CARRIX TO EXPAND NORTH AMERICAN TERMINAL FOOTPRINT
Carrix, a leading marine terminal operator based in Seattle, Washington, has announced plans to expand its North American terminal footprint with the purchase Ceres Terminals. Ceres currently operates in 18 locations throughout North America, including California, Houston, Montreal, Vancouver, B.C., and the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf coast regions. Its container terminals can handle approximately 10 million TEUs per year. In the past eight years, Ceres has broadened its stevedoring operations to include a range of terminal concessions that offer on-dock logistics services for containers, roll-on roll-off cargo, breakbulk cargo, and cruise passengers.
USDOT AWARDS $40M TO BOOST PORT EMISSIONS REDUCTION, SURFACE PROJECTS
The US Department of Transportation (USDOT) has awarded nearly $40 million in federal dollars to US ports to fund emissions projects, rail enhancements and trucking facilities aimed at improving cargo flow and reducing environmental impacts. The 2023 fiscal year funding came from the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) program, which has invested more than $2.2 billion this fiscal year to improve infrastructure throughout the nation’s supply chain.
SHIPPING INDUSTRY BRACED FOR EXTENDED STRIKE AT BC PORTS
The container shipping industry in Western Canada is bracing for the possibility of an extended strike at the ports of Prince Rupert and Vancouver after longshore workers went on strike Saturday morning as threatened over a contract dispute. The ports are adjusting operations to mitigate cargo buildup as both sides remain far apart on how to best fill existing heavy-duty maintenance jobs and whether the union’s remit should expand to other types of maintenance jobs at facilities.
VESSEL SCHEDULE RELIABILITY TO US WEST COAST HITS TWO-YEAR HIGH: SEA-INTELLIGENCE
Vessel schedule reliability from Asia to the US West Coast rose marginally in May, but nonetheless hit a two-year high, Sea-Intelligence Maritime Analysis. On-time performance of 52.6% last month was up 2.4 percentage points from April, while East Coast reliability slipped 3.3 percentage points to 42.9%, Sea-Intelligence said in its latest Global Liner Performance report.
CPKC INKS DEAL WITH HAPAG-LLOYD TO BOOST MEXICO INTERMODAL PLAY
New partnerships in ocean transportation and temperature-controlled intermodal will be major catalysts for growth in Canadian Pacific-Kansas City’s (CPKC’s) Mexico-US intermodal franchise over the next five years, the railroad says. CPKC, at its annual investor day, said it had inked a deal with Hapag-Lloyd that involves the ocean carrier bringing in containers to the port of Lazaro Cardenas on Mexico’s Pacific Coast, while CPKC will then move the boxes to the US via rail.
INTERMODAL PROVIDERS SLASH RATES FOR LOW-VOLUME SHIPPERS TO BOOST BUSINESS
Domestic intermodal providers have lowered contract rates through the end of the year for smaller shippers, according to rate documents obtained by the Journal of Commerce, as they look to attract business to rail amid a weak demand environment. Union Pacific Railroad and COFC Logistics, a wholesaler for BNSF Railway, have updated contractual rates for low-volume shippers, known as the aggregate rates, essentially ripping up the prices that were established in January and February. UP slashed rates 3.5% across more than 200 lanes in the US for the balance of 2023, while COFC cut rates 5% on average across 32 lanes.