Freight Forward: Time's Running Out

Welcome to Freight Forward, where each Monday, I’ll recap what happened in supply chains the previous week through JOC.com articles and additional sources and also what to expect for the week ahead.

I’m Cathy Roberson, a supply chain writer and researcher. For this weekly series, I serve as a research analyst for the Journal of Commerce (JOC), for whom I identify trends, provide thoughts and input into stories, and assist with express and parcel last-mile queries.

Possible East and Gulf Coast Port Strike on Oct 1

• According to a HSBC report, a potential strike at container terminals along the US East and Gulf coasts will tie up approximately 1.7% of global shipping capacity if it lasts a week, tightening the supply of equipment and vessels as the Red Sea diversions have, but on smaller scale writes Laura Robb. While West Coast ports will serve as the most likely alternative in the case of port closures along the East and Gulf coasts, they’re unlikely to be able to absorb all the diverted volumes, HSBC said in its report.
• USMX filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in a late bid to force the ILA back to the bargaining table writes Michael Angell.
• Ocean Network Express (ONE), announced that it will skip Charleston and Savannah on its trans-Pacific EC1 service because of the strike threat. The container ship Hong Kong Express will now terminate its voyage at Norfolk on Sept. 28–29, ONE said in a customer advisory. The ship is currently five days late after being delayed at Manzanillo in Mexico writes Michael Angell.
• Column - White House’s executive lever to prevent port strike is politically toxic, Mark Szakonyi
• Column - Lack of terminal handling charges emerges as a factor in ILA talks, Peter Tirschwell
• US ports along the US East and Gulf coasts are working under contingency plans ahead of a possible strike, including extending terminal hours and implementing deadlines for operations writes Laura Robb.
• Spot container rates from Asia to the US East Coast have fallen more than 40% over the past three weeks, with sources pointing to cargo diversions ahead of a possible longshore strike along the East and Gulf coasts as peak season momentum begins to fade writes Laura Robb.
• CSX Transportation, Canadian National Railway and Norfolk Southern Railway have set deadlines for exporters to drop off containers ahead of a potential strike writes Ari Ashe.
• Drayage and trucking firms are “pre-pulling” containers from eastern and southern US ports, shipping some containers east-to-west on intermodal trains and looking for space to transload and store goods and containers writes Bill Cassidy.
• Alex Strogen, chief commercial officer for the Port of Vancouver in Washington state, told the Journal of Commerce that because most of the labor issues are related to the container trade, it should be “business as usual” for breakbulk, project and roll-on/roll-off cargo at the port, without any significant redirection of those cargoes from the East or Gulf coasts. Should a strike occur — and if it continues for an extended period — one possible outcome is the spillover of container cargo into breakbulk vessels writes Autumn Guisti.

Ocean Freight

• The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 375 sent a 72-hour notice to the Maritime Employers Association (MEA) of its intent to strike, according to a statement from the Montreal Port Authority. The strike will target the Viau and Maisonneuve container terminals from Sept. 30 through Oct. 2, reopening on Thursday writes Michael Angell.
• Column - Port Tanjung Pelepas operating model key to ensuring Gemini reliability goals, Peter Tirschwell
• Column - Ocean carrier alliance shakeup offers varied service choices for shippers, Lars Jensen
• CMA CGM signed a deal to buy 47.6% of Brazil’s largest terminal operator Santos Brasil for $1.2 billion and plans to acquire the remaining shares “in the coming months,” writes Greg Knowler.
• Zim Integrated Shipping Services is set to sign on to charter container slots from Mediterranean Shipping Co. on its independent India-US network as part of a recently announced strategic partnership between the two carriers covering the Asia-US East and Gulf coast trades writes Bency Matthew.
• The Port of Charleston’s Hugh K. Leatherman marine terminal is officially reopened to container ships. Zim Integrated Shipping has become the first carrier to commit to a weekly trans-Pacific service there writes Michael Angell.
• The Northwest Seaport Alliance (NWSA) and the Canadian ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert are steadily returning to fluidity after a spike in import volumes in July and August and a brief work stoppage by Canadian rail workers that disrupted intermodal rail traffic in the Pacific Northwest writes Bill Mongelluzzo.
• In a decision published last week, the FMC denied a petition by the Ocean Carrier Equipment Management Association (OCEMA) to delay implementation of the agency’s detention and demurrage billing rulemaking that went into effect May 28 due to confusion over a correction the agency made to the rulemaking’s preamble soon before its effective date writes Michael Angell.

LogTech

• Gnosis Freight has taken investment from private equity group Vista Equity Partners to expand the reach of its product targeted at import logistics teams writes Eric Johnson.
• Cargado, which has raised $10 million in funding since its founding in 2023, publicly launched its cross-border load board aimed at helping brokers access growing truckload trade between the US and Mexico writes Eric Johnson.
• Freight visibility provider GenLogs has received $6 million in funding from venture investors to accelerate its efforts to arm freight brokers with better truckload visibility to tackle load matching and fraud prevention writes Eric Johnson.

Inland

Details on JOC's Inland Distribution Conference here.

• Column - Freight ecosystem suffers pain while intermodal wastes opportunities, Ted Prince
• LTL provider Yellow prepares to sell its remaining 112 terminals, including some of its largest sites, in a move that will release pent-up LTL capacity. About 30 of the facilities could be considered “port-adjacent,” potentially providing space for transloading and container storage as well as local LTL pickup and delivery. Yellow will begin accepting non-binding “indications of interest,” or IOIs, on Tuesday and plans to complete the sales by January, according to a US bankruptcy court filing writes Bill Cassidy.

That's it for now. Thank you for reading! For readers interested in reading more Journal of Commerce stories, click here to subscribe. Enter code FFNL20 at checkout to receive a 20% discount on any subscription option. (Note that this is only for first-time subscribers or for upgrading a current subscription). What did I miss? Have a question? Let me know in the comments. I’ll be checking back throughout the week to answer questions, address comments, and share additional insights. In the meantime, here’s wishing everyone a good freight week ahead.

Today thru Wednesday I'm at JOC's Inland Distribution Conference where I'll be bringing you daily updates.

-Cathy