On Friday, the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) served its initial decision, fining Hapag-Lloyd over $800,000 for violating the Shipping Act by assessing unfair detention fees against a drayage [...]
It seems like every time you turn around there's a new fee announced at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Sometimes those fees are merely threats in a less-than-successful attempt to speed [...]
Here we go again. Two weeks ago we were talking about China putting a whole province, millions and millions of people, on lockdown. This week, China put Shanghai on lockdown. Keith Wallis [...]
To help shippers improve their international shipping, Universal Cargo’s blog often points out problems with, risks to, and likely disruptions in the supply chain. The goal of making [...]
We may have seen a full shift in U.S. import patterns for 2022, particularly with an increase in cargo volumes through East Coast ports. Bill Mongelluzzo reports in the Journal of [...]
Three-month-plus transit times for sailings goods across the Pacific? After more than a year of severe congestion at U.S. ports, especially at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach and along [...]
This will be the last blog I post in 2021, so I can spend the holidays with family. What better time to do a look back at the year's top international shipping news stories? This year, stories [...]
The peak season is often a time of particular danger for shippers' cargo from cargo theft. For the last 18 months, it has felt like a continuous peak season, with near-record to record high [...]
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg went on a press tour, where he talked about the port congestion we're seeing right now. The Biden Administration has been talking about the ports and the [...]
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, [...]
When will it end? There are plenty of things people could be saying that about nowadays, but for U.S. shippers, unbelievably high freight rates; terribly congested ports; and disrupted, [...]
Let’s talk rail and what’s happening with getting shipping containers out of the Port of Los Angeles, so your goods can get to your businesses around the U.S. Universal Cargo’s [...]
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. [...]
There are three international shipping news stories making headlines this week that shippers should know about. These are the kind of stories that affect U.S. importers and exporters' bottom [...]
As ports are congested on both coasts of the U.S., there's a fully capable terminal at the Port of Charleston where carriers are not sending their ships. Rather than call at this terminal, [...]
There's a new 2020 doomsday word floating out there: shipageddon. NBC, New York Times, and the Washington Post – none of which is my favorite news source – have all been throwing the word into [...]
Before 2020 hits, let's take a look back at 2019. What happened in international shipping this year didn't happen in a bubble. Just like events of years past affected this year, the things [...]
As 2019 draws to a close, a ton of things are happening in international shipping. You would think with the last three blogs getting into IMO 2020, Incoterm changes with Incoterms 2020, and the [...]
There's tension building with the dockworkers at West Coast ports.
Shippers have been feeling good about stability at the ports because of the contract extension and new contract the [...]
'Tis the season for congestion. No, I'm not talking about whatever bug your kid brought home from school, although there is plenty of that. I'm talking port congestion. [...]