Freight forwarders are the unsung heroes of global trade. Whenever there’s a new supply chain shock, they are the companies we rely on to react fastest, to problem-solve strategies for the world’s foremost brands and manufacturers and, ultimately, to maintain the flow of goods.

4FOLD Containers will compress four empties into one unit to be tested in Shanghai-Chicago-Shanghai experiment

Last February I wrote an article entitled “Container Crisis Opportunity in the Multipurpose Sector” [AJOT Issue #718, Breakbulk Quarterly, page 9] concluded the article by saying “It should be an interesting year,” and 2021 didn’t disappoint.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says that he supports an increase in federal funding for so-called ‘Marine Highway’ vessels to shift port containers off highways and on to the nation’s waterways.

A ‘peel pile’, ‘peel-off’ or ‘flow stack’ is a concept first introduced in 2015 that is getting more usage at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach as a result of the increase in 2021 import cargo congestion, according to Mason George, president of IMC Companies, National Accounts.

Larry Gross, president, Gross Transportation Consulting, told AJOT that he sees evidence the congestion crisis will ease as more ocean carrier sailings are shifted from the congested Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach and to Atlantic coast ports

At a technical briefing this week, the Port of Montreal updated the procurement process that national or international consortiums need to follow in seeking to partner with Canada’s second largest maritime gateway in its biggest project in decades

In today’s demanding supply chain environment, SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) are facing unprecedented supply chain challenges much like larger companies and, as a result, have been investing in their own fleets due to the lack of equipment available in the marketplace.

A Hapag Lloyd ‘Operational Update’ reported on delays unloading its containers for customers at a number of North American ports published on November 4th, 2021

International Propeller Club President, James Patti, warned that the current supply chain crisis, has exposed the United States’ dependence on foreign flag shipping and argued that the United States needs to: