News - Industry News

E-commerce growth challenges shipping sustainability goals: DHL

[caption caption="More last-mile delivery vans may not mean more emissions, if deliveries replace roundtrips to stores by consumers. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com."][/caption]The rapid expansion of e-commerce is changing the calculus of sustainability, forcing shippers and transportation providers to rethink how — and how quickly — they plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, according to research released by global forwarder and...

Ambitious US offshore wind goals face regulatory, logistics hurdles

[caption caption="The Biden administration has $200 million to $300 million set aside for infrastructure improvements related to ports engaged in offshore wind, and several states are also investing. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com."][/caption]The Biden administration’s embrace of offshore wind energy generation in the United States — with the stated goal of helping...

Reopened Newark yard gives NY-NJ importers off-port storage option

[caption caption="Aerial view of Port Container Yard. New York and New Jersey storage yard operators have had to figure out how to pack more containers in limited space. Photo credit: Port Container Yard."][/caption]A shuttered yard in Newark that once just stored empty containers for ocean carriers has reopened thanks to...

Maxed out ports, inland providers battle to clear South China congestion

[caption caption="There will be no easy escape from the bottleneck of boxes that has built up at Yantian during the past three weeks. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com."][/caption]Hundreds of missed vessel calls through the first half of June are leaving a growing backlog of loaded containers at Yantian International Container Terminals (YICT) that the fully...

Xeneta rides ocean freight upheaval to new funding round

[caption caption="Xeneta plans to expand the range of data underpinning its ocean and air indexes, CEO Patrik Berglund said. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com."][/caption]Ocean and air freight rate benchmarking platform Xeneta has secured a $28.5 million funding round from venture investors, with the cash to be used to scale operations, product development, and...

Essential seafarers

It’s easy to take the work seafarers do for granted. They quietly serve shippers’ needs and are essentially invisible to many while doing so. As long as the vessel we’ve chartered or booked for a parcel arrives at load and discharge ports on time and the cargo is delivered safely,...

TPM21 Podcast: Breakthrough’s Mueller on data transparency as vehicle for resiliency

Beyond TPM: Breakthrough Chief Operating Officer Heather Mueller on procurement strategy, change management, uncovering new opportunities, and leveraging data to create robust shipper-carrier relationships that can respond nimbly to challenges ahead.JOC Podcasts · Breakthrough’s Mueller on data transparency as a vehicle for resiliency...

TradeLens’ expansion gives shippers direct access to China port data

[caption caption="TradeLens officials said the company is adding four to five new forwarder and shipper customers per week on average. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com."][/caption]TradeLens has enlisted more than 10 port authorities and logistics services providers in China as participants on its shipping and trade data platform, a development that gives it direct access to data from terminals and cargo depots in...

Air cargo will go to ‘highest bidder’ in early peak rush: forwarders

 [caption caption="Freighters are operating flat out with strong demand keeping the industry trapped in a perpetual peak season. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com."][/caption]The chaotic ocean shipping markets are pushing air freight into an early peak season in which heavy volume and capacity limits will see only the highest paying cargo out of...

LTL sector reaching ‘turning point’ for carriers, shippers

[caption caption="FedEx Freight and other LTL carriers are trying to correct growing equipment and cost imbalances in their networks by limiting access to capacity. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com."][/caption]With an almost audible snap, the doors of capacity slammed shut on hundreds of less-than-truckload (LTL) shippers this week, as the largest US LTL carrier, FedEx...

Last-mile platform Bringg lands $100 million to expand via M&A

[caption caption="Last-mile investments are on the rise to address e-commerce growth. Photo credit: BalkansCat / Shutterstock.com."][/caption]Late deliveries, capacity shortages, and rising rates and surcharges have spurred a number of investments in last-mile services and technology as retailers shift their strategic focus from brick-and-mortar locations to a much more balanced combination of storefronts and e-commerce. Fulfillment and last-mile technology...

Online marketplace aims to make trucking emissions more transparent

[caption caption="Founded in 2014 by an environmental scientist, Freightera provides less-than-truckload, intermodal rail, and truckload quotes in North America. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com."][/caption]Online freight marketplace Freightera on Wednesday said it has devised a way to allow surface transportation shippers in North America to identify lower-emission trucking companies that are also lower-cost options.  The tool quantifies savings in greenhouse gas emissions shippers can achieve by selecting lower-emission...

Strong domestic demand ‘cannibalizing’ US resin exports: logistics providers

[caption caption="Any uptick in resin exports will bump up against higher demand from the import side on drayage drivers and intermodal equipment. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com."][/caption]US resin export volumes are taking longer to recover than expected due to the continuing fallout from widespread outages at Texas petrochemical plants earlier this year,...

House members drafting bill forcing carriers to ship US exports

[caption caption="FMC members say that its efforts are mostly focused on detention and demurrage rather than export refusals. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com."][/caption]Two members of the US House of Representatives are drafting legislation that would give the US Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) greater power by allowing it to enforce complaints against ocean carriers that refuse to take...

Record US imports through May sound peak season alarm

[caption]Carriers anticipate surging import volumes as they introduce more services and extra-loader vessels in the next two months. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com. [/caption]The US imported more containerized goods from Asia in the first five months of 2020 than in any previous year, and with the traditional peak shipping season beginning next month, ports and inland logistics suppliers must be prepared to handle continued record volumes.[caption caption="Click...

Yantian regaining terminal capacity as diversions mount

[caption caption="YICT, which handles about 25 percent of China’s exports to the US, has operated at reduced levels since the end of May following the introduction of quarantine and disinfection measures due to a localized COVID-19 outbreak. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com."][/caption]Operations at Yantian International Container Terminals (YICT) in the port of Shenzhen are slowly improving, with terminal capacity recovering...

NS, UP squeezed by 53-foot chassis pinch

[caption caption="The Norfolk Southern chassis supply is so tight that the railroad is rationing how many units each company can use per day, according to intermodal marketing companies. Photo credit: Ari Ashe."][/caption]Norfolk Southern Railway (NS) and Union Pacific Railroad (UP), are running low on 53-foot chassis as volume surges and shippers take...

Carriers struggle to improve service levels while profits soar

[caption caption="It will be a challenge for carriers to improve their schedule reliability with key ports on the east-west trades suffering severe congestion. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com."][/caption]Carrier profitability and service levels are diverging further this year. Near-record US import demand in the first quarter pushed the profitability of the world’s main carriers to $16.9 billion while service levels on the trades out...

Solving for Uncertainty: A Guide to Variable Transportation Budgets

Supply chain and logistics teams are seeking ways to build robust transportation budgets to help their business to adapt to more pandemic headwinds.While 2020 saw unprecedented market swings, capacity imbalances may continue as the recovery boosts some sectors more than others - making flexibility and contingency planning even more essential...

Cyberattack downs HMM’s email systems

[caption caption="A spate of cyberattacks since 2017 have hit major ocean carriers including Maersk, MSC, CMA CGM, and Cosco. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com."][/caption]South Korean carrier HMM was hit by a cyberattack over the weekend that has continued to affect its email systems outside of the US and Europe but has not inhibited its ability to...