Commentary

2014 was far from the first year to see waterfront labor issues disrupt cargo flows at U.S. ports. Nor was it the first year to see the formation of large vessel-sharing alliances, big ships, equipment dislocations, truck driver shortages, suspect rail service or unexpectedly strong growth in cargo volumes. Each has been prevalent throughout North American supply chains in given years going back a decade or, in some cases, more. But what made 2014 unique is that they converged simultaneously to form a potent mix that sets the stage for one of the more challenging years in memory for supply chains.

If there is one observation that stands out from the experience of 2014, it’s the complete absence of concern for the shipper in U.S. longshore negotiations. It is fundamentally anachronistic that those who ultimately pay the bills and whose business creates not only all the longshore jobs but also millions more in the larger economy, should suffer the neglect and business disruption shippers do in the U.S. when confronted with labor-management issues on the waterfront.

Employers need more cost reductions and workplace flexibility on the U.S. West Coast docks to handle the big ships coming their way, and the sum total of progress from all the rounds of earlier negotiations isn’t enough to justify the investments that will be needed.

I find myself marveling at the astonishing pace at which another year has come to an end. I thought I would take a moment to look back at 2014 and at some of the more noteworthy items within the context of People, Processes and Enabling Technology.

The “Obama is soft on the unions” explanation seems questionable, as sending a federal mediator and invoking the Taft-Hartley Act aren't easy cures.

An owner-operator shares some often overlooked facts about U.S. truck driver hours of service rules and how they affect his business.

Can the International Longshoremen's Association and United States Maritime Alliance tweak their bargaining process so that it doesn't scare shippers every three to six years? We'll find out ... eventually.

2014 will surely go down as a momentous year — and not in a good way — for those who depend on international container transportation. Hardly a year of progress, this was a year when the system regressed.

The less-than-truckload industry saw some resurgence in 2014 with carriers’ ability to dig out of suboptimal returns from low-single-digit operating margins. Third-quarter results for publicly traded LTL carriers show a collective operating ratio of 92, a significant improvement from 94 a year ago. This should give LTL carriers optimism about achieving a much-needed 10 percent operating margin by the third quarter of 2015.

From crumbling roads and bridges to congested airports and a “vast majority of seaports in danger of becoming obsolete,” a 60 Minutes television newsmagazine feature pulled no punches about the risks not only to U.S. competitiveness and freight supply chains, but also to the safety of the American public.

If a seal is broken or missing, should a motor carrier be held liable for the destruction of perfectly good boxed, skidded or palletized freight that shows no evidence of contamination or malicious tampering?

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union's monopoly has kept its wage and benefits package so out of the line with other U.S. workers, and prevented major productivity improvements at U.S. West Coast terminals.

This week's blast of cold weather is an unwelcome reminder of last winter’s polar vortex and a portent of supply chain disruption to come.

The recent attack on a Egyptian Naval patrol boat serves as a reminder that Egypt’s relative calm should not be mistaken as a sign of stability, and that maritime interests tied to the Suez Canal are far from insulated from country's many security problems.

I’m not certain why it is that, every time I mention transfer of title in any connection with a question about an Incoterm, somebody feels obliged to “correct” me by emphasizing that Incoterms don’t control the transfer of title. I know that.

Given Ebola’s combined potential for substantial loss of life and economic disruption, it certainly could qualify as a weapon of mass disruption-level threat, so why not treat it as one? Take Homeland Security’s defense of the international supply chain, for example. Substitute “WMD” with “Ebola,” and “freight conveyance” with “foreign traveler,” and the tactics are essentially identical.

Two recent cases serve as reminders of the expanding effort by enforcement agencies and federal prosecutors to criminalize civil violations.

With intermodal loadings in record territory and the railroads pushed to the limit to move the volume, it might seem a bit strange to be sounding an alarm about a slowdown. But the intermodal industry is entering a period of vulnerability after a prolonged period of growth. While trouble isn’t inevitable, intermodal’s near-term destiny has passed to forces outside of intermodal’s control.

