<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">RLC Corp., parent of Rollins Leasing Corp. and Matlack Inc., reported a first quarter loss of $307,0</div>

RLC Corp., parent of Rollins Leasing Corp. and Matlack Inc., reported a first quarter loss of $307,0

<div>RLC Corp., parent of Rollins Leasing Corp. and Matlack Inc., reported a first quarter loss of $307,000 compared with earnings of $2.7 million, or 15 cents a share, a year earlier.Revenue for the fiscal first quarter ended Dec. 31 rose to $107.1 millionfrom $97.5 million.Matlack Inc. is the nation's largest bulk commodities tank truck carrier. Rollins is a major full-service truck and tractor leasing company.RLC attributed its first quarter loss to an increase in taxes that included a $2.6 million write-off, or 14 cents a share, related to the canceled investment tax credit.The company said it would have reported net...

RLC Corp., parent of Rollins Leasing Corp. and Matlack Inc., reported a first quarter loss of $307,000 compared with earnings of $2.7 million, or 15 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue for the fiscal first quarter ended Dec. 31 rose to $107.1 million from $97.5 million.Matlack Inc. is the nation's largest bulk commodities tank truck carrier. Rollins is a major full-service truck and tractor leasing company. RLC attributed its first quarter loss to an increase in taxes that included a $2.6 million write-off, or 14 cents a share, related to the canceled investment tax credit. The company said it would have reported net earnings of $2.3 million, or 12 cents a share, had it not been required to write off the canceled credits during the quarter. RLC said the new tax reform law will increase its fiscal 1987 tax rate to about 47 percent, up from 30 percent a year earlier. Delayed implementation dates will prevent the new 34 percent general corporate rate from taking effect until Oct. 1, 1987. Pretax earnings for the company's truck leasing operations rose to $12.3 million from $10.6 million the year before. Revenue climbed to $58.2 million from $46.3 million. Pretax profits for RLC's bulk commodities division fell to $391,000 from $1.3 million a year earlier. Revenue dropped to $48.1 million from $50.5 million. Henry Clark, RLC's vice president for finance, said the company's bulk business suffered in November and December from customers' inventory adjustments. The leasing business prospered, he said, by concentrating on smaller accounts where price competition is less severe.

RLC CORP. POSTS LOSS FOR QUARTER

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Ocean Network Express said the East Coast 2 service jointly operated with HMM and Yang Ming will call Cai Mep on eastbound rotations, while dropping a call at China’s Port of Xiamen.</div>

Ocean Network Express said the East Coast 2 service jointly operated with HMM and Yang Ming will call Cai Mep on eastbound rotations, while dropping a call at China’s Port of Xiamen.

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<div class="phx-topic">The Premier Alliance is adding port calls in Vietnam and Halifax to its mainline service between China and the US East Coast, part of the reshuffling of vessel services stemming from new trade flows out of Asia. Ocean Network Express (ONE) said Monday that <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/premier-alliance-enhances-network-ahead-of-february-launch-5751123">the East Coast 2 (EC2) service jointly operated with HMM and Yang Ming</a> will call the Port of Cai Mep in Vietnam on eastbound rotations, dropping a call at China’s Port of Xiamen. The first call at Cai Mep will be the Dec. 22 departure of the 13,154-TEU HMM Victory. The EC2 will also start routing via the Cape of Good Hope in southern Africa instead of returning to Asia via the Panama Canal. Its outbound rotation will now make its last North American call at Halifax in eastern Canada, with a call to Singapore also added to the return voyage. The new rotation takes effect with the Dec. 10 departure of the 10,055-TEU Hyundai Pluto from Halifax. To accommodate the new rotation, the Premier Alliance will adjust westbound voyages of the EC1 service to include calls at Manzanillo in Mexico and South Korea’s Busan that were dropped from the EC2. Premier Alliance’s EC3 service out of Southeast Asia will also drop a second call at Halifax as part of its North American rotation. Along with the EC3’s existing service from Cai Mep, the additional call reflects the growing trade between Vietnam and the US. Through August, Vietnamese exports to the US this year totaled $122.6 billion, according to the US Census Bureau, a 43% increase from the year-earlier period. Containerized exports to the US from Cai Mep, part of the broader Vung Tau port system in southern Vietnam, reached 35,400 TEUs in the third quarter of 2025, according to PIERS, a sister product of the Journal of Commerce within S&amp;P Global, a 20% increase from 2024. Containerized exports from Xiamen to the US reached 194,895 TEUs in the third quarter, according to PIERS. While that is a rebound from the second quarter’s 158,916 TEUs, it is 15% lower than the third quarter of 2024. Contact Michael Angell at <a href="mailto:michael.angell@spglobal.com">michael.angell@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

