By Jeff Berman ·
July 18, 2022
Company officials said that this facility, which it said is strategically located, will support the Los Angeles and Long Beach area, with various services, including port drayage and transloading, coupled with “quick access” to both outbound rail and highway transport, and also work in tandem with its recently rolled out plan to help shippers expedite overseas freight delivery in a long-term multi-vessel service agreement.
By Jeff Berman ·
July 14, 2022
Total June POLA volume—at 876,111 TEU (Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units)—edged out June 2021 by 0.02%, for the highest-volume June in the port’s 115 years of operations, and total Port of Long Beach volume—at 835,412 TEU—saw a 15.3% annual increase, topping June 2018’ by 83,224 TEU, as the new POLB June high.
By Jeff Berman ·
July 8, 2022
For May, the most recent month for which data is available, import volume—at 2.4 million TEU (Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units)—increased 6% compared to April and was up 2.7% annually. What’s more, this tally represents a new monthly import record, going back to when NRF initially began tracking imports, coming in ahead of the previous record, of 2.34 million TEU, set in March.
By John D. Schulz ·
July 5, 2022
Anyone who thinks he or she has an accurate feel for what the peak shipping season will look like between now until around Halloween clearly has not been paying attention to the wacky ups-and-downs of the past two years. First came the economic shutdown induced by the COVID-19 pandemic. Then came an overheated economic rebound that taxed the limits of production of items ranging from toilet paper to computer semiconductor chips. Now the nation faces at least a one-in-three chance of an economic recession, according to the best guessers of such things.
By Jeff Berman ·
June 16, 2022
Total May POLA volume—at 967,900 TEU (Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units)—was off 4.36% annually, while still marking its third-highest-volume month on record. And total May POLB volume came in at 890,989 TEU, down 1.8% compared to May 2021, but representing the second-highest-volume month in the port's history.
By Jeff Berman ·
June 14, 2022
As negotiations continue between the International Longshore Warehouse Union (ILWU) and the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA), with their current contract set to expire at the end of June, the organizations said in a joint statement issued today that “they are unlikely to reach a deal before the July 1 expiration of the current agreement.”
By Jeff Berman ·
June 14, 2022
Following its passage by the U.S. Senate in late March, the U.S. House of Representatives last night followed suit, passing the Ocean Shipping Reform Act (OSRA) of 2022 by a 369-42 margin. The bill is now headed to President Biden’s desk to be signed into law, and will represent the first revamping of U.S. ocean shipping laws going back to 1998.
By Jeff Berman ·
June 13, 2022
This follows previous joint announcements by POLA and POLB, whom collectively account for roughly 40% of United States-bound import volumes, indicating that consideration of the fee would be pushed back each week going back to the week of November 22, 2021.
By Jeff Berman ·
June 13, 2022
With the gradual reopening of the Chinese economy, following a months-long shutdown in Shanghai, which underwent a full lockdown to quell the rising number of positive Covid cases there, the impact on global supply chains remains open-ended, with some industry stakeholders maintaining it will have a significant downstream impact on United States-bound import patterns and others thinking the impact will not be as bad as some expect.
By Jeff Berman ·
June 8, 2022
United States-bound retail container import volumes are expected to approach near-record volumes against the backdrop of retailers striving to meet ongoing strong demand levels and also hedging against potential West Coast port labor disruptions, according to the new edition of the Port Tracker report, which was issued today by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and maritime consultancy Hackett Associates.
By Jeff Berman ·
May 31, 2022
This follows previous joint announcements by POLA and POLB, whom collectively account for roughly 40% of United States-bound import volumes, indicating that consideration of the fee would be pushed back each week going back to the week of November 22, 2021.
By Jeff Berman ·
May 26, 2022
Logistics Management Group News Editor Jeff Berman recently spoke with Matt Marshall, SVP of Commercial, for New York-based NYSHEX, a provider of two-way committed contracts and neutral exchange, which provides shippers and carriers with a predictable, efficient, and accountable system for global commerce. NYSHEX customers include seven of the leading global ocean carriers and more than 190 shippers.
By Jeff Berman ·
May 19, 2022
As China takes steps to begin reopening its economy, which has been shut down over the last several weeks and created myriad issues and concerns for the global supply chain, a full return to normal does not appear to be imminent, according to various reports.
By LM Staff ·
May 17, 2022
Total April POLA volumes—at 887,357 TEU (Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units)—were off 6.29% compared to April 2021. Despite the decline, POLA said that this tally marked the second-highest April in the port’s history, with April 2021’s 946,966 TEU the highest April for the port. Total POLB volume came in at 820,718 TEU, for a 10% annual increase, and setting a new April record, topping the previous record set in April 2021.
By Jeff Berman ·
May 16, 2022
As the calendar moves closer towards the summer months, it is not too early for shippers to prepare and plan for the holiday rush over the second half of the year, especially this year, a time in which things remain far from usual for a whole host of reasons. These reasons include: still-high ocean freight rates, system constraints, port congestion, labor, and a whole host of others. These things ring true for Phil Rich, Senior Vice President and Chief Supply Chain Officer, for Sweetwater, a Fort Wayne, Indiana megastore retailer comprised of high-quality musical instruments and studio recording gear. In an interview with LM Group News Editor Jeff Berman, Rich provided an overview of Sweetwater’s approach to Peak Season and how the company approaches obstacles along the way, too.