<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">The United Transportation Union's strike against Canadian National Railway, involving 2,800 conducto</div>

The United Transportation Union's strike against Canadian National Railway, involving 2,800 conducto

<div>The United Transportation Union's strike against Canadian National Railway, involving 2,800 conductors and yard-service employees in Canada, has pushed down cargo volumes through the Port of Vancouver, British Columbia, by an estimated 50 percent, the port said late Tuesday.In the first 10 days of the strike, "an estimated $730 million in cargo has been held up and the situation is deteriorating," the port added.It reported significant losses in business due to the strike. "Demand for port services is at an all-time high, meaning lost productive days represent business that can't be recovered. Our customers' lost sales can't be made up,...

The United Transportation Union's strike against Canadian National Railway, involving 2,800 conductors and yard-service employees in Canada, has pushed down cargo volumes through the Port of Vancouver, British Columbia, by an estimated 50 percent, the port said late Tuesday. In the first 10 days of the strike, "an estimated $730 million in cargo has been held up and the situation is deteriorating," the port added. It reported significant losses in business due to the strike. "Demand for port services is at an all-time high, meaning lost productive days represent business that can't be recovered. Our customers' lost sales can't be made up, as the transportation network is fully booked for months ahead," said Gordon Houston, president and chief executive of the Vancouver Port Authority. Compounding the strike is the severe winter weather conditions across Canada's transportation network, with port customers and terminals reporting significant reductions in service levels. "The timing of this dispute, in the midst of significant weather-related disruptions to the transportation chain, preys upon those who depend on the port for their livelihoods and makes the situation worse," Houston said. He emphasized that port operations are being seriously impacted by the work stoppage. "Ensuring the reliability of this gateway is of paramount concern to all port stakeholders. We are encouraged by Labor Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn's appointment of a mediator and his urging that the parties end the dispute within hours, not days." Houston said the port "supports the government in pursuing whatever course of action is required to bring this dispute to an immediate conclusion." But failing a quick conclusion to the dispute, the port said it will take steps to minimize the disruption to customers, he said. "Illegal picketing will not be tolerated, and the port will do everything possible to ensure that legal pickets do not impact those who are not party to the dispute." Blackburn late Tuesday threatened to order the striking employees back to work, saying the economy is suffering widespread damage from a slowdown in train service. That order could be introduced today, the 12th day of the walkout.

Rail News

CN Strike Hammers Port of Vancouver

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Forwarders moving cargo on monthly contracts have pegged average week-on-week gains at $200 to $300 per FEU for bookings from West India to Felixstowe/London Gateway or Rotterdam. </div>

Forwarders moving cargo on monthly contracts have pegged average week-on-week gains at $200 to $300 per FEU for bookings from West India to Felixstowe/London Gateway or Rotterdam.

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<div class="phx-topic">After seeing a sharp downward correction in early May with the end of Indian seasonal grape volumes, ocean rates on the India-Europe trade have ticked up in the last two weeks, according to new data obtained by the Journal of Commerce from local freight forwarders. Forwarder executives said that while westbound volumes remain somewhat flat, carriers have been able to push rates higher due mainly to issues linked to vessel capacity and equipment availability. The sources believe some mainliners have swapped larger vessels with smaller ships for Indian coverage in a strategic repositioning of capacity into the now-heated trans-Pacific trade. Forwarders moving cargo on monthly contracts have pegged average week-on-week gains at $200 to $300 per FEU for bookings from West India (Nhava Sheva/Mundra) to Felixstowe/London Gateway or Rotterdam. “Rates have been steady to slightly rising over the last two to three weeks,” said an executive at a Mumbai-based forwarding house. That uptick comes as carriers have lined up a new round of rate hikes for India-Europe loads beginning June 15, and July 1 in some cases. Expecting these attempts to work, at least partially, major carriers on the trade lane have also revised spot rates upward for late-June/early-July sailings, sources said. “Our ocean tariff rates from the Indian subcontinent to North Europe and the Mediterranean Sea will increase,” Hapag-Lloyd told customers, announcing a $1,000-per-box hike for West India. Sources have also reported sporadic difficulty securing enough empty boxes at hinterland locations in recent weeks, especially out of the southern India region. “It’s not an acute shortage situation, but empties are fewer, varying from carrier to carrier for the type of equipment under pressure,” a second forwarder told the Journal of Commerce. Additionally, CMA CGM’s premier “Epic” service on the India-Europe trade lane has declared two void calls for West India in June due to what it said were “operational constraints.” Contact Bency Mathew at <a href="mailto:bencyvmathew@gmail.com">bencyvmathew@gmail.com</a>. </div>

