American exporters want end to erratic container return dates; Trans-Pacific container lines boost October capacity; discussions of shipping’s digital transformation in a post-pandemic world; port congestion and a deficit of equipment; Transpacific rates nearly triple YoY; cross-border trade may offer new sweet spot; and Uber sells stake in freight unit … all made a splash in this week’s international freight updates. Short on time? Check out our summary of the latest shipping industry news:
Week 41 Freight Updates
October 9th, 2020
American exporters want end to erratic container return dates
North Dakota specialty soybean exporter Robert Sinner has lost his patience with ocean carriers that without sufficient notice change the earliest delivery return dates for containers arriving at the nation’s seaports and he wants something done about it.
Trans-Pacific container lines boost October capacity
Trans-Pacific container lines will boost capacity by at least 25 percent over the next three weeks, but continued elevated imports will still force some US shippers to pay more for guaranteed equipment and priority loading.
International participants discussed digital transformation of shipping in post-pandemic world at IMO-Singapore webinar
International standards and collaboration are needed to unlock digitalisation’s full potential to drive efficient, resilient and green shipping. This was the message at the “Future of Shipping – Digitalisation” webinar jointly organised by the IMO and MPA.
Container Availability: Congestion and a deficit of equipment
Container availability is dropping across Asian ports while some US and European ports suffer from increasing dwell times and port congestion. Especially the availability of 20-foot containers at the Port of Los Angeles increased by 156%…
Transpacific rates nearly triple last year's despite record high capacity in Golden Week
Capacity on the Transpacific for Golden Week was “unprecedented,” according to Sea-Intelligence. Available space exceeded the next highest capacity year, 2018, by more than 150,000 TEUs. The latest schedules for the Asia to North America West Coast route show “a staggering 26.6%” YoY increase in capacity for week 40…
FTZ Update: Cross-border Trade May Be New Sweet Spot for Supply Chain Managers
While confronting the challenges posed by the current global pandemic, logistics managers continue to work on expediting everything from the smallest parts to finished products in order to meet market demand. Meanwhile, some supply chains need to be slowed in response to the same market forces.
Uber Sells Stake in Freight Unit to Private Investors
Uber Technologies Inc. is selling a stake in its Uber Freight truck brokerage arm for $500 million to investors in a funding round led by Greenbriar Equity Group LP, pumping fresh cash into a business that has been growing rapidly while also losing money at a fast clip.
