After four straight days of dray trucker protests in Oakland, the port estimates that 12-16 vessels are at anchor waiting for a berth. The long line of vessels will only grow over the weekend. The truckers, mostly independent owner-operators, are furious over the speed of implementation and lack of clarity within California’s AB5 labor legislation. Cleverly, […]

Issue Date: December 8, 2021 Quote of the Issue: “…too many of us now tend to worship self-indulgence and consumption. Human identity is no longer defined by what one does, but by what one owns.” –  Jimmy Carter.  Demanding Times for Import and Consumer Demand Forecasters ShapLight Focus: US household debt rose to an all-time high […]

Issue Date: September 7, 2021 Quote of the Issue: “Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work.” –  Aristotle  Ocean Supply Chain’s so Darn Freaky, It’s Hurting our GDP ShapLight Focus: The US economy grew 6.5% in Q2 2021, but that figure fell well short of economists’ predictions of 8% growth due to supply chain […]

Issue Date: July 14, 2021 Quote of the Issue: “There was never a night or a problem that could defeat sunrise or hope.” –  Bernard Williams Record Carrier Profits Amid Market Chaos and Dysfunction ShapLight Focus: Ocean carrier profits have already exceeded all of 2020 and are projected to eclipse $100B by the end of 2021, […]

The British Columbia Maritime Employers Association (BCMEA) released an official notice to the Canadian International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) indicating its intention to lockout dockworkers at the Canadian ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert beginning Thursday, May 30th at 8:00 am. The announcement trails the continuously tumultuous contract negotiations between BCMEA officials and ILWU […]

The Trans-Pacific Maritime (TPM) Conference is an annual gathering of supply chain executives wherein industrywide successes and pain points are deliberated, with presentations and discussions typically leading to an overarching path of future resolve in an otherwise fickle trade. However, this year, aside from uniform predictions of relative ocean rate stability throughout 2018, the consensus […]

The Journal of Commerce’s 17th Annual Trans-Pacific Maritime (TPM) Conference opening session tensed as Harold Daggett, the International Longshoreman’s Association president, strongly urged its members “not to engage in any work stoppage or any other violations of our current master contract.”  The active master contract contains a no-strike clause to prevent work stoppages that could […]

Vancouver Late on February 16th, 2015, an agreement was reached between the Canadian Pacific (CP) Railway and union locomotive representatives to enter into binding government arbitration.  The short lived strike that began Sunday is now officially over. Movement of rail cargo is expected to resume as of this morning. CP announced the federal government would […]

The Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) announced the shutdown of vessel operations starting today, Thursday, February 12 (Lincoln’s Birthday), in addition to Saturday, Sunday, and Monday (Washington’s Birthday) to avoid paying longshoremen holiday or weekend pay for slow productivity that is crippling West Coast ports. While gate, rail, and yard operations will remain open per terminal operators’ […]

Despite a glimmer of hope this week in the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) and International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) negotiations on the West Coast, the beleaguered West Coast import trade community is facing yet another serious crisis.  There is a growing shortage of empty containers in China to carry the unexpected high volume of […]

The shipping industry made a collective sigh of relief as word came on January 5th that Federal Mediators were being brought in to help the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) to reach a labor settlement.  Unfortunately, even with mediator assistance, no reported progress had been made.  In fact, […]

The G6 alliance announced late last week the removal of its eastbound Los Angeles port of call from their Pacific Atlantic 1 service (PA1) from rotation citing severe US West Coast port congestion.  The G6 alliance of carriers includes:  Hapag-Lloyd (who announced their merger with CSAV), NYK, APL, OOCL, MOL and Hyundai Merchant Marine.  Hapag-Lloyd’s […]