After seeing a sharp downward correction in early May with the end of Indian seasonal grape volumes, ocean rates on the India-Europe trade have ticked up in the last two weeks, according to new data obtained by the Journal of Commerce from local freight forwarders. Forwarder executives said that while westbound volumes remain somewhat flat, carriers have been able to push rates higher due mainly to issues linked to vessel capacity and equipment availability. The sources believe some mainliners have swapped larger vessels with smaller ships for Indian coverage in a strategic repositioning of capacity into the now-heated trans-Pacific trade. Forwarders moving cargo on monthly contracts have pegged average week-on-week gains at $200 to $300 per FEU for bookings from West India (Nhava Sheva/Mundra) to Felixstowe/London Gateway or Rotterdam. “Rates have been steady to slightly rising over the last two to three weeks,” said an executive at a Mumbai-based forwarding house. That uptick comes as carriers have lined up a new round of rate hikes for India-Europe loads beginning June 15, and July 1 in some cases. Expecting these attempts to work, at least partially, major carriers on the trade lane have also revised spot rates upward for late-June/early-July sailings, sources said. “Our ocean tariff rates from the Indian subcontinent to North Europe and the Mediterranean Sea will increase,” Hapag-Lloyd told customers, announcing a $1,000-per-box hike for West India. Sources have also reported sporadic difficulty securing enough empty boxes at hinterland locations in recent weeks, especially out of the southern India region. “It’s not an acute shortage situation, but empties are fewer, varying from carrier to carrier for the type of equipment under pressure,” a second forwarder told the Journal of Commerce. Additionally, CMA CGM’s premier “Epic” service on the India-Europe trade lane has declared two void calls for West India in June due to what it said were “operational constraints.” Contact Bency Mathew at bencyvmathew@gmail.com .

Maritime

Container Shipping News

Asia-Europe

India-Europe ocean rates rebound on space, equipment pressures

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Sea-Intelligence said elevated freight rates are drawing small carriers to the eastbound trade lane, but the additional capacity should dwindle by mid-August. </div>

Sea-Intelligence said elevated freight rates are drawing small carriers to the eastbound trade lane, but the additional capacity should dwindle by mid-August.

<div class="phx-topic">Niche container lines are ramping up weekly capacity in the trans-Pacific at a rate similar to the surge of 2021 and 2022, drawn by the lure of strong ocean freight rates. But that capacity is expected to quickly ebb as rates ease throughout the summer, according to consultancy Sea-Intelligence Maritime Analysis. Sea-Intelligence said Thursday it expects niche ocean carriers to provide 4.6% of the weekly capacity in the trans-Pacific by the end of June. That would top the 4.5% those carriers deployed at the start of September 2021. The draw for the niche carriers is the strength in spot freight rates, Sea-Intelligence said, although those rates have <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/asia-uswc-spot-rates-weakening-as-vessel-overcapacity-takes-hold-6022847">already started to soften amid the broader injection of fresh capacity</a>. The North Asia-to-US West Coast trade lane saw spot ocean freight rates at $5,633 per FEU as of June 11, down 7% on the week, according to Platts, a sister company of the Journal of Commerce within S&amp;P Global. Spot freight rates had risen threefold since bottoming out at $1,600 in late March. “During the height of the pandemic, the [Asia-North America West Coast (NAWC)] trade lane saw a slew of new entrants — carriers which had no previous footprint on Asia-NAWC and were only there to seize an opportunity that had presented itself in the form of unnaturally high freight rates,” Sea-Intelligence Chief Executive Alan Murphy said. Murphy added that capacity “is back at the level” seen during the height of the pandemic. “This means that the current market conditions are such that these new entrants feel that there is an opportunity reminiscent of the global pandemic,” he said. <div class="wrapper-narrow"><dynamic-object type="jocchartid" resource-id="e8c13a3e-9f5a-412f-8741-adbf5e1a7779"></dynamic-object></div>Some niche carriers have remained in the trans-Pacific since 2022, seeking to offer regularly scheduled liner service instead of ad hoc calls. SeaLead Shipping and T.S. Lines launched <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/two-niche-ocean-carriers-team-up-in-trans-pacific-as-rates-remain-high-5703158">a jointly-operated trans-Pacific service</a> into the Port of Long Beach almost one year ago when freight rates hovered near $6,000 per FEU. Hede Shipping has also regularly offered <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/chinese-niche-carrier-to-launch-shanghai-los-angeles-expedited-service-next-week-5222119">a premium express service</a> to Los Angeles since March 2024. However, Sea-Intelligence sees the current surge in niche carrier capacity ending faster than it did during 2021–22. Sea-Intelligence data shows that weekly niche carriers will account for 3.8% of capacity by the end of July, with that amount dropping to 2.6% by mid-August. The drawdown coincides with expectations that <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/pause-in-tariff-hikes-drives-big-gains-in-trans-pacific-spot-rates-6017111">imports from Asia will peak around late summer</a> as the Trump administration’s 90-day reprieve on Chinese tariffs expires. “If history is anything to go by, we will see these carriers remove capacity as quickly as it was introduced once the market conditions start to normalize,” Murphy said. Contact Michael Angell at <a href="mailto:michael.angell@spglobal.com">michael.angell@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

