Perhaps it was too much to ask for West Coast waterfront labor and management to go on forever without publicly
sniping at each other. But the sniping has begun at an inopportune time for the seagoing supply chain.
The Pacific Maritime Association (PMA), the group representing management along the West Coast, yesterday accused the
powerful International Longshore & Warehouse Union (ILWU) of starting "orchestrated slowdowns" at the ports of Seattle and
Tacoma, threatening to cripple operations at the ports during the peak holiday shipping season. Today, ILWU fired back,
saying PMA has begun a smear campaign designed to deflect blame for the growing congestion problem plaguing West Coast ports.
The dueling statements threaten to shatter what had been an uneasy peace between the two sides as they attempt to hammer out
a new collective bargaining agreement covering 13,000 employees at 29 West Coast ports. The prior six-year pact expired July 1.
Since then, both sides have remained at the bargaining table and normal operations at the ports have continued.
In a statement, PMA said ILWU initially targeted specific terminals at Tacoma on Friday and expanded the slowdown to more
Tacoma terminals and to the Port of Seattle over the weekend. As a result, terminal productivity at the ports, which handle
about 16 percent of containerized West Coast cargoes, have been reduced by 40 to 60 percent, PMA said. Terminals that typically
move 25 to 35 containers per hour were moving only 16 to 18 an hour, the management group said.
The ILWU statement, which called for talks to resume tomorrow, made no mention of the PMA allegations, and an ILWU spokesman
declined comment. Instead, the ILWU statement focused on denying PMA assertions that the union reneged on an agreement that the
ports would maintain normal operations until an agreement was reached. The union made no such pledge, and would not be made given
that both sides have disagreed for decades over what constitutes "normal operations" at the ports, according to the union. ILWU
said it has consistently bargained in good faith since the contract expired despite what it called PMA's "early pressure tactics"
such as secretly shifting chassis maintenance work away from the union.
ILWU also charged PMA with deflecting attention from the core problem of port congestion, some of which has been caused by
PMA mismanagement. Shortages of rail cars and drayage drivers to move containers have been cited as two factors. But the primary
culprit is the inability to find chassis equipment when and where they are most needed.
For decades, ship lines provided chassis to truckers for free. In recent years, however, liners have exited the chassis
provisioning business and have left the market to a small cluster of third-party chassis leasing pools. The transition has,
so far at least, not worked out well for the supply chain.
The Port of Long Beach, the nation's second busiest port behind the adjacent Port of Los Angeles, has proposed to establish
an area inside the harbor district where truckers waiting to enter the port can drop off their empty containers and proceed with
their chassis to retrieve loaded import boxes. The proposal would allow draymen to dump empty containers in a common area for
temporary shortage rather bring the boxes into the complex, where there is already a lack of space, according to Lee Peterson,
a spokesman for the port. This frees up a chassis to be taken into a terminal to be used to haul out a loaded box.
Today, empty containers and chassis are often trucked to off-dock warehouses and storage sites. The containers remain with on
the chassis during those intervals, meaning the equipment can't be used by other parties.
The number of container ships waiting outside U.S. East and Gulf Coast ports has swelled from just three vessels on Sunday to 54 on Thursday as a dockworker strike has swiftly halted bustling container traffic at some of the nation’s business facilities, according to analysis by Everstream Analytics.
As of Thursday morning, the two ports with the biggest traffic jams are Savannah (15 ships) and New York (14), followed by single-digit numbers at Mobile, Charleston, Houston, Philadelphia, Norfolk, Baltimore, and Miami, Everstream said.
The impact of that clogged flow of goods will depend on how long the strike lasts, analysts with Moody’s said. The firm’s Moody’s Analytics division estimates the strike will cause a daily hit to the U.S. economy of at least $500 million in the coming days. But that impact will jump to $2 billion per day if the strike persists for several weeks.
The immediate cost of the strike can be seen in rising surcharges and rerouting delays, which can be absorbed by most enterprise-scale companies but hit small and medium-sized businesses particularly hard, a report from Container xChange says.
“The timing of this strike is especially challenging as we are in our traditional peak season. While many pulled forward shipments earlier this year to mitigate risks, stockpiled inventories will only cushion businesses for so long. If the strike continues for an extended period, we could see significant strain on container availability and shipping schedules,” Christian Roeloffs, cofounder and CEO of Container xChange, said in a release.
