Latest news

The Panama Canal container shipping route has become the less-popular route for carriers sailing from Asia to the U.S. East Coast for the first time in history, according to new data from Drewry Maritime Research, with more than half of capacity in the trade sailing via the Suez Canal.

Banking on economic expansion and its own history, Old Dominion Freight Line plans to repurchase as much as $200 million of its own stock over the next two years.

North American intermodal volume growth will likely end the year with more than 5 percent growth over 2013, and will likely see similar-sized gains in 2015, according to the Intermodal Association of North America.

Major Japanese international freight forwarder Kintetsu World Express saw its group net profit tumble in the first half of fiscal 2014, which started on April 1, because of an extraordinary loss related to an antitrust class-action lawsuit in the United States.

Gati Ltd., India’s leading express distribution and supply chain solutions company, reported its group net profit in the fiscal second quarter totaled about $2 million, a more than two-fold increase from the same period in 2013.

BNSF Railway profit in the third quarter rose nearly 4.7 percent to $1.03 billion, even as the company admitted service fell below customer standards and has lost market share.

DCT Gdansk, the Polish port operator, has finalized the 290 million euro ($363 million) financing for a second deep-water terminal at the leading Baltic Sea container hub.

Shipping companies are scrambling for alternative marine fuel supplies following the collapse of OW Bunker, the world’s largest ship fuel provider.

Port congestion problems at some of North America’s largest gateways had a noticeable impact on vessel productivity in the first six months of 2014, according to JOC Group Port Productivity data.

China’s exports during October continued to show solid growth compared to the same month last year, but comparisons for November and December are set to be complicated by the chronic over-reporting of mainland exports to Hong Kong late last year to evade currency controls.

United Arab Shipping Co. is expanding its refrigerated container fleet as it targets new business in South America.

Notable quotes from sources in news stories and analysis on JOC.com from Monday, Nov. 3 through Saturday, Nov. 8.

Net orders for the Class 8 trucks that literally keep the economy in motion soared in October, underscoring growing confidence about the strength of the recovery and the outlook for 2015.

European retail services company Musgrave Retail Partners expands refrigerated transportation services by acquiring Irish firm Allied Logistics.

Brazil's port managers and unions are uniting to try to keep the country's Special Ports Ministry separate from the Ministry of Transport.

JOC.com readers are eating up news emerging from the U.S. West Coast, with all of the Top 10 stories on the site in the past week focusing on congestion and labor issues at the ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach, Tacoma and Seattle.

The executive director of the Port of Los Angeles called upon the Pacific Maritime Association, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, terminal operators and PierPass Inc. to do everything within their power to clear out the congestion that is devastating the Southern California port complex.

The Maritime Administration has extended its Voluntary Intermodal Sealift Agreement program, which provides the U.S. military with assured access to commercial sealift and intermodal capacity, until Oct. 1, 2019.

Port authorities, ocean carriers, terminals and shippers are paying closer attention to operational metrics such as truck turn times to guide their decisions on where to route cargo or deploy ships.

The Federal Highway Administration has approved a preferred construction alternative for CSX’s Virginia Avenue Tunnel project, paving the way for the 110-year-old, 4,000-foot tunnel to be reconstructed for double-stacking container services after intense pushback from local residents.

Volumes were down in September on the majority of trade lanes leaving Asia, with the exception of lanes to North America and Australia, according to Container Trades Statistics.

The JOC For-Hire Trucking Employment Index rose 0.3 percentage points to 98.1 in October, as hiring boosted trucking payrolls to levels not seen since December 2007.

The port of Antwerp is soliciting proposals from companies interested in operating a liquefied natural gas bunkering station, in order to meet growing global demand for the alternative fuel.

With the U.S. Weather Service forecasting a polar vortex will hit the eastern half of the country next week, a CSX executive said the railroads will be better prepared this year to operate in harsh winter conditions than they were last winter.

While at least one carrier next week plans to call on the Port of Oakland instead of Los Angeles because the northern California port isn’t facing congestion, Oakland shippers are still urging for faster turn-times and longer terminal gate windows.

Finnlines posted its best quarterly result in eight years and said full-year earnings could be the best since 2000 as it continues to boost cargo volumes in the face of economic uncertainty in its core Baltic Sea market.

Federal Maritime Commissioner Richard Lidinsky called for global regulation of container shipping alliances today.

The largest U.S. trucking advocacy group wants Congress to pass an omnibus spending bill during its “lame duck” session, not a continuing resolution that simply extends funding for a few months, before calling it quits and turning responsibility over to the next Congress.

The activist investor who wrestled control of Canadian Pacific Railway in 2012 reignited speculation that the Calgary-based railroad would acquire a U.S. counterpart by suggesting Norfolk Southern Railway might be the next target.

Striking German locomotive drivers will return to work tomorrow evening, 36 hours earlier than planned, to avoid disrupting celebrations on Sunday to mark the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Europe’s top container ports are hunkering down for a potentially tumultuous 2015 dominated by a growing capacity glut and slowing cargo growth that will make the congestion of the past year appear like a minor irritant.

Multiple container lines have planned general rate increases in numerous trade lanes in October and November, although any gains achieved could be temporary as overcapacity and sluggish global demand continue.

Japan’s Parliament gave the green light to a free trade agreement with Australia on Friday, paving the way for the trade pact to take effect early next year.

A wide coalition of shippers and transportation providers are urging President Obama to send in a federal mediator to help reach a U.S. West Coast labor contract deal.

Gateway Distriparks Ltd., India’s leading port logistics provider, boosted second-quarter net profit 42 percent year-over-year to Rs. 47.74 crore (US $7.83 million) on a consolidated basis, mainly driven by higher earnings from its “rail logistics” segment.

A rapid rise in spot rates on the Asia-Europe trade following a host of general rate increases failed to hold on to last week's gains, sliding more than 10 percent to $1,175 per 20-foot container, according to the latest Shanghai Containerised Freight Index reading released today.

Throughput at China’s major ports continued to show strong growth in October, rising 6.1 percent year-over-year in support of the robust U.S. economy and a steady increase in foreign trade.

Matson said growth in its core Hawaii market helped fuel increases in the carrier’s third-quarter volume, revenue and profit, and that it expects year-over-year improvement in the fourth quarter.

Fearing that gridlock at the largest U.S. port complex is imminent, the Pacific Maritime Association today blasted the International Longshore and Warehouse Union for withholding skilled labor at Los Angeles-Long Beach.

Logistics provider Transplace is building up its chemical business by acquiring Logistics Management Solutions, a 3PL with a strong chemicals customer base.