Freight
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Mario Tama via Getty Images
A congested freight environment shows no signs of improvement for peak
Shippers are moving freight earlier, while carriers are trying to plan ahead and add capacity if possible. Could the congestion last through Lunar New Year?
By Matt Leonard • July 22, 2021 -
Permission granted by NFI
Freight shipping spend reaches record high as capacity constraints persist: US Bank
Challenges are playing out across all regions, but the Northeast saw the sharpest increase in spend from Q1 due to "pretty significant capacity limitations."
By Max Garland • July 22, 2021 -
Explore the Trendline➔
Adeline Kon/Supply Chain Dive
TrendlineThe Supply Chain Dive Outlook on 2021
The early parts of 2021 reveal a continuation of 2020's trends, making it clear the pandemic will affect the supply chain ecosystem long term.
By Supply Chain Dive staff -
FMC to audit top 9 carriers as part of permanent program to oversee detention, demurrage
The agency said it wants to ensure "shippers do not suffer from unfair disadvantages."
By Matt Leonard • July 21, 2021 -
"JB Hunt semi-tractors at the company's intermodal facility in Chicago, IL 08-19-2017" by Richard Hurd is licensed under CC BY 2.0
Capacity crunch prompts JB Hunt to limit service
Detention of trailing equipment in the intermodal and truck segments led the carrier to levy accessorial charges on shippers.
By Jim Stinson • July 21, 2021 -
Justin Sullivan via Getty Images
BNSF meters traffic from West Coast to Chicago
The railroad is the second to limit its rail traffic to Chicago this week, following Union Pacific's weeklong service suspension intended to clear congestion at inland rail terminals.
By Matt Leonard • July 20, 2021 -
David McNew via Getty Images
Union Pacific pauses service from West Coast to Chicago as congestion hits inland terminals
The railroad says the service suspension will give it time to work through a container backlog at its Global IV gateway in Chicago, but experts noted the move may make congestion on the West Coast worse.
By Matt Leonard • July 16, 2021 -
Courtesy of South Carolina Ports Authority
Pandemic changed rail's product mix as e-commerce grew intermodal volumes
Large retailers and third-party logistics providers leveraged railroads to diversify their transport risk and get around labor constraints in the trucking market during the pandemic, according to a study by Northwestern University.
By Edwin Lopez • July 15, 2021 -
Kendall Davis / Supply Chain Dive
Higher contract rates pull volume from spot truck market
DAT Principal Analyst Dean Croke said this is the result of carriers securing higher contract rates, which reduces the incentive to focus on the spot market.
By Matt Leonard • July 14, 2021 -
Buda Mendes via Getty Images
Stockouts worsen for the chemical industry as shipping delays exacerbate inventory woes
Shortages may last yet another year due to the lasting effects of a February storm in Texas, increased demand and supply chain congestion.
By Matt Leonard • July 13, 2021 -
Courtesy of https://corporate.walmart.com/photos/walmart-store-exterior-at-night
Walmart will add transportation pillar to Project Gigaton
The effort will focus on suppliers' fleets to achieve the retailer's goal to avoid one billion metric tons of greenhouse gases in scope 3 emissions by 2030.
By Matt Leonard • July 13, 2021 -
Spencer Platt via Getty Images
Freight overflows push LTLs to make tough decisions
FedEx Freight admitted to "temporary targeted volume control" as shippers rush to fill inventories.
By Jim Stinson • July 13, 2021 -
Daphne Howland/Supply Chain Dive
Levi's diverts freight to East Coast amid 'challenge in Long Beach'
The decision was one of several actions Levi Strauss took to mitigate supply chain disruptions in Q2, according to CEO Chip Bergh.
By Edwin Lopez • July 12, 2021 -
Alex Wong via Getty Images
Biden takes aim at consolidation in ocean, rail with new executive order on increasing competition
The FMC and DOJ Antitrust Division signed a Memorandum of Understanding Monday as the two agencies begin to work more closely on oversight and enforcement in the ocean freight market.
By Matt Leonard • UPDATED: July 13, 2021 at 9:08 a.m. -
Mario Tama via Getty Images
Detention and demurrage were hotly debated pre-pandemic. Congestion made it worse.
The average charge more than doubled from 2020, increasing 104%, Container xChange found.
By Matt Leonard • July 08, 2021 -
Kendall Davis / Supply Chain Dive
Airfreight demand returns to pre-pandemic levels, but capacity could take longer to materialize
The transpacific lane won't be the first to benefit from the return of passenger planes and belly capacity. Freighters expect their services will be in demand into next year.
By Matt Leonard • July 08, 2021 -
Courtesy of Suez Canal Authority
Timeline: How the Suez Canal blockage unfolded across supply chains
The Ever Given was lodged in the canal for six days, blocking hundreds of ships from traversing the waterway.
By Matt Leonard • UPDATED: July 6, 2021 at 10:30 a.m. -
Courtesy of UPS
FedEx, UPS take divergent LTL freight paths
As UPS sold off its Freight segment to TFI this year, FedEx doubled down on Freight and called its commitment to the segment "absolute."
By Jim Stinson • July 02, 2021 -
Dean Mouhtaropoulos via Getty Images
HB Fuller leans on 'strong supplier relationships' to navigate shortages, tight freight market
Strategizing for a "ship stuck in the Suez is exactly what they're set up to do," an executive said of its supply chain team.
By Matt Leonard • July 01, 2021 -
Courtesy of Convoy
Flexport, Convoy integration enables automated transloading
All shippers have to do is select their origin and destination, and the Flexport platform handles the rest, the company said.
By Matt Leonard • June 30, 2021 -
Justin Sullivan via Getty Images
Ocean carrier reliability falls 35 points from last May as congestion persists
Maersk was the most punctual carrier for the month, but its 46.2% schedule reliability figure means a shipper is more likely to correctly guess a coin flip than have their ship show up on time.
By Matt Leonard • June 29, 2021 -
Retrieved from Port Authority of New York and New Jersey via Flickr on June 28, 2021
JFK seeks to modernize 'inefficient cargo operation' with new facility for airfreight handling
The $145 million project will develop a 350,000 square-foot facility that includes modern technology, such as an automated vertical racking system.
By Edwin Lopez • June 29, 2021 -
Hapag-Lloyd, ONE complete integration with Maersk's TradeLens
The carriers have finished the pilot, but it could take up to 10 months to provide all of the milestone updates associated with TradeLens' visibility platform, a Hapag-Lloyd executive said.
By Matt Leonard • June 28, 2021 -
"Yantian port from above" by Gigel.atat is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
Yantian resumes full operations, backlog expected to linger up to a month
"Having an incident like Yantian right now, in a market which is out of balance, that just adds on top of the current imbalance," one analyst said.
By Matt Leonard • June 24, 2021 -
Mario Tama via Getty Images
Deep DiveLast year, the Transpacific was a 'nightmare.' It's only gotten worse.
One shipper offered a carrier $6,000 for space. It was told $60,000 wouldn't even be enough.
By Matt Leonard • June 24, 2021 -
"Yantian port from above" by Gigel.atat is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
6 charts show the effects of Yantian port congestion
Dwell times increase, containers build up and blank sailings surge — all at a time when shippers are planning and importing for peak season.
By Matt Leonard • June 22, 2021
