1311 words 3 minute read – Let’s do this!
Industry news is asleep! Not too much excitement going on this week. I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday and Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend – the countdown to the year end holidays officially begins tomorrow, yes, tomorrow is December 1st. It’s also a great time to start thinking about New Year’s resolutions. Did you know an average of 44% of Americans make a New Year’s resolution before the night is over? Only 31% of people stick with the promises they made to themselves the prior year, and a whopping 81% fail by February (most ending Superbowl Sunday!) – Me. I am that person.
In an article posted on JOC, The retailer formerly known as Bed Bath & Beyond filed its 3rd complaint this year with the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) this time against Mediterranean Shipping Co., alleging the carrier failed to meet service commitments and “coerced” the shipper into paying peak season surcharges. This comes after an FMC judge ruled in favor of HMM in a rolled cargo complaint. HMM has been cleared in a federal complaint that alleged the carrier failed to honor capacity commitments and sold an importer’s slots on the higher-paying spot market. An administrative law judge for the FMC ruled last week that the shipper who filed the complaint failed to prove the carrier acted unfairly and instead actually benefited from the capacity constraints. Bed Bath & Beyond signed two service contracts with MSC, from July 2020 through April 2021 and from May 2021 through April 2022. During those periods, Bed Bath & Beyond alleges that between extra charges it was assessed by MSC and being forced to pay spot market prices for a contractual shortfall of 1,686 FEUs, it paid an additional $14.5 million. As of November 1st, the FMC had received more than 430 complaints since the Ocean Shipping Act of 2022 (OSRA-22) was signed into law in June 2022, with 179 assigned for investigation. Carriers have voluntarily resolved 113 of those cases without further FMC intervention, 46 investigations have been completed, and 20 are still under investigation. Additionally, the FMC has helped waive or secure refunds of more than $2 million dollars in charges levied against shippers. I am sure we have all felt the burn of the 2021 and 2022 ocean rates, many of us still trying to get clarification of the big fat post pandemic ocean freight charges.
Don’t fall out of your seat in disbelief because the extra skewed import TEU volumes this week. Import volumes are up 266.843% this week from last week. Volume backups from ports reopening after the holiday, is likely the reason for the crazy percentage spike. This week’s largest amount of volumes coming in from Long Beach 17.9%, NY/NJ 17.6% and Los Angeles 16.8%. A shortage of containers as a result of soft U.S. import volumes in the U.S. interior rail hubs amid a drop in containerized imports this year is beginning to compromise the ability of U.S. agricultural exporters to ship their commodities to markets in Asia and Europe now that the harvest season is in full swing. Agricultural interests blame the equipment shortage on the almost 17% decline in U.S. imports from Asia through the first 10 months of 2023. Containerized imports that move inland to population centers such as Chicago, Dallas and Kansas City provide the boxes that are unloaded and repositioned to export facilities in those regions to be refilled with agricultural commodities. Chicago is being the most affected by the container shortages. Western U.S. railroads BNSF Railway and Union Pacific are not dedicating as much capacity from the ports to interior rail hubs as they did when import volumes were much stronger through much of last year, but the railroads say they are filling all the orders they receive from the ocean carriers and some West Coast terminal operators are seeing a surplus of empties building up at their facilities. Experts say these shortages will continue into 2024, since import volumes will not increase significantly until the pre-Lunar New Year rush in January – and railroads will not run empty trains.
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 on our website – click on the link below
Click Here for Port & Rail Updates
Houston: Union Pacific Railroad is expanding its capacity to handle intermodal containers moving through ports along the Gulf and West coasts with the launch of a Midwest rail service from Houston and a new ramp in Arizona for goods moving from Southern California. UP, in a statement Tuesday, said it will add four inland terminals to its daily on-dock rail service from Houston’s Barbours Cut marine terminal starting December 1st — its Global 4 terminal in Chicago, and terminals in Kansas City, Memphis and Laredo in south Texas. Did you know we have 40 trucks, a secured yard space, and a full-service warehouse that can handle heavy and complicated transloads – we even have 23 trucks in Dallas for your Dallas drayage needs! Contact letsgetrolling@portxlogistics.com to book with us today!
Vessels currently in Port: 301 Expected Arrivals: 154
Savannah: Did you know? All berths at Garden City Terminal are now open and can serve 7 ships simultaneously including 4 vessels with a capacity of 16,000 TEUs. The Port of Savannah has seen imports grow from 2.2 million TEUs in 2019 to 2.8 million TEUs in 2022, that period includes the two and a half year closure of Berth 1 at the Garden City Terminal for renovations to develop another big-ship berth and an additional 1.5 million TEUs of capacity. Did you also know – Port X Logistics has an Atlantic division that can handle drayage for Savannah, Charleston and Jacksonville Ports and we have a warehouse in Savannah for all your transloading needs – with the best rates in town! Contact the team at SAV@portxlogitics.com for capacity, rates, and unbeatable service
Vessels currently in Port: 55 Expected Arrivals: 19
Chicago: The Polar Express Train Ride has officially returned to Union Station in Chicago for the first time since the pandemic. Passengers get the chance to relive the magic of the holiday movie classic on the one-hour trip to meet Santa. Did you also know Our Chicago team has 80 trucks, open yard space and a wide range of specialized chassis and equipment to handle your overweight and most troublesome containers. We have plenty of capacity through the holiday and are welcoming all volume projects. Contact the team at letsgetrolling@portxlogistics.com
Did you know? Winter is coming and “Snow Chain” season is here. Did you ever watch “Ice Road Truckers” back in the day? – those men and yes even women are machines, a different breed. That brings me to this topic – Let’s talk about snow chain charges for a moment. A lot of people reading this newsletter often inquire about the need for a snow chain charge. Preventative measures need to be made to protect drivers, passengers and your freight – that is where snow chains come in. Just like putting snow tires on your own vehicles doesn’t happen with the snap of a finger or without a labor charge, it takes a lot of effort for drivers to chain their tires to conquer the conditions ahead, while being outside braving the elements in the most unsafe conditions. If you have further questions on the topic of snow chains, our Midwest, Denver and Oakland teams are full of knowledge and are always available to share their expertise! To learn more contact the team at letsgetrolling@portxlogistics.com
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