container storage

Intermodal remains resilient, despite trucking demand dip

Intermodal provides low-cost storage option for shippers

Chart of the Week: Loaded Rail Container Volume, Outbound Tender Volume Index – USA  SONAR: ORAILL.USA, OTVI.USA

Time has been of the essence over the past year as demand for goods outstripped supply, forcing shippers to order more than they needed. Now that consumer demand is waning, companies find themselves with more inventory than they can handle. The national Outbound Tender Volume Index (OTVI) has dropped 12% over the past year and...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/intermodal-remains-resilient-despite-trucking-demand-dip

Victoria forms new Container Storage Working Group

Pictured: generic boxes in a stack. Photo credit: Dale Staton and UnSplash.

The Government of Victoria is engaging with the freight and logistics industry by forming a Container Storage Working Group to help keep cargo in the supply chain moving.

Chaired by Freight Victoria’s Executive Director Praveen Reddy, the group includes representatives from across the shipping industry, stevedores, transport operators, peak bodies, and government.

Minister for Ports and Freight Melissa Horne said...

https://www.shippingaustralia.com.au/victoria-forms-new-container-storage-working-group/

LA/Long Beach delay port congestion fees again

Gantry cranes lifting containers onto stacks at a port.

Port officials in Los Angeles and Long Beach have delayed imposing controversial congestion fees for a fourth consecutive week, increasing the likelihood that the fees will never be assessed.

The port authorities said the excess storage surcharge has been postponed until Dec. 13. 

The fees have had their intended effect of getting users to clear long-stored containers from terminals, according to port officials. Containers that dwell more than nine days for local truck drayage and more than six...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/lalong-beach-delay-port-congestion-fees-again

Analysis: Fixing port congestion takes politics and patience

Mullticolored containers on dock with a shuttle truck.

A flurry of government activity to alleviate crippling port congestion and its economic ripple effects is more likely to have long-term value in structurally changing a broken system than quickly reducing the cargo crunch in time for Christmas.

Many supply chain initiatives and rules aimed at the ports are being pushed, or implemented, by the U.S. government despite the global freight transportation system being mostly owned and operated by the private sector.

The gridlock triggered by the...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/analysis-fixing-port-congestion-takes-politics-and-patience

LA/LB ports postpone congestion surcharge for 3rd time

Stacks of containers at a port and cranes in the background.

The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach announced Monday they will again hold off charging shipping companies for long-stored containers because of progress in reducing cargo heaps. Meanwhile, a major terminal operator took a different approach to the freight gridlock, saying it will introduce an incentive program that pays importers cash to clear out shipments faster.

It is the third time the twin ports have postponed the controversial fee since it was scheduled to kick in Nov. 15 as a way to...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/lalb-ports-postpone-congestion-surcharge-for-3rd-time

FMC waits for details on California port surcharges

Containers and cranes in the background at a big port.

The surprise decision by the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach this week to impose hefty surcharges on ocean carriers that take too long removing containers from overcrowded terminals has raised more questions than answers. Freight industry professionals — and the Federal Maritime Commission — want to know where the twin ports are getting the authority  to levy the surcharges.

Port officials announced the fees on Monday and the two harbor commissions will vote to approve them on Friday, but...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/fmc-waits-for-details-on-california-port-surcharges

Container return date upheaval by the numbers

ocean container schedules

U.S. agriculture and forest product exporters are counting the ways and dollars it costs them when ocean carriers without warning change the dates for container arrivals at marine terminals.

The Washington-based Agriculture Transportation Coalition (AgTC) and supply chain technology firm TradeLanes recently reached out to hundreds of American shippers to survey the operational and financial impacts of earliest return date (ERD) fluctuations on their businesses.

The AgTC and TradeLanes have...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/container-return-date-upheaval-by-the-numbers

Ports see ‘longer battle’ ahead before volumes turn corner

U.S. ports have revised their initial outlook in March forecasting a quick “V-shaped” recovery in freight volumes and instead do not anticipate a turnaround this year.

That was the message relayed to lawmakers on Capitol Hill via the first-ever public teleconference hearing held by the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee on Friday.

“At this stage in the pandemic, the hope for a quick recovery has been replaced by the realization of a longer battle ahead,” testified Association of...

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