West Coast Ports

White House urged to shepherd labor talks at West Coast ports

A yard tractor drives on the wharf full of stacked containers.

Four dozen industry groups asked the White House on Tuesday to play an early role in impending contract negotiations between terminal management and dockworkers at West Coast ports to ensure there is no deterioration in cargo processing amid ongoing port congestion and trade uncertainty associated with the war in Ukraine.

The contract between the Pacific Maritime Association and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union is set to expire at the end of June. Automation and higher...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/white-house-urged-to-shepherd-labor-talks-at-west-coast-ports

Bargaining over West Coast ports labor pact puts retailers on edge

Workers and trucks under giant ship cranes at a port.

Port congestion that has snarled supply chains for more than a year could soon get worse if negotiations for a new contract between West Coast port operators and dockworkers don’t go smoothly. The rocky history between management and the stevedoring union has shippers buckling in for a stomach-churning year of late shipments, stockouts and soaring transportation costs.

On Thursday, the National Retail Federation urged the Pacific Maritime Association and the International Longshore and Warehouse...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/bargaining-over-west-coast-ports-labor-pact-puts-retailers-on-edge

GSCW chat: Dissecting West Coast drayage challenges

FIRESIDE CHAT TOPIC: Drayage challenges and opportunities at America’s West Coast ports 

DETAILS: Port congestion issues have presented drayage carriers with a rapidly changing market and challenging operating conditions. In this fireside chat, Harbor Trucking Association CEO Matt Schrap and FreightWaves market expert Mike Baudendistel discuss how drayage carriers can optimize productivity and how West Coast ports can maintain their market share.

SPEAKER: Matt Schrap, CEO, Harbor Trucking...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/gscw-chat-dissecting-west-coast-drayage-challenges

Check Call: Not your average RFP

people gathered around a desk of computers. Check Call news and analysis for 3pls and brokers

Episodes of Check Call the Podcast come out every Tuesday at 12:30 p.m. EST on FreightWavesTV.
Mark your calendars for Global Supply Chain Week Feb. 14-18. Register for your spot now.

Hot Take

Image: imgflip.com

We chatted earlier this week about RFPs and how they need to be better, more cohesive and easier to process. That’s much easier said in theory; putting it into practice can be a lot harder than originally anticipated.

The RFP process is evolving. Traditional RFPs are heading out and a new,...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/check-call-not-your-average-rfp

Check Call: Cloudy with a chance of profits

Hot Takes

Image: Jim Allen/FreightWaves

At the beginning of 2020, no one could have predicted the transportation market would be where it is today. With a pandemic that shut down the world for weeks, spot market rates reached the highest they have been in years and capacity has gotten tighter than a lid on a pickle a jar.

In this industry, more so than others, you have to be ready to change your course of action at any moment. Most days aren’t the same in the freight world. You come into various...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/check-call-cloudy-with-a-chance-of-profits

FreightWaves Classics: Lockout at West Coast ports caused economic havoc in 2002

ILWU members march. (Photo: Stephen Carr/Daily Breeze)

Almost everyone in the world of freight knows of the chaos that has occurred (and is occurring) in ocean freight during 2021. Many ships are at anchor near a number of U.S. ports and have also been unable to dock at times at Chinese ports as well. As described by FreightWaves Market Experts and reported by FreightWaves editorial staff, ocean freight has been in peak season almost the entire year. 

The worst backups have been at U.S. West Coast ports, where most of the ships from China...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/freightwaves-classics-lockout-at-west-coast-ports-caused-economic-havoc-in-2002

GSC Logistics adds capacity amid West Coast container surge

Third-party logistics provider GSC Logistics announced Tuesday it would add 100 freight haulers to its network “as global trade booms.”

The Oakland, California-based company said the capacity additions would help expedite diverted cargo from congested ports to its customers in the San Francisco Bay area and the Pacific Northwest. The additions will increase its driver pool by almost 30% at the ports; 250 drivers in Oakland and 100 in Seattle. The new drivers are expected to be on board by summer.

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/gsc-logistics-adds-capacity-amid-west-coast-container-surge

GSCW: Walmart beats Amazon in circumventing port congestion, analyst says

Waterside view of docks stacked with containers and back of a big ship.

In the battle between retail giants, Walmart (NYSE: WLM) is doing a much better job than Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) in avoiding U.S. port congestion and import delays, according to data compiled by Import Genius.

Walmart has been able to spread its ocean container imports to many ports across the country, including Houston; Norfolk, Virginia; and Savannah, Georgia, while Amazon shipments from Asia remain highly concentrated at the twin ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, where COVID-related...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/walmart-beats-amazon-in-circumventing-port-congestion-analyst-says

West Coast intermodal spot market still strong despite falling rates

A photograph of a Union Pacific train hauling intermodal containers across a field.

Although U.S. West Coast demand for intermodal rail service in late January might not be as tight as what the market witnessed in the fourth quarter of 2020, the spot market is still showing some signs of tightness, according to FreightWaves’ SONAR charts.

Intermodal tender rejection rates show that carriers are still struggling to meet customer commitments, according to Mike Baudendistel, FreightWaves’ market expert for rail and intermodal. 

“Intermodal tenders are rejected by carriers at much...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/west-coast-intermodal-spot-market-still-strong-despite-falling-rates

Commentary: US DOT’s rail freight ‘outlook’ signals huge changes

The views expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of FreightWaves or its affiliates.

In early September, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) published an updated national freight plan. Was that a big deal or a little deal? Well, if states, towns and private companies want to obtain possible federal grants and/or loans for any transport projects (including rail), yes, it is an important benchmark. 

Let us recite what the national “plan”...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/commentary-us-dots-rail-freight-outlook-signals-huge-changes

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