News - Industry News

Container lines want global carbon emissions fee

[caption caption="The proposal from ship owners and operators submitted to the International Maritime Organization seeks to block the European Union’s plan to include the shipping industry in its emissions trading system. Photo credit: Shutterstock."][/caption]The largest trade groups representing ship owners and operators are coming out in favor of assessing fees on the maritime industry over...

Memphis shippers ask STB to intervene on intermodal congestion

[caption caption="Memphis containerized shippers want the STB to intervene to stop railroads from charging storage while containers are on the ground due to a chassis shortage. Photo credit: Austin John Brown/Shutterstock.com."][/caption]A group of Memphis importers, exporters, and truckers has asked the US Surface Transportation Board (STB) to instruct railroads to...

US truck freight tonnage rose 8.9 percent in March

[caption caption="Spot truckload rates have hit a level where shippers may not be able to pay the amounts requested, DAT’s Ken Adamo says. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com."][/caption]Actual truck tonnage hauled by for-hire US motor carriers increased 8.9 percent in March from February, according to non-seasonally adjusted data released Tuesday by the American Trucking Associations (ATA). That increase underscores how strong...

CN looks to break up KCS-CP merger with rival bid

[caption caption="Canadian National’s unsolicited bid for Kansas City Southern could trigger a bidding war with Canadian Pacific. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com."][/caption]Canadian National (CN) Railway on Tuesday made an unsolicited bid to acquire Kansas City Southern (KCS) Railway for $33.7 billion, countering the $29 billion merger agreement announced a month ago between archrival Canadian Pacific (CP) Railway and KCS and raising the...

Digital air freight platform expands with Turkish Cargo signing

[caption caption="Turkish Cargo, one of the world's largest air freight carriers, reported a 13.5 percent year over year increase in first quarter volume. Photo credit: Turkish Cargo."][/caption]Global air cargo capacity available for real-time booking will more than double to 22 percent compared to last year following the addition of Turkish Cargo's significant freight capacity to the WebCargo online rate platform. The Istanbul-based cargo division of Turkish...

Risk-focused visibility sensor maker gets VC backing

[caption caption="The use of visibility technology to mitigate risk could become a strong lure in high-value industries beset by cargo theft and damage. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com."][/caption]A $2.3 million seed funding round for cargo loss prevention-oriented sensor provider PAXAFE shows that venture capital firms continue to add fuel to the red-hot freight visibility market. Milwaukee-based PAXAFE helps shippers contextualize in-transit shipment...

US Gulf ports eyeing inland intermodal as Asian import share increases

[caption caption="Gulf Coast ports handled 5.4 percent of total US imports from Asia in 2020, up from 5 percent in 2019. Photo credit: Port of Houston Authority."][/caption]Ports along the US Gulf Coast expect to build on last year’s gains in containerized imports from Asia with a new all-water service coming...

New funding, leadership to fuel Roadrunner Freight

[caption caption="Roadrunner Freight hopes to win back customers with improved service and guarantees. Photo credit: Roadrunner."][/caption]A fresh $50 million in funding and the addition of prominent new leadership are aimed at accelerating the reinvention and growth of Roadrunner Freight, the less-than-truckload (LTL) motor carrier that emerged from the former Roadrunner...

Kansas City rail terminals overwhelmed with ocean containers

[caption caption="Even though some containers are mounted to chassis, drayage providers point out there are also so close to container stacks that drivers are having trouble picking up loads in Kansas City. Photo credit: Kansas City Intermodal."][/caption]Railroads serving Kansas City are buckling under the pressure of import surges into US...

Southern California terminal veteran takes TraPac helm at pivotal moment

[caption caption="The TraPac terminal in the Port of Los Angeles (pictured) is one of two fully automated terminals on the US West Coast. Photo credit: TraPac."][/caption]Southern California terminal operator veteran Dan Bergman has been named president and CEO of TraPac, which operates terminals in Los Angeles, Oakland, and Jacksonville, effective May 3. He joins the company...

