Mark Solomon joined DC VELOCITY as senior editor in August 2008, and was promoted to his current position on January 1, 2015. He has spent more than 30 years in the transportation, logistics and supply chain management fields as a journalist and public relations professional. From 1989 to 1994, he worked in Washington as a reporter for the Journal of Commerce, covering the aviation and trucking industries, the Department of Transportation, Congress and the U.S. Supreme Court. Prior to that, he worked for Traffic World for seven years in a similar role. From 1994 to 2008, Mr. Solomon ran Media-Based Solutions, a public relations firm based in Atlanta. He graduated in 1978 with a B.A. in journalism from The American University in Washington, D.C.
In a stunning about-face, 19 steamship lines and six U.S. East and Gulf Coast ports have agreed to certify the gross mass of an ocean container, and then use the information as evidence that U.S. exporters have complied with an international treaty requiring that each box have a verified weight before it can be placed aboard ship.
The compact between the Ocean Carrier Equipment Management Association (OCEMA) and ports in Georgia, South Carolina, Virginia, Massachusetts, North Carolina, and Houston, calls for a uniform "terminal weighing approach" to provide what has become known as the "verified gross mass" (VGM) of each container about to be laden on a vessel. Each terminal would weigh a container on certified scales, the results from which exporters could use to certify that the accurate weight had been calculated. Under a 2014 amendment to the century-old Safety of Lives at Sea (SOLAS) treaty, shippers are required by July 1 to provide verified container weight information to the carrier or terminal operator before their containers can be loaded. The amendment has the force of law in the 170 nations that are part of the International Maritime organization (IMO), which administers the treaty.
In a statement issued yesterday, OCEMA said its proposal "aims to ensure fluidity" of operations at the six participating ports, and would "provide flexibility" for exporters shipping from there. OCEMA Chairman Frank Grossi called the proposal "an unprecedented effort" by ports and carriers to ensure a common VGM framework by the July 1 deadline. The proposal must be approved by the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC). FMC Chairman Mario Cordero said today that the plan is under review.
U.S. exporter interests said the proposal moves OCEMA off a previously inflexible approach to resolving the issue. It also represents a change of heart at the Georgia Ports Authority, which operates the Savannah container port, the nation's fourth busiest. In a mid-February interview, outgoing Executive Director Curtis J. Foltz said shippers should be the parties responsible for certifying the total weight because they know the specifics of their shipments better than anyone. Foltz retires from the GPA June 30.
Perhaps more significant, the agreement appears to relieve exporters of what they called the unreasonable burden of certifying the tare weight of empty containers that they neither own nor control. Exporters have said they would continue to certify the weight of the contents of the container. Details of the proposal were still being worked out as of yesterday, OCEMA and the ports said.
Peter Friedmann, executive director of the Agriculture Transportation Coalition, which represents U.S. agricultural and forest-products exporters, said today that the carriers, which pushed for the amendment over concerns an illegally overloaded vessel in transit could be damaged or sunk, "thought they could do this in the dark of night" via the IMO process. "And they almost got away with it," he added.
The situation changed in late April, when the U.S. Coast Guard, the lead U.S. agency on SOLAS because it involves maritime safety, called for a flexible, multi-stakeholder approach to resolving the problem and signed off on two methods it would find acceptable under international rules. The Coast Guard's action was a setback for OCEMA, Friedmann said.
The U.S. House and Senate subsequently held hearings where exporters voiced their concerns over compliance. Late Wednesday night, Sen. John Thune, (R-S.D.), who chairs the Senate Commerce Committee and is the Senate's leading lawmaker on transport issues, requested the FMC brief his staff by month's end on the amendment's potential effect on exporters, the steps industry is taking to comply with the language, and whether carriers and terminal operators are acting within the legal boundaries of the agreements that are on file with the agency.
Friedmann expects further movement from the IMO and ports to avert what he has called a "catastrophe" if nothing changes from the amendment's current language. There has been no word from any of the major West Coast ports, or from New York and New Jersey, Baltimore, Philadelphia, or the Florida ports, on a possible agreement with carriers. Art Wong, a spokesman for the Port of Long Beach, said terminal operators there and at the adjacent Port of Los Angeles, which together comprise the nation's busiest port complex, are weighing their options. "Their current position is that they will not provide weighing services," Wong said.