The Premier Alliance is adding port calls in Vietnam and Halifax to its mainline service between China and the US East Coast, part of the reshuffling of vessel services stemming from new trade flows out of Asia. Ocean Network Express (ONE) said Monday that the East Coast 2 (EC2) service jointly operated with HMM and Yang Ming will call the Port of Cai Mep in Vietnam on eastbound rotations, dropping a call at China’s Port of Xiamen. The first call at Cai Mep will be the Dec. 22 departure of the 13,154-TEU HMM Victory. The EC2 will also start routing via the Cape of Good Hope in southern Africa instead of returning to Asia via the Panama Canal. Its outbound rotation will now make its last North American call at Halifax in eastern Canada, with a call to Singapore also added to the return voyage. The new rotation takes effect with the Dec. 10 departure of the 10,055-TEU Hyundai Pluto from Halifax. To accommodate the new rotation, the Premier Alliance will adjust westbound voyages of the EC1 service to include calls at Manzanillo in Mexico and South Korea’s Busan that were dropped from the EC2. Premier Alliance’s EC3 service out of Southeast Asia will also drop a second call at Halifax as part of its North American rotation. Along with the EC3’s existing service from Cai Mep, the additional call reflects the growing trade between Vietnam and the US. Through August, Vietnamese exports to the US this year totaled $122.6 billion, according to the US Census Bureau, a 43% increase from the year-earlier period. Containerized exports to the US from Cai Mep, part of the broader Vung Tau port system in southern Vietnam, reached 35,400 TEUs in the third quarter of 2025, according to PIERS, a sister product of the Journal of Commerce within S&P Global, a 20% increase from 2024. Containerized exports from Xiamen to the US reached 194,895 TEUs in the third quarter, according to PIERS. While that is a rebound from the second quarter’s 158,916 TEUs, it is 15% lower than the third quarter of 2024. Contact Michael Angell at michael.angell@spglobal.com .

Container lines

Trans-Pacific

Container Shipping News

Maritime

Premier Alliance adds Cai Mep call amid US import surge from Vietnam

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">As key global manufacturers of high and heavy cargo, Caterpillar and Deere are considered performance indicators for the roll-on/roll-off breakbulk shipping segment. </div>

As key global manufacturers of high and heavy cargo, Caterpillar and Deere are considered performance indicators for the roll-on/roll-off breakbulk shipping segment.