Niche container lines are ramping up weekly capacity in the trans-Pacific at a rate similar to the surge of 2021 and 2022, drawn by the lure of strong ocean freight rates. But that capacity is expected to quickly ebb as rates ease throughout the summer, according to consultancy Sea-Intelligence Maritime Analysis. Sea-Intelligence said Thursday it expects niche ocean carriers to provide 4.6% of the weekly capacity in the trans-Pacific by the end of June. That would top the 4.5% those carriers deployed at the start of September 2021. The draw for the niche carriers is the strength in spot freight rates, Sea-Intelligence said, although those rates have already started to soften amid the broader injection of fresh capacity . The North Asia-to-US West Coast trade lane saw spot ocean freight rates at $5,633 per FEU as of June 11, down 7% on the week, according to Platts, a sister company of the Journal of Commerce within S&P Global. Spot freight rates had risen threefold since bottoming out at $1,600 in late March. “During the height of the pandemic, the [Asia-North America West Coast (NAWC)] trade lane saw a slew of new entrants — carriers which had no previous footprint on Asia-NAWC and were only there to seize an opportunity that had presented itself in the form of unnaturally high freight rates,” Sea-Intelligence Chief Executive Alan Murphy said. Murphy added that capacity “is back at the level” seen during the height of the pandemic. “This means that the current market conditions are such that these new entrants feel that there is an opportunity reminiscent of the global pandemic,” he said. Some niche carriers have remained in the trans-Pacific since 2022, seeking to offer regularly scheduled liner service instead of ad hoc calls. SeaLead Shipping and T.S. Lines launched a jointly-operated trans-Pacific service into the Port of Long Beach almost one year ago when freight rates hovered near $6,000 per FEU. Hede Shipping has also regularly offered a premium express service to Los Angeles since March 2024. However, Sea-Intelligence sees the current surge in niche carrier capacity ending faster than it did during 2021–22. Sea-Intelligence data shows that weekly niche carriers will account for 3.8% of capacity by the end of July, with that amount dropping to 2.6% by mid-August. The drawdown coincides with expectations that imports from Asia will peak around late summer as the Trump administration’s 90-day reprieve on Chinese tariffs expires. “If history is anything to go by, we will see these carriers remove capacity as quickly as it was introduced once the market conditions start to normalize,” Murphy said. Contact Michael Angell at michael.angell@spglobal.com .

Trans-Pacific

June expected to be peak for niche carriers in the trans-Pacific: analyst

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Instead of rising in May as would typically be expected, US freight volumes dropped, and that is having an impact on pricing, freight indicators reveal. </div>

Instead of rising in May as would typically be expected, US freight volumes dropped, and that is having an impact on pricing, freight indicators reveal.

<div class="phx-topic">Trucking executives may say they are <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/schneider-jb-hunt-see-us-truck-capacity-shrinking-in-h2-6023884">increasingly, if still cautiously, optimistic</a> about a recovery in their market, but the latest data on US freight demand isn’t encouraging. The monthly Cass Freight Index and the US producer price index report released Thursday show freight demand and pricing either declining or stalled on a month-to-month basis. Truck and intermodal rail shipments fell 0.4% from April to May and dropped 4% year over year, according to the shipment component of the Cass Freight Index. The 4% decline followed a 3.6% year-over-year decrease in shipments in April. The May shipment decline bucks normal seasonal trends, Cass said. Consumer spending in the first quarter, before the Trump administration introduced higher US tariffs, is still propping up freight demand, but that support is beginning to weaken. “Pre-tariff inventory stocking has started to turn to destocking, and those stocks will start to thin in the coming months,” Cass Information Systems said in its May report. A further drop in domestic freight volume is likely this month. Normal seasonality would have shipments decline by 2% year over year in June, according to Cass. On a year-over-year basis, the Cass Freight Shipments Index has been falling since February 2023. Month to month, the index rose 0.4% in April before dropping in May. Truckload rates are still rising year over year, but they have been decreasing on a consecutive monthly basis, according to the Cass Truckload Linehaul Index. In May, the truckload pricing index was up 0.6% from a year ago but down 0.8% from April. The Truckload Linehaul index, which includes spot and contract rates, dropped 1.5% from February through May. The truckload index trendline is similar, although not identical, to other indicators. The long-distance US truckload producer price index (PPI) was flat in May from April at a reading of 177.3 and up 3% from a year earlier. The PPI, released by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics Thursday, measures the total cost of a truckload shipment paid by shippers and is weighted toward contract rates. The weighted Journal of Commerce Shipper-Paid Truckload Rate rose 4 cents per mile on average in May to $2.18 per mile, although that was down from $2.21 a year earlier. The measure of all-inclusive shipper-paid dry-van pricing is down 8% from January. The US long-distance less-than-truckload (LTL) PPI shows more stability but also the impact of lower LTL volumes. The LTL PPI dropped about 1 percentage point to 258.1 in May after staying flat at about 259 for three months. However, those three months represented the highest reading for the LTL PPI in its history, with pricing up about 5% year over year. Contact William B. Cassidy at <a href="mailto:bill.cassidy@spglobal.com">bill.cassidy@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

