North American ports

The container terminal at the Port of Baltimore was closed Thursday and will close again March 17 due to declining cargo volumes through the port that stem from production cuts in China as a result of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Due to disruptions caused by the coronavirus, truckers are urging the Federal Maritime Commission to push for relief against detention charges and rising chassis fees.

While Ocean Network Express is waiving detention penalties tied to the coronavirus, other ocean carriers have not shown as much flexibility when cargo owners cannot return empty boxes during the supply chain disruption.

The Port of New York and New Jersey is planning for additional stress on port logistics systems when cargo volumes rebound from an expected decline in February and March due to China’s reduced production as a result of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Ports in the southeast US anticipate a double-digit decline in cargo volumes in March and April due to the coronavirus.

Los Angeles and Long Beach ports predict a 12 to 15 percent decline in cargo volume in the first quarter due largely to the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on production in Asia.

The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach will extend the collaborative efforts already underway into the digital era in order to improve productivity.

US refrigerated cargo imports grew by just over 1 percent in 2019 from the year before, in part due to a drop in Chinese volumes.

The Port of Houston says a group of non-container stakeholders should revise its plan for the authority to float a $500 million bond for the project to widen the port channel, saying that under the plan the port would then be responsible if payments were not made.

The Port of Houston has been awarded a $21.8 million federal grant to help fund the extension of a berth at the Bayport Container Terminal.

Federal grants totaling almost $33 million for the neighboring ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach will help support intermodal rail efficiency at the Southern California port complex.

PortMiami won a $44 million federal grant which will be used to improve the cold chain cargo facilities to handle temperature-controlled food, and perishables such as flowers.

The Northwest Seaport Alliance is pushing infrastructure development, terminal modernization, process improvements, and rail enhancements to become more efficient and make the gateway more competitive in the trans-Pacific trade.

The award of two federal grants to the Jacksonville Port Authority (JAXPORT) will help fund a dredging project that will allow the port to handle larger vessels.

A seven-year expansion at the Port Newark Container Terminal (PNCT) is close to completion, expanding the terminal’s capacity by 80 percent, to 2.15 million TEU.

The USDOT has appropriated more than $50 million for two berth improvement projects in Charleston and Savannah, while President Donald Trump has proposed funds in his fiscal 2021 budget to complete dredging the Savannah River inner harbor.

Six port projects backed by the US Army Corp of Engineers will get funds totaling more than $400 million to deepen and widen port channels, including in the Port of Mobile, on the Mississippi River and Port Everglades.

The Georgia Ports Authority outlined an ambitious plan to grow its footprint that includes acquiring new land near its Garden City Terminal to hold more containers, a partial container conversion at its breakbulk Ocean Terminal, and a brand new container terminal.

The Pacific Merchant Shipping Association says the economic impact -- cargo diversion -- of a proposed clean truck fee in the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach as contained in a recent study is based on incomplete information and the analysis should be reworked.

Georgia is looking to recapture a good portion of the Chinese frozen chicken import market now that Beijing has dropped a ban that had been in place since early 2015 due to a US avian flu outbreak.

A pilot program about to begin in the Port of New York and New Jersey would make the data from the port’s container information portal easier to use and help truckers and shippers more effectively manage their cargo.

With the expected March completion of a project to widen its turning basis, the Port of Wilmington in North Carolina will be able to boost handling capabilities that are currently capped at 12,000-TEU ships.

Advancing the project to widen its shipping channel is the top priority for the Port of Houston in 2020 as it faces rapidly growing cargo volumes.

Container cargo growth at the 10 busiest ports on the US East Coast in the first 11 months of 2019 fell to its lowest level since 2016 as the US-China trade war and slowing global economic growth dampened demand.

New Jersey’s effort to crack down on what it sees as the misclassification of workers as independent contractors rather than employees continued Monday with the signing of six classification bills.

Any initiative to extend the marine terminal gate hours at the Port of New York and New Jersey would likely need to address the fact that many small and medium-sized warehouses that serve the port operate only during the day.

Port Tampa Bay believes 2020 will be a big year with an expansion of its container terminal, three weekly trans-Pacific vessel calls, and a major push to win cargo owners in the Interstate 4 corridor by selling the value of short hauls to maximize hours of service.

Federal officials are seeking public input on how best to test the emissions output of future heavy duty trucks to ensure levels of nitrogen oxide in the air continue to drop, while maintaining efficiency in the cargo delivery fleet.

The resumption of weekly liner service to Portland after a four-year absence will test the ability of the Oregon port to return to its heyday when it handled more than 300,000 TEU a year.

AB5-type legislation in New Jersey that truckers say will shrink the drayage fleet at the Port of New York and New Jersey won’t be enacted by the end of the current legislative session, but the sponsor said he’ll push to pass the bill in the next session.

US Department of Transportation grants totaling $1.7 million have been awarded to Gulf Coast projects that aim to reduce truck traffic by moving containers -- often filled with resin -- by barge through the ports of New Orleans and Houston.

Ports in Florida and Virginia will receive $1.6 million in federal grants to bolster barge services designed to improve freight delivery times and alleviate traffic congestion on roadways.

The Port of Baltimore’s efforts to reduce pollution will get a boost with the award of a $1.8 million grant to replace older drayage trucks and other cargo-moving machinery with newer vehicles and equipment.

Truckers at the Port of New York and New Jersey can now plan their schedules based on traffic levels on key roads within the port, as seen in newly available video streams.

Confronting cyber threats and trying to minimize their risk is the focus of a new coalition of port stakeholders at the Port of New York and New Jersey.

As truckers in the Port of New York and New Jersey oppose a bill that would reshape how the owner-operator model is classified, two other bills that focus on classification are up for a vote in the New Jersey legislature.

Six new electric-powered rubber tire gantry cranes have arrived in Port of Miami’s APM terminal, key equipment meant to reduce carbon emissions and noise.

Women would be disproportionately affected by legislation in New Jersey and California that reshapes the classification process determining whether a worker is an employee or independent contractor, opponents say.

Volume growth at US Gulf Coast ports easily outpaced both the East and West Coasts in 2019, albeit from a smaller base, and port officials expect another strong year in 2020.

Despite an easing of trade tensions between the United States and China, shippers will continue to diversify their sourcing options to mitigate risk.