Apr 15, 2021
— According to Rakesh Pandit, CEO of Conbox Logistics: “Not only are European shipments running late, but we’re seeing a lot of cancelled bookings placed in March from countries such as Italy, Turkey and Spain – we have a backlog of 300 teu from Europe to India in just the last 10-days.”
Apr 14, 2021
— A confrontation between truck drivers and Universal Logistics, one of the largest trucking firms in southern California, has spilled into the port of Los Angeles. On Monday, drivers started a strike, picketing a truck yard of Universal Logistics subsidiary Southern Counties Express in Compton, demanding the company reinstate drivers allegedly dismissed illegally and respect the right to unionise. In addition, they called on management to negotiate ‘in good faith’ and stop classifying drivers as independent contractors.
Apr 14, 2021
— The Port of Montreal’s 1,150 longshoremen’s union announced on Sunday that it would initiate a partial walkout, after the Maritime Employers Association announced that it would end certain conditions of remuneration for longshoremen.
Apr 14, 2021
— The Suez Canal Authority yesterday formally arrested the Ever Given. An Egyptian judge granted permission for the SCA to seize the vessel after it lodged a $916m compensation claim against its Japanese vessel owner, Shoe Kisen.
Apr 12, 2021
— Incidents of armed robbery against ships continue to occur to ships while underway in the Singapore Strait. From April 8 to 11, three incidents were reported onboard ships while underway in the eastbound lane of the Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS) in the strait, one of the busiest waterways in the world.
Apr 7, 2021
— Supply chain shocks aside, the last two weeks of March saw air freight stabilise, with just single digit fluctuations in rates. But, as anticipated, forwarders have reported sky-high charter rates in response to the Ever Given Suez crisis.
Apr 7, 2021
— Forwarders in China are reporting a sudden spike in demand for Silk Road rail freight, post-Ever Given. According to Shanghai-based Marco Reichel, APAC business development director at Crane Worldwide Logistics, space on trains to Europe was already tight before the week-long Suez blockage.
Apr 1, 2021
— As the investigation into the grounding of the Ever Given in the Suez Canal begins, the vessel’s Japanese owner, Shoe Kisen, this morning declared General Average. And while there is no reported damage to the cargo, and that to the vessel appeared to be minimal, the cost of the salvage operation could amount to a sizeable bill.
Mar 31, 2021
— An ocean-going tug from Dutch Harbor, Alaska has arrived at a Maersk containership which has been been broken down for more than two weeks in the Pacific Ocean. As of the latest update, the ship was located some 650 miles off Dutch Harbor.
Mar 30, 2021
— Shippers and consignees need to brace themselves for a significant increase in US warehousing costs, according to real estate giant CBRE. It warned that rampant demand, coupled with tight supply and rising construction costs, could drive up warehousing rents by 10% this year.
Mar 30, 2021
— Following reports that shipping lines are predicting increases in spot rates and new surcharges due to the disruption, James Hookham, secretary general of the Global Shippers’ Forum (GSF), warned shippers “to be wary of this signalling of future prices and of demands for new surcharges”.
Mar 29, 2021
— Bangladesh is freeing-up of hundreds of containers that have remained undelivered for years and occupy valuable space at Chittagong port and depots. Shipping agents said the latest move would put some 300 containers back into circulation.
Mar 29, 2021
— Rescuers fully dislodged the "Ever Given" from the banks of the Suez Canal on Monday, sending the skyscraper-sized container ship on its way after six days of drama that paralyzed the vital shipping route, according to canal authorities.
Mar 25, 2021
— Members of the local union of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), affiliated with the Port of Montreal, strongly rejected the employer’s “final” offer. The final offer was presented on March 21 at a special general meeting. Longshoremen voted 99.7% against the proposal of the Maritime Employers Association.
Mar 25, 2021
— Unionized dockworkers at Canada's second-largest port on Sunday rejected an offer from management, a union representative said, raising industry fears of a new strike following crippling work stoppages in 2020.