Trucking executives may say they are increasingly, if still cautiously, optimistic about a recovery in their market, but the latest data on US freight demand isn’t encouraging. The monthly Cass Freight Index and the US producer price index report released Thursday show freight demand and pricing either declining or stalled on a month-to-month basis. Truck and intermodal rail shipments fell 0.4% from April to May and dropped 4% year over year, according to the shipment component of the Cass Freight Index. The 4% decline followed a 3.6% year-over-year decrease in shipments in April. The May shipment decline bucks normal seasonal trends, Cass said. Consumer spending in the first quarter, before the Trump administration introduced higher US tariffs, is still propping up freight demand, but that support is beginning to weaken. “Pre-tariff inventory stocking has started to turn to destocking, and those stocks will start to thin in the coming months,” Cass Information Systems said in its May report. A further drop in domestic freight volume is likely this month. Normal seasonality would have shipments decline by 2% year over year in June, according to Cass. On a year-over-year basis, the Cass Freight Shipments Index has been falling since February 2023. Month to month, the index rose 0.4% in April before dropping in May. Truckload rates are still rising year over year, but they have been decreasing on a consecutive monthly basis, according to the Cass Truckload Linehaul Index. In May, the truckload pricing index was up 0.6% from a year ago but down 0.8% from April. The Truckload Linehaul index, which includes spot and contract rates, dropped 1.5% from February through May. The truckload index trendline is similar, although not identical, to other indicators. The long-distance US truckload producer price index (PPI) was flat in May from April at a reading of 177.3 and up 3% from a year earlier. The PPI, released by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics Thursday, measures the total cost of a truckload shipment paid by shippers and is weighted toward contract rates. The weighted Journal of Commerce Shipper-Paid Truckload Rate rose 4 cents per mile on average in May to $2.18 per mile, although that was down from $2.21 a year earlier. The measure of all-inclusive shipper-paid dry-van pricing is down 8% from January. The US long-distance less-than-truckload (LTL) PPI shows more stability but also the impact of lower LTL volumes. The LTL PPI dropped about 1 percentage point to 258.1 in May after staying flat at about 259 for three months. However, those three months represented the highest reading for the LTL PPI in its history, with pricing up about 5% year over year. Contact William B. Cassidy at bill.cassidy@spglobal.com .

Surface

Truckload

Trucking News

US trucking rate momentum stalls amid volume decline: Cass, PPIs

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Rising Asian vehicle exports have surpassed falling volumes from the west, forcing trade reshuffling and a rise in ballast trips.</div>

Rising Asian vehicle exports have surpassed falling volumes from the west, forcing trade reshuffling and a rise in ballast trips.

<div class="phx-topic">Soaring vehicle exports from Asia, especially China, are creating a widening trade imbalance between west and eastbound shipments that major car carrier operators are finding challenging to manage, senior shipping executives say. This imbalance is likely to worsen in part due to US tariff polices as Asian vehicle makers, especially those in China and South Korea, continue to gain market share at the expense of US and European manufacturers, according to Wallenius Wilhelmsen CEO Lasse Kristoffersen. Highlighting the imbalance, Kristoffersen said 13.4 million light vehicles were exported from China, South Korea and Japan last year compared with 2.7 million exported from the US, Europe and the UK, quoting motor industry statistics. While vehicle exports from Asia have increased 66% since 2019, they dropped 23% in the same period from the US, Europe and the UK, he added. Consequently, the imbalance in light vehicle shipments between east and west has surged 132% since 2019, from 4.6 million to 10.7 million last year, Kristoffersen said. <h3>Asian exports on the rise </h3>Erik Lewenhaupt, managing director of car carrier operator Stena Glovis, said vehicle exports from Europe and the US have been relatively flat at about 2.8 million units per year since 2020. The recovery in vehicle shipments over the last few years is due to the rise in exports from Asia, he told the Journal of Commerce. Kristoffersen said the structural shift in growing exports from Asia will be “escalated by US tariff policies.” Vehicle makers in Asia are expected to seek alternative export markets amid a possible drop in US sales after the Trump administration imposed 25% tariffs on all vehicle and component imports except those from China, which face tariffs of 30%. Reciprocal tariffs of 10% imposed by China make vehicle imports from the US more expensive. “When we talk to executives from Volvo, Mercedes or others they don’t know where they will produce cars, they don’t know where they will send them, and they don’t know how many they’ll send,” Kristoffersen said during a first-quarter results briefing in May. “They need help to have a flexible, fully integrated supply chain.” Kristoffersen said Wilhelmsen is less affected than some of its competitors. “We have a better book of business going back [to Asia] than others,” he said. <h3>Imbalanced utilization prompts trade rethink </h3>Despite this, Wilhelmsen and other carriers are facing higher trade inefficiency, lower fleet utilization and a growing need for ballast voyages where ships return to Asia empty or partially loaded. For Wilhelmsen, this resulted in a drop in cargo volumes in the first quarter to 12.7 million cubic meters, the lowest for the company since the third quarter of 2020, when it carried 11.9 million cubic meters. Other carriers, including Japan’s “K” Line and Norway’s Höegh Autoliners, agreed that vehicle exports from Asia are outpacing those from Europe and the US, leading them to adapt various strategies in response to those challenges. “For our return voyages to Japan, we manage the impact of this imbalance by carrying vehicles exported from Europe and the US and implementing efficient vessel allocation strategies,” a “K” Line spokesperson told the Journal of Commerce. “K” Line said it also triangulates vehicle, high-and-heavy and breakbulk cargoes between different markets to avoid costly ballast voyages with ships sailing empty or partially loaded direct to Japan from the US or Europe. Höegh Autoliners said it has diversified its network, loading vehicles and other cargo in 13 main areas and discharging cargo in 17 key markets last year. While Japan, China and South Korea accounted for 35% of loaded cargo volumes last year, followed by Europe with 26%, ports in the Caribbean, Central America, Europe, the Gulf region and Oceania were the main discharge areas. Höegh said its agile network allowed rapid adjustments to shifting volume and market conditions. <h3>Making shifts in Europe </h3>While not addressing the trade imbalance directly, carriers said they have adapted to the changing market conditions, especially in Europe. Japan’s NYK Line said it was awarded a 27-year concession by the Spanish port of Barcelona on May 7 to develop a finished vehicle logistics terminal with a capacity to handle 180,000 vehicles a year starting from 2027. “NYK aims to position the port of Barcelona as an international hub for finished-vehicle logistics, catering for current and future demands in the western Mediterranean and North African regions,” the carrier said in a statement announcing the deal. The new facility will augment at least four similar finished vehicle terminals NYK operates at Zeebrugge and Antwerp in Belgium, Port Said in Egypt and Yarimca, Turkey. Cosco Shipping Car Carriers is also expanding in Europe, signing several agreements to develop shipping links and import facilities as Chinese vehicle manufacturers move to transport vehicles on China-controlled tonnage. The carrier signed a deal with Germany’s BLG Logistics to develop BLG AutoTerminal Bremerhaven as the main port of entry for Cosco’s vehicle shipments to Germany and a central hub for imports to Scandinavia, the Baltic states and central and eastern Europe. Cosco also teamed up with Piraeus, Greece-headquartered roll-on/roll-off (ro/ro) ship operator Neptune Lines to cooperate on vehicle shipments on Mediterranean, Black Sea and North Africa routes. That comes as Chinese vehicle manufacturers are deploying increasingly bigger vessels on export trades in competition with traditional operators such as Wilhelmsen and Höegh. Anji Logistics, part of Shanghai-based vehicle maker SAIC Motors, deployed the world’s biggest car carrier, the 9,500-vehicle capacity Anji Ansheng, on its maiden voyage to Europe in May. Electric vehicle maker BYD is also developing is fleet, launching the 9,200-car equivalent unit (CEU) BYD Shenzhen, which left on its maiden voyage to Brazil in May. Geely Jisu Logistics, part of Geely Auto that owns Volvo, also deployed its first car carrier in May when the 7,000-CEU Jisu Fortune sailed to Europe. Contact Keith Wallis at <a href="mailto:keithwallis@hotmail.com">keithwallis@hotmail.com</a>.</div>

