Swedish shipping companies, Wallenius Lines and Swedish Orient Lines (SOL), have formed a joint venture (JV) carrier that will carry forestry products including finished paper...

Road lobby: EU emissions cuts may backfire

[caption caption="The European Commission estimates that road transport emissions in Europe have risen steadily over the past 25 years to more than 20 percent of the continent’s total greenhouse gas emissions. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com."][/caption]The European Union’s drive to radically slash vehicle emissions has drawn a strong reaction from the road...

Indian intermodal giant Concor freezes rates

[caption caption="Container Corporation of India (Concor), the country's largest freight rail operator, saw intermodal volume rise 8.5 percent year over year to 3.83 million TEU in fiscal 2018-2019. Photo credit: Concor."][/caption]In a move that is expected to encourage containerized rail movement and refuel competition across all transport modes in India,...

Increase in US truck registrations eases capacity

[caption caption="New trucks are hitting US highways at a faster pace in early 2019, according to IHS Markit, following a surge in orders last year. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com."][/caption]A nearly 20 percent increase in the number of new heavy trucks and tractors hitting US highways in early 2019 is another sign...

US container-on-barge services get funding boost

[caption caption="The $6.79 million in grant funding is part of a greater effort by the US Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration to promote inland waterways as viable cargo corridors. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com."][/caption]Three container-on-barge and catamaran projects will receive a $6.79 million boost from the federal government as operators find openings...

When shipment ownership doesn’t matter

Q: We’re a broker, and a client is claiming for a shipment that was refused by its customer due to damage.The driver delayed, without explanation, taking the shipment to a disposal facility for nearly six months, and we and our client waited on the disposal cost to include it in...

E-commerce drives on-demand warehousing tech

[caption caption="Developers added 33.2 million square feet of industrial real estate space in the US during first quarter 2019, 20.5 percent less than in the same quarter last year. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com."][/caption]The $24.3 million injection of funding in the past week to on-demand and cloud-based warehouse procurement and management technology...