Nine international shipping lines are being audited to see if they are following detention and demurrage requirements. The Federal Maritime Commission audits nine of the top container carriers operating in U.S. markets to see if they abuse their market position by overcharging shippers for detention and demurrage costs. According to FMC Chairman Daniel Maffei, the Vessel-Operating Common Carrier Audit Program will also "provide additional information valuable to the regular monitoring of the marketplace for ocean cargo services." Maersk, MSC, CMA CGM, COSCO Group, Hapag-Lloyd, ONE, Evergreen, HMM, and Yang Ming are the top nine carriers by market share covered in [...]

Containers don't lie, and right now, they're telling the whole truth about the supply chain bottleneck that importers are dealing with. This holiday season, more than Rudolph's red nose will be required to lead shippers through the whiteout of congestion in the United States. "Shippers have options [transload/ocean charter and airfreight], but the actual message is to book now, or Christmas may be canceled," said Brian Bourke, SEKO Logistics' chief growth officer. To demonstrate the impact of bottleneck difficulties, American Shipper and ImportGenius looked at Walmart's summer good imports to see how bad the situation was. Above-ground pools, swimsuits and [...]

Yang Ming Transport Corp. (Yang Ming) has announced that as part of its efforts to upgrade its Trans-Pacific service, it will add one additional 11,000 TEU container vessel, the 'YM Travel.' The carrier claimed in a statement that the vessel will "further boost its "mid-to-long-term operational efficiency" and that it is part of a 14-ship fleet of 11,000 TEU newbuild ships, of which the' YM Travel' is the sixth. The vessels have a nominal capacity of 11,860 TEU and are fitted with 1,000 reefer container plugs. These vessels are designed to sail at a speed of up to 23 knots [...]

Veteran forwarders report a pricing market increasingly like the "Wild West" as the trans-Pacific peak season approaches. Higher demand has pushed up spot and contract rates and the cost of chartering container ships, with speeds reaching well over $100,000 per day. Forwarders believe shippers of lower-value cargo and those with low margins are priced progressively out of Asia-US spot container freight rates, which have been quoted as high as $26,000 per FEU. Some carriers are prioritizing higher-paying import cargo and are rolling some contracted freight unless premiums are paid. Both forwarders and shippers are frustrated by the dilution of so-called [...]

Shippers' backing contrasts sharply with freight firms' resistance, who claim the Biden administration is providing "misguided advice." Cargo-owner advocacy groups applaud President Biden's executive order on business competitiveness. Still, they argue that further regulatory action, if not legislation, may be required to address long-standing issues about freight transportation prices and services. Jonathan Gold, vice president of supply chain and customs policy at the National Retail Federation, representing retailers who import goods into the United States, said, "I think it's a start." Retailers are among the shippers that have seen transportation prices rise in recent months due to supply-chain disruptions caused [...]

In May, the nation's ports remained extremely busy, with record-breaking volumes of cargo passing through facilities on both the Pacific and Atlantic coastlines. The volume of cargo transported through the Port of Los Angeles, the country's busiest port, increased by 74% to 1,012,047 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs), up from 581,664 TEUs a year before. It was the first time a Western Hemisphere port handled more than 1 million TEUs in a single month, and it was the facility's 10th month of consecutive container traffic gains. The port's executive director, Gene Seroka, said, "Our longshore labor shifts are up 20% compared [...]

According to industry insiders, a backlog of ships on the water and an estimated 350,000 containers at docks will continue to wreak havoc on global supply chains well into the new year. The next stumbling block in global shipping is expected to disrupt trade for several more weeks, potentially delaying supplies as we approach the holiday shopping season. According to shipping executives, around 50 container ships are backed up around the Yantian port in Southern China, with 350,000 loaded containers stacked on docks. The primary gateway for China goods bound for Western countries struggles to recover from a Covid-19 outbreak [...]

As customers return to stores, the significant increases made during the lockdowns have slowed. However, fulfillment companies continue to invest in expansion, anticipating that people's shopping habits will alter in the long run. Shoppers may have returned to the mall, but e-commerce companies are wagering that they will have a firm grip on their digital shopping carts when economic restrictions lesson. Logistics companies that grew during the Covid-19 online-ordering boom say they're keeping their investments and optimistic outlooks. They believe that the rush to online commerce during the outset of the pandemic has changed purchase behavior in the long run. [...]

A new US campaign to reduce ship emissions will start a multibillion-dollar search for non-fossil fuels for ocean-going powerboats. Still, it will almost certainly face opposition from Asian and South American countries concerned about growing export costs. The United States has stayed out of a multiyear initiative by the International Maritime Organization, the UN's worldwide maritime authority, to cut CO2 emissions from ships in half by 2050 compared to 2008. However, in April, US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate Change John Kerry signaled a shift in position, stating the IMO should strive for a more stringent zero-emissions target in that [...]

As e-commerce continues to expand as a percentage of overall retail sales in the United States, fulfillment solutions such as buy online, pick up in-store (BOPIS) and buy online, ship from a store (BOSFS) will become more common (BOSS). According to a survey by Retail Consulting Partners (RCP), 85 percent of North American retailers rate increasing and improving digital commerce as a top business priority for 2021, followed by expanding and improving customer experience (67 percent) and improving/optimizing supply chains (52 percent ). More than half of respondents said they intend to implement or extend delivery or pickup services as [...]