When looking at the list of Top 50 Global Transportation and Logistics Providers, the major takeaway is that consolidated revenues for these multibillion-dollar companies showed flat growth in 2013. This suggests top-line growth for these companies slowed during the year and, while it did for many, adjusting revenue growth for foreign currency fluctuations tells a much different story.

Truck weight reform legislation known as the Safe and Efficient Transportation Act, which is pending in Congress and likely to be considered in 2015 as an amendment to the next highway reauthorization bill, would help shippers address the capacity crisis by giving each state the option to raise truck weight limits on appropriate portions of its interstate highways.

A broker is presented proof of delivery provided by a consignee and one from the carrier. They don’t match, and a damage claim has been filed. Is there a law forbidding altering a receipt outside a driver’s presence?

Pressure on PierPass to waive OffPeak program fees is an attempt to use the congestion crisis to accomplish an unrelated goal, one that has nothing to do with relieving congestion and would in fact greatly increase it.

Kansas City Southern Railway’s Pat Ottensmeyer is making a pitch that could alleviate the pain some importers are feeling at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach — advising shippers to divert shipments bound for the U.S. Gulf region away from the congestion-wracked San Pedro ports to Lazaro Cardenas in south-central Mexico.

Despite what looks like minimal impact on binational cross-border trade, the inability to put to rest the issue of Mexican trucks serving all of the U.S. should serve as a national embarrassment.

The disruption this week showed how little the assurances that had been duly repeated in joint PMA-ILWU press releases all summer were actually worth —nothing.

U.S. ports are suffering from slow reaction time to what in essence is growing global trade. Ships must be bigger and more efficient. Ports and terminals have to catch up, and as quickly as possible. That won’t be easy, but it’s necessary.

There are a number of ideas to solve the congestion overwhelming Los Angeles-Long Beach and ports nationwide, but it will take cooperation from all stakeholders to bring about true progress.

Port congestion causes delays and increases transportation costs that hurt our economy. Resolving the consequences of congestion is especially important to keep pace with the growth in international maritime trade.

A salvage company accepts goods prepaid, but then is pressured by the carrier to make the freight payment. Who is liable for the charges?

The world is full of dreamers like Malcom McLean that can change the logistics world. So, to fix the congestion surrounding Los Angeles-Long Beach, I am announcing today that I am going to open my own port!

The largest container gateway in the Americas has been severely disrupted in recent months. It’s worth exploring what the root causes might be and how the port complex can get through this episode and return to normal operations.

As a way to drive efficiency and reduce costs, manufacturing and distribution companies are on a mission to get lean. One way they’re doing so is by optimizing and reducing inventory levels across the supply chain. A frequent problem, however, is a lack of involvement among distribution center heads when making the decision.

Tucked away in a recent report from Drewry Maritime Research on the inexorable decline of the refrigerated breakbulk fleet was a conclusion that specialized reefer carriers are increasingly using containers in their operations.

Conventional wisdom held that 2015 would represent the end of the five-year wave of ship deliveries. But there seems to be no slowing carriers’ drive for ordering the ever-larger vessels.

There are some very real Halloween dangers in our industry, with some having one thing in common: They represent goods shipped to the U.S. from a foreign country. Fortunately, we can be thankful that Customs and Border Protection is keeping watch.

The Los Angeles-Long Beach port complex finds itself engulfed in a meltdown of historic proportions, and that's no exaggeration. How quickly the ports can recover will determine their viability going forward.

Shippers need to take tactical actions to counteract carrier actions, raining from deploying larger vessels to "blank" sailing.

As we turn the corner on autumn and begin to head for winter, one thing has remained constant: Rail service, including intermodal, is struggling, and the epicenter of the problem lies in Chicago.

Nightmare scenarios are occurring all day, every day at the two biggest U.S. container ports, and the customers receiving some of the worst service are among the nation's largest shippers.

When have you done enough on Customs compliance? Based on a recent exchange in a LinkedIn discussion group, there is real disagreement.