non-vessel-operating common carrier

3PLs frustrated by ocean service contracted rate upheaval

Federal Maritime Commission

For many U.S. freight forwarders and consolidators moving freight during the coronavirus pandemic, it is as if the container-shipping rates of their initially contracted transport arrangements with the ocean carriers are no longer valid.

The National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America (NCBFAA) has voiced this concern to the U.S. Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) in a recent white paper and asked the agency to launch an investigation. The FMC is tasked with monitoring the...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/3pls-frustrated-by-ocean-service-contracted-rate-upheaval

FMC keeps spotlight on ocean forwarder, consolidator concerns

U.S. Federal Maritime Commission

The coronavirus pandemic may have disrupted international supply chains for much of the year, but a top official at the Federal Maritime Commission said his agency has remained vigilant in its responsibility to ensure competition within the U.S. ocean container shipping trades.

“I am pleased to say that, because of advance planning and preparation, the commission has remained fully open and operational throughout these difficult times,” FMC Chairman Michael Khouri told online attendees of the Nat...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/fmc-keeps-spotlight-on-ocean-forwarder-consolidator-concerns

Expedited trans-Pacific LCL filling a growing niche

Southern California ports

Major ocean freight consolidators in the U.S. market see no shortage in demand for expedited less-than-container load (LCL) service requests from freight forwarders during the ongoing global pandemic.

These services promise roughly 12-day port-to-port transits between China’s dominant seaports and Los Angeles and Long Beach in Southern California, compared to mostly standard, monthlong ocean transits for eastbound, trans-Pacific container traffic.

Although expedited LCL services are three to four...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/expedited-trans-pacific-lcl-filling-a-growing-niche

Steering US customs brokers, forwarders through COVID-19

Janet Fields of Savannah, Georgia-based John S. James Co. is no stranger to risk management issues at the corporate level. But Fields, the recently appointed president of the National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America (NCBFAA), is seeing those skills put to the test as the industry weathers the dismal effects on trade from the coronavirus pandemic.

Fields was nominated to serve as NCBFAA president in January, following two years as the association’s vice president and decades...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/steering-us-customs-brokers-forwarders-through-covid-19

Navigating service contract negotiations during COVID-19

This is no ordinary year for American shippers and freight forwarders that are attempting to finalize their annual ocean service contracts with the container carriers.

The uncertainty of how much cargo will be available from the shippers and the amount of capacity offered by the carriers for the next contract season, which generally starts in May, remains anyone’s guess in the face of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

“The biggest obstacle we face in service contract negotiations this year is the...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/navigating-service-contract-negotiations-during-covid-19

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