1643 words 6 minute read – Let’s do this!
What does it take to strike fear into the hearts of us in the industry? I think so many of us get caught up enough in the daily grind that we don’t pay close attention to how fast the time goes and then chaos strikes when we thought it was without a warning – It’s me, Hi, I’m the warning it’s me. The Port X Logistics Weekly Market Updates are here to bring you industry news to help keep you informed enough to have the advantage of being prepared for the chaos. So tag or email this to a friend and follow our LinkedIn page for the most up to date industry news and topics and email us for more information about Port X Logistics and how we can help be an industry knowledge tool for you and your team. Marketing@portxlogistics.com
The biggest news of the week may take place in Canada, but beware – it will affect all of North America and beyond. Large shippers are keeping inventory high, fearing a Canadian rail strike could come sooner than expected and would likely be an ‘all or nothing scenario’.
The Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) reviewed submissions from Canadian National (CN), Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC), the Teamsters National Rail Conference (TCRC) and other affected organizations on May 27th – bringing concerns to those related to commercial or economic interests, global food security, impact on the supply of diesel or propane and immediate depleting inventories of water treatment materials that will affect multiple areas across the country. The board also said it had received requests for advanced notice of its decision, or that the notice period required before a strike, currently 72 hours, be extended. The Canadian International Forwarders Association argued 72 hours was “insufficient”, as supply chains need 30 days or more to prepare for work stoppages and workers of the CN and CPKC also requested a 30-day ‘cooling-off’ period. Rail operators of CN and CPKC have both suggested continuation of only ‘essential services’ would be more damaging than a complete shutdown.
The CIRB has advised stakeholders to provide final replies by June 14th, which could mean a CIRB decision, and possibly a strike, by the end of the month. CN, CPKC and TCRC argue that rail services should not be deemed essential and recalled a previous dispute between CN and TCRC where the same conclusion was reached.
Maersk has re-evaluated and is offering inducement calls to the Seattle-Tacoma Northwest Seaport Alliance on its TP1 service to accommodate U.S. import and export rail cargo, rather than having it dispatched in Vancouver and transported cross-border to the U.S. Some experts warn that additional diverted routings to Tacoma could also potentially cause significant bottlenecks across U.S. rail networks as they are already struggling with labor shortages and congestion issues. A work stoppage will impact all Canadians – It will halt freight traffic on CPKC’s Canadian rail network. It would disrupt essential supply chains throughout North America and significantly constrain trade between Canada and the U.S. and Mexico. How can you avoid a pending rail strike? Diverting your cargo away from the rail and choosing Drayage, transloading and trucking. Port X Logistics is the Gold Standard in drayage, transloading and trucking. We track your containers from the time they leave overseas, dray your containers from all port locations and transload with plenty of photos provided and load to outbound trucks for the fastest over the road delivery with a shareable tracking app to track drivers all the way to final destination. Transload orders have been piling up as many shippers have been taking the early initiative to speed up deliveries whether it was an ocean delay or to avoid the rails, but we have all the capacity in the world for you! If you want more information on how you can get your cargo diverted at the port and on the road for a speedy delivery with full visibility contact Letsgetrolling@portxlogistics.com
Have you noticed that weather patterns have been changing over the past few years? Storms just hit different these days, the changes in weather patterns even help bigger, badder and new versions of insects and spiders to relocate, bringing us new friends hanging around our homes – I mean bugs just always make the summer so much better. Hurricane season started officially June 1, and the models point to an 85% chance of an above average season. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)’s precipitation outlook for June, July and August showed most states west of the Mississippi River experiencing a drier than average summer, with the Northeast seeing substantially more rainfall than is typical. The outlook is also fairly similar to last year’s outcome, with an extremely rainy Northeast and a parched Pacific Northwest. The dry weather in the heart of North America last year brought historic wildfires in Canada, a scenario that could repeat itself, especially with a lack of snowfall over the winter. The North American Seasonal Fire Assessment and Outlook warns that some fires from the record 45.7-million-acre season continue to smolder and could lead to a resurgence in 2024. Buckle up for a summer of surprises, weather creates chaos!
Import TEUs are up this week 14.69% this week from last, the heaviest volume this week arriving to Long Beach 24.5% of incoming TEU volume, Los Angeles 17.3% of incoming TEU volume and Newark 10.7% of incoming TEU volume. A crisis is brewing in the East as it is becoming increasingly harder to get a hold of container equipment out of northern China. A rising market, plus lower vessel capacity due to the Red Sea crisis, is creating a shortage of both ships and containers. Equipment stock, particularly in North China, is tight and varies daily based on vessel arrivals and the discharge of empty containers. Almost all carriers are lacking empties, especially CMA and ANL. Due to port congestion, vessel wait times at the port are now three to fourteen days and there are schedule delays plaguing almost every ocean carrier. Ocean carriers are struggling to obtain equipment across many more Chinese ports, including Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd in Yantian; Cosco, HMM, Hapag-Lloyd and MSC in Ningbo, Hapag-Lloyd and Maersk in Tianjin, and Cosco and CMA CGM in Qingdao.
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
Seattle/Tacoma: Carriers Like Maersk have already begun adding calls to Tacoma to avoid the potential strikes in Canada, thus creating additional routings through the U.S. rail networks and adding to more rail congestion and dwell times. The added calls are a nice temporary relief, but what about your cargo that is on the verge of becoming a potential urgent situation? If you have an immediate need for SEA/TAC transloads, have questions on how port diversions through the SEA/TAC ports can benefit your Canada rail bound shipments and if you are looking for an all-star drayage/transload warehouse team, our Seattle operation has plenty of drayage capacity with the addition of 11 new drivers and a huge amount of warehouse space for transloading and storage. Contact letsgetrolling@portxlogistics.com for capacity and great drayage and warehouse rates.
Vancouver/Prince Rupert: Rail dwell time is on the rise again, with the threat of 2 potential Canadian strikes looming. Prince Rupert’s DP World and Vancouver’s Venterm and Deltaport terminals are at 7 or more days on dock.
If you have containers arriving to the Canadian ports – even if they are destined for U.S. railheads, we urge you start exploring the options of drayage, transloading via port diversions. Rachel, Erin and the team have a wealth of experience and knowledge of cross border deliveries and are ready to help answer your questions and support your needs. Contact Canada@portxlogistics.com
LA/LGB: Rail dwell times are also increasing in the Southern West Coast, and our operators are seeing dwells of about a week or more from discharge to rail move for east bound containers. The LA/LGB ports will also be affected by the Canadian rail strike adding to the current dwell times, slowing down transit times and creating a shortage of equipment. Our expert drayage/transloading services don’t end with Vancouver and SEA/TAC, our West Coast team on site in our Long Beach office, have been through the historic pandemic congestion and they are more than prepared for the chaos. We also have plenty of drayage capacity and yard storage space available Contact CA@portxlogistics.com
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Reach out to schedule a demo with Tom and our team, and we’ll introduce you to your new best friend! Letsgetrolling@portxlogistics.com
SONAR Import Data