<div class="phx-topic">Caterpillar and Deere are bracing for another hit from US import tariffs in 2026, but the two heavy equipment makers are also looking to the data center boom and other large-scale construction projects as opportunities to drive up business. As key global manufacturers of high and heavy cargo, Caterpillar and Deere are considered performance indicators for the roll-on/roll-off (ro/ro) breakbulk shipping segment. Both US-based companies rely on imported materials and parts, even though they produce and source much of their equipment domestically. Illinois-based Deere &amp; Company, which produces heavy equipment for farming and construction, is forecasting further declines in income for 2026 after tariffs and a challenging agriculture market took a toll on performance this year. Deere anticipates a direct tariff expense of $1.2 billion for 2026 — approximately doubling the $600 million in tariff costs the company took on in 2025, according to its full-year earnings report issued Nov. 26. Deere’s tariff costs have amounted to about $300 million each quarter, and that rate is expected to continue in 2026, Investor Relations Director Josh Beal said during the company’s earnings call. “If you look at our price-cost expectation for 2026, inclusive of tariffs in that number, we expect to be price-cost positive.” he said. “We’ll start to capture back.” Deere lowered its 2026 income projections to a range of $4 billion to $4.8 billion after net income for the 2025 fiscal year fell $29% to $5 billion. Fourth-quarter net income dropped 14% to $1.1 billion compared with a year ago. “Looking ahead, we believe 2026 will mark the bottom of the large ag cycle,” CEO John May said in the company’s earnings statement. Deere executives pointed to indications of market stabilization, as well as optimism in other segments and geographies. “While ongoing margin pressures from tariffs and persistent challenges in the large ag sector remain, our commitment to inventory management and cost control — coupled with expected growth in small agriculture and turf and construction and forestry — positions us to effectively manage the business and seize emerging opportunities as market conditions begin to recover,” May said. Deere came out ahead of its revenue projections for the year, with annual revenues up 11% to $12.4 billion, above the company’s previous estimate of $9.8 billion. Higher shipment volumes drove up year-over-year sales in Deere’s construction and forestry equipment segment in the fourth quarter, up 27% to $3.4 billion. Chris Seibert, investor communications manager for Deere, said US government infrastructure spending continues to bolster the industry. “Additionally, declining interest rates, increasing investments in rental fleets and surging datacenter construction starts are also providing support,” Seibert said in the earnings call. <h3>Caterpillar sizes up power gen </h3>Caterpillar expects to close out 2025 with “modestly higher” sales than last year resulting from rising equipment demands for AI data centers, even as the company anticipates higher tariff expenses than previously projected, according to Caterpillar’s third-quarter earnings results. “We expect strong growth in full-year sales for power generation compared to last year,” Caterpillar COO Joseph Creed said during the company’s third-quarter earnings call. “Demand remains robust, driven by data center growth related to cloud computing and generative AI.” The company’s order backlog reached a record $39.8 billion, while sales and revenue grew 10% to $17.6 billion in the most recent quarter. The biggest gains came from the company’s power generation segment, with a 33% increase driven primarily by demand for reciprocating engines for data centers. Caterpillar is planning a $725 million expansion of its large-engine facility in Lafayette, Indiana, to increase production of power generators. Tariffs took a toll across all business segments for Caterpillar, which produces construction and mining equipment, as well as diesel- and gas-powered turbines and engines. Caterpillar raised its tariff impact estimates to a range of $1.6 billion to $1.75 billion for 2025, up from previous projections of $1.3 billion to $1.5 billion. “Our team is continuously evaluating options to further reduce the impact of tariffs going forward, and we fully intend to implement longer-term actions once there’s sufficient certainty,” Creed said. Contact Autumn Cafiero Giusti at <a href="mailto:autumn@autumngiusti.com">autumn@autumngiusti.com</a>. </div>

Caterpillar and Deere are bracing for another hit from US import tariffs in 2026, but the two heavy equipment makers are also looking to the data center boom and other large-scale construction projects as opportunities to drive up business. As key global manufacturers of high and heavy cargo, Caterpillar and Deere are considered performance indicators for the roll-on/roll-off (ro/ro) breakbulk shipping segment. Both US-based companies rely on imported materials and parts, even though they produce and source much of their equipment domestically. Illinois-based Deere & Company, which produces heavy equipment for farming and construction, is forecasting further declines in income for 2026 after tariffs and a challenging agriculture market took a toll on performance this year. Deere anticipates a direct tariff expense of $1.2 billion for 2026 — approximately doubling the $600 million in tariff costs the company took on in 2025, according to its full-year earnings report issued Nov. 26. Deere’s tariff costs have amounted to about $300 million each quarter, and that rate is expected to continue in 2026, Investor Relations Director Josh Beal said during the company’s earnings call. “If you look at our price-cost expectation for 2026, inclusive of tariffs in that number, we expect to be price-cost positive.” he said. “We’ll start to capture back.” Deere lowered its 2026 income projections to a range of $4 billion to $4.8 billion after net income for the 2025 fiscal year fell $29% to $5 billion. Fourth-quarter net income dropped 14% to $1.1 billion compared with a year ago. “Looking ahead, we believe 2026 will mark the bottom of the large ag cycle,” CEO John May said in the company’s earnings statement. Deere executives pointed to indications of market stabilization, as well as optimism in other segments and geographies. “While ongoing margin pressures from tariffs and persistent challenges in the large ag sector remain, our commitment to inventory management and cost control — coupled with expected growth in small agriculture and turf and construction and forestry — positions us to effectively manage the business and seize emerging opportunities as market conditions begin to recover,” May said. Deere came out ahead of its revenue projections for the year, with annual revenues up 11% to $12.4 billion, above the company’s previous estimate of $9.8 billion. Higher shipment volumes drove up year-over-year sales in Deere’s construction and forestry equipment segment in the fourth quarter, up 27% to $3.4 billion. Chris Seibert, investor communications manager for Deere, said US government infrastructure spending continues to bolster the industry. “Additionally, declining interest rates, increasing investments in rental fleets and surging datacenter construction starts are also providing support,” Seibert said in the earnings call. Caterpillar sizes up power gen Caterpillar expects to close out 2025 with “modestly higher” sales than last year resulting from rising equipment demands for AI data centers, even as the company anticipates higher tariff expenses than previously projected, according to Caterpillar’s third-quarter earnings results. “We expect strong growth in full-year sales for power generation compared to last year,” Caterpillar COO Joseph Creed said during the company’s third-quarter earnings call. “Demand remains robust, driven by data center growth related to cloud computing and generative AI.” The company’s order backlog reached a record $39.8 billion, while sales and revenue grew 10% to $17.6 billion in the most recent quarter. The biggest gains came from the company’s power generation segment, with a 33% increase driven primarily by demand for reciprocating engines for data centers. Caterpillar is planning a $725 million expansion of its large-engine facility in Lafayette, Indiana, to increase production of power generators. Tariffs took a toll across all business segments for Caterpillar, which produces construction and mining equipment, as well as diesel- and gas-powered turbines and engines. Caterpillar raised its tariff impact estimates to a range of $1.6 billion to $1.75 billion for 2025, up from previous projections of $1.3 billion to $1.5 billion. “Our team is continuously evaluating options to further reduce the impact of tariffs going forward, and we fully intend to implement longer-term actions once there’s sufficient certainty,” Creed said. Contact Autumn Cafiero Giusti at autumn@autumngiusti.com .

