US importers of fresh produce have an increasing array of options for bringing in refrigerated containers as ports across the US Southeast and Gulf Coasts add more cold chain capacity.

ILA leadership is expressing solidarity with the ILWU as it begins contract talks with West Coast terminal employers, while warning against further automation at US ports.

The new director of the Port of New York and New Jersey said Shanghai’s COVID-19 lockdown is not causing any slowdown at the port because of an increasing number of containers from South Asia and the Indian subcontinent.

The head of the Pacific Maritime Association said he is optimistic about a smooth outcome for upcoming contract negotiations with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, though he defended automation as a key tool to grow terminal volumes.

Ocean forwarder UWL has introduced a new bi-weekly service from Vietnam into the US Pacific Northwest as shippers seek out additional vessel capacity to tap a growing source of imports.

Approval of APM’s expansion project comes as Mobile continues to see strong growth, with year-to-date volumes through March climbing 10 percent.

Mediterranean Shipping Co. has added Philadelphia to its weekly service from India amid strengthening freight rates to the US East Coast.

Hapag-Lloyd has started a new Mediterranean service into the Port of Virginia that will also offer trans-continental intermodal service to the West Coast.

Federal Maritime Commissioner member Carl Bentzel said US Class I railroads need to hire and invest more to boost their intermodal service if the nation’s ports are to avoid future meltdowns and congestion.

Seven ocean carriers blocked empty container returns to New York-New Jersey marine terminals last week as import volumes swell due to West Coast freight diversions.

Charter carriers and extra-loader services are seeing container volumes in the trans-Pacific slow to start 2022 as spot rates plateau and Shanghai lockdowns take boxes off the water.

The US Maritime Administration has signed off on Long Beach’s plan to develop a $1.5 billion on-dock rail facility that the port hopes will be used to move one-third of its container volumes.

The International Longshoremen’s Association alleges that agreements for marine terminal operations at Savannah and Charleston are anti-competitive.

The US Surface Transportation Board has given its blessing to CSX Transportation’s acquisition of short-line operator Pan Am Railways, saying the benefits outweigh any anti-competitive risks.

Ocean carriers say they have swept more of the empty containers that have plagued truckers who have had to make extra trips further away from ports to store the boxes.

Two members of the Federal Maritime Commission say ocean carriers need to tread lightly when assessing per diem container fees that are related to the cyber-attack on forwarder Expeditors.

The Intermodal Association of North America said that it has an effective dispute resolution process for per diem container bills that could be disrupted if new federal rules are adopted.

The sharp growth in container volumes at the ports of Houston and Mobile is spurring increasing demand to move freight via rail as truckers hit the limit on how much they can handle.

Veteran port executive Bethann Rooney will become the next director of the Port of New York and New Jersey upon next month’s departure of Sam Ruda.

The National Labor Relations Board said it will hold an election for longshore union representation for Caribbean specialist Tropical Shipping at the Port of Palm Beach.

The Montreal Port Authority is partnering with Canadian National Railway to develop intermodal service to the port’s proposed Contrecoeur container terminal.

Truckers working the Port of New York and New Jersey say they are not always being paid enough for increasingly longer trips away from the port to deliver empty containers.

Maersk and GCT New York have settled a lawsuit over the switch of three vessel services to APM Terminals that GCT alleged was a breach of contract.

The state of Pennsylvania said it will extend for another year an incentive program aimed at drawing ocean carriers to offload cargo at the Port of Philadelphia.

The Panama Canal Authority is proposing a new tolling plan that would assess the first fees on empty containers returning from North America to Asia.

US Federal Maritime Commissioner Carl Bentzel said China’s dominance in container and chassis manufacturing is the direct result of the Communist government’s support for the sector.

A report from McKinsey & Co. says that ocean freight rates will only return to pre-COVID-19 levels if US demand for consumer goods slows and port congestion clears.

US port executives have told the Federal Maritime Commission that additional information about whose containers are on their docks would go a long way toward clearing congestion.

Global liner schedule reliability saw an uptick in February thanks to less lengthy delays for ships on the eastbound trans-Pacific to the US West Coast.

The Port of Mobile, CSX, and Norfolk Southern have asked that Amtrak be brought to mediation in its year-long petition to resume a passenger rail service along the US Gulf Coast.

Orient Overseas Container Line saw 2021 operating profit increase more than seven times over 2020 as high ocean freight rates offset flat volume growth.

Ocean carriers are stepping up efforts to sweep up empty containers that are congesting ports on the US West and East coasts ahead of an expected surge of new imports.

The US Supreme Court has temporarily blocked a New Jersey law that would allow the state to exit the bi-state police agency charged with investigating criminal activity among longshore labor at the Port of New York and New Jersey.

New Jersey has filed a brief opposing New York’s attempt to keep alive a bi-state police agency charged with investigating criminal activity among longshore labor.

The Federal Maritime Commission is adding the availability of export capacity to its ongoing scrutiny of how ocean carriers are operating in the US.

The US Department of Agriculture and the port of Seattle have announced plans for a “pop-up” yard that will help with the pre-positioning of export containers for ag shippers.

Intermodal equipment provider TRAC is turning to a one-year-old US chassis manufacturer as it seeks to increase its fleet of marine container chassis.

The Harbor Trucking Association and other California groups are backing proposed legislation that would strengthen an existing law that limits the circumstances when container fees can be charged.

Mediterranean Shipping Co. is launching the first container service into the US East Coast that will call three Baltic countries directly, as congestion woes on the trans-Atlantic mount.

The state of New York has filed with the US Supreme Court to stop New Jersey from leaving a bi-state police agency that has authority over hiring and firing at the Port of New York and New Jersey.