Greg Miller·Sunday, June 04, 2023 Will West Coast port labor negotiations devolve into a major, extended disruption to U.S. supply chains, akin to the labor fallout in 2014-2015? If there was a way to place a “prop” bet on this, how have the odds changed since the last port labor contract expired on July 1, […]
Category Archives: News & Events
FedEx Express pilots vote overwhelmingly for strike over new contract
By Charlie Bartlett 18/05/2023 Unless the company agrees to their demands, the pilots of FedEx Express look set for industrial action, after a strike vote succeeded by a landslide. According to Air Line Pilots Association International (ALPA), the FedEx pilots’ representative, 97% of union members participated in the vote, and 99% voted for a strike: an “undeniable […]
Using smaller airports rather than major hubs can mean a ‘greener’ flight
By Alex Lennane in Munich 11/05/2023 Shippers should urge their airfreight providers to consider emissions – and they could see a big CO2 saving by choosing secondary airports. Research by Chicago Rockford (RFD), the upstart Illinois airport, shows aircraft use less fuel and emit less CO2 and other pollutants at smaller facilities like RFD than at major […]
Glut of new China-Europe capacity will depress airfreight rates
By Alex Whiteman 04/05/2023 Surging China-Europe air passenger services will only serve to further depress air freight rates, as the industry struggles to contend with mounting belly capacity amid weak demand. Looking at the UK alone, the spike in services over the past six months has been dramatic, with weekly China-Heathrow flights increasing ten-fold, from five to […]
Panama Canal lowers maximum depth limit on ships due to drought
PANAMA CITY, April 18 (Reuters) – The Panama Canal will impose lower draft restrictions on the largest ships passing through the key global trade route due to falling water levels at nearby lakes that form part of the waterway, the canal authority said on Tuesday. The restrictions, which will take effect on Wednesday, mean so-called […]
LA-LB outlook darkens as labor unrest briefly shutters ports
Ports on East and Gulf coasts poised to gain as disruption rattles West Coast Greg Miller·Sunday, April 09, 2023 The Port of Los Angeles’ sales pitch to importers in recent months has been: We have plenty of capacity now. No more ship queues. The port labor contract expired July 1, 2022, but there has been […]
Precision railroading strategy buckles under US legislative onslaught
By Ian Putzger, Americas Correspondent 04/04/2023 Under mounting pressure from a string of derailments, US Class I railways are abandoning elements of their predominant operational strategy of recent years . Precision scheduled railroading (PSR) is in retreat as legislative pressure on the carriers keeps building. On 30 March, legislators in the House of Representatives tabled a bill aimed […]
Another rail strike in Germany to add to European freight troubles
By Nick Savvides 24/03/2023 A rail strike in Germany on Monday is expected to cause delays and rail freight disruptions, with freight forwarders and shippers calling for flexibility on timings to help the movement of goods, with more disruptions in France also expected. The latest action follows a port pilots’ strike, which ended this morning, and disruption […]
FedEx readjusts air network again amid sharp volume declines
Express carrier to fly fewer hours, chop older MD-11 freighters Eric Kulisch·Thursday, March 16, 2023 FedEx will reduce flight hours by more than 10% and park more aircraft this quarter because of continued low demand for parcel and freight shipping, executives said Thursday. An 8% cut in aircraft utilization, sidelining nine cargo jets and downsizing […]
Contract rates the key to liner stability, as spot prices continue to fall
By Mike Wackett 10/03/2023 The latest rate war on the transpacific and Asia-Europe tradelanes could see some ocean carriers, overly exposed to the spot market, record their first loss-making quarter since the onset of the pandemic. In a worst-case scenario, rate levels “could mimic the extreme lows of 2016”, according to Vespucci Maritime CEO Lars Jensen. That […]