Ro/ro cargo

Breakbulk News

Tariff costs, data center demand create mixed outlook for ro/ro shippers in 2026

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">The Digital Container Shipping Association’s partnership program has grown in the last month, with the global home furnishings retailer following last week’s addition of European vessel operator Unifeeder.</div>

The Digital Container Shipping Association’s partnership program has grown in the last month, with the global home furnishings retailer following last week’s addition of European vessel operator Unifeeder.

<div class="phx-topic">IKEA on Tuesday joined the Digital Container Shipping Association’s (DCSA’s) partnership program, becoming the first shipper added to a growing list of carriers, forwarders, terminals, feeders and technology providers involved in the program. In joining the DCSA+ program, IKEA Supply AG, which is responsible for the flow of IKEA products from suppliers to franchisees worldwide, said it is aiming to ship more sustainably and predictably by advancing the digital standards that DCSA has developed for its members and other industry participants. “By joining DCSA+, we can help create digital solutions that make it easier for everyone involved to share information, improve transparency, and in the end deliver better shopping experiences for IKEA customers around the world by making sure our products are available where and when they need them at an affordable price,” Ewelina Taylor, global transport manager at Inter IKEA Group, said in a statement. IKEA joins Unifeeder, Europe’s largest shortsea and feeder operator and part of DP World, as <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/unifeeder-adds-scale-to-dcsas-partnership-program-6123850">recent entrants to the DCSA+ program</a>, which has more than a dozen participants, including logistics software vendors WNS and Vinturas, the Port of Valencia and Lufthansa Industry Solutions. Adding a shipper to its ecosystem is an important step for DCSA, which for years has been encouraging shippers to press their ocean carrier and 3PL partners to adopt the standards the consortium has developed around cargo tracking, electronic bills of lading, just-in-time port calls, schedules and more. “Having a global category leader engage directly in this work validates the relevance of the DCSA+ model and strengthens collaboration between cargo owners and carriers as we move toward consistent digital practices across the industry,” Mariana Bock-Losada, chief growth officer at DCSA, said in the statement. DCSA last month launched an <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/dcsa-broadens-reach-with-identity-exchange-for-shipping-industry-6119020">identity exchange tool</a> for companies in the logistics industry to manage internal compliance checks, its first such product. The ocean carrier members of DCSA are Mediterranean Shipping Co., Hapag-Lloyd, Maersk, CMA CGM, Evergreen, HMM, Yang Ming, Zim Integrated Shipping Services and PIL. Contact Eric Johnson at <a href="mailto:eric.johnson@spglobal.com">eric.johnson@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

