Week 12 Freight Updates

When you combine upended retail supply chains, Montreal longshore labor union talks, sky-high container rates, and the ongoing capacity crunch, you end up with a difficult situation for all global shippers.

In this week’s international freight updates, we’ve got retailers debating various omnichannel fulfillment solutions ranging from curbside pickup programs to ship-from-store e-commerce services. At the same time, dockworkers in Montreal are struggling to settle labor negotiations, voting against the Maritime Employers Association’s latest proposal. As these talks continue, importers back in the U.S. are finalizing trans-Pacific service contracts with significantly higher prices and even second-tier rates based on weekly MQCs in the hopes of securing additional space for the upcoming year.

Meanwhile, the container manufacturing industry is working overtime just to keep up with the recent flood of new orders. So, when you add all of these trade disruptions together, it’s no wonder the world’s supply chains are struggling.

Check out the following article highlights to learn more:

6 charts show how a pandemic upended retail supply chains

The energy inside of stores in March 2020 was rushed, strained and infused with the weighty gaze of shoppers and workers that asked, “Should we even be here? Are we going to be OK?”At that point, a lot was up in the air. Soon, stores temporarily shuttered as the result of lockdowns. And consumers flocked to digital buying channels.

Montreal longshore workers remain on job despite latest contract offer rejection

The Port of Montreal’s longshore employees remained on the job Monday after rejecting a new contract offer as a labor truce to prevent another strike at Canada’s second-largest port expired. The union representing the workers said it still wants to negotiate and has no plans for another work stoppage.

Top US importers from Asia accepting higher contract rates

The top half-dozen US importers of Asia cargo are finalizing trans-Pacific service contracts at significantly higher levels than what they signed last year, according to conversations with a number of market participants.

Solution elusive to avoid next LA–LB port backup

When the current massive backups at the Los Angeles–Long Beach port complex finally have been cleared out, which most expect to take months, there will remain an uncomfortable truth for shippers…

Shortage of New Shipping Containers Adds to Global Trade Turmoil

The world’s biggest makers of shipping containers are scrambling to meet a surge in demand for the metal boxes that shuttle some 90% of the goods around the global economy. A trade boom in the second half of last year caught the container producers — mostly Chinese companies — by surprise as the pandemic threw the existing supply of about 25 million boxes off their normal routes.

Everywhere You Look, the Global Supply Chain Is a Mess

Supply chain woes mounted worldwide for makers of everything from cars and clothing to home siding and medical needle containers, as the extreme Texas weather and port backlogs compounded problems for manufacturers already beset by pandemic disruptions.

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