Democrat and Republican lawmakers seem to have found something they can agree on: the international shipping industry, and ocean freight sector in particular, needs regulatory change. On Monday, [...]
Shippers, get ready for the freight rate war saga of the ocean carriers to continue. Perhaps the biggest reason for shippers to pay attention to what's happening with carriers is because it [...]
While the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) seems to still be figuring out how to enforce the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022 (OSRA), it seems more shipping reform is on the way. John [...]
On Thursday, Universal Cargo's blog was about MSC and Maersk announcing they're ending the 2M Alliance. The world's top two shipping lines said they're doing this to "pursue individual [...]
Like a bad hairstyle fad, the 2M Alliance is coming to an end. But that end won't be abrupt. The process is not as simple as combing hair along a part, sending this section of hair that way and [...]
Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), the world’s largest ocean freight carrier by capacity, has been making moves that could position itself to leave the 2M Alliance it has with Maersk, [...]
West Coast ports, East Coast ports, Gulf Coast ports... we're seeing congestion all over. A great deal of the focus lately has been on congestion at East and Gulf Coast ports as many shippers are [...]
In the last blog, we looked at how – with the slowing economy – retailers and shippers are decreasing their imports and expected to keep doing so in 2023. As discussed, that should mean [...]
It's kind of a good news, bad news situation. Or more accurately, bad news, good news situation. Because of the slowing economy (bad news), freight rates should see decline (good news) in the [...]
Ocean freight carriers, which have been in the driver's seat for the last couple years when it comes to freight rates, are utilizing their leverage right now to negotiate enormous contracts with [...]
One of the top stories in the Journal of Commerce (JOC) yesterday (January 31st, 2022) was CMA CGM acquiring "a majority stake in European last-mile logistics specialist Colis Privé, a parcel [...]
Keith Wallis reported in a Journal of Commerce article this week that South Korea's Fair Trade Commission fined ocean freight carriers over $80 million for collaborating in setting freight [...]
In July, I went out on a limb as seemingly the only one in the shipping industry to predict ocean freight rates could fall by the end of the year. I turned out to be right. YAY! Headlines like [...]
Check out the Ships Gonna Happen Podcast. Shipping professionals Tony B., David B., and Timmy D. do a great job with the show. On Saturday's episode, they interviewed Universal Cargo's own Jared [...]
Speaking in the East Room on Wednesday (October 13th), President Biden announced: "After weeks of negotiation and working with my team and with the major union and retailers and freight movers, [...]
It's officially a trend. Shippers are chartering ships to exclusively carry their goods. We're not talking about just any shippers, of course. Big retailers, beneficial cargo owners (BCOs) who [...]
At the beginning of August, we shared a story in Universal Cargo's blog about a U.S. shipper, MCS Industries, filing an official complaint with the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) that accused [...]
Today, we continue our look at governmental pressure on the international shipping industry. Having watched carrier competition shrink over the last decade until reaching the point we're at now, [...]
A couple blogs ago, I wrote about three ways ocean freight rates could see a significant drop. One of those ways was if regulators break up the carrier alliances that now dominate international [...]
High freight rates have become a motif in Universal Cargo's blog over the last year. That's not surprising as freight rates have climbed and climbed, breaking record after record, much to the [...]
