Weekly Newsletter

The drayage industry is hoping that maritime regulators will come out of the government shutdown and clarify rulemaking aimed at shielding them from unfounded demurrage charges for the late return or retrieval of containers at marine terminals. In the meantime, a former FMC member is encouraging truckers and terminal operators to continue filing their concerns with the appropriate federal agencies, knowing that responses may be late in coming. Drayage operators’ concerns center on the impact of the DC Court of Appeals in late September striking down part of an FMC rulemaking to clarify who is responsible for charges on the delayed retrieval and return of containers to marine terminals. Ocean carriers, truckers and terminal operators had anticipated that the FMC would either challenge the court’s decision or rewrite the rule to address the issues the court had with it. The agency then shut down on Oct. 1st, and work has since stopped.

The Gemini Cooperation diverted two US-flag vessels in a TransPacific service away from China due to that country’s retaliatory port fees and one of the alliance partners warned of a multimillion-dollar hit that carriers face on US-flag ships because of the fees. Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd advised customers on Tuesday that two US-flag ships in their jointly-operated TP7/WC5 service will no longer call Ningbo. Korea will be used as a T/S hub. The service switch-up comes as China’s recently unveiled port fees on US-flag ships went into effect on Oct. 14, the same day as similar US port fees took effect on Chinese-built ships and carriers. While China has exempted US-flag ships built in China from the fees, both of Gemini’s affected ships were built in South Korea. 

China plans to charge US-flag, non-Chinese vessels $56 per net ton, approximately similar to what the US is levying. Based on their net tonnage, each of the Gemini ships would incur a $2.5 million charge.

H-L’s five US-flagged, South Korean-built ships would face a total of $125 million in Chinese port fees annually. The US-flag international fleet can also carry commercial cargo to and from China, in addition to any government or military cargo for other Asian countries.

There are currently 57 ships in the US-flag international fleet. Those US-flag ships made 163 calls globally year to date. The US-flag Matson Waikiki, which called Shanghai on Tuesday, faces a $1.7 million fee. Among US-flag carriers, CMA-CGM’s APL division runs the only fleet solely built in China.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is ratcheting up scrutiny on importers through an uptick in queries about specific shipments. Importers are facing a barrage of what are known as Customs Forms 28 (CF-28), which are requests for information issued by CBP. Those CF-28s can then lead to Customs Forms 29 (CF-29), which are notices of decisions that require importers to rectify a wide variety of infractions, including tariff misclassifications, valuation changes, country of origin determination, or free trade agreement eligibility. Players who have been in the customs business for many years have seen more 28s and 29s on a daily basis than ever. CBP’s enforcement has been rigorous, especially in terms of scrutinizing country of origin determinations, even at the raw material level.

Member states of the IMO went into last weekend’s pivotal meeting on shipping decarbonization amid deepening divisions among nations and industry groups on the most effective way forward. Sound familiar? The primary item on the agenda at the IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) meeting in London Oct. 14–17 is the adoption of amendments to Annex VI of the MARPOL Convention. The amendments include the proposed net-zero framework, agreed in principle by a majority of IMO members in April in line with the 2023 greenhouse gas (GHG) strategy. It has taken several years for the IMO to get to this point, but the heavily compromised net-zero framework agreement has polarized the shipping industry.

Meeting Results: A week of tension and uncertainty has drawn to a close at the IMO, ending with a delay for shipping decarbonization and the future, many believe, of our planet. With big players like Saudi Arabia and the USA, applying pressure and using every tactic to slow progress, Seas At Risk is disappointed that the adoption of the Net Zero Framework has been officially postponed for another year, leaving shipping adrift on its pathway to decarbonization.

The TPEB spot rates have climbed about $650-750 to the W/C this past week with BCOs increasing their orders for the 4th quarter now that factories in Asia have reopened following the Golden Week and Autumn festivals. Many believe the carrier’s effort to end a four-month decline in container spot rates may fail, and carriers have few other options. The gain came from a GRI the carriers implemented last week. Volumes to the E/C were up about 900.00.

Most believe these GRIs will deteriorate after a week to 10 days, likely to be followed by additional GRI attempts in November. The carriers have support in the TPEB market now because vessel capacity has been reduced amid multiple blank sailings and some suspended weekly services due to weakened import demand in early August and September. Of course, another factor influencing BCO’s ordering behavior this fall has been tariff uncertainties amid the Trump administration’s shifting trade policies for individual countries. This will play out for the remainder of the fourth quarter.