Soaring vehicle exports from Asia, especially China, are creating a widening trade imbalance between west and eastbound shipments that major car carrier operators are finding challenging to manage, senior shipping executives say. This imbalance is likely to worsen in part due to US tariff polices as Asian vehicle makers, especially those in China and South Korea, continue to gain market share at the expense of US and European manufacturers, according to Wallenius Wilhelmsen CEO Lasse Kristoffersen. Highlighting the imbalance, Kristoffersen said 13.4 million light vehicles were exported from China, South Korea and Japan last year compared with 2.7 million exported from the US, Europe and the UK, quoting motor industry statistics. While vehicle exports from Asia have increased 66% since 2019, they dropped 23% in the same period from the US, Europe and the UK, he added. Consequently, the imbalance in light vehicle shipments between east and west has surged 132% since 2019, from 4.6 million to 10.7 million last year, Kristoffersen said. Asian exports on the rise Erik Lewenhaupt, managing director of car carrier operator Stena Glovis, said vehicle exports from Europe and the US have been relatively flat at about 2.8 million units per year since 2020. The recovery in vehicle shipments over the last few years is due to the rise in exports from Asia, he told the Journal of Commerce. Kristoffersen said the structural shift in growing exports from Asia will be “escalated by US tariff policies.” Vehicle makers in Asia are expected to seek alternative export markets amid a possible drop in US sales after the Trump administration imposed 25% tariffs on all vehicle and component imports except those from China, which face tariffs of 30%. Reciprocal tariffs of 10% imposed by China make vehicle imports from the US more expensive. “When we talk to executives from Volvo, Mercedes or others they don’t know where they will produce cars, they don’t know where they will send them, and they don’t know how many they’ll send,” Kristoffersen said during a first-quarter results briefing in May. “They need help to have a flexible, fully integrated supply chain.” Kristoffersen said Wilhelmsen is less affected than some of its competitors. “We have a better book of business going back [to Asia] than others,” he said. Imbalanced utilization prompts trade rethink Despite this, Wilhelmsen and other carriers are facing higher trade inefficiency, lower fleet utilization and a growing need for ballast voyages where ships return to Asia empty or partially loaded. For Wilhelmsen, this resulted in a drop in cargo volumes in the first quarter to 12.7 million cubic meters, the lowest for the company since the third quarter of 2020, when it carried 11.9 million cubic meters. Other carriers, including Japan’s “K” Line and Norway’s Höegh Autoliners, agreed that vehicle exports from Asia are outpacing those from Europe and the US, leading them to adapt various strategies in response to those challenges. “For our return voyages to Japan, we manage the impact of this imbalance by carrying vehicles exported from Europe and the US and implementing efficient vessel allocation strategies,” a “K” Line spokesperson told the Journal of Commerce. “K” Line said it also triangulates vehicle, high-and-heavy and breakbulk cargoes between different markets to avoid costly ballast voyages with ships sailing empty or partially loaded direct to Japan from the US or Europe. Höegh Autoliners said it has diversified its network, loading vehicles and other cargo in 13 main areas and discharging cargo in 17 key markets last year. While Japan, China and South Korea accounted for 35% of loaded cargo volumes last year, followed by Europe with 26%, ports in the Caribbean, Central America, Europe, the Gulf region and Oceania were the main discharge areas. Höegh said its agile network allowed rapid adjustments to shifting volume and market conditions. Making shifts in Europe While not addressing the trade imbalance directly, carriers said they have adapted to the changing market conditions, especially in Europe. Japan’s NYK Line said it was awarded a 27-year concession by the Spanish port of Barcelona on May 7 to develop a finished vehicle logistics terminal with a capacity to handle 180,000 vehicles a year starting from 2027. “NYK aims to position the port of Barcelona as an international hub for finished-vehicle logistics, catering for current and future demands in the western Mediterranean and North African regions,” the carrier said in a statement announcing the deal. The new facility will augment at least four similar finished vehicle terminals NYK operates at Zeebrugge and Antwerp in Belgium, Port Said in Egypt and Yarimca, Turkey. Cosco Shipping Car Carriers is also expanding in Europe, signing several agreements to develop shipping links and import facilities as Chinese vehicle manufacturers move to transport vehicles on China-controlled tonnage. The carrier signed a deal with Germany’s BLG Logistics to develop BLG AutoTerminal Bremerhaven as the main port of entry for Cosco’s vehicle shipments to Germany and a central hub for imports to Scandinavia, the Baltic states and central and eastern Europe. Cosco also teamed up with Piraeus, Greece-headquartered roll-on/roll-off (ro/ro) ship operator Neptune Lines to cooperate on vehicle shipments on Mediterranean, Black Sea and North Africa routes. That comes as Chinese vehicle manufacturers are deploying increasingly bigger vessels on export trades in competition with traditional operators such as Wilhelmsen and Höegh. Anji Logistics, part of Shanghai-based vehicle maker SAIC Motors, deployed the world’s biggest car carrier, the 9,500-vehicle capacity Anji Ansheng, on its maiden voyage to Europe in May. Electric vehicle maker BYD is also developing is fleet, launching the 9,200-car equivalent unit (CEU) BYD Shenzhen, which left on its maiden voyage to Brazil in May. Geely Jisu Logistics, part of Geely Auto that owns Volvo, also deployed its first car carrier in May when the 7,000-CEU Jisu Fortune sailed to Europe. Contact Keith Wallis at keithwallis@hotmail.com .