THE Alliance’s empty container returns confounding NY-NJ port truckers

[caption caption="Difficulties in returning empty containers to the Port of New York and New Jersey are hurting driver efficiency and adding to shippers’ costs. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com."][/caption]The difficulties faced by port truckers in returning empty containers to ocean carriers at the Port of New York and New Jersey are persisting into April, according to motor carriers, who specifically called out Hapag-Lloyd, Yang Ming, and Ocean Network Express (ONE) for recent limits...

Bertling Logistics appoints Rasmus Frandsen as Director Business Development in Houston

We are pleased to announce the appointment of Rasmus Frandsen as Director Business Development at our Houston office. Rasmus got on board on 12 April 2021.Rasmus brings extensive chartering and project experience to his new role at Bertling. He joins us from Intermarine, where he worked in different functions, and...

TGP Group strengthens management team: Andreas Menzel appointed Managing Director Germany

Menzel’s responsibilities include the strategic and operational management of TGP Germany and Natco Germany. As Managing Director, the 35-year-old’s key focus is on further driving the growth strategy for the German market. Menzel explains: “Despite the corona pandemic, the German market offers strong economic opportunities and presents many exciting chances...

Asian container shortage set to intensify into May

[caption caption="Finding an empty container in Shanghai, or any other major Chinese port, is an expensive and difficult business. Photo credit: Shutterstock."][/caption]Asian container availability is tightening, and purchase and rental costs are soaring, according to a key metric tracking that data, as container lines warn that equipment will become even scarcer in the eastbound trans-Pacific as demand builds through May.  That heavy demand...

SAL, Jumbo launch super-heavy-lift alliance after regulatory approval

[caption caption="SAL’s Trina and Jumbo’s Fairlane at berth at the Port of Hamburg. Credit: SAL Heavy Lift."][/caption]A joint venture between Jumbo Shipping and SAL Heavy Lift has been formally launched following approval by German regulators. The move, announced in early March, creates a combined fleet of 30 heavy-lift project carriers, including 12 ships capable of lifting more than 1,300...

Record US imports from Asia accelerate even further in March

[caption caption="March marked the ninth consecutive month of record or near-record imports from Asia, an unprecedented streak of import volumes in the eastbound trans-Pacific. Photo caption: Shutterstock.com."][/caption]Already-booming US imports from Asia accelerated even further in March, jumping 22 percent from February to 1.66 million TEU, up a staggering 90.5 percent from the same month a year...

J.B. Hunt increases container order amid heavy demand

[caption caption="J.B. Hunt is by far the largest domestic container owner in the US, double the fleet size of its nearest competitor, and more than all the US railroad owned containers combined. Photo credit: Ted Tanner/Flickr."][/caption]J.B. Hunt Transport Services has doubled its target for the number of new intermodal containers...

Hong Kong quarantine lifted for cargo crew: Cathay Pacific

[caption caption="The constraints of losing pilots to quarantine for two weeks every time they returned to Hong Kong cut Cathay Pacific’s available capacity by almost 40 percent in the first quarter. Photo credit: Shutterstock."][/caption]Fully vaccinated Hong Kong-based crews for air freighters and cargo-only passenger flights will no longer be subject to a mandatory — and costly — 14-day quarantine...

Longshore labor availability improves significantly in LA-LB

[caption caption="A shortage of skilled equipment operators is the biggest contributor to the labor shortage on the docks in Los Angeles-Long Beach. Photo caption: Shutterstock.com."][/caption]The West Coast longshore employers’ association and union have hired and trained hundreds of dockworkers in Los Angeles-Long Beach in recent months to handle growing cargo volumes, but they both agree that more hiring...

Integration provider Chain.io gets VC funding to fuel logistics connectivity

[caption caption="Chain.io provides systems integrations to a range of logistics companies and shippers, helping them connect transportation and rate management tools to other enterprise systems. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com."][/caption]Logistics software integration specialist Chain.io has raised $5 million in venture funding to expand its ability to help third-party logistics providers (3PLs) and shippers connect with the...