IKEA on Tuesday joined the Digital Container Shipping Association’s (DCSA’s) partnership program, becoming the first shipper added to a growing list of carriers, forwarders, terminals, feeders and technology providers involved in the program. In joining the DCSA+ program, IKEA Supply AG, which is responsible for the flow of IKEA products from suppliers to franchisees worldwide, said it is aiming to ship more sustainably and predictably by advancing the digital standards that DCSA has developed for its members and other industry participants. “By joining DCSA+, we can help create digital solutions that make it easier for everyone involved to share information, improve transparency, and in the end deliver better shopping experiences for IKEA customers around the world by making sure our products are available where and when they need them at an affordable price,” Ewelina Taylor, global transport manager at Inter IKEA Group, said in a statement. IKEA joins Unifeeder, Europe’s largest shortsea and feeder operator and part of DP World, as recent entrants to the DCSA+ program , which has more than a dozen participants, including logistics software vendors WNS and Vinturas, the Port of Valencia and Lufthansa Industry Solutions. Adding a shipper to its ecosystem is an important step for DCSA, which for years has been encouraging shippers to press their ocean carrier and 3PL partners to adopt the standards the consortium has developed around cargo tracking, electronic bills of lading, just-in-time port calls, schedules and more. “Having a global category leader engage directly in this work validates the relevance of the DCSA+ model and strengthens collaboration between cargo owners and carriers as we move toward consistent digital practices across the industry,” Mariana Bock-Losada, chief growth officer at DCSA, said in the statement. DCSA last month launched an identity exchange tool for companies in the logistics industry to manage internal compliance checks, its first such product. The ocean carrier members of DCSA are Mediterranean Shipping Co., Hapag-Lloyd, Maersk, CMA CGM, Evergreen, HMM, Yang Ming, Zim Integrated Shipping Services and PIL. Contact Eric Johnson at eric.johnson@spglobal.com .

Logistics Technology News

IKEA becomes first shipper to join carrier digital consortium program

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Ocean carriers and terminal stakeholders at Sri Lanka’s Colombo Port are dealing with operational chaos that resulted from a three-day shutdown caused by Cyclone Ditwah, said to be the strongest storm to have struck the country in nearly a decade.</div>

Ocean carriers and terminal stakeholders at Sri Lanka’s Colombo Port are dealing with operational chaos that resulted from a three-day shutdown caused by Cyclone Ditwah, said to be the strongest storm to have struck the country in nearly a decade.

<div class="phx-topic">Several parts of Southeast Asia have been through extreme weather events over the past week or so, causing widespread transport network disruptions, both quayside and inland. Ocean carriers and terminal stakeholders at Sri Lanka’s Colombo Port are dealing with operational chaos that resulted from a three-day shutdown caused by Cyclone Ditwah, said to be the strongest storm to have struck the country in nearly a decade. Colombo — South Asia’s leading container hub — on Nov. 26 suspended all operations in response to a government weather advisory. The port reopened to traffic Saturday morning, facing a long queue of ships to be serviced. As the backlog of anchored vessels slowly eases, sources put average berthing delays across Colombo terminals as of Tuesday at two to three days. “While yard occupancy is at a manageable level, restoring normal vessel windows could take several days after a 72-hour marine halt,” a Colombo terminal executive who didn’t want to be identified told the Journal of Commerce. “Inter-terminal container movements are now smooth due to low on-dock volumes.” The port authority has allowed cargo owners additional free days to clear stranded boxes, but inland freight services into Sri Lanka’s interior remain hobbled by damaged rail and road links, sources say. In India, while no port closures have been declared along the east coast that is facing a bout of stormy weather over the last two days, local shipping sources have reported delays to vessel sailings and cargo flows across main gateways in the region, including Chennai, Tuticorin, Ennore and Kattupalli. “Terminals are operating at a slower pace due to challenging conditions,” said a Chennai-based ship agent. Weather has also been a major concern for supply chain and business stakeholders across Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand, according to reports. “The floods have resulted in some road closures, likely impacting container traffic to and from Port Klang,” global forwarder Kuehne + Nagel said in a report. “As a result, there have been requests to extend the timeline for laden containers to be turned into the port.” Contact Bency Mathew at <a href="mailto:bencyvmathew@gmail.com">bencyvmathew@gmail.com</a>.</div>