Ro/ro cargo

Car carriers shift gears to cope with east-west trade imbalances

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Truckload carriers told the Wells Fargo industrial conference their market is tightening slowly, but enforcement of cabotage and language rules may speed the process. </div>

Truckload carriers told the Wells Fargo industrial conference their market is tightening slowly, but enforcement of cabotage and language rules may speed the process.

<div class="phx-topic">Trucking executives are increasingly confident the freight market is approaching “equilibrium,” not due to higher demand but because they believe capacity is about to be cut faster by multiple factors, including tougher enforcement of US regulations. They’re looking for a lift — any lift — further off the bottom of a trucking downturn that has lasted three years, speakers told the 2025 Wells Fargo Industrials &amp; Materials Conference in Chicago this week. “I think that there’s fragileness in supply chains and the supply side and any little lift will start to be felt,” said Bradley W. Hicks, president of dedicated contract services at J.B. Hunt Transport Service, according to a transcript. “I think we’ll get back to net growth in the second half,” said Nicholas Hobbs, J.B. Hunt’s COO and president of highway and final-mile services. “I can’t guarantee it’s by the end of Q3 or if it’s in Q4, there’s timing that comes in,” Hobbs said. In terms of dedicated contracts, “we can sell a deal even today, and we might not start that location until November or December,” he said. Despite a soft economy, manufacturing contraction and the impact of US tariffs on China and Mexico, the truckload market is not that bad, if not yet “completely normal,” said Mark Rourke, CEO and president of Schneider National, according to a transcript. “The worst-case scenarios that were being bandied about haven’t played out,” he said. “We can certainly see a downturn in the West Coast volumes that we would normally see at this juncture,” Rourke said. “But there’s also a lot of bonded warehouse activity still starting to come inland.” Some of the slack in West Coast truckload volume has been taken up by volumes in the Midwest and Southwest and cross-border volumes to and from Mexico, he said, adding that, “domestic demand has been fairly steady, if unspectacular.” Although Rourke, Hicks and Hobbs believe truck capacity is tightening, shippers have told the Journal of Commerce they haven’t seen any tightness yet, noting they have no trouble finding a truck. <h3>ELP, cabotage enforcement </h3>But the trucking executives see new factors emerging beyond low rates and higher insurance premiums that could remove more capacity. In particular, they cite federal enforcement of the English-language requirement for interstate drivers and a potential crackdown on cabotage by foreign drivers operating in the US under B-1 visas. “It is a matter of how consistent and broad-based the enforcement is,” Rourke said. Under new guidelines from the US Department of Transportation (DOT) that take effect June 25, an inability to communicate in English with officials or read road signs will automatically lead to drivers being placed out of service. An inability to communicate through English has been a violation but not an out-of-service violation since 2016. In 2024, state police and federal inspectors handed out 9,510 English Language Proficiency (ELP) violations out of 1.06 million total driver violations. Six drivers were placed out of service in 2024 for their inability to read or speak English sufficiently, according to Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) data. The impact of the strict enforcement of the ELP rule has been “a little bit dismissed too much and particularly in certain geographies where that could have more concentration and [be more of an] issue than others,” Rourke said. The second issue is cabotage, in which foreign drivers illegally haul domestic loads in the US. “There’s a lot of noise really in the industry starting to spark about cabotage,” said Hobbs. “I think that’s a really big play on where cheap rates are coming from.” Documented data supporting that belief is hard to find, however. Even so, “just a mere threatening of enforcement drives change,” said Rourke. Contact William B. Cassidy at <a href="mailto:bill.cassidy@spglobal.com">bill.cassidy@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

