In January, spot market freight volume declined seasonally, falling 11% from an abnormal December high.
Volume also collapsed 27% compared to the same time in 2014. It was the first time in 19 months, which the year-over-year declined for the index that measures truckload freight demand and capacity,
New international and domestic air trade policies are being devised, by many governments, to increase air cargo services at both domestic and international airports. The objective is to attract air cargo carriers that offer various services for the export and import of all types of domestic and international air cargo.
Authorities are investigating the partial derailment of a freight train early Saturday in South Philadelphia. Inside a CSX Corp. rail yard near 11th Street and Pattison Avenue, the incident took place around 3 a.m. A three-locomotive, 111-car CSX freight train was traveling from Chicago to the Philadelphia area when 11 tank cars containing crude oil came off the tracks. The cars, luckily, had remained upright.
Due to fewer loads available and increasing truck capacity, rates on the spot freight market continued falling the past week.
From Jan. 18 through Jan. 24 flatbeds posted the biggest decline, compared to the previous week. This decline caused them to shed 1.8%, for an average of $2.21 per mile. A decline in the line haul portion of the rate caused about three quarters of this drop, while the rest was due to a lower fuel surcharge. This is compared to a rate of $2.31 per mile for the seven-day period ending Jan. 3.
A record number of courier and trucking businesses collapsing last year led to a raise of insolvencies in the logistics industry. Insolvencies jumped from 20% to 221 in 2014, which is more than double the 2010 figure. Overcapacity in the sector drove prices down.
Lade AS, a Norwegian ship designer, has revealed a new, futuristic design for cargo ships. The new vessel will be using the ships’ hulls as the sail. The ‘Vindskip’ is inspired by sailboats and aerospace technology. The hull is a symmetrical air foil designed to use wind for propulsion, which will generate aerodynamic lift, pulling in the ship’s direction.
New vessels are being built bigger than ever and shipping lines are forming bigger alliances to make the most of them. Shipping lines are utilizing larger ships by allowing other alliance members' cargo on their vessels. However, the past few months have left container stacking areas in the quays full and overflowing. In particular Los Angeles and Long Beach have been citing struggles in handling the massive volume of empty containers during this past peak shipping season.
The U.S. Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service gave a statement that it will aid in resolving the still unsolved negotiations between the Pacific Maritime Association and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union. These groups represent employers and up to 20,000 dockworkers respectively at over twenty ports along the western coastline. Federal mediators are seeking to put an end to these stalled negotiations that have filled the freight shipping news for the past few months.
Hong Kong's port development is losing to competition from South China ports. In a government commissioned report, Hong Kong's share of South China cargo had fallen from more than 70 percent in 2011 to below 40 percent. Hong Kong has become the less preferred choice for shipping South China cargo.
