Logistics Industry Updates

The heads of three subcommittees want greater scrutiny of the carrier’s vessels used on US services after a recent media report quoted Trump administration officials accusing China-backed Cosco of espionage in US ports.

The South Korean carrier gave no details on the price of each ship or the shipyards that will build and supply the vessels, but said delivery of all 12 is scheduled by December 2029, in line with its five-year 2030 growth blueprint.

While forwarders report a general easing of bottlenecks, they also point out there are still specific terminal hotspots within individual ports such as Shanghai, where berthing delays exist.

Breakbulk-carrying ship capacity is being artificially skewed by global disruptions, leaving stowage space in high demand, attendees at the Port of Antwerp-Bruges Breakbulk Summit heard this week.

The company told analysts during its third-quarter earnings call some customers moved freight elsewhere after it increased truckload rates, only to return through mini-bids as they reassessed capacity and pricing.

But participants on a Hapag-Lloyd webinar indicated the timing and severity of the market correction remain contested, with the outlook heavily dependent on geopolitics.

The drop in transit cargo was a deliberate operational trade-off made to free up space for inland freight, which has allowed hinterland volume to grow sharply this year.

For-hire motor carriers added jobs year over year in September for the first time in 41 months as higher pay and an uptick in demand drew more employees.

Charlie Cunnion most recently served as vice president of supply chain and customer service for CMPC Forest Products North America.

Forwarders say the extra-loader has an allocation of about 1,000 TEUs for India loading, which they believe could also cover any cargo backed up due to space constraints.