Trucking executives are increasingly confident the freight market is approaching “equilibrium,” not due to higher demand but because they believe capacity is about to be cut faster by multiple factors, including tougher enforcement of US regulations. They’re looking for a lift — any lift — further off the bottom of a trucking downturn that has lasted three years, speakers told the 2025 Wells Fargo Industrials & Materials Conference in Chicago this week. “I think that there’s fragileness in supply chains and the supply side and any little lift will start to be felt,” said Bradley W. Hicks, president of dedicated contract services at J.B. Hunt Transport Service, according to a transcript. “I think we’ll get back to net growth in the second half,” said Nicholas Hobbs, J.B. Hunt’s COO and president of highway and final-mile services. “I can’t guarantee it’s by the end of Q3 or if it’s in Q4, there’s timing that comes in,” Hobbs said. In terms of dedicated contracts, “we can sell a deal even today, and we might not start that location until November or December,” he said. Despite a soft economy, manufacturing contraction and the impact of US tariffs on China and Mexico, the truckload market is not that bad, if not yet “completely normal,” said Mark Rourke, CEO and president of Schneider National, according to a transcript. “The worst-case scenarios that were being bandied about haven’t played out,” he said. “We can certainly see a downturn in the West Coast volumes that we would normally see at this juncture,” Rourke said. “But there’s also a lot of bonded warehouse activity still starting to come inland.” Some of the slack in West Coast truckload volume has been taken up by volumes in the Midwest and Southwest and cross-border volumes to and from Mexico, he said, adding that, “domestic demand has been fairly steady, if unspectacular.” Although Rourke, Hicks and Hobbs believe truck capacity is tightening, shippers have told the Journal of Commerce they haven’t seen any tightness yet, noting they have no trouble finding a truck. ELP, cabotage enforcement But the trucking executives see new factors emerging beyond low rates and higher insurance premiums that could remove more capacity. In particular, they cite federal enforcement of the English-language requirement for interstate drivers and a potential crackdown on cabotage by foreign drivers operating in the US under B-1 visas. “It is a matter of how consistent and broad-based the enforcement is,” Rourke said. Under new guidelines from the US Department of Transportation (DOT) that take effect June 25, an inability to communicate in English with officials or read road signs will automatically lead to drivers being placed out of service. An inability to communicate through English has been a violation but not an out-of-service violation since 2016. In 2024, state police and federal inspectors handed out 9,510 English Language Proficiency (ELP) violations out of 1.06 million total driver violations. Six drivers were placed out of service in 2024 for their inability to read or speak English sufficiently, according to Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) data. The impact of the strict enforcement of the ELP rule has been “a little bit dismissed too much and particularly in certain geographies where that could have more concentration and [be more of an] issue than others,” Rourke said. The second issue is cabotage, in which foreign drivers illegally haul domestic loads in the US. “There’s a lot of noise really in the industry starting to spark about cabotage,” said Hobbs. “I think that’s a really big play on where cheap rates are coming from.” Documented data supporting that belief is hard to find, however. Even so, “just a mere threatening of enforcement drives change,” said Rourke. Contact William B. Cassidy at bill.cassidy@spglobal.com .

