If your company ships containerized freight, you’ve probably heard about the tentative contract agreement between West Coast dockworkers and the shipping industry. Now attention has turned to the U.S. East Coast and a looming expiring contract affecting thousands who work at port terminals. The International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA), which covers dockworkers from Texas to Maine, is currently at loggerheads with the United States Maritime Alliance, the entity representing the steam lines and port operators on the East Coast. 

We recently wrote an article about the current state of the drayage market, which offered advice to shippers about the ways in which they could overcome some common logistical challenges and find solutions with a single source logistics provider. Most shippers don’t have the resources or time necessary to own, operate, and manage a fleet of trucks, equipment, and warehouses needed to handle every touchpoint within their supply chain. That’s where modern 3PLs come in handy, as shippers take advantage of transportation service providers who specialize in warehouse and distribution services. Shipping managers with containerized ocean freight know just how important it is to have a reliable drayage provider that owns multiple warehouses and transloading facilities located near major ports of entry. These facilities help shippers optimize their supply chains and make sure each load is delivered on time and in full to their customers. This article takes a closer look at some of the way transloading companies are strengthening the resiliency of ocean supply chains. 

Each day, vast amounts of produce, meats, grains, oil, paper, cars, industrial machinery, and a ton of other goods, are loaded into containers and imported and exported at strategic ports around the world. Most of the world’s economy is dependent on vast oceanic supply chains to connect major manufacturers and their essential commodities to a global consumer market. Ocean freight is a big business, with some estimates suggesting it accounts for over 80% of all global shipping. That’s why it's crucial to partner with a single source logistics provider, and one that specializes in port drayage service. With single source providers, shippers find a one-stop solution to fulfill their transportation from ocean to receiver; it’s also an efficient measure to avoid costly supply chain disruptions. This article takes a look at some of the common challenges that shippers experience with port drayage, and offers solutions to help shippers build a more resilient transportation network.

The logistics industry is constantly evolving to stay competitive within a crowded marketplace of companies. Consumer shopping trends like e-commerce scaled the significance of final mile deliveries; stagnant sales orders and a gluttony of capacity within the U.S. truck market affect gross profit margins; and new technologies provided by transportation service providers are helping shippers become more efficient, productive, and profitable. Optimizing supply chains through digitization and advanced data analytics are productive measures designed to give shippers more transparency and control over their logistics operations. This article takes a look at the digital supply chain, showing logistics managers the advantages of partnering with a single source logistics provider to manage their supply chains.

The current market conditions within the U.S. truck transportation industry are creating significant challenges for thousands of carriers nationwide. The National Truck Index (NTI), which measures the national average spot rate, is currently at $1.49 a mile, lower than 2019 averages. Truckload tender rejections, a market indicator measuring load volume and U.S. carrier capacity, are currently at an all-time low of 2.53%. This means carriers are desperate for freight and will accept bargain basement pricing just to keep their trucks moving. Low freight rates favor shippers in the short term but create deep strain on small and large carriers alike. Truck drivers and their companies earn less profit, which is bankrupting carriers and forcing thousands of people out of their jobs. Carriers who accept garbage rates end up taking loads regardless of the delivery destination, making it harder for some drivers to get backhauls out of certain markets. 

The global pandemic and quarantine regulations caused a major shift in consumer buying habits. E-commerce became one of the preferred methods for shopping and browsing for products, as people searched online and from the comfort of their own homes to obtain the latest fashions, home furnishing, or essential goods like toilet paper. Remember when we couldn’t find toilet paper? But after sheltering in place, billions of disposable masks, and the recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announcement marking the end of the federal COVID-19 declaration, people are finally returning to the public sphere. 

In April 2023, we wrote about some of the common problems shippers faced heading into Q2 of this year. It highlighted how despite a 7% increase in container imports in March, shippers were still left with a significant volume of products in their warehouses due to slumping consumer spending amid rising U.S. economic inflation. With bloated inventories and continued uncertainty over the state of labor relations between the shipping lines and unionized U.S. West Coast dock workers, import volumes to the West Coast have seen a steep drop. East Coast volumes have also slumped. However, the enormous investment and strategic improvements pumped into East Coast ports to strengthen supply chains and modernize port terminals show the strategic nature that East Coast ports like Savannah, Ga., will play in the future. 

Shipping managers who work for U.S. companies and global manufacturers are probably familiar with Foreign-Trade Zones (FTZs). These facilities, which are under the supervision of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), are located near ports of entry and are the U.S. equivalent of free-trade zones. FTZs were created during The Great Depression, under the 1934 Foreign-Trade Zones Act, which was designed to help protect U.S. business interests who suffered immensely from the collapse in foreign trade. FTZs facilitate the controlled movement of foreign and domestic commodities in and out of the United States. And since the 1930s, U.S. companies who import or export goods have received protections from FTZs in the form of trade exemptions like reduced taxes, fees, and custom duties. 

Shipping managers know how important reliable transloading and warehouse services are to maintaining the integrity of their supply chains. These facilities are critical infrastructures that shippers and transportation service providers use every day to help connect global manufacturers to their customers. We already wrote about the different kinds of 3PL warehouse and distribution services available for shippers. We described some of the value-added services that shippers should look for when partnering with a transportation provider that owns its facilities.

The logistics industry is currently experiencing a critical shortage of workers in positions within warehouses and distribution centers. Across North America, openings for material handlers and forklift operators remain vacant. The lack of personnel at these facilities delays loading and unloading times, contributes to accessorial fees like detention and demurrage, and causes supply chain disruptions that, ultimately, create tensions among carrier partners and customers. A recent report released by the Robotics Business Review shows that across the logistics industry, the vast majority of warehouses are short more than 10-25% of personnel and are finding it difficult to fill and retain workers in these positions. Economic inflation does not help either, and is probably a major factor why these jobs remain unfilled as workers everywhere seek higher-paying jobs that are less physically demanding.