“For small and medium-sized container traders, this could result in skyrocketing logistics costs and delays, making it harder to secure containers. The longer the disruption lasts, the more difficult it will be for these businesses to keep pace with market demands,” Roeloffs said.
The British logistics robot vendor Dexory this week said it has raised $80 million in venture funding to support an expansion of its artificial intelligence (AI) powered features, grow its global team, and accelerate the deployment of its autonomous robots.
A “significant focus” continues to be on expanding across the U.S. market, where Dexory is live with customers in seven states and last month opened a U.S. headquarters in Nashville. The Series B will also enhance development and production facilities at its UK headquarters, the firm said.
The “series B” funding round was led by DTCP, with participation from Latitude Ventures, Wave-X and Bootstrap Europe, along with existing investors Atomico, Lakestar, Capnamic, and several angels from the logistics industry. With the close of the round, Dexory has now raised $120 million over the past three years.
Dexory says its product, DexoryView, provides real-time visibility across warehouses of any size through its autonomous mobile robots and AI. The rolling bots use sensor and image data and continuous data collection to perform rapid warehouse scans and create digital twins of warehouse spaces, allowing for optimized performance and future scenario simulations.
Originally announced in September, the move will allow Deutsche Bahn to “fully focus on restructuring the rail infrastructure in Germany and providing climate-friendly passenger and freight transport operations in Germany and Europe,” Werner Gatzer, Chairman of the DB Supervisory Board, said in a release.
For its purchase price, DSV gains an organization with around 72,700 employees at over 1,850 locations. The new owner says it plans to investment around one billion euros in coming years to promote additional growth in German operations. Together, DSV and Schenker will have a combined workforce of approximately 147,000 employees in more than 90 countries, earning pro forma revenue of approximately $43.3 billion (based on 2023 numbers), DSV said.
After removing that unit, Deutsche Bahn retains its core business called the “Systemverbund Bahn,” which includes passenger transport activities in Germany, rail freight activities, operational service units, and railroad infrastructure companies. The DB Group, headquartered in Berlin, employs around 340,000 people.
“We have set clear goals to structurally modernize Deutsche Bahn in the areas of infrastructure, operations and profitability and focus on the core business. The proceeds from the sale will significantly reduce DB’s debt and thus make an important contribution to the financial stability of the DB Group. At the same time, DB Schenker will gain a strong strategic owner in DSV,” Deutsche Bahn CEO Richard Lutz said in a release.
Transportation industry veteran Anne Reinke will become president & CEO of trade group the Intermodal Association of North America (IANA) at the end of the year, stepping into the position from her previous post leading third party logistics (3PL) trade group the Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA), both organizations said today.
Meanwhile, TIA today announced that insider Christopher Burroughs would fill Reinke’s shoes as president & CEO. Burroughs has been with TIA for 13 years, most recently as its vice president of Government Affairs for the past six years, during which time he oversaw all legislative and regulatory efforts before Congress and the federal agencies.
Before her four years leading TIA, Reinke spent two years as Deputy Assistant Secretary with the U.S. Department of Transportation and 16 years with CSX Corporation.
National nonprofit Wreaths Across America (WAA) kicked off its 2024 season this week with a call for volunteers. The group, which honors U.S. military veterans through a range of civic outreach programs, is seeking trucking companies and professional drivers to help deliver wreaths to cemeteries across the country for its annual wreath-laying ceremony, December 14.
“Wreaths Across America relies on the transportation industry to move the mission. The Honor Fleet, composed of dedicated carriers, professional drivers, and other transportation partners, guarantees the delivery of millions of sponsored veterans’ wreaths to their destination each year,” Courtney George, WAA’s director of trucking and industry relations, said in a statement Tuesday. “Transportation partners benefit from driver retention and recruitment, employee engagement, positive brand exposure, and the opportunity to give back to their community’s veterans and military families.”
WAA delivers wreaths to more than 4,500 locations nationwide, and as of this week had added more than 20 loads to be delivered this season. The wreaths are donated by sponsors from across the country, delivered by truckers, and laid at the graves of veterans by WAA volunteers.
Wreaths Across America
Transportation companies interested in joining the Honor Fleet can visit the WAA website to find an open lane or contact the WAA transportation team at trucking@wreathsacrossamerica.org for more information.