An insufficient number of International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 13 crane operators and top handler drivers reported for work at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach as of 5:00 PM Pacific Standard Time (PST) on Thursday, April 6, 2023. Any ILWU workers that did report for their shift as scheduled were […]

Today, President Joe Biden signed legislation—originally approved in Congress earlier this week—to prevent a massive rail strike from devastating the US economy. The bill passed in the House (290-137) on Wednesday (November 30); and was approved by the Senate (80-15) on Thursday. Biden had been urging lawmakers to pass the bill after railway workers announced […]

The New York Times has reported that on Tuesday, Democratic and Republican leaders in Congress have vowed to intervene to prevent a US rail strike. President Biden went as far as pushing Congress to impose the latest negotiated deal for the four unions rejecting the current offer; eight of the 12 unions representing 115,000 rail workers […]

Shapiro has received multiple reports that US rail workers from two of the biggest labor unions are preparing to strike once the cooling off period expires this Friday, September 16—which may cause significant delays and disruptions for US supply chains. Although Biden issued an Executive Order in July to establish the Presidential Emergency Board (PEB), […]

Shapiro has received multiple reports that workers at two of the busiest container ports in the United Kingdom (UK)—Felixstowe and Liverpool—have voted to strike as a result of ongoing wage disputes, which will likely cause delays and disruptions for UK supply chains. Beginning Sunday, August 21st, approximately 1,900 workers at the Port of Felixstowe will […]

Shapiro has received multiple reports that a group of truckers responsible for moving containers in and out of the marine terminals at the Los Angeles and Long Beach (LA/LB) ports is participating in a work stoppage today (Wednesday, July 13) in protest of a controversial California state law, AB5. Owner operators are protesting outside the […]

Over the weekend, a deadly fire erupted at the BM Container Depot in southeastern Bangladesh, killing at least 49 people and injuring more than 300 others. The shipping container facility is in Sitakunda, near the port city of Chittagong. The cause of the fire is still unknown; however, officials believe that the facility became engulfed […]

Update as of 4/4/22: The lockdown in Shanghai has been extended indefinitely as results of the city-wide COVID testing are still being reviewed, leaving Chinese supply chains in a state of uncertainty. The lockdown in Shanghai Pudong was initially set for March 28th – April 1st, with Shanghai Puxi following from April 1st – 5th. […]

With consideration to the recent horrific developments between Russia and Ukraine, the advice from the government, and the newly imposed sanctions, Shapiro has elected to suspend handling brokerage and forwarding services for all goods originating or shipping to/from Russia, Belarus, and the Donetsk/Luhansk/Crimea regions of Ukraine. For imports, this change will be effective for shipments […]

China is currently facing its largest COVID outbreak since the pandemic initially broke out in 2020. Despite its success combating the virus with a “zero-tolerance” policy thus far, the Chinese government has been unable to contain the highly contagious Omicron variant sweeping across the country in recent weeks. In response to the rapid spike in […]

Another outbreak of COVID-19 threatens port operations in the city of Ningbo after several positive cases were reported at a clothing factory over the weekend. As a result of the spike in cases, a partial lockdown has been put in place for certain parts of the district of Beilun—which is home to some of Ningbo’s […]

The ports of Los Angeles (LA) and Long Beach (LB) announced that the “Container Dwell Fee” would once again be postponed until January 17, 2022. The fee was originally announced in late October and set to take effect earlier in November, but has been repeatedly delayed after the ports observed a noticeable clearing of backlogged […]

As previously mentioned in our most recent Shap Talk, the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have announced a “Container Access Dwell Fee,” also called an “Emergency Storage Fee” to be imposed on November 1st. Carriers will be expected to pay a fee of $100 on the 9th day of dwell time for each […]

The Ningbo Meidong Container Terminal, also called Meishan Terminal, has suspended all inbound and outbound services after an employee received a positive COVID-19 test on Tuesday, August 10th. The terminal is one of five in the port of Ningbo. The closure restricts shippers from picking up empty equipment or gating-in containers. While some industry leaders […]

The airfreight market has started to mirror the ocean freight market. This week, we are seeing the perfect storm in terms of increased demand, reductions in capacity (due to flight cancellations) and new restrictions as a result of COVID outbreaks in Nanjing, Zhangjiajie and Zhengzhou. Airfreight rates are currently $9 to $10/kilo and are trending to $11/kilo […]

Per our earlier Shap Flash, carriers announced additional surcharges for August to help offset rising costs from operational delays, vessel backlogs and other kinks in supply chains worldwide. As we expected, some carriers have announced alterations to the original list of surcharges; please click here for a detailed snapshot of the updated surcharges and the […]

As operational delays, equipment and space shortages, and vessel backlogs continue to cripple supply chains worldwide, carriers have announced additional surcharges that are scheduled to go into effect in August. Please click here for a detailed snapshot of the new surcharges and the markets that carriers are targeting at this time. We expect that other […]

Indonesia Indonesia has imposed an emergency public activity restriction (PPKM) through July 20, 2021. The restriction was passed due to ongoing spikes of COVID-19 cases. There have been 56,757 confirmed cases as of July 15. The PPKM restrictions are focused on Java, Bali, and Jakarta.  There are “rumors” that this PPKM will be extended for […]

Union Pacific railroad announced that it will halt the movement of international cargo from the West Coast to its Global IV terminal in Chicago for a week, beginning Sunday, July 18th. The announcement comes after labor shortages, pandemic restrictions and pooled chassis shortages have created congestion at the terminal. Officials hope that the weeklong pause […]

In wake of the rapidly deteriorating COVID situation in Ho Chi Minh City and other provinces, Vietnam officials have announced that the country will be instituting a full lockdown effective tomorrow – July 9, 2021 – to attempt to contain the outbreak. Please note the following details: Many offices will be severely reducing in-office staffing […]