Mar 24, 2021
— The 20,388 teu containership Ever Given has been freed after grounding against the seawall of the Suez Canal, and traffic on the waterway is expected to resume once the vessel is towed to an anchorage for inspection.
Mar 24, 2021
— Container shipping’s orderbook-to-fleet ratio, which was in single percentage figures as recently as six months ago, is set to surpass 15% as shipping lines pile on the tonnage with Alphaliner suggesting IMO’s 2050 decarbonisation deadline and ship lifespans are beginning to play into the minds of owners. Box shipping’s vessel orderbook-to-fleet ratio had steady decreased from 30% in 2010 to 8.8% six months ago.
Mar 23, 2021
— In their struggle to overcome supply chain disruptions, embattled shippers faced with massive increases in their transport costs have widened the net to source new service providers and indirectly encouraged the emergence of what one contact described as the “dark side of the industry”.
Mar 23, 2021
— Transport Canada has reaffirmed its commitment to a June 12 rollout of Canada’s electronic logging device (ELD) mandate, but with a “progressive enforcement period” lasting 12 months.
Mar 19, 2021
— From Maersk:
With the potential impact of possible labour actions on operations at the Port of Montreal (POM) we encourage you to arrange the pickup of any import containers dwelling at the port no later than Friday, March 19, 2021.
Definitely keep reading.
Mar 18, 2021
— The British government this week delayed the introduction of increased checks on goods arriving from the European Union that many feared would increase delays in trucks arriving in the United Kingdom.
Mar 18, 2021
— Household goods moves to and from Italy can continue to take place in spite of the lockdown restrictions that have forced many Italians to cancel Easter holiday plans.
Mar 4, 2021
— Major port and landside congestion at US west coast ports could last until the summer peak season, according to ocean carriers attending the JOC’s virtual TPM21 conference this week.
Mar 3, 2021
— UK container ports continue to suffer congestion, with Liverpool the latest to come under fire from frustrated shippers and hauliers. Hauliers serving the Peel Ports-owned facility told The Loadstar today they had been calling for an urgent meeting with the management since January to address the chronic delays at terminals T1 and T2, where, they claim, things have reached “boiling point”.
Feb 25, 2021
— India is looking to enter the container manufacturing sector in a big way as the country aims to boost its exports. Container manufacturing is expected to be part of India’s Atmanirbhar Bharat programme, which is a vision for India envisaged by prime minister Narendra Modi to make India a self-reliant nation. Under the program, five pillars were outlined – economy, infrastructure, system, vibrant demography and demand.
Feb 22, 2021
— Shippers are beginning to make alternative routing arrangements in the event of a renewed strike at the port of Montreal. Stakeholders are worried that a strike at the port could come as soon as late next month, when a truce between Maritime Employers Association and the Canadian Union of Public Employees, representing longshoremen, is due to expire.
Feb 19, 2021
— As IAM has previously reported, member companies and the broader shipping community continue to contend with congestion issues at US ports of entry. Delays and congestion are leading to more frequent and higher charges of detention and demurrage, which has been further exacerbated by the global shipping crisis (See IAM's White Paper on this topic).
Feb 18, 2021
— The new border controls with Austria and the Czech Republic mean only doctors, nurses and carers of the elderly can commute to work between the Czech Republic and Bavaria daily. Drivers delivering goods can also pass the border but must present a negative coronavirus test no older than 48 hours. In addition, all who enter Germany via the Czech Republic must register their arrival online beforehand.
Feb 9, 2021
— Successful organizations in the global mobility industry depend on strong leaders prepared to tackle strategic challenges today and in the future. Leadership teams should be made up of professionals with different backgrounds and experiences who bring varied viewpoints to the table. IAM’s Leadership Alliance Program will be designed to help individuals enhance their leadership skills and help organizations build dynamic leadership teams.
