1496 words 5 minute read – Let’s do this!
Well… we made it to November, it’s chilly and rainy here today and the weather is super on point for November 2nd in the Northeast. With late fall and winter approaching, I am here to remind everyone that wintery weather market disruptions are upon us. Now is the time of year that ocean and trucking transits potentially slow down, flights get delayed and canceled, and trucking rates slightly increase or additional surcharges apply in effort to keep the drivers safe. It is also approaching holiday time which could lead to delays from holiday vacation labor shortages and plant shutdowns. The next few months of Market Updates will focus on the possibilities of Port congestion, transit time delays, capacity dips and any other issues related to extreme winter weather – and as always above all a reminder to remain patient through it all as driver safety is always the most important!
Potentially wrapping up the labor strikes against the Detroit Three, General Motors (GM) and the United Auto Workers Union (UAW) reached a tentative deal on Monday – ending the union’s six-week span of coordinated strikes that won record pay increases for workers at the Detroit Three automakers. The contract agreement follows deals the union reached in recent days with Ford Motor and Stellantis. The union officially suspended its strike against the Detroit Three and UAW local leaders will come to Detroit on Friday to consider the deal with GM, before taking terms to all union workers for ratification. UAW President Sean Fain said the union’s move on Saturday to strike a key GM engine factory in Spring Hill, Tennessee, “landed the knockout blow” that got the deal. The UAW won from GM roughly the same package of wage increases agreed with the other two automakers. Pay for veteran workers will rise by 33% and GM will give $2,500 in five payments to retirees through 2028. Sources have said pension benefits were a sticking point in the UAW’s negotiations with GM, which has more retirees than Ford or Stellantis.
How will this affect the economy and the market? The new contract will significantly raise costs for the automakers. The new contract will cost GM $7 billion over 4.5 years in higher labor costs, and Ford said it would add $850 to $900 per vehicle in labor costs. The companies and some analysts have said the deals will make it harder for the Detroit Three to compete with electric-vehicle leader Tesla and nonunion foreign brands such as Toyota Motor.
We have pulled up the most recent list of airport wait times for cargo pickups at the most popular and busiest airports and it is no surprise that with 6 weeks of the UAW strikes taking place, that Detroit is high on that wait time list. Do you have urgent automotive shipments or any urgent round the clock airfreight that you are looking to find a more streamlined way to reduce your stress and your need to babysit them on the domestic trucking side? We have a solution for you. Our Carrier911 division can get your drivers assigned and on site at the airport before most of these wait times subside. We have access to cargo vans, straight trucks, dry vans and more – all of our drivers have experience with airport and CFS pickups and have access to retrieving the proper documentation to make these pickups seamless. Don’t forget we provide shareable tracking links and PODs sent at the time of delivery, so you can relax stress free with all of your most critical shipments. Contact the Carrier911 team 24/7/365 info@carrier911.com
Import TEU volumes are up 1.523% this week from last week. Volumes out of Asia and into the U.S. West Coast, mainly LA/Long Beach have been increasing since September. Sea-Intelligence Maritime Analysis’ latest Global Liner Performance report showed weekly services from Asia to the U.S. West Coast arrived on schedule 47.8% of the time in September, up from 44.6% in August and 32% in the year-ago month. Off-schedule arrivals to the US West Coast were about 4.5 days late, Sea-Intelligence data showed. September’s carrier performance came amid the first year-on-year growth in monthly container volumes from Asia to the West Coast for 2023. Container volumes from Northeast and Southeast Asia to the West Coast reached a combined 870,223 TEUs for September, according to PIERS, a 12.8% increase from September 2022.
Overall, total US imports from Asia hit 1.5 million TEUs in September, up 1.4% from the year-ago month.
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
Port & Rail Updates
Charleston/Savannah: The International Longshore Association (ILA) is in dispute with the South Carolina Ports Authority (SCPA) over the new marine Hugh Leatherman terminal – The court case involves “preserving” crane operator jobs, despite the union members never operating cranes in South Carolina. SC Governors and Senators and the SCPA petition Supreme court to take up the case that SCPA filed on September 28th stating that the ILA is illegally forcing carriers to boycott Charleston’s Hugh Leatherman Terminal as a means to acquire jobs that belong to state employees under South Carolina’s 50-year hybrid work model — jobs the ILA believes are rightfully theirs based on the 2013 Master Contract it signed with the US Maritime Alliance. The $1.5 billion Leatherman terminal has sat practically unused since opening in 2021 because of the dispute. The Supreme Court is expected to decide in January whether it will take up the Leatherman case – The ILA is keeping a close watch on any expansion plans and will use the SCPA case as a jumping-off point to strengthen the language of the next master contract, set to be negotiated in 2024. Could shippers be planning to avoid the Charleston terminal to avoid any possible disruptions in the near future? Savannah is the next closest terminal to CHS and they are the only single port terminal in the US. Port X Logistics has both drayage trucks, company drivers and a full service transload warehouse in Savannah to efficiently handle any of your Savannah, Jacksonville and Charleston containers – with full capacity, competitive rates and an amazing team to round it all out. Contact our South Atlantic operations team at Sav@portxlogistics.com
Vessels currently in port Charleston: 195 Expected Arrivals: 24
Vessels currently in port Savannah: 54 Expected Arrivals: 11
Oakland: Much volume that comes into Oakland heads through the Sierra Nevada area that can get quite dangerous during the winter months – and a reminder that drivers will need to utilize snow chains during the long duration of snowy months. Curious what a driver goes through when using snow chains? https://www.smart-trucking.com/chaining-up-a-big-rig/
Are you looking for extra coverage or to change your current drayage provider in Oakland? We have a newly streamlined operation in Oakland with added trucks, drivers and a new yard with a transload warehouse. We have plenty of capacity for Oakland drays, and we can cover all your last minute containers quickly and we are able to tackle new volume projects. For urgent capacity and great rates contact oakland@portxlogistics.com
Vessels currently in Port: 57 Expected Arrivals: 95
LA/LGB: Rail dwell times are still on average 3.8 days with some On-Dock rail Containers on POLA terminal for an excess of 9 plus days. If you have rail bound containers with urgent cargo and want to get ahead of the possibility of these containers getting stuck in the long dwell times, our West Coast team can help. Contact the team to find out how you can have the container line divert your containers for an expedited drayage, transload and trucking option that can save you days and even weeks of wait time. CA@portxlogistics.com
Vessels currently in Port LA: 135 Expected Arrivals: 91
Vessels currently in Port LGB: 62 Expected Arrivals: 93
Did you know? Port X Logistics founderBrian Kempisty will be rubbing elbows with Reese Witherspoon, Little Big Town, Wayne Brady, Jay Shetty and other celebrity speakers and CEOs from around the world at the Ernest & Young 2023 Strategic Growth Forum in Palm Springs CA, November 9th – 12th . In June, Brian was a winner of the Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2023 New York Award, recognizing his outstanding leadership and achievements in the business world. Read more about how Brian has led us to establishing the gold standard in the drayage, transloading, and trucking industry. Reach out to marketing@portxlogistics.com to set up a meeting with Brian – trust us, both the Port X Logistics and Brian’s own personal life stories are worth listening to.
SONAR Images