Schneider, J.B. Hunt see US truck capacity shrinking in H2

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The world of LTL is slow to embrace change. Business anachronisms permeate current supply chain processes. These vestiges of the way things used to work define the LTL freight transportation procurement process of many modern shippers.David Knuth, logistics specialist at IEWC, a global supplier of cable and wire based in Wisconsin, is happy to have modernized the RFP process, automating the entire LTL bidding procedure with Bid$ense, SMC³’s automated truckload and LTL freight transportation sourcing solution. But when prompted, he can still recall what once was.In his previous job, a large part of his duties were consumed by creating an intermodal bid package for carriers. In a spreadsheet, Knuth detailed the company’s volumes lane by lane, taking care to delete any errant keystrokes or misleading data. He would then email out the information to each carrier, taking time to respond to detailed technical questions about the spreadsheet data. Finally, he had to compile all the results, create an algorithm that would compare the carriers on each lane, and award the business.“It was a huge undertaking. It took about four months to do,” Knuth said of the old process. “It was almost a full-time job for that part of the year, every year.”In his new job at IEWC, he sat down with Bid$ense on day one and was amazed at the capabilities. Knuth had never before used a bid tool. SMC³’s latest versions of Bid$ense automate the process even further, taking truckload and LTL RFPs entirely online. The tool draws on RFP best-practices protocols to streamline the bidding communication process, enabling bidding carriers to respond accurately and promptly to shipper requests. The solution also does all the distribution work automatically, electronically submitting shipper bid data to carriers based on their actual service capabilities and performance records. Carriers are alerted with timely prompts for RFP deliverables, so shippers aren’t waiting by the phone for responses.Another benefit of automating the process is the data-cleansing assistance. When Knuth sent spreadsheets to carriers, data errors might cloud the bidding process; he might have to resend data or simply accept a price that did not truly reflect the costs of doing business. Data cleansing is incredibly beneficial, he said.The spreadsheet technique also made bidding analysis an onerous task. Since Bid$ense automates and streamlines the entire RFP process, intensive examination is now simple. SMC³ knows that each bid has more than one best outcome. With uniform responses from each carrier, shippers can quickly rank results and create an unlimited quantity of what-if scenarios to make the optimal procurement decision.Jesse Burnett of Central Garden &amp; Pet experiences many of the same benefits. Founded in 1980, Central Garden &amp; Pet has spent the last three decades growing from a small garden supply company to a provider of a range of products from dog chews and bird seed to soil supplements and natural insecticides. For much of its life, the company shipped these disparate goods via LTL and truckload carriers to retailers throughout the country, relying on each business unit to negotiate directly with their freight transportation providers. This arrangement worked fairly well for a small company, but as Central Garden &amp; Pet expanded, leadership decided to consolidate decision making.Burnett helped centralize the transportation decision making in 2015 with SMC³’s Bid$ense. Before Bid$ense, every business unit operated independently as far as negotiating with carriers.“There were a lot of different things just floating around,” he said. “We didn’t have master agreements in place; no national pricing at all. The pricing from carriers was just all over the place, depending on where you were.”The transformations he saw with Bid$ense were immediate. Burnett has been using the tool about every other year since its implementation at the company. Central Garden and Pet’s $19.6 million 2019 LTL bid saved the company just more than 9 percent when compared to its historical average. For Burnett, though, bid automation extends far beyond savings.“We knew that we weren’t getting the best pricing offer from our carriers just because nothing was centralized,” he continued. “We knew that if we combined everything from all these business units and paired it with one corporate offering, then it would drive some cost benefit with it.”When the company initially decided to centralize bid procurement, executives researched a number of different methodologies and technologies. In the end, though, Burnett found that Bid$ense was both widespread and well known, and that his carrier partners already knew how to use the application. Burnett also highlighted the data-cleansing process as a major benefit, saying the rigorous process ensures that carriers always return the best price.“It definitely has helped drive savings,” he said. “Any time you go out there and you drive that competitiveness with the carriers and they know they’re in a bid environment, it seems to sharpen their pencils.”Transportation procurement is an integral part of the modern supply chain. With Bid$ense, shippers can develop a strategic implementation plan that saves them time and money, but also helps them create strong relationships with their carrier partners. These carriers appreciate the solution’s data-cleansing process; when carriers receive a complete shipment history and future volume forecast, they don’t have to guess on pricing. Carriers that receive more data from shippers get a complete picture of that shipper’s freight, allowing them to accurately plan instead of simply preparing for the worst-case scenario. Clean data presented through an automated system can lead to both bigger shipment savings and a lasting partnership between carrier and customer.Whether customers are looking to streamline over-the-road transportation bidding by automating the RFP process or create an entirely new, centralized sourcing process, Bid$ense has the analytical horsepower to get the job done.SMC³ 2020 Customer Case Study

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Shippers save money, time with automated transportation bidding tools

If there’s one immutable truth in the world of logistics, it’s this: LTL is an inherently complex form of transportation. Tariffs, rates, DIM weights, transit times — it’s enough to confuse even seasoned logistics professionals. The solution to this knowledge gap has historically been on-the-job training or university supply chain education, but for a variety of reasons there is now a pressing need for third-party, remote LTL training that prepares logistics workers for transportation success. Global Scope Can Overlook Local Intricacies In the past, professionals looking to move into a supply chain career learned about the basics of supply chain from universities. However, many of these college supply chain programs are now global in scope, focusing on worldwide supply chain management instead of the intricacies of specialized domestic transportation. And even these programs, which used to be widespread, are becoming less common. LTL is not an industry of broad-brush strokes; supply chain professionals really need a pointillistic understanding of the logistics of LTL in order to excel in the industry. Accelerating Need for Dedicated LTL Education This lack of specified training put the onus on employers to prepare new hires with the LTL knowledge needed to do their jobs. Dedicated LTL study is a necessity, not a luxury. At the same time, changes in LTL and the broader supply chain world are accelerating. The reliance on e-commerce has ballooned since the start of the pandemic, and last-mile LTL shipments and related e-commerce strains on the supply chain won’t diminish once social distancing abates. That genie isn’t going back into the bottle. So supply chain employers need logistics workers that are fully versed in all aspects of the industry, ready to solve unique shipping and delivery problems based on their extensive supply chain knowledge But why care about LTL? It’s been reported that some shippers in today’s world are no longer concerned with what mode is used to ship their goods. A Multimodal Approach Ensures On-Time Delivery This mode agnosticism means supply chain stakeholders have to be well versed in all modes of transportation. As unforeseen weather events and other disruptions, such as protests, become more common, savvy logistics employees will need to be armed with familiarity of all modes, not just the most popular, to ensure that freight is delivered on time, without damage, and in the most financially expedient way possible. Offerings like SMC³’s LTL online education courses cover a wide range of topics from LTL basics and operations to more advanced concepts like pricing analytics and transportation law. The company also has plans to continually refresh content, adding new expert presenters and taking the feedback of students to make the courses even better as time goes on. Learn more about&nbsp;<a href="https://logisticstrainingcenter.com/smc3-courses/" rel="noreferrer" class="joc_admin__link">SMC³’s LTL Online Education program</a>&nbsp;and view the 2021 hybrid schedule, featuring live industry experts,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.smc3.com/onlinelearning2021/" rel="noreferrer" class="joc_admin__link">here.</a>

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