Several parts of Southeast Asia have been through extreme weather events over the past week or so, causing widespread transport network disruptions, both quayside and inland. Ocean carriers and terminal stakeholders at Sri Lanka’s Colombo Port are dealing with operational chaos that resulted from a three-day shutdown caused by Cyclone Ditwah, said to be the strongest storm to have struck the country in nearly a decade. Colombo — South Asia’s leading container hub — on Nov. 26 suspended all operations in response to a government weather advisory. The port reopened to traffic Saturday morning, facing a long queue of ships to be serviced. As the backlog of anchored vessels slowly eases, sources put average berthing delays across Colombo terminals as of Tuesday at two to three days. “While yard occupancy is at a manageable level, restoring normal vessel windows could take several days after a 72-hour marine halt,” a Colombo terminal executive who didn’t want to be identified told the Journal of Commerce. “Inter-terminal container movements are now smooth due to low on-dock volumes.” The port authority has allowed cargo owners additional free days to clear stranded boxes, but inland freight services into Sri Lanka’s interior remain hobbled by damaged rail and road links, sources say. In India, while no port closures have been declared along the east coast that is facing a bout of stormy weather over the last two days, local shipping sources have reported delays to vessel sailings and cargo flows across main gateways in the region, including Chennai, Tuticorin, Ennore and Kattupalli. “Terminals are operating at a slower pace due to challenging conditions,” said a Chennai-based ship agent. Weather has also been a major concern for supply chain and business stakeholders across Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand, according to reports. “The floods have resulted in some road closures, likely impacting container traffic to and from Port Klang,” global forwarder Kuehne + Nagel said in a report. “As a result, there have been requests to extend the timeline for laden containers to be turned into the port.” Contact Bency Mathew at bencyvmathew@gmail.com .

Port News

Marine terminals

International ports

Severe storms swamp Southeast Asia supply chains, with Colombo hardest hit

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">The conflicting interests became apparent last week when the Suez Canal Authority issued a statement indicating that Maersk planned to resume normal transits in December, triggering a quick response from the carrier that no timeline had been set. </div>

The conflicting interests became apparent last week when the Suez Canal Authority issued a statement indicating that Maersk planned to resume normal transits in December, triggering a quick response from the carrier that no timeline had been set.