In his letter to FMC Chairman Cordero, Thune said a broad range of U.S. exporters "continue to raise concerns" over the amendment's implementation on the technological, regulatory and commercial fronts. Thune said the FMC should inform his office of "any appropriate actions to prevent unnecessary disruptions, delays, or burdens to our nation's supply chain."
In an interview yesterday, Cordero said that the agency is engaged in the issue and that Sen. Thune is "taking advantage of our expertise" in evaluating the amendment's impact on the seagoing supply chain. Cordero said he was optimistic shipper, carrier, port, and terminal-operator interests will find common ground before July 1.
Up till now, the FMC has acted in a facilitator's role, helping improve communications and bridging differences among stakeholders.
Supply chain planning (SCP) leaders working on transformation efforts are focused on two major high-impact technology trends, including composite AI and supply chain data governance, according to a study from Gartner, Inc.
"SCP leaders are in the process of developing transformation roadmaps that will prioritize delivering on advanced decision intelligence and automated decision making," Eva Dawkins, Director Analyst in Gartner’s Supply Chain practice, said in a release. "Composite AI, which is the combined application of different AI techniques to improve learning efficiency, will drive the optimization and automation of many planning activities at scale, while supply chain data governance is the foundational key for digital transformation.”
Their pursuit of those roadmaps is often complicated by frequent disruptions and the rapid pace of technological innovation. But Gartner says those leaders can accelerate the realized value of technology investments by facilitating a shift from IT-led to business-led digital leadership, with SCP leaders taking ownership of multidisciplinary teams to advance business operations, channels and products.
“A sound data governance strategy supports advanced technologies, such as composite AI, while also facilitating collaboration throughout the supply chain technology ecosystem,” said Dawkins. “Without attention to data governance, SCP leaders will likely struggle to achieve their expected ROI on key technology investments.”
The U.S. manufacturing sector has become an engine of new job creation over the past four years, thanks to a combination of federal incentives and mega-trends like nearshoring and the clean energy boom, according to the industrial real estate firm Savills.
While those manufacturing announcements have softened slightly from their 2022 high point, they remain historically elevated. And the sector’s growth outlook remains strong, regardless of the results of the November U.S. presidential election, the company said in its September “Savills Manufacturing Report.”
From 2021 to 2024, over 995,000 new U.S. manufacturing jobs were announced, with two thirds in advanced sectors like electric vehicles (EVs) and batteries, semiconductors, clean energy, and biomanufacturing. After peaking at 350,000 news jobs in 2022, the growth pace has slowed, with 2024 expected to see just over half that number.
But the ingredients are in place to sustain the hot temperature of American manufacturing expansion in 2025 and beyond, the company said. According to Savills, that’s because the U.S. manufacturing revival is fueled by $910 billion in federal incentives—including the Inflation Reduction Act, CHIPS and Science Act, and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act—much of which has not yet been spent. Domestic production is also expected to be boosted by new tariffs, including a planned rise in semiconductor tariffs to 50% in 2025 and an increase in tariffs on Chinese EVs from 25% to 100%.
Certain geographical regions will see greater manufacturing growth than others, since just eight states account for 47% of new manufacturing jobs and over 6.3 billion square feet of industrial space, with 197 million more square feet under development. They are: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Ohio, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, and Tennessee.
Across the border, Mexico’s manufacturing sector has also seen “revolutionary” growth driven by nearshoring strategies targeting U.S. markets and offering lower-cost labor, with a workforce that is now even cheaper than in China. Over the past four years, that country has launched 27 new plants, each creating over 500 jobs. Unlike the U.S. focus on tech manufacturing, Mexico focuses on traditional sectors such as automative parts, appliances, and consumer goods.
Looking at the future, the U.S. manufacturing sector’s growth outlook remains strong, regardless of the results of November’s presidential election, Savills said. That’s because both candidates favor protectionist trade policies, and since significant change to federal incentives would require a single party to control both the legislative and executive branches. Rather than relying on changes in political leadership, future growth of U.S. manufacturing now hinges on finding affordable, reliable power amid increasing competition between manufacturing sites and data centers, Savills 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.