Turkey, Tofurkey, Ham, Sasquatch – whatever your Thanksgiving meal looks like tomorrow, being thankful is what the day is all about. I am forever thankful for 5 years with an amazing Port X Logistics family that keeps growing and the stories we make as we go along. We at Port X Logistics wish you and your families (work and home!) a very healthy, happy, relaxing and stuffed Thanksgiving weekend – and SUPER important, we wish you very abundant Black Friday deals!
POSSIBLE RAIL STRIKE! YIKES! The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) ratified the agreement brokered in September with the help of the Biden administration, but it was rejected by members of the International Association of Sheet Metal Workers Air, Rail, and Transportation (SMART-TD). Four rail unions have now turned down the deal, while eight have approved it. The four unions who rejected their tentative agreement reached in September with US railroads, there is now an updated Union deadline expiring at midnight Dec. 8, 2022. With increasing health concerns following the Pandemic, employee sick time is the main subject of the contracts. Read the full story from November 21st published on JOC here http://bit.ly/3V3nd4M
If any Union walks off the job, however, others are unlikely to cross the picket lines.
We urge you to prepare for that possibility now, December 8th is not far away. We are here to help you with transloading and trucking for any containers that steamship lines will allow to be diverted to stay at the port to avoid any containers being stacked in rail piles or stuck on trains for what could be weeks and longer. Just one day of a rail service shutdown can disrupt operations for weeks. Please contact our team of professionals that have a ton of experience with transloads. Capacity is always reserved for the early birds!
What is Sus in the rail market?
In continuation from last week’s update, we are still seeing excess chassis shortages in Chicago and Dallas. Private owned chassis are in high demand and most have been spoken for. Aside from long wait times at Chicago Union Pacific Global IV Rail (Joliet) and Union Pacific in Dallas, drivers are running out of chassis and drivable hours creating missed container pick ups and demurrage. Although the market in general at this time is not as busy as the past 2 years, the craziness of the rail backups create both a huge money suck for terminals and steamship lines and the dispatchers and drivers have to take on the stress of issues that are beyond their control. One of the reasons we are passionate about these weekly updates is so we can help you educate anyone that is impacted by these hardships. Every extra dollar spent in supply chain has a backstory, and they are worth learning about!
Well, it is a holiday week after all – so in pretty obvious fashion import TEU Volumes went down this week 8.3% from last week. On Thanksgiving the 24th, all ports and rails will be shut down and most shipping and receiving warehouses and drayage operations are closed or have very minimal staffing on both Thanksgiving and Black Friday. Holiday shipping crunch time officially begins on Monday, so it is nice to have a little time off to relax and prepare for the upcoming combat, and really is there anything better than a holiday that encourages eating and shopping?
What are the port hardships this week?
Mobile MORE BIG STRIKE NEWS Longshoremen strike CSA operations at the Port of Mobile after mediation falls apart. The International Longshoremen’s Association Local 1410 began striking CSA Equipment Company’s breakbulk operations at the Port of Mobile yesterday November 22nd – less than a month after the two sides agreed to federal mediation.
In a news release, Mark Bass, president of the Local 1410, said that the union membership voted to strike after the union was notified that mediation, which was set to begin last Thursday, was canceled until further notice. On Friday, union membership voted to proceed with the strike at a special meeting.
The strike is not expected to impact the port’s container operations, as the union has said they intend only to strike CSA’s breakbulk operations. Breakbulk cargo, also known as general cargo, is not stored in container units. Breakbulk cargo is about 90% of CSA’s work, but it’s container operations are governed by the “master contract” and are not in dispute.
What looks positive this week?
LA/LGB: Although imports are declining, lower import volumes are helping to contribute to reduced congestion and LA/LGB is slowly getting back to normal cargo fluidity. Will the start of 2023 mean no congestion at the LA/LGB terminals? Stay tuned to our weekly update and follow our LinkedIn page to get all the latest and greatest
Did you know? We have drayage capacity in Salt Lake City! We also offer full warehouse transloads and storage solutions and trucking into and out the SLC market – If you have a container that was accidentally diverted to SLC and needs to be transloaded or if you need immediate cross dock assistance we are here for you. Contact us with all your Salt Lake City needs.
Contact the leadership team via letsgetrolling@portxlogistics.com.
~ Jill Rice
Import Volume Charts
