MOL’s 1Q intermodal goal hurt by January factors

   The liner carrier MOL this week said that in the first quarter of 2013 it failed to meet its internal 90-percent target for intermodal transit on-time performance for 18 origin-destination pairs between Asia and the United States.
   The closest pairs to the target were Cai Mep-to-Memphis, Yantian-to-Memphis, and Shanghai-to-Dallas, which were on-time 87 percent, 87 percent, and 86 percent, respectively.
   The worst performing pair was Shanghai-to-New York, which was only 3 percent on time.
   Most of the poor performance occurred in January, when collective on-time rates for the pairs was 46 percent, compared to 90 percent in February and 86 percent in March.
   MOL said late arriving vessels, chassis shortages, shotened work weeks due to holidays, labor disruptions and increased inland point intermodal volume due to labor concerns all contributed to its performance. – Eric Johnson