News - Industry News

Oakland port’s maritime director to head Mobile

[caption caption="The Alabama State Port Authority will from June 1 be led by a veteran industry executive with experience at the Port of Oakland and several ocean carriers. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com"][/caption]The Alabama State Port Authority on Monday named John C. Driscoll, maritime director of the Port of Oakland, to head...

Cargo risk tools get second look after early COVID-19 alerts

[caption caption="Even the most sophisticated risk monitoring system can't account for all the potential disruptions to supply chains, so a key parallel capability for shippers to develop is flexibility. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com."][/caption]Hindsight is always 20/20 and the merits of investing in risk forecasting technology are no different. But for customers...

US trucking firms move to safeguard drivers, employees amid COVID-19

[caption caption="Large trucking firms say they are extending pay for sick drivers. Truckers want to know how they"][/caption]For many truck drivers, the day now starts with a check not of their equipment, but their own temperature. Efforts to safeguard drivers from the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) -- and keep freight...

Maintaining the Flow of Goods is Essential Work in the Battle Against COVID-19

The liner shipping industry, which operates container ships and vehicle carriers, has continued to move the cargo on which the world relies despite the global pandemic.  As governments, companies, individuals, and institutions respond to the COVID-19 crisis, the first focus is and must be on protecting health and human life. ...

COVID-19 further complicates truck driver classification debate

[caption caption="The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) adds another layer of complexity to the future of driver classification legislation in states such as California, New Jersey and New York. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com."][/caption]The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has shown the fragile state of employee benefits in the United States, injecting another layer of...

China-Europe air cargo rates hit new highs on medical demand

[caption caption="The passenger deck of a Swiss Airbus 340 passenger plane is loaded with protective medical supplies for a flight from China to Switzerland. Photo credit: Swiss WorldCargo."][/caption]The rush to fly urgently needed medical equipment and pharmaceuticals from China to Europe amid the fight against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)...

High debt levels leave container lines exposed

[caption caption="The degree to which carriers can access capital and hold the line on capacity discipline will determine how they weather the financial storm brought on by the coronavirus. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com."][/caption]A sharp drop in cash flow as demand evaporates in the second quarter is eroding the financial bedrock of...

European shippers scramble to store unneeded imports

[caption caption="Storage options are needed for cargo owners as unwanted imports from China begin to arrive in Europe terminals. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com."][/caption]There is growing urgency for European shippers and their forwarders to come up with solutions to manage the wave of unneeded inventory now in transit and about to land...

JOC Rankings: US trucking revenue growth slams on the brakes

[caption caption="Revenue growth among the Top 50 US Trucking Companies slowed from 12.2 percent in 2018 to 1.3 percent in 2019. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com."][/caption]US trucking companies suffered a swift reversal of fortune last year, as the strongest freight market since the 2009 recession softened amid slower economic growth and a...

COVID-19 clouds freight rate forecasting, stimulates demand

[caption caption="Demand for rate forecasting is a symptom of a broader desire for forward-looking visibility, something still rare in the supply chain. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com."][/caption]The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is bringing new urgency to the development of freight price forecasting tools that can help shippers quickly adapt to fast-changing market...

US truckload shippers must prioritize carrier ties during recession: analysts

[caption caption="Trucking companies are bound to suffer in a US economic recession, so a strategic shipper will find ways to weather the storm together. Photo credit: North Dakota Department of Transportation."][/caption]Trucking companies will have less freight to haul as the pandemic-fueled recession spreads across the United States, but shippers of...

US importers urged to ‘proactively’ challenge demurrage charges

[caption caption="“Even though terminals have reopened their gates, we’re challenged getting appointments,” a Los Angeles-area drayage executive said. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com."][/caption]US importers and drayage operators need to be more proactive documenting what they believe are unfair detention and demurrage (D&D) charges, speakers said Thursday during a JOC.com webcast.At the same...

Maersk speeding, slowing US imports amid COVID-19

[caption caption="The completion of Maersk"][/caption]Through its evolution to become a self-described integrator, Maersk said new capabilities, much of them gained by recent acquisitions, are allowing it to better service US importers amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) by speeding or slowing their container supply chains. This gaining of greater control of...

Hapag-Lloyd to pass on NY-NJ container charge to customers

[caption caption="The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has changed a controversial cargo facility charge so that it is levied only on containers loaded with cargo, and not empties. Photo credit: Hugh R. Morley."][/caption]Hapag-Lloyd this month will begin passing on to customers a charge levied by the Port...

JOC Rankings: Top 3PLs' revenue growth slowed before coronavirus

[caption caption="Combined revenue growth for the Top 50 Global Logistics Providers slowed from 14 percent in 2018 to just 2.1 percent in 2019. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com."][/caption]Reflecting the gradual slowdown in the global economy, revenue growth among the world’s 50 largest global logistics providers decelerated considerably during 2019 compared with the...

ONE targets global electronic bill of lading capability by mid-year

[caption caption="A lack of standardization in bill of lading formats has created a situation where shippers have to adapt to differences between documents between each container line they work with. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com."][/caption]In the latest example of container lines endeavoring to digitize critical ocean freight documents, Ocean Network Express (ONE)...

2M latest shipping alliance slashing trans-Pacific capacity

[caption caption="The 2M Alliance will suspend the weekly Asia-US West Coast TP 8/Orient service and the South Asia-US East Coast TP 11/Elephant loop starting April 20. Photo credit: Arnoud Lievense/Shutterstock.com."][/caption]Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the port calls on the 2M's TP 11/Elephant loop. JOC apologizes for...

Word of the year: Supply chain

Every year, Oxford University Press, the publisher of the Oxford English Dictionary, announces its UK and US words of the year (WOTY). Sometimes (such as last year) the word is the same: climate emergency. Sometimes the word differs.  And sometimes, (2015) it is not a word at all: it is an...

Chittagong importers urge fee waivers amid COVID-19 shutdown

[caption caption="The Chittagong Port Authority is urging importers to take delivery of containers by any means in order to maintain some flow in the port yard. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com."][/caption]Bangladeshi shippers are seeking relief from demurrage and other charges in Chittagong as containers pile up in the port amid a country-wide...

US port congestion threat demands united industry response

[caption caption="Keeping the containerized supply chain flowing amid this environment of hyperchange, reflected by stop-and-go and then stop again US import flows, will take industry cooperation. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com."][/caption]With container lines, ports, and forwarders warning of US port congestion from imports piling up at marine terminals in the coming weeks,...