Container bookings data has rebounded back to previous year levels. Is a wave of freight coming to surface markets?
Shipping is ramping in parts of southern Asia as companies scramble to keep a buffer on inventories. How sustainable and effective is this strategy, and will it substantially mitigate the influence of prohibitive tariffs on China?
Southern California is at the epicenter of freight coming from China. Domestic demand patterns have not changed much since “Liberation Day,” but no one expects this to last.
During the COVID years, transportation providers were flooded with freight that needed to move yesterday. The current environment is flooded with freight that needs to move in a few weeks, maybe.
Until recently, surface transportation demand in total was relatively flat with shippers utilizing the rails more frequently. Annual intermodal growth has stabilized, with truckload demand eroding beyond the modal shift offset.
Inventory pull-forward has been the driving theory behind container import growth, but data suggests that may not be as true as people think. What are the implications to domestic transportation markets?
Maritime import demand for the U.S. is as strong as it has ever been, second only to the pandemic boom. What does this mean for the upcoming peak season, and how does it affect domestic transportation?
Whether it is nearshoring, tariff bypasses or something else entirely, the Southern border is becoming increasingly important for domestic transportation.
Retailers and ocean carriers assess the possible effects in the U.S. if supply chain disruptions in the Middle East continue.
Multimodal freight office leader Allison Camden has high expectations now that freight “has a seat at the table.”
Shippers are reverting to pre-pandemic shipping patterns, which may exacerbate the next freight market shift.
Are supply chains already manifesting significant changes in domestic transportation patterns?
Outbound volume in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, is booming, raising its market share to 3%. Flatbed market experiences a significant decrease in rejections.
The conflict is 8,000 miles away from North America but supply chains are global, which means any disruption around the world is a threat to their well-being. As the impact of COVID diminishes, a new geopolitical threat arises.
Carriers are working hard on covering the high-priced West Coast freight, leaving shippers in the Northeast wanting.
The White House has begun monitoring container volume at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach to measure progress in clearing supply chain bottlenecks.
While shortages are being blamed for the bulk of the capacity shortages in transportation, the balance of the movement of goods has become incredibly lopsided.
New forecasts from the National Retail Federation call for retail imports to stay high through at least February.
Carriers are rejecting a disproportionate amount of long-haul freight heading east versus west. Does this dramatic imbalance have long-term implications?
An FMC advisory committee has been formed amid ongoing shipper complaints of carrier market power abuse.
Recent earnings reports from retailers exhibited improved inventory positions compared to a year ago. However, the comps show merchandise levels are still lagging sales by a wide margin.
August is likely to see a new monthly record for retail container imports, with 2021 doing the same. However, ongoing supply chain dislocation clouds how quickly consumers will be able to get their hands on the goods.
The headline number for May retail sales was a sequential decline. What may have been lost in the report is that consumers are continuing to spend at a record-setting pace, which bodes well for freight flows.
There was a fair amount of “feel-good” talk regarding inventory build during the fiscal first-quarter retail earnings season. But for several chains, the year-over-year comparisons were easy. Further, sales have continued at an elevated clip, suggesting the massive merchandise restocking is far from over.
Freight shipments continue to break records with little signs of slowing. The year-over-year comparisons get tougher in the back half of 2021 but the current supply-demand dynamics may not change all that much.
Container rates doubling from a year ago is a lesson for port investment, according to Port of Long Beach’s Mario Cordero.
Retail sales surged in March along with freight volumes. An increase in vaccinations and stimulus payments provided a “perfect alignment” for the blowout report.
If you ordered a fire pit or a rowing machine online, there’s a good chance it’s coming through the Port of Long Beach. The port is moving record amounts of containers and shipments are experiencing delays.
The Port of LA will use tax funds for repairs needed to address its booming business.
Booming sales, thin inventories and more stimulus on the way provide the backdrop for potentially setting a new record for retail container imports in 2021. The National Retail Federation raised its outlook again for loaded containers landing at U.S. ports in the first half of the year.
Due to shipping snarl and container congestions, delays in retail inventories will be felt from Christmas through Easter.
Maritime operators make the case for being included in the next COVID-19 relief bill.
FMC commissioners appeal to President Joe Biden to immediately vaccinate the maritime workforce.
Imports continue to pile up as shippers and carriers take time for the holidays. They may come back to a mess.
Transportation providers may spend January unclogging supply chains as warehouse capacity has become a precious commodity thanks to the continued influx of imports.
Port communities in LA, Charleston and Philadelphia already at risk, officials assert.
Trucking and rail volumes remain elevated while the imports fade. Is this is beginning of the end of the 2020 freight boom?
Drayage operator Best Transportation is willing to support FMCSA’s pilot project with an apprenticeship program.
Anthony and Zach bring on Maritime expert Henry Byers to discuss the near- and long-term impacts to the domestic freight market resulting from the record-breaking influx of shipments from Asia.
Victoria and the city of Melbourne, Australia, are tightening health measures to stop an outbreak of the coronavirus. Imports and exports could get stuck at terminals and warehouses.
Lori Ann LaRocco illustrates the disruption to global trade by profiling what has happened at the Port of Miami since the coronavirus pandemic began.
The retail apparel sector has been among the hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. Learn how international trade, supply chains and tariffs complicate things further.
Distribution patterns expected to change in post-coronavirus world.
The magnitude of declines over the next few months from the virus as well as lingering tariffs will have broad flow-through effects on the U.S. economy.
The coronavirus is having a far-reaching impact across the globe. The timing may make things worse for domestic trucking.
Risks based on cargo moving through Los Angeles/Long Beach ports
American Cross-Dock & Storage recently announced it was doubling its warehouse space near the Port of Houston, one of the fastest growing U.S. container ports. The company has entered into a deal to lease 102,863 square feet of warehouse space at the Bayport North Logistics Center I, as well as a sublease for another 44,000 […]
EPA is looking to update pollution regulations for commercial trucks after 20 years; oil prices fall to one-year lows; U.S. import levels have declined slightly across all major retail container ports.
