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LTL carriers taking contract price hikes to shippers Shippers take note: Concerning US LTL trucking companies’ pricing power in contract talks, it’s not the end. It’s not even the beginning of the end. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com. Less-than-truckload (LTL) shippers heading into annual contract talks with carriers this quarter should brace for another round of rate […]

UP-CSX interchanged shippers face longer transits or higher costs For those shippers and intermodal market companies trying to figure out how to handle cargo movement through Chicago on lanes in which interline service will be eliminated, the options are hardly ideal. But there are options. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com. As shippers and intermodal market companies figure […]

Skepticism of Maersk-IBM’s TradeLens hit bigger blockchain questions A LinkedIn discussion served as a microcosm for how shippers and the broader logistics industry are wrestling with a few key questions regarding blockchain. Are blockchain’s proponents inordinately and/or prematurely boosting the new technology — including its appropriateness and efficiency-enhancing capabilities? Photo credit: Shutterstock.com. Last week’s launch […]

Higher bonds needed for tariff-hit US imports Importers may be unaware that they need to increase the level of the bond they must maintain with the Customs and Border Patrol for duties due to be paid over a 12-month period. (Above: US Customs House, New York, United States.) Photo credit: Shutterstock.com. There’s a secondary impact […]

Wallenius Wilhelmsen to retrofit 20 ships with scrubbers Under the International Maritime Organization’s rule, starting in 2020, ships will only be allowed to emit 0.5 percent sulfur, down from the currently acceptable level of 3.5 percent. Photo credit: Wallenius Wilhelmsen. With a risk mitigation strategy designed to put Wallenius Wilhelmsen (WW) out ahead of the International […]

It’s time everyone considered the true cost of tariffs The latest round of tit-for-tat tariffs between the United States and China is hitting the trans-Pacific trade, and although it’s too soon to determine the impact on container volume of this wave and past ones affecting a range of goods including steel, the true costs of tariffs is […]

US shippers, businesses, consumers will soon feel true cost of tariffs One impact of tariffs: if US tariffs remain in place, the price of home building materials, including appliances, would rise substantially – pushing housing construction and home purchase prices higher – and that would price some potential US home buyers out of the market. […]

Why container lines should fear the low sulfur rule With each passing day, the realization grows that the sulfur cap on bunker fuel will have a profound effect on shipping. The rule, imposed by the International Maritime Organization, will reduce permissible sulfur emissions from vessels to 0.5 percent from 3.5 percent beginning Jan. 1, 2020. Container carriers, […]

MPV/HL sector attracting investment interest once again Improving demand, tightening capacity, and lessening competition from other segments is brightening the outlook for the multipurpose and heavy-lift fleet. And there are other signs of recovery. (Above: A crane elevates a heavy lift item onto a ship for transport.) Photo credit: Shutterstock.com. Improving demand, tightening capacity, and […]

Brazil’s Wilport doubles Lake of Ducks feeder capacity on rising demand Brazil’s Wilport Portuarias Operadores, part of the diversified Wilson, Sons shipping group, has already handled more than 20,000 TEU this year, thanks in great deal to its popular feeder service between Porto Alegre/Triunfo and Tecon Rio Grande (TRG). And there are strong indications that […]