<div class="phx-topic">Geopolitical forces favoring the resumption of container trade through the Red Sea and the corresponding commercial reluctance to do so are converging after nearly two years of most ships diverting around southern Africa to avoid attacks by Houthi militants. The conflicting interests became apparent in late November when the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) issued a statement indicating that Maersk planned to resume normal transits in December, triggering a quick response from the carrier that no timeline had been set. <div class="wrapper-narrow float-right-element"><img src="/images/phoenix/6126957_0.1.jpg"></img></div>But the contours of a clash are taking shape. Facing monthly losses of $800 million, Egypt President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi said earlier this year the country desperately wants full use of the canal to resume without further delay. After exerting little influence to reopen the Canal, Egypt saw fresh hope after the Oct. 13 Israel-Hamas peace summit in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, attended by Sisi, US President Donald Trump and representatives of 20 countries. The SCA on Nov. 25 said the event “succeeded in paving the way for restoring the rates of traffic in the region back to normal.” Despite the pushback by Maersk and its Gemini partner Hapag-Lloyd, the peace conference was potentially significant regarding the Suez. The conference endorsed the October agreement between Hamas and Israel to end the war in Gaza, the hostilities that led the Houthis to start firing on shipping in late 2023. So, in theory, the end of active fighting between Israel and Hamas should end the attacks and fully reopen the waterway. But it’s not so simple. Mideast analysts have little confidence that hostilities have truly ended, and thus say the pause in attacks by the Houthis disclosed in early November is in fact not permanent. The tenuous nature of Mideast peace was reflected in ships failing to return to the Red Sea following a May announcement by Trump of a deal with the Houthis, under which the US would stop bombing the Iran-aligned group and the militants would stop menacing ships seeking to transit the Red Sea and Suez Canal. <h3>Carriers’ views are complex </h3>Carriers say they believe the Suez is the natural route connecting Asia and Europe. CMA CGM Egypt &amp; Sudan Cluster CEO Tariq Zaghloul was quoted by the Canal authority in early November saying “there is no alternative to the Suez.” But carriers are also disinclined to resume normal transits and perform extensive reworking of their networks, including transshipment points, only to have to re-divert if shipping were to come under renewed attack. Thus, in assessing the real situation, they have thus far concluded that not enough has changed to warrant resumption of normal routings between Asia and Europe and Asia and the North American East Coast. “The Houthi decision to pause attacks is probably a tactical decision to allow the group to rearm and rebuild damaged infrastructure,” Jack Kennedy, head of Middle East and North Africa country risk at S&amp;P Global Market Intelligence, wrote on Nov. 12 in an assessment he said is unchanged as of Nov. 26. “Although it reduces the likelihood of attacks on shipping while the Gaza ceasefire holds, there remains a severe risk of attacks on vessels in transit in the one-year outlook if, as is likely, the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel breaks down permanently without progressing to its later stages,” Kennedy said. There are reasons why it is to the Houthi’s advantage to continue the attacks, he said. “The Houthis have incentive to continue some level of attack activity in the Red Sea and against Israel in the one-year outlook in order to secure external financial and military support and to continue to generate domestic support within Yemen,” Kennedy said. S&amp;P Global is the parent company of the Journal of Commerce. With the ongoing diversions serving as stark evidence that Mideast peace is tenuous, Egypt — in citing the peace conference as having cleared the way to normal transits — is hoping to draw a straight line between geopolitics and the ongoing diversions. And they are hoping the US draws the same line, seeing the issue in big picture terms and rejecting obstacles tied to the operational realities of shipping. “If the [Trump] administration links the canal disruption directly to their broader peace deal efforts in the Middle East, they could ramp up the regulatory or diplomatic playbook,” said Andrew Petrisin, who served as deputy assistant secretary for multimodal freight within the US Department of Transportation from June 2024 to January 2025 and is now CEO of Laneway, an online platform that enables the trading of guaranteed container space. Petrisin told the Journal of Commerce the White House, in an effort to pressure carriers to resume transits through the Suez, could try to frame the vessel diversions as causing rising costs for consumers. “If they decide that avoiding the Suez is driving inflation, given the recent election results and the focus on affordability, they may try to frame the carriers’ safety decisions as raising prices,” Petrisin said. “Politically, this angle is an easier sell than a complex argument about how commercial shipping impacts a peace treaty.” Economists have previously told the Journal of Commerce they see no evidence in data that the diversions are impacting inflation in the US. Any effort to point the finger at ocean carriers would echo the Biden administration’s rhetoric blaming carriers for price gouging during the pandemic. <h3>US security guarantees? </h3>From the point of view of carriers, their reluctance to resume Suez transits remains high due to safety risks. The financial advantage of vessel diversions, never mentioned by carriers, is a consideration in the background given that resumption of Suez transits would dump about 10% of global capacity back into the market and soften freight rates, although the effect would be muted over several months by the extensive port congestion many believe would result from a massive realignment of East-West networks. “There are many pieces to fall in place before they can [resume Suez transits], and insurance is one factor,” said Patrick Fay, CEO of BOC International. Thus, according to industry sources, resuming Suez transits would likely require more than mere rhetoric from the US administration. For example, the US would likely have to put security guarantees in place beyond what it has already done, perhaps increasing its naval presence in the region, industry sources say. But that would run into a view expressed by Mideast analysts that the Houthis are too agile and dug in within Yemen to be eliminated as a military threat to shipping. And if efforts were made by the US to impose fines on carriers for not using the Suez, were it to come to that, carriers would resist, Petrisin believes. “I don’t see a world where they risk the safety of their people and fleets for fear of a port fee,” he said. Contact Peter Tirschwell at <a href="mailto:peter.tirschwell@spglobal.com">peter.tirschwell@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

