1212 words 4 minute read – Let’s do this!
May 22nd seems to be “D day” for the North American supply chain industry when 9000 Canadian National (CN) and Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) workers can officially walk off the job.
After six months of negotiations, Teamsters Canada said they are no closer to an agreement than they were in the beginning. Although a strike vote does not necessarily mean it’s going to happen. This response is a common practice for them to boost their negotiating power. Teamsters plan on returning to the table and are committed to negotiating a fair contract for their members. In the meantime, we are seeing an influx of rate requests for over-the-road trucking as an alternative to moving cargo via rail in preparation.
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. Please reach out to our Canadian team Erin Walker or Rachel Racicot for assistance with a transportation solution or pricing. We have a wide range of availability from all major Canadian ports for intact and transloads Canada@portxlogistics.com
International Roadcheck, also known as DOT Blitz Week, is scheduled from May 14th to May 16th, 2024. Throughout the week, inspectors will focus on tractor protection systems, controlled substance, and alcohol possession or use. For inspections in the U.S., there is an additional emphasis on prohibited drivers within the Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse.
It’s important to note that any violations found during these inspections could lead to vehicles being placed out of service, potentially causing significant delays for drivers and shippers alike.
Take this time to plan ahead, and ensure your vehicles are compliant and in optimal condition to avoid any disruptions. For more information or assistance, please reach out to our team! Letsgetrolling@portxlogistics.com
Import TEUs are up this week 5.35% this week from last, the heaviest volume this week arriving to Newark NJ 17% of incoming TEU volume, Long Beach 15.9% of incoming TEU volume and Los Angeles 14.5% of incoming TEU volume. Retailers have upgraded their forecast again for imports arriving to U.S. docks this year, with expected monthly volumes consistently above 2 million TEUs well into the 2024 peak shipping season. The Global Port Tracker (GPT) now predicts May imports to come in at 2.06 million TEUs, 6.8% higher than in May 2023. In last month’s report, NRF forecast that the year-over-year gain for May would be 5.5%. Expected June imports of 2.03 million TEUs would be 10.7% higher than a year ago, up from the 8.9% growth projected last month. July imports are forecast at 2.02 million TEUs, up 5.5% year over year but down from GPT’s last forecast of a 6.6% increase. The upgraded resume for August’s forecast, with expected imports of 2.1 million TEUs, is up 7.1% from August 2023, higher than the GPT’s 6.9% increase projected last month. In GPT’s initial forecast for September, imports are projected at 2.04 million TEUs, up 0.5% from September 2023.
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
LA/LGB: Rail container backlogs are building at some marine terminals at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach amid an increasing flow of imports from Asia that is draining empty railcar inventory while waiting for eastbound empty equipment to return westbound. Yusen Terminals in Los Angeles is already holding twice its normal inventory of rail containers and is draying some of the boxes to a near-dock storage yard to prevent the backlog from interfering with cargo handling operations. Rail container dwell times on the Los Angeles-Long Beach terminals have increased steadily this year, from 4.2 days in January to 6.26 days in February and 7.02 days in March, according to the Pacific Merchant Shipping Association (PMSA). We can expedite your shipments to avoid rail dwell, by 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. We also have 66 trucks and a huge amount of yard space to take on your LA and Long Beach drayage moves Contact letsgetrolling@portxlogistics.com for all your West Coast drayage, transloading and trucking needs.
Vancouver: Excessive rail container dwells, which contribute to congestion at Vancouver’s marine terminals, have risen steadily this year, from 5.2 days in January to 6.7 days in February and 7.3 days in March, according to the port’s website. Vanterm was the one exception, with rail dwell times on average under three days. 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
Did you know? This year marks the 10th Anniversary of the Empire State Ride, a great organization with a 2024 fundraising goal of $10 million in mind! Funds raised from the Empire State Ride go directly to breakthrough cancer research at one of the nation’s top cancer research hospitals Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center. Roswell Park has some of the best and brightest researchers and doctors who have come from around the world to dedicate their life to studying and treating cancer. Because of the promising studies going on at Roswell Park every dollar donated will fund an additional $23 in research via external matching grants.
Port X Logistics is proud to announce we are back for year three as the presenting sponsor of Empire State Ride and we’re thrilled to be along for the ride on our 500+ mile adventure across New York State, exciting news – We are matching donations to the Empire State Ride to help reach their goal!
To donate, CLICK HERE & select a team or participant.
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