The big box stores, are beginning to focus now on re-stocking their inventories and placing their spring orders. We may very well see a jump in orders in November and December, a period that is usually quiet, as the traditional peak season shipping patterns this year were disrupted by the constantly changing tariff announcements from both sides of the pond.

Carriers have already filed their FMC required 30-day notice in advance of proposed GRIs for Nov. 1 and Nov. 15, so further rate hikes can be expected as VOCCs attempt to set a bottom with profits on the horizon?

The container ship Istanbul Bridge has completed a voyage from Ningbo to Felixstowe via the Arctic in just 21 days. The 2000-built container ship departed Ningbo September 22nd marking the start of China-Europe Arctic Express Route as the world's first container shipping route via the Arctic. The Istanbul Bridge arrived in the Port of Felixstowe on the evening of October 13th. The voyage took longer than the initially anticipated 18 days. However, it took five days off the previous record in late 2024 from Ningbo to Wilhelmshaven Port in Germany which took 26 days.

CA Gov. Gavin Newsom’s refusal to sign a bill that would have effectively banned automation at the state’s ports “will undoubtedly lead to a loss of jobs,” the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) said last week. But maritime employers hailed Newsom’s decision, saying it “reinforces the integrity of collective bargaining” at West Coast ports. The bill, known as SB 34, would have banned automated or remotely operated cargo-handling equipment from plugging into the state’s power grid. Newsom late Monday refused to sign the bill, in effect killing it. That means the collective bargaining process between the ILWU and the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA), and not legislative proposals outside of the coastwide contract, will continue to determine the role of marine terminal automation at California’s ports. The dockworkers’ union supports California’s attempts to reduce port-related emissions, but not at the sacrifice of longshore jobs. The union pulled no punches in saying Newsom’s decision will have political repercussions. PMA President Stephen Hennessey said in a letter to Newsom that by threatening the efficiencies inherent in automated container terminals, SB 34 would have made California’s ports less competitive. PMA represents shipping lines and terminal operators in negotiating the coastwide labor contract with the ILWU.

The 2008 ILWU-PMA contract defined the process by which individual PMA terminal operators that choose to do so can automate their facilities. In return, PMA agreed to an increase in wages and retirement benefits for all ILWU members coastwide. Long Beach Container Terminal and TraPac in Los Angeles have fully automated terminals, while APM Terminal in LA has automated 100 acres of its 400-acre terminal. Since the 2008 contract, the ILWU on several occasions has promoted restrictions on automation before port commissions, city councils and the state legislature through environmental legislation and work-related issues in an attempt to circumvent the language in the contract.

Freight imbalances and changes in load capacity in various trade lanes are tightening truckload capacity, but not by a lot. Reduced import volumes and a crackdown on illegal drivers have combined with seasonal peak demand to push spot pricing higher in some lanes, but most measures of dry-van TL spot pricing have changed little since August. Transactional TL pricing is rising but it’s not a pattern shift. It’s still a soft market, but the market has seen cancellations increase and rates per mile go up. It is still to be determined of this is something that changes the market post-peak.

Over the course of 2025, several events, including the July 4th holiday and nationwide roadside truck and driver inspections, have led to short-term surges in spot truckload pricing, but rates have fallen back after those events. There’s no clear evidence of either a demand catalyst or a supply chokepoint that would change that pattern.

Truckload rates typically increase during the fourth-quarter peak. Last year, the average dry-van rate from DAT Freight & Analytics rose from $1.61 per mile on Sept. 15 to $1.84 per mile on Jan. 5, 2025, before dropping back to $1.60 per mile by April 13. Indications are that spot rates are on a similar seasonal trajectory at the start of the fourth quarter.

In response to US tariff threats, provincial liquor authorities stripped American booze from store shelves. Canadian tourism to the United States plummeted. And British Columbia’s premier, David Eby, threatened to place tolls on commercial trucks traveling from the U.S. through B.C. to Alaska along the Alaska Highway. Doing so would further increase Alaska’s already high cost of living and possibly disrupt its food supply chain.

LTL carrier Roadrunner has developed a new set of pickup and delivery tools for customers to track their shipments and set up appointment times, part of a broader effort to use technology to decrease missed pickups. The investment stems from a strategic decision in 2023 to reinvent last-mile efficiency through a hybrid approach, building proprietary tools in-house while integrating best-in-class external components. The result could be a seamless experience for Roadrunner’s nationwide owner-operator network and customers. The company said this week that it has driven down missed pickups from nearly 30% in the early 2020s to 0.5% today. These service improvements have coincided with a rebound in the company’s financial fortunes in an LTL market that has retained pricing power despite muted demand in 2025.

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