Posted on 03/06/2015 11:41:00 AM PST by Vigilanteman
Expected post-Lunar New Year cargo growth will accelerate equipment, cargo handling and other costs going forward, maintain ocean carrier executives.
While the full impact on ocean carrier deployments to U.S. West Coat ports has yet to be measured, major players comprising the Transpacific Stabilization Agreement (TSA) are standing firm on raising rates.
According to TSA spokesman, Niels Erich, container shipping lines have begun the slow work of repairing their networks as U.S. West Coast congestion difficulties ease.
“At the same time, forward bookings suggest that post-Lunar New Year cargo demand will resume after the week-long Asia holidays and continue to pick up pace,” he said.
Restoring service levels and further ramping up to meet sustained and rising demand will, in turn, entail significant operational costs, carriers are forecasting.
Member carriers in the TSA say that overall freight revenues must rise to levels that will address higher long-term rail, truck, equipment management and cargo handling costs, as a “new normal” in shoreside and inland operations grows out of recent congestion difficulties and the new longshore labor agreement.
Toward that end TSA has reaffirmed its March 9 general rate increase (GRI) of $600 per 40-foot container (FEU) for all shipments, and lines have also filed a previously announced April 9 GRI in the same amount.
“Carriers are mindful that all affected parties face higher operating costs as well as lost revenue and business opportunities amid the current situation,” Conrad said.
(Excerpt) Read more at logisticsmgmt.com ...
The entitlement mentality in action: they've just come off an expensive strike, lost scores of customers to east coast ports.
East coast ports are expanding cargo capacity and so is the Panama Canal.
Isn't this just the perfect time to raise shipping rates on the west coast?
Not to worry. Mexico is building a huge port South of LA and it could shut the old American port down.
Yep. An as an added bonus, they could put it on a Mexican truck, fill empty space with migrants and get it in the quick lane for border crossings.
Just doing the jobs Americans don't want to do.
Oh, look, the Chinese are building a canal through Nicaragua. They can just skip California and ship to Houston, New Orleans, or New York.
P.S. Does it bother anyone else that when the U.S. goes to another country we bomb them or overthrow their government, but when the Chinese go to another country, they build canals, ports, railroads? Why aren't we building infrastructure in other countries?
Gee, I guess the Chinese must be obediently complying with every environmental regulation Greenpeace and the World Wildlife Fund can think of, because I haven’t heard boo about this, and none of those wonderful organizations have said boo either.
We used to. Think after WW2. Now it is just too easy to give our money to corrupt government for them to piss away.
Sounds like a plan. Only keep a couple ports open from the Canadian border to the Mexican border and send the rest to the gulf ports. Maybe the unioneers will hostess themselves out of a job.
Mexico based NAFTA trucks have another advantage: less emission control, better fuel economy.
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