Geopolitical forces favoring the resumption of container trade through the Red Sea and the corresponding commercial reluctance to do so are converging after nearly two years of most ships diverting around southern Africa to avoid attacks by Houthi militants. The conflicting interests became apparent in late November when the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) issued a statement indicating that Maersk planned to resume normal transits in December, triggering a quick response from the carrier that no timeline had been set. But the contours of a clash are taking shape. Facing monthly losses of $800 million, Egypt President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi said earlier this year the country desperately wants full use of the canal to resume without further delay. After exerting little influence to reopen the Canal, Egypt saw fresh hope after the Oct. 13 Israel-Hamas peace summit in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, attended by Sisi, US President Donald Trump and representatives of 20 countries. The SCA on Nov. 25 said the event “succeeded in paving the way for restoring the rates of traffic in the region back to normal.” Despite the pushback by Maersk and its Gemini partner Hapag-Lloyd, the peace conference was potentially significant regarding the Suez. The conference endorsed the October agreement between Hamas and Israel to end the war in Gaza, the hostilities that led the Houthis to start firing on shipping in late 2023. So, in theory, the end of active fighting between Israel and Hamas should end the attacks and fully reopen the waterway. But it’s not so simple. Mideast analysts have little confidence that hostilities have truly ended, and thus say the pause in attacks by the Houthis disclosed in early November is in fact not permanent. The tenuous nature of Mideast peace was reflected in ships failing to return to the Red Sea following a May announcement by Trump of a deal with the Houthis, under which the US would stop bombing the Iran-aligned group and the militants would stop menacing ships seeking to transit the Red Sea and Suez Canal. Carriers’ views are complex Carriers say they believe the Suez is the natural route connecting Asia and Europe. CMA CGM Egypt & Sudan Cluster CEO Tariq Zaghloul was quoted by the Canal authority in early November saying “there is no alternative to the Suez.” But carriers are also disinclined to resume normal transits and perform extensive reworking of their networks, including transshipment points, only to have to re-divert if shipping were to come under renewed attack. Thus, in assessing the real situation, they have thus far concluded that not enough has changed to warrant resumption of normal routings between Asia and Europe and Asia and the North American East Coast. “The Houthi decision to pause attacks is probably a tactical decision to allow the group to rearm and rebuild damaged infrastructure,” Jack Kennedy, head of Middle East and North Africa country risk at S&P Global Market Intelligence, wrote on Nov. 12 in an assessment he said is unchanged as of Nov. 26. “Although it reduces the likelihood of attacks on shipping while the Gaza ceasefire holds, there remains a severe risk of attacks on vessels in transit in the one-year outlook if, as is likely, the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel breaks down permanently without progressing to its later stages,” Kennedy said. There are reasons why it is to the Houthi’s advantage to continue the attacks, he said. “The Houthis have incentive to continue some level of attack activity in the Red Sea and against Israel in the one-year outlook in order to secure external financial and military support and to continue to generate domestic support within Yemen,” Kennedy said. S&P Global is the parent company of the Journal of Commerce. With the ongoing diversions serving as stark evidence that Mideast peace is tenuous, Egypt — in citing the peace conference as having cleared the way to normal transits — is hoping to draw a straight line between geopolitics and the ongoing diversions. And they are hoping the US draws the same line, seeing the issue in big picture terms and rejecting obstacles tied to the operational realities of shipping. “If the [Trump] administration links the canal disruption directly to their broader peace deal efforts in the Middle East, they could ramp up the regulatory or diplomatic playbook,” said Andrew Petrisin, who served as deputy assistant secretary for multimodal freight within the US Department of Transportation from June 2024 to January 2025 and is now CEO of Laneway, an online platform that enables the trading of guaranteed container space. Petrisin told the Journal of Commerce the White House, in an effort to pressure carriers to resume transits through the Suez, could try to frame the vessel diversions as causing rising costs for consumers. “If they decide that avoiding the Suez is driving inflation, given the recent election results and the focus on affordability, they may try to frame the carriers’ safety decisions as raising prices,” Petrisin said. “Politically, this angle is an easier sell than a complex argument about how commercial shipping impacts a peace treaty.” Economists have previously told the Journal of Commerce they see no evidence in data that the diversions are impacting inflation in the US. Any effort to point the finger at ocean carriers would echo the Biden administration’s rhetoric blaming carriers for price gouging during the pandemic. US security guarantees? From the point of view of carriers, their reluctance to resume Suez transits remains high due to safety risks. The financial advantage of vessel diversions, never mentioned by carriers, is a consideration in the background given that resumption of Suez transits would dump about 10% of global capacity back into the market and soften freight rates, although the effect would be muted over several months by the extensive port congestion many believe would result from a massive realignment of East-West networks. “There are many pieces to fall in place before they can [resume Suez transits], and insurance is one factor,” said Patrick Fay, CEO of BOC International. Thus, according to industry sources, resuming Suez transits would likely require more than mere rhetoric from the US administration. For example, the US would likely have to put security guarantees in place beyond what it has already done, perhaps increasing its naval presence in the region, industry sources say. But that would run into a view expressed by Mideast analysts that the Houthis are too agile and dug in within Yemen to be eliminated as a military threat to shipping. And if efforts were made by the US to impose fines on carriers for not using the Suez, were it to come to that, carriers would resist, Petrisin believes. “I don’t see a world where they risk the safety of their people and fleets for fear of a port fee,” he said. Contact Peter Tirschwell at peter.tirschwell@spglobal.com .

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Complexity of resumption of Suez transits beginning to take shape

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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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Filling the Supply Chain Education Gap with LTL Education Courses

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