International shipping, with its ocean freight sector in particular, is a volatile industry. Freight rates go up and down like a roller coaster. But not in the last year. Ocean freight rates have [...]
Mike Wackett wrote an article in the Loadstar that might make shippers consider ocean freight spot rate indices and the fees ocean freight carriers have been charging to guarantee service as [...]
Our last post was an excellent guest article by Jake Rheude about being ready for the next Suez-Canal-level-disruption to the global supply chain, and your business's supply chain in particular. [...]
An intriguing story broke in the international shipping industry at the start of this week. A shipper made a move that has the potential to be disruptive to ocean carriers, who run the world's [...]
In the midst of an early peak season and port congestion, carriers suspend containership calls to the Port of Oakland, according to Bill Mongelluzzo's reporting in the Journal of Commerce [...]
We've been watching freight rates rise to new heights, breaking record after record, for a year. Is it possible for freight rates to get worse? Yes. And they have. After a period of months with [...]
Freight rates from Asia to the U.S. are still very high. In fact, still historically so according to Greg Miller's American Shipper article published on Tuesday. However, they have come down a [...]
The Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) made a regulation move concerning ocean freight carriers. It's actually a bit of deregulation when it comes to carriers filing service contracts. Maybe it [...]
As the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach hit record volumes of imports for March and freight rates reached a new peak, experts are telling us that the days of overcapacity, and the lower [...]
If you thought freight rates couldn't get any higher, carriers responded with, "Hold my beer." We often focus on transpacific freight rates, with the prevalence of importing from China, which [...]
Some shippers are looking at Gulf Coast ports like the Port of Houston as possible alternatives to the severely congested ports along the East and West Coasts. Port congestion like we're seeing [...]
This is a guest post by Maggie Simpson. As the backbone of the global economy, international trade has its own history and quirks. Buckle up as we get the lowdown on some of the most bizarre [...]
We're now deep in a series covering the debate over the 100-year-old piece of legislation known as the Jones Act. The controversial Merchant Marine Act of 1920, as it is formally named, has [...]
Does the Jones Act have a negative impact on the economies of noncontiguous U.S. states and territories? We'll look at arguments concerning just that, with an eye specifically on Hawaii, in [...]
Today, we continue our look at the debate over the Jones Act, looking at the issue of protectionism, specifically when it comes to the U.S. shipbuilding and maritime sectors. Remember, the point [...]
Happy Chinese New Year! This year, the Chinese New Year falls on February 12th, and though it is still February 11th here as I'm typing these words, it is already February 12th in Beijing. [...]
This is a guest post by Jason O'Leary. In many ways, freight shipping and logistics serve as the cornerstone of the global economy. Everything from construction materials to food, to computer [...]
There's a bigger ship backup at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, with more than a score and a half of container ships anchored and waiting to birth off the coast of Southern California [...]
International shipping in 2021 continues right where 2020 left off. That sentence sounds obvious, but what it means is an abnormal start to the year when it comes to ocean freight shipping, and [...]
I've typed the words "ocean freight carriers are notoriously unreliable" so many times over the last decade of writing in Universal Cargo's blog that I should probably have the statement [...]
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