1815 words 7 minute read – Let’s do this!
The 2024 Empire State Ride is almost hitting the finish line. We want to take a moment to thank everyone who is supporting, donating, and cheering the 300 riders on and especially the Port X ESR Team – 560 miles with a goal to help end cancer. To help be a part of their 2024 goal of raising $10 million dollars in 10 years, click on the link below:
CLICK HERE to consider donation options
– and remember to follow our Linkedin Page to see the latest ESR updates and Weekly Market Updates and email Marketing@portxlogistics.com to sign up for this weekly Market Update Newsletter.
The devastating wildfire season is underway, causing chaos in the north and causing delays in rail traffic due to the wildfire in Alberta, Canada. Canadian National, RCMP, and Parks Canada had requested CN close its mainline east of Jasper, AB on their Edson subdivision due to an approaching wildfire that had been sparked by a lightning strike. The focus of the local authorities overnight was to safely evacuate the parks, and the town of Jasper. Canadian National was able to reopen its main line through Jasper, Alberta, yesterday afternoon while keeping a close eye on a pair of wildfires that have been threatening the resort town. “CN resumed rail operations at approximately 12 Noon MST on Wednesday, July 24th, through Jasper. In collaboration with the Unified Incident Command center managed by Parks Canada, CN developed and implemented an operational plan that allows trains to safely travel through the area to ensure that goods could continue moving,”
CN spokeswoman Ashley Michnowski says. “In addition to the continued efforts of CN’s Trident firefighting train, a second firefighting train, Neptune, is on route to the Jasper area to assist in maintaining track safety and fire fighting efforts.” CN said it has offered its support to Jasper and Parks Canada to assist in mutual efforts in fighting the wildfire where possible. It also has provided 20,000 liters of fuel to Jasper Park Lodge and offered assistance to Valemount, British Columbia, where Jasper residents – including CN employees and their families – headed after an evacuation order was issued on Monday night. The reopening of the main line will help CN ease a backlog of traffic that had built up since the railway began shutting down operations earlier this week.
Canadian National (CN) lowered its financial outlook for the year on Tuesday, as volume growth slowed during the second quarter, due largely to the impact of shippers diverting international intermodal containers to U.S. ports in anticipation of a potential rail strike in Canada. CN’s second-quarter operating income declined 3%, to $1.6 billion, while revenue increased 7%, to $4.3 billion. Earnings per share dropped 1%, to $1.75. The operating ratio rose 3.4 points, to 64%, due to higher labor costs and fuel prices as well as the impact of trackwork-related congestion in the Vancouver corridor. Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) has authorized a strike and the Canadian Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) has put a strike on hold while it reviews what commodities are considered essential and must continue to move during a work stoppage – A decision is expected by August 9th.
The International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) is warning that time is running out to secure a new longshore labor deal before the current multi year contract expires September 30th and that a strike “is becoming more likely.” The ILA, which represents about 45,000 workers at ports from Maine to Texas withdrew talks in June just as they were set to begin, citing a dispute over the use of automation. They had discovered that a container-handling terminal at Alabama’s Port of Mobile was using automated equipment to process trucks. The ILA says it won’t resume talks until the issue at Mobile and other ports is resolved. ILA Union President Harold Daggett has also said he won’t extend the current labor agreement when it expires this fall and that dockworkers won’t work without a contract. No new negotiations have been set.
An October walkout would hit some of the country’s biggest ports, including New York and New Jersey, Norfolk, VA and Savannah, GA, at the busiest time of year for shipping, when retailers are bringing in holiday-season goods.
How can you avoid a pending rail strike and a possible ILA port strike? Planning ahead is crucial and choosing Port X Logistics to help formulate a plan is you choose to divert your rail cargo to the Ports and move it via 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
Import TEUs are down 23.50% this week from last, the heaviest volume this week arriving in Long beach 17.8% of incoming TEU volume, Newark 17.6% of incoming TEU volume and Los Angeles 15.6% of incoming TEU volume. Even though import volumes have dipped the last 2 weeks, ocean demand for U.S. imports continues to be strong relative to last year. Ocean bookings, a forward-looking demand indicator, shows that booking volume has averaged 13.5% higher than last year’s level since May 1st. Whether that demand remains robust throughout the year remains an open question. Some industry participants believe the industry is experiencing a pull-forward of the fall peak season combined with a period of inventory restocking, while others expect another surge later in the year related to the potential imposition of additional tariffs in 2025.
The volume of twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) clearing U.S. Customs has also been tracking above 2023 levels this year. In the second quarter, imported TEU volume increased 12.3% year over year. Second-quarter data shows that containerized imports at the Port of Long Beach, California, were up 27%, while imports at the adjacent Port of LA were up 3%. Taken together, the LA port complex was up 14.7% year over year in Q2. That gain in port market share is having a positive impact on rail intermodal volume.
Air Freight volumes in June increased 13% year over year while shipping supply only increased 3%. It was the seventh consecutive month of double-digit growth in the chargeable weight carried by airlines, underscoring the pronounced recovery from an 18-month downturn. Capacity utilization increased 4 points to 59%. Cargo volumes are continuing to hold up so far this month, rising 12% year over year. Are you looking to find a more streamlined way to reduce your stress and your need to babysit your urgent airfreight shipments on the domestic trucking side? Let our Carrier911 team be your best solution. We can get your drivers assigned and on site at the airport in most cases within 1 hour. 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
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
Vancouver/Prince Rupert: We may be seeing dwell times increase significantly over the next few days as a result of the wildfire shutdowns earlier this week. Currently DP World PRR and Centerm Vancouver are seeing dwell times 5-7 days and Vancouver Vanterm is over 7 days.
If you have containers arriving at 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
Oakland: Congress is moving closer to approving legislation funding ports and authorizing navigational projects at the ports of Baltimore and Oakland after the House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved its version Monday. The Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), which the House approved by a 359 to 13 vote, authorizes approximately $4.8 billion in projects, including the widening and deepening of the Baltimore harbor and the widening of Oakland’s turning basin. Our Oakland team has immediate capacity for your local and long haul drays as well as a crossdock facility for transloads. Send your orders and rate requests to Oakland@portxlogistics.com
Seattle/Tacoma: The wildfires in the north are causing rail slow down out of Seattle/Tacoma ports – Just today, we had been alerted of containers heading to Salt Lake City that have had their estimated arrival dates increased to 11 more days on the BNSF. If you have rail containers coming into SEA/Tac and are concerned about excess rail transit, our all-star Seattle drayage/transload warehouse team 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.
Did you know? Our Kansas City operation is truly impressive!
We are the area’s largest Bonded Container Freight Station with 13,000 feet of dock space, 25+ Dock doors, and dry vans for local deliveries. We excel in transloading anything from standard pallets to heavy cargo and hazmat within our Bonded CFS. Our advanced tech stack provides shareable tracking links, immediate transload photos, and instant access to updates and billing. We have a large drayage fleet of 59 trucks and 58 acres of yard space – equipped with container lift capabilities. We welcome new transload projects and have immediate drayage capacity. Contact our team at letsgetrolling@portxlogistics.com we are eager to work with you!
SONAR Import Data
