ocean freight

When I first started writing about international shipping more than 15 years ago, a rollercoaster was the best metaphor to describe the industry, with its volatile, up-and-down freight rates for [...]

Halted Strikes on Iran Today could have been a day of war escalation. President Trump posted on Truth Social that there was a military attack on Iran scheduled, but he held it off at the request [...]

Ocean freight rates have been elevated since the start of the Iran War. However, as we’ve covered in Universal Cargo’s blog, international shipping’s capacity is not stretched [...]

Last week, we blogged on the opening of the Hormuz Strait, but with the two-week ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran feeling tenuous and Iran warning of possible mines in the water and [...]

With the two-week ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran, Iran has reopened the Strait of Hormuz, but shipping traffic through it is reportedly at a trickle. According to a Reuters article by [...]

It’s time to look at what’s happening with freight rates. Whenever there’s a disaster, crisis, or disruption to a major shipping hub, freight rates are impacted. Usually, that [...]

This is a guest post by Jake Herrera. During each year, shipping volume swings wildly. It only takes weeks for freight availability to go from comfortable to tight. This often happens when [...]

Yesterday (Monday, March 24th), the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) said no to carriers requesting waiver of the 30-day notice period before hitting shippers with fees related to the Iran War. [...]

Competition on the waters of international shipping looks to be shrinking again as the world’s fifth-largest ocean freight carrier, Hapag-Lloyd, made a buyout deal yesterday to acquire the [...]

This is a guest post by Alexander Bley. International shipping often feels like a gamble. You book a container and schedule the pickup. You expect your goods to arrive on time. Then, you receive [...]

Last week, while Universal Cargo’s blog was on a little break for the holidays, U.S. importers of furniture got good news. The 25% tariff on upholstered furniture, kitchen cabinets, and [...]

Universal Cargo presents the Cantankerous Journeys of Cramer the Container! This funny new YouTube series follows the misadventures of Cramer the Container as he experiences and witnesses all the [...]

You can put a fork in it; international shipping’s peak season is done. And despite a little freight rate increase last week, it’s been done. At least on the ocean freight side. Air [...]

This is a guest post by James Burk. U.S. businesses import products to scale operations, but the border presents significant challenges. U.S. Customs and Border Protection enforces strict rules. [...]

Are the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden attacks over? News broke this week indicating they’ve stopped, which has enormous implications for international shipping. No Attacks Since Peace Deal Since [...]

Air Freight Surge A couple weeks ago, the trade war between the U.S. and China escalated. China announced export controls expansions and President Trump responded with a threat of increasing [...]

Barely more than a week ago, Universal Cargo’s blog post was about falling freight rates. Freight rates had seen 16 consecutive weeks of decline and were at their lowest since January of [...]

Are we finally going to see a return of normalcy for container ships moving through the Gulf of Aden and Red Sea to utilize the Suez Canal in international shipping? Rerouting ships down and [...]

Ocean freight rates in the international shipping industry are classically volatile. However, lately we’ve been seeing freight rates consistently fall. To show what we mean, the Drewry [...]

Here we go again. We have a government shutdown as Democrats, wanting to show strong opposition to the Trump Administration, refuse to pass the Republican-led spending bill that would keep the [...]