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Banks push cross-border trade blockchain, complicating common platform aim Global trade-oriented blockchain solutions are moving from pilot to purported commercial viability in Asia and Europe, as shippers evaluate whether blockchain is something in which they should invest in the short term and which project to back. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com. The advancement of European- and Japanese-based […]

Maersk further expands India cold chain services   The Europe-based ocean carrier has created another another specialized, end-to-end cold chain logistics operation, as it works vigorously to establish a stronger foothold in the emerging market economy. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com. Maresk Line has made another statement regarding reefer cargo trade in India after delivering live apple […]

NY-NJ exports rebound amid tariff pressures The port is attracting new business — aided by two infrastructure improvements and stronger international demand. (Above: The Port of New York and New Jersey with the Statue of Liberty in the foreground.) Photo credit: Shutterstock.com. After five straight years of declines, exports through the Port of New York […]

Profitable year slipping away as container shipping outlook darkens After industry-wide profitability in 2017, only three container lines managed to stay in the black during the first quarter of 2018. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com. The likelihood of the container shipping industry hitting two straight years of total profitability is fading fast, with rising tit-for-tat tariffs, bunker […]

Amid tight US dray capacity, QuickLoad allows shipper to name price Quickload has found a niche in Miami-area digital drayage by offering an app with a twist: the shipper, not an algorithm, names the price to haul the load. (Above: Port Miami.) Photo credit: Shutterstock.com. MIAMI — Faced with shrinking motor carrier capacity for its […]

How will cell phone data share rethink affect freight visibility? Cell phone service providers may soon pull the plug on a key data pipeline underpinning domestic visibility software, but most companies have switched to other location systems. Shippers need to ensure that their providers aren’t overly exposed to this cell phone triangulation data. Photo credit: […]

APMT Pipavav adds Maersk, Cosco, ONE calls to reignite growth   Above: The inaugural call APMT Pipavav from the Far East service jointly operated by Cosco and Wan Hai. Photo credit: APMT Pipavav. APM Terminals Pipavav has accelerated it effort to attract more hinterland cargo, as the freight uptrend seen in the January-March quarter, following […]

Europe 3PLs: Shippers should expect high trucking rates this year A shrinking supply of qualified truck drivers, combined with above-trend European GDP growth, is pushing the continent’s truck rates higher, and analysts had words-to-the-wise for shippers for the year ahead. (Above: Trucks travel on a highway in Berlin, Germany.) Photo credit: Shutterstock.com. Shippers of international […]

Brazil strike exposes inadequate rail network, shipper vulnerabilities Estimates of the strike’s cost to shippers, from beef exporters to white goods importers, range from $5 billion to $15 billion. Photo credit: Rob Ward. The more than week-long, nationwide Brazilian truck strike and blockade in late May laid bare the country’s inability to shore up its […]

Look for economies of service, as well as economies of scale Having spent the last decade cutting costs to a degree that often disadvantages customers, container carriers have reached a point where they can’t slash costs more; even mergers will yield little if any additional value. Thus, carriers have no choice but to begin looking at ways […]