Nov 23, 2020
— FMC approved a Supplemental Order that expands the authority of Fact Finding 29, “International Ocean Transportation Supply Chain Engagement”. Commissioner Dye will lead the FMC's efforts into further investigation of ocean carriers operating in alliances, focusing on the Ports of Long Beach, Los Angeles and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Specifically, the Commission will review policies and practices related to detention and demurrage, container return and container availability.
May 13, 2020
— The International Association of Movers (IAM) welcomes the US Federal Maritime Commission’s (FMC) guidance issued recently specifying its new approach to assessing the reasonableness of detention and demurrage regulations and practices by shipping lines and U.S. port operators.
“The Commission's Final Interpretive Rule represents a significant milestone for the shipping public, particularly individuals moving their household goods to or from the United States. For too long, these shippers faced the prospect of thousands of dollars in excess costs due to the unregulated detention and demurrage environment” said Charles White, IAM President.
Apr 30, 2020
— On Tuesday, TRANSCOM J9 held their latest Stop Movement call with Services and industry representatives. A number of different issues were discussed.
Apr 22, 2020
— USTC J9 held their Stop Movement Update call on April 21. USTC Deputy Commander, VADM Mewbourne was on the call, along with the J9 Director, Rick Marsh, and a number of the J9 staff.
Apr 10, 2020
— GAO released their long-awaited report on their assessment of DoD’s Personal Property Program (DP3) and implications of transitioning to a single move manager under the Global Household Goods Contract (GHC).
Apr 8, 2020
— The sudden massive volume of blanked sailings announced in recent days is set to create new records in terms of the inactive containership fleet, which analysts at Alphaliner are now saying will breach the 3m teu mark for the first time meaning some 13% of the entire global box fleet will be out of work. The inactive containership fleet had actually been dropping for most of the last month having hit a record of 2.46m teu at the start of March.
May 24, 2019
— This is the eighth in a series of op-eds that IAM is running to shed additional light on problems associated with privatizing the household goods program to a single source contractor.
May 17, 2019
— This is the seventh in a series of op-eds that IAM is running to shed additional light on problems associated with privatizing the household goods program to a single source contractor.
May 10, 2019
— This is the sixth in a series of op-eds that IAM is running to shed additional light on problems associated with privatizing the household goods program to a single source contractor.
May 3, 2019
— This is the fifth in a series of op-eds that IAM is running to shed additional light on problems associated with privatizing the household goods program to a single source contractor.
Apr 26, 2019
— This is the fourth in a series of op-eds that IAM is running to shed additional light on problems associated with privatizing the household goods program to a single source contractor.
Apr 19, 2019
— This is the third in a series of op-eds that IAM is running to shed additional light on problems associated with privatizing the household goods program to a single source contractor.
Apr 12, 2019
— This is the second in a series of op-eds that IAM is running to shed additional light on problems associated with privatizing the household goods program to a single source contractor.
Apr 5, 2019
— This is the first in a series of op-eds that IAM is running to shed additional light on problems associated with privatizing the household goods program to a single source contractor.
Mar 29, 2019
— USTRANSCOM Public Affairs published a press release highlighting GEN Lyons’ meeting with CEOs from various moving companies who support DoD household goods movement, and a separate meeting with moving industry trade associations. The press release is not an accurate account of the events of those meetings. Industry attendees believe the tone of the press release implied industry’s support to the general’s decision to award a contract to a single provider. To be clear, most of DoD’s current household goods service providers do not support this initiative.
— Chuck White and Brian Limperopulos host a panel discussion with Jim Wise and Bryan Vickers of Pace Consulting regarding preliminary election results and the possible impacts the election and other related political initiatives may have on the moving industry.
— As government instructions that restricted moves to exceptional cases expires on May 11, the French moving associations and Unions have published an industry directive for professional moving companies to return to work after that date.
— According to a decree adopted on March 9th by Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte restricting the ability to move across the country affected by COVID-19, freight is considered an economically viable activity and drivers are allowed to enter, exit and move goods in the designated quarantine areas for the purpose of transporting, loading and unloading of goods.
