As always, we here at Universal Cargo are keeping an eye on international shipping news, so you don't have to. Two big items in shipping news right now are the upcoming peak season and the fight [...]
This is a guest post by Gale Richards. Shipping oversized cargo can present a unique set of challenges that require specialized knowledge and expertise. Oversized cargo refers to any shipment [...]
For the first time in a long time, real positive news on the International Longshore & Warehouse Union (ILWU) contract negotiations broke yesterday. It was a localized agreement I'll talk about [...]
This is a guest post by Alice Lawrence. In today's frantic business environment, meeting deadlines is more important than ever. When shipments are late, businesses risk losing customers and [...]
Patrick E. McLean wrote in his book How to Succeed in Evil, "There is no such thing as coincidence, Topper. It is always, always your enemies conspiring against you." Shippers may feel that's an [...]
The Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach suddenly shut down Thursday night. The closure of the country's busiest port complex continued Friday. "Terminals noted they closed due to labor [...]
One of the things we often do in Universal Cargo's blog is give shippers an outlook for how the international shipping freight rate market is behaving and looks to behave. Over the years, [...]
A group of 238 state, local, and federal trade associations sent a letter to President Biden, imploring him and his administration to mediate the International Longshore & Warehouse Union [...]
The Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) released an images to the media of trucks backed up on Friday from a terminal at the Port of Los Angeles. Labor action by the International Longshore & [...]
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 [...]
After a couple years of out of control, skyrocketing freight rates, ocean freight pricing finally came tumbling down. Freight rates have gone from peaks, including cargo routes getting carriers [...]
This is a guest post by Joe Webster. Most U.S. imports are transported via ocean freight or air freight. However, air freight primarily deals with shipments of perishable goods and other [...]
It's become something of a habit when talking about the sister ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach to mention they're the busiest port complex in the U.S. in terms of cargo volume brought in [...]
2022 is just days away from being over, so it's time to look forward to 2023. We'll probably have a few posts focused on what the year will have in store for international shipping, but today we [...]
This is a guest post by James Harrow. On paper, choosing a freight carrier to cooperate with might seem almost simple. After all, so long as you prioritize something with lower rates, you can [...]
Imports from Southeast Asia to the U.S. totaled over $231 billion in 2020 alone, and the value of imports from countries like Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam will grow. Common [...]
Imports for the end of the year were already expected to decline, but at the end of last week the expected decline for October basically doubled. November and December's expected decline [...]
There are lines in current news outlet articles that shippers, importers in particular, will actually be happy to read: "Trans-Pacific shipping rates have plummeted roughly 75% from year-ago [...]
Afer two years of port congestion and supply chain disruption and with new powers from the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022 (“OSRA 2022”), the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) is considering [...]
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 [...]
