The Virginia Port Authority anticipates that the volume strength seen in August will persist through the remainder of 2021. “We are nearing the height of peak season and do not anticipate a let-up before year’s end. Knowing that, we are focusing on remaining agile and fluid in our operations and continuing to invest in new assets that […]
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Viewpoint: Will the world’s largest container ship actually provide trade solutions?
The word “historic” in the maritime and logistics industry has become so overused that its meaning now is watered down (yes, pun intended). Every week, there seems to be more “historic” news to report. Take your pick: congestion at the ports, container prices, containers falling into the ocean, the denial of trade over empty containers […]
FreightWaves Classics/Fallen Flags: Gulf, Mobile & Ohio Railroad made key acquisition in 1940
There are many people interested in former transportation companies, whether they were trucking companies, railroads, airlines or ocean lines. They are called “fallen flags,” and the term describes those companies whose corporate names have been dissolved through merger, bankruptcy or liquidation. On this date 81 years ago, the new Gulf, Mobile & Ohio Railroad (GM&O) […]
Rates red-hot in August, shipments high but capacity constrained
August data from Cass Information Systems shows a sequential surge in expenditures, a proxy for freight rates, with shipments stepping higher as well. The year-over-year comparisons for both subindexes were materially higher again. Freight rates up and to the right The expenditures component of the Cass Freight Index (NASDAQ: CASS) jumped 11.3% from July on […]
Container sector is so hot that ships rent for $200,000/day
You can buy a brand-new Ferrari starting at $250,000. To rent a 12-year-old container ship for a mere three months, it could cost you a lot more than that: as much as 68 new Ferraris. Euroseas (NASDAQ: ESEA) confirmed this week that it chartered its 2009-built, 4,250-twenty-foot equivalent unit container ship Synergy Oakland for 60-85 days […]
Container boom continued in August for South Carolina ports
Container volumes didn’t back down in August, with volumes 12% higher at the Port of Charleston than they were a year ago, the South Carolina Ports Authority said Thursday. At the Port of Charleston’s three terminals — the Wando Welch Terminal, the North Charleston Terminal and the Hugh K. Leatherman Terminal — August volumes were 234,688 twenty-foot […]
Supply chain congestion weighs on US rail intermodal volumes
Issues weighing on the supply chain — labor and chassis shortages and congestion — are contributing toward a downward trend for U.S. intermodal volumes. Weekly U.S. intermodal traffic was down 7.3% year-over-year for the week ending last Saturday, with volume at 266,212 containers and trailers, according to the Association of American Railroads.
CMA CGM caps its rates. What does this mean for container shipping?
France’s CMA CGM, the world’s third-largest ocean carrier, will cease all increases in spot rates worldwide through Feb. 1, effectively immediately. At first blush, the decision sounds like a game changer. But even if other carriers make similar announcements, how much of this is genuine mercy toward customers that will have bottom-line effects related to […]
Maritime booking surge suggests capacity could get tighter this fall
Maritime bookings represented by the Inbound Ocean TEUs Volume Index (IOTI) show a 40% increase over the past two weeks, the strongest spike in activity since early spring. This movement breaks the slow downward trend that had been in place since late April and could mean this cycle of tightened transportation capacity may have yet […]
IRS per diem rate going up by $3 next month
For the first time in three years, the allowable driver per diem is going up. The Internal Revenue Service said the per diem for transportation workers in the 2021-22 period will be rising to $69 for travel in the continental U.S. and up to $74 for travel outside the continental U.S. Both figures represent an […]