998 words 5 minute read – Let’s do this!

Can technology really replace customer service? In a sense, yes. I would have given ANYTHING to be able to track down all my recent furniture deliveries without having to be transferred to a million different “silo” levels of customer service departments. All I needed was to be able to have visibility of the driver. I wasted so much time being passed on and over sometimes even just to be hung up on and having to start all over. Nothing burns me more than the standard “I am sorry I have to pass you over to a different office that handles this request” response. This is what we do best at Port X Logistics. We strive for a “non siloed” customer service setting, where you can both talk to a real human that can always help you with what you need and if you are simply in a hurry, all of our shipments have real time tracking that can be pulled up on any device and shared with any team members or customers. The long-lost art of customer service not only makes you worry free, but also makes you feel good. We tend to be loyal to companies that take care of us and we understand that here. You can truly count on us because we get it, we are consumers too and we want to make you and your customers happy! To quote a customer that just had a successful Carrier 911 experience: “Thanks for the quick response last night – I was able to enjoy some of my dinner knowing you had it covered 😊 “. I mean all we really want in this industry is just to have an uninterrupted dinner with our families, right? We want it all, so we give it our all: Culture, Service, Tech, Trucks. Period.

A Monday meeting between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) to discuss the non automated terminal at the Los Angeles and Long Beach Ports could interfere with the contract negotiation if both sides are unable to come to an agreement. The hold up being Local 13 of ILWU request to increase manning of top-handlers and other equipment used at the LA and LGB terminals. The manning requirements must be agreed to by both the ILWU and PMA in the contract, even though it only applies to Southern California terminals. Last week the ILWU said it had reached a “tentative agreement” with West Coast employers on “certain key issues” involving automated terminals, but a final new contract is still in the works. I have not yet been able to track down any new updates in regard to the contract progress.

Import TEU volumes went up again this week 4.56%, as we close out the month. Can you believe it will be May on Sunday? This winter was a whirlwind or fast moving day, but it also feels like we have been in cold dark gray winter forever – well, at least here in semi-sunny Buffalo. March reports show U.S. container import volumes in March 2023 increased significantly from February 2023, largely driven by the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, amidst the West Coast labor situation still not being sorted out, which was very counter intuitive, but kept the monthly trendline aligned with pre-pandemic 2019 volumes. Despite overall increases, port transit delays stabilized for all ports. Imports from China continued their downward trend and are almost 10% lower than their high in February 2022. March 2023 U.S. container import volumes increased 6.9% from February 2023 to 1,853,705 TEUs, TEU volume was down 27.5% from March 2022, but up 4.2% from pre-pandemic March 2019. Two points to consider with the March numbers: 1) March has 31 days versus 28 for February and 2) With the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday occurring in January 2023, there still could be some impact on container import volumes in early March 2023.

What’s happening at the ports and rails?:

You can find all the information on the below link where we cover port congestion, chassis issues and capacity lead times weekly at all U.S. and Canada Ports and rail heads
https://portxlogistics.com/port-rail-updates/

Highlights:

LA/LGB: With the contract negotiations still at play, port disruptions are always a possibility. Getting ahead of the game with pre-planning and looking into transload options are always a good idea for your West Coast freight. We specialize in containerized transloading and tucking, contact us to learn about the benefits of transload options and we will provide you with pricing and transit time benefits. Letsgetrolling@portxlogistics.com

Chicago Rail: Norfolk Southern Landers has been experiencing longer than normal weight times to retrieve containers, the rest of the locations are operating business as usual. We have specialized chassis that can move out of gauge open tops and damaged containers, we have tri axles and super chassis that can move overweight containers and through years of relationship building we can obtain overweight permits that most companies are unable to obtain.

Did you know? Some real exciting news that really hits home to the Port X Logistics Family. We are so excited and honored to have our very own founder Brian Kempisty recognized as a finalist in the Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2023 New York program. We’re so proud of your innovative leadership and can’t wait to see where your vision takes us! We’ll all be watching the awards celebration on June 13th to cheer you on when winners are announced, a special thank you to Joe Lynch and the Logistics of Logistics for their announcement, read it here and subscribe to The Logistics of Logistics podcast
https://www.thelogisticsoflogistics.com/ey-announces-brian-kempisty-of-port-x-logistics-as-an-entrepreneur-of-the-year-2023-new-york-award-finalist/