What Drives Drayage Costs from Port Pickup to Empty Return Your container has crossed an ocean. Your warehouse is 20 miles from the port. Naturally, you assume the hard part is over. You’ve driven farther for a decent softshell crab sandwich, after all. Then comes the delivery quote. There’s the trucking, the chassis, something called […]

Every Halloween, millions of tiny customers arrive without appointments, disregard normal receiving hours and demand immediate delivery. Their procurement strategy is aggressive. Their costumes are occasionally inflatable. Their tolerance for an empty candy bowl is nonexistent. Fortunately, an entire supply chain has been preparing for their arrival. Long before the first doorbell rings, Halloween candy […]

You know your overseas supplier. You know your account manager, your usual lead times, and how many follow-up emails produce a revised invoice. After years together, they feel like family. Possibly the cousin who takes three weeks to RSVP, but family nonetheless. Now for the awkward reunion question: does that supplier actually manufacture your goods? […]

A weather pattern developing thousands of miles from your suppliers can still arrive at your warehouse. It just tends to show up disguised as something more familiar: a delayed vessel, a flooded road, a constrained factory, a smaller crop—or an invoice with an unwelcome new line item. That is El Niño’s particular talent. It begins […]

Homer’s Odyssey suddenly found itself back in the cultural conversation. Fair enough. It’s a story about a long journey filled with monsters, questionable advice, impossible detours, and the occasional temptation to believe something that sounds much better than it turns out to be. Honestly, that describes buying supply chain software in 2026 pretty well. Artificial […]

For nearly two years, global ocean shipping has been running in a kind of mechanical limp mode.  Security risks in the Red Sea forced carriers to reroute around southern Africa, stretching transit times, absorbing capacity, and quietly propping up rates. It wasn’t elegant — but it kept the system moving.  Now, parts of the industry are beginning to shift […]

In logistics, the forecast can flip quickly. One moment, your long-term contracts are the rain jacket shielding you from volatile spot swings. The next, FAK (Freight All Kinds) spot rates plunge below contracted levels, leaving importers and exporters wondering if they dressed for the wrong weather. When FAK undercuts contracts, it’s more than an awkward […]

Importing steel or aluminum products—or goods that simply contain them—can feel like a high-stakes card game. The challenge isn’t just getting goods across the table; it’s making sure you’re not betting more than you owe. Too often, importers misapply Section 232 and IEEPA tariffs, stacking duties where they don’t belong. What should be a straightforward […]

The U.S. is once again turning up the heat in the trade world—and this time, it’s targeting countries that continue to buy Russian energy. In a move that could reshape global shipping and energy supply chains, President Donald Trump has floated the idea of secondary tariffs—penalties that would be placed on countries that continue doing […]

Customs compliance isn’t extinct—but it might feel like it evolved straight out of the Jurassic. Back in the pre-2019 era, import entries were simple creatures. Predictable. Manageable. No strange mutations to track or hidden fees lurking in the tall grass of government notices. Then came the tariff asteroid. Between trade wars, retaliatory duties, and a […]

Let’s be real—customs bonds probably aren’t dominating your weekend barbecue conversations. But if you’re in the business of international shipping and logistics, especially in today’s tariff-happy trade climate, your bond isn’t just a formality, it’s a critical part of your import strategy. Understanding the strength (and limits) of your customs bond could be the difference […]

Ah, tariffs—the economic equivalent of a schoolyard “keep away” game, but with more paperwork and fewer scraped knees. Following President Donald Trump’s inauguration in January, the US and its global pals have been hard at work (and play) tossing tariffs around like hot potatoes. This post breaks down the tariff rollercoaster of 2025 thus far; […]

Welcome to the exciting and educational game show, “Is it THIS or is it VAT?!” There have been rumblings of confusion when it comes to all of the taxes and levies floating around so hold onto your cargo containers as we set sail on a TAX-travagant adventure! Meet Our Contestants: Before we jump into the […]

When it comes to ocean freight, it can be easy to observe the competitive nature of shipping rates, service loops and trade lanes and label it market share dog-eat-dog. However, the shifting landscape has affected most ocean carriers in similar ways—which has led to a paradoxical emergence of alliances between carriers. Shipping alliances are an […]

US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) recently announced proposed changes to the de minimis import process. If you’re involved in international shipping or global trade, you simply must slow down and pay attention! But don’t worry… we’re here to break it all down for you in a way that’s as easy as 1-2-3…or, better yet, […]

Tricks of the Trade: Why Shippers Need Cargo Insurance Shipments in transit are subjected to numerous perils; goods may be damaged in a storm or fire, stolen by ghosts in the night, involved in a collision, or just plain mishandled, much like the ill-fated journey in “Deliverance.” To help protect against financial loss or another […]

Imagine receiving a message from an ocean carrier notifying you that all the cargo aboard a vessel, including yours, has been impounded—and the only way you can retrieve it is a boat load of cash or a guarantee at the very least. Sounds like extortion, right? Well, it’s actually a very common event in maritime […]

Pay attention, Agents… Your mission, should you choose to accept it, involves decoding the latest updates to U.S. Customs Bonds—the unofficial and secret weapon that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and other Partner Government Agencies (PGA) have at their disposal to safeguard our national trade interests. Much like the legendary MI6 Agent 007 from […]

Lately, the international trade newsroom has cast a bright spotlight–or should we say dark shadow–on some of the shadier business practices allegedly leveraged by certain popular e-commerce platforms. If you were one of the 123 million viewers that tuned into Superbowl 58, chances are you caught a glimpse of at least one of the six […]

By the dawn’s early light on March 26, we all saw that the Francis Scott Key Bridge had lost its perilous fight with the Maersk Dali. And then we viewed countless videos of the violent carnage, somehow almost graceful, surely caused by bombs bursting in air and not a bump from a boat! Our second response […]