NS OPENING LOTS IN MEMPHIS TO ADDRESS TERMINAL GRIDLOCK
Norfolk Southern Railway opened two auxiliary lots to handle as many as 2,000 ocean containers to relieve the gridlock clogging its main terminal outside Memphis.
ILWU SECURITY GUARD LOCAL AUTHORIZES LA-LB STRIKE
While the security guard contract is separate from the coastwide longshore deal being negotiated, officials are working feverishly to avoid a strike, given the possibility that dockworkers would honor any picket lines, thus shutting down affected terminals.
CALIFORNIA WALNUT PRODUCERS STRUGGLE TO REACH OVERSEAS MARKETS
As summer winds down and the holiday season nears, California’s $1 billion walnut industry is gearing up for its busiest shipping season. The problem is getting nuts out the door.
Farmers started the new marketing year Thursday with a massive backlog of product as they prepare to harvest what could be a bumper crop. The state, which grows about 30% of the world’s walnuts, makes up nearly all US production. The dilemma stems from supply-chain bottlenecks that have cut into both foreign and domestic shipments, costing California producers an estimated $1.3 billion in lost wholesale value this year alone. The logistical woes, including massive container ship congestion at California’s Port of Oakland, risk handing export rivals like Chile and China a competitive edge. The industry also has had to contend with angry customers and plummeting prices California is the biggest global shipper of walnuts and second-largest grower after China. A third of the US crop is consumed domestically and the rest is exported, with top importers including Germany, Turkey, Japan and South Korea. The shipping snarls began taking a big toll last year, adding to a raft of pressures.
HOUSTON LIMITS ON-DOCK LADEN EXPORTS AS ROLLED CARGO ADDS TO CONGESTION
Port Houston is stepping up enforcement of a marine terminal tariff that limits the number of laden exports that can dwell there in a bid to lower the port’s overall container backlog. The restrictions are dealing another blow to exporters who already face delays in getting their cargo on ships due to poor schedule reliability and overbooked capacity. The port said that the limits have helped winnow down the export backlog and improved Houston’s overall container flow. But shippers say more needs to be done to address how exports are handled in the face of surging import volumes that have also sucked up truck, yard, and chassis capacity.
Port Houston since June has been periodically “putting some restrictions” on the number of export containers that an ocean carrier can let dwell at its marine terminals. The variable number of export containers that Houston can store at any given time has resulted in some export shippers dealing with last-minute schedule changes for delivering cargo to the port or risk missing a sailing.
WAREHOUSING SPACE GETS SCARCER IN CHICAGO
Weeks of delays in moving freight from US ports to Chicago are eating into the inland warehousing space needed to get that freight out of intermodal railyards and to customers.
CHASSIS POOLS
MINNEAPOLIS / St. PAUL – Deficit on 20’, 40’ and 45’ chassis. CHICAGO – Deficit on 40’ chassis
DETRIOT – Deficit on 40’ chassis
INDIANAPOLIS – Deficit on 40’ chassis.
MEMPHIS – Deficit on 40’ chassis.
NASHVILLE – Constrained on 40’ chassis
DALLAS / Ft. WORTH – Deficit on 40’ chassis
EL PASO – Deficit on 40’ chassis.
HOUSTON – Constrained on 40’ chassis
BALTIMORE – Deficit on 40’ chassis.
NEW YORK/NEW JERSEY – Deficit on 40’ chassis. PHILADELPHIA – Constrained on 40’ chassis
KANSAS CITY – Deficit on 40’ and 45’ chassis
OMAHA – Deficit on 40’ and 45’ chassis.
St. LOUIS – Deficit 40’ and 45’ chassis.
LOS ANGELES/LONG BEACH – Constrained on 40’ chassis. DENVER – Constrained on 40’ chassis.
SALT LAKE CITY – Deficit on 40’ chassis.
