Category Archives for Industry News

All New York-New Jersey terminals to offer SOLAS weighing, but fees may apply All six terminals at the Port of New York and New Jersey will offer weighing services to shippers that don’t provide verified gross mass declarations needed to meet the SOLAS rule that takes effect Friday, but terminals could leverage fees for the […]

Panama Canal expansion will affect shipping — but how? Nine years and $5.4 billion in the making, the Panama Canal’s new, larger locks are opening amid questions about the impact they’ll have on an uncertain global trade and container shipping environment. The biggest questions involve trade between… Panama Canal expansion will affect shipping — but […]

Database of container tare weights aimed at helping shippers meet SOLAS rule   An international non-profit  is creating a massive database with the tare weights of containers around the world to help shippers comply with the upcoming SOLAS rule that takes effect July verified gross mass requirement. The database, which France-based Bureau International des Containers (BIC) is […]

Struggling trans-Pacific container lines urge exporters to bring cargo booked LONG BEACH — In the current low-rate environment where container lines are struggling just to break even, industry executives urged exporters to honor the bookings they make. “The big challenge for our company is controlling and managing booking,” Richard Craig, chief executive officer, MOL America, told […]

Health of US freight growth hinges on pace of inventory destocking     WASHINGTON — The state of U.S. freight growth in 2016 and beyond hangs on the fate of inventory that has been piling up for years and has proved difficult to draw down. There are signs that inventory de-stocking finally may be under […]

Container lines defend skyrocketing South America-Asia spot rates Container lines are playing down skyrocketing spot rates between the east coast of South America and Asia, saying the reported jumps of up to 1,600 percent come on the back of record low base-level prices, and still do not make the overall trade lane rates sustainable. Spot […]

Container lines back using current weighing process to help US exporters meet SOLAS U.S. exporters finally achieved the carrier uniformity they were seeking on the SOLAS container weighing requirement when 19 major container serving the U.S. gave their support for the use of on-terminal scales to comply with the international rule that takes effect on […]

Russia shippers face less trucking options as industry consolidates Trucking firms in Russia are consolidating and expanding their services in a bid to survive the country’s stagnant economy and remain competitive with containerized rail transportation. Consolidation is most directly impacting small- and medium-sized Russian trucking companies with fleets of up to 50 trucks that make […]

China’s Belt and Road set for .2 trillion in funding The potential impact of China’s Belt and Road initiative on the ports and logistics landscape in the Asia Pacific region and beyond is starting to emerge as the major sources of funding for the program come online. An estimated $1.2 trillion could be ploughed into […]

Maersk sees ‘bumpy’ six months of SOLAS Maersk Line expects a “bumpy” six months after a new international regulation requiring the weight of all containers to be verified before they are loaded onto a ship comes into force on July 1. “We are committed to making the process as easy as possible — but we […]