785 words 6 minute read – Let’s do this!

This week is our annual Leadership Retreat and it’s going to be a hot one. Every year we get together to hash out how we can improve our Leadership skills by getting uncomfortable. It has been a great bonding experience through the years hiking the crazy mountains of Montana and surviving on freeze dried meals and water that is at times mostly mud. We have great stories, and we have all survived so far! We will be putting out those stories on our Port X Logistics LinkedIn page, follow us to read about the fun.

Our Canadian team Rachel Racicot and Erin Walker paid a visit to the Vancouver port over the weekend and reported 10+ miles of double stacked railcars sitting idle and hundreds of ILWU supporters and workers at the picket lines. The ILWU president encouraged dock workers around the world that meet all ships arriving into ports to know that they are united with the Canadian strikers. Members from the US West Coast chapter of the union will not unload any Canadian bound cargo in solidarity as well.

Canada’s Minister of Labour has stepped in ordering the federal mediator overseeing negotiations between employers and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Canada to provide recommendations for a settlement by Wednesday evening. Both sides have 24 hours to decide whether or not to ratify the agreement and if either or both parties reject the recommendations, the next step will be for the Canadian government to reconvene Parliament, which is on summer recess, to address the situation.

Shippers are looking for alternative ways to move their containers without labor disruptions, and we can help. Port X Logistics can provide drayage, transloading, and trucking in all areas of the U.S. and Canada. We track vessels from overseas and all the way up to final delivery. We predict the Seattle and Tacoma ports will catch a lot of the steamship line diversions from the Canada West Coast ports and we hope so. We have a ton of drayage and transload capacity for Seattle/Tacoma. Get your orders in early, we have a no demurrage guarantee on orders that we receive 72 hours prior vessel arrival. Letsgetrolling@portxlogistics.com

Import TEU volumes are down this week 2.77% and July is expected to be a slow month. The remaining 2 quarters of the year is expected to see some volume growth from August through November. Still with the growing imports through peak holiday time, shippers are still anxious of the current ILWU port strike in the Canadian West coast and the potential of a UPS strike next month. U.S. container imports are expected to peak in August at a little over 2 million TEUs before slowly backing off, according to the National Retail Federation’s Global Port Tracker report. Retailers forecast that July 2023 imports will show a year-on-year decline of 11%, with August down 10.1%, September 3.4% and October 1.8%. Expected imports of 1.88 million TEUs in November 2023 would be up 5.9% from November 2022.

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/

Vancouver/Prince Rupert: The strike has caused many vessels to sit idle with negotiations being pushed but still up in the air. Follow the Port X Logistics LinkedIn page for the most up to date news on the strike and we are here to help! We have Drayage, Transloading and Trucking capability and capacity in all U.S. and Canada Ports and rails. Contact letsgetrolling@portxlogistics.com

Savannah: The port is running smoothly, and our warehouse is ready to take your transloads. We have drayage capacity in Savannah, Charleston and Jacksonville and we have great rates. Contact our Atlantic team at SAV@portxlogistics.com today
Vessels currently at port Savannah: 44 Expected Arrivals: 32
Vessels currently at port Charleston: 142 Expected Arrivals: 20
Vessels currently at port Jacksonville: 68 Expected Arrivals: 19

Did you know? We are super excited to announce that we have a new transload warehouse and drayage assets in Houston. We have 40 trucks, yard space, specialize in the Houston to Dallas drayage lane and our warehouse can handle heavy and unique cargo like paper rolls and oversized pallets. Our team will provide you with proactive updates and transload photos and we will track your containers from origin to final destination. AND We have immediate capacity for your Houston transloads, reach out to the team today for rates and to WOW you with our service