UPDATE: West Coast Port / Dock
Negotiations Resume
From JOC:
On July 11, 2014, negotiations resumed after a 72-hour break that both sides had mutually agreed to. However, there was no extension to the contract. ILWU is working as normal. There are some concerns that the contract was not extended; but it appears that no job actions are planned.
Second Quarter Import Volumes Skewed
Because of the ILWU negotiations, many importers had contingency plans that involved shipping early – before a potential dock strike. As a result, much of the peak season shipping volume has occurred in the second quarter. Other importers shipped early to East Coast ports [over 6% increase in May YoY] and to West Coast of Canada [2 to 4% increase YoY]
Read more: JOC
Port Congestion
*There is still congestion at LA & Long Beach Ports. From JOC:
The Los Angeles-Long Beach port complex is struggling with marine terminal congestion and long trucker turn-times caused by a number of factors including chassis shortages, delays on the intermodal rail network, poor communication between terminals and truckers and a surge in cargo volume that caught the entire supply chain by surprise.
Even though negotiations seem to be moving along without labor disruptions, there are still chassis shortages, back-up on the rails, and the additional volumes are adding to the congestion.
*Vancouver – congestion due to additional US volumes. Canadian National Railway is moving this additional freight at a lower priority. From JOC:
Carriers were notified of the allocations — which essentially mean CN will not handle, will move under lower priority or move with a surcharge any cargo that exceeds average volume levels from carriers earlier this year, “plus an alloted percentage above the ‘normal volume’.
We are seeing congestion in Vancouver as a result of these allocations.
If you have any questions or if we can assist you with any of your freight needs, please contact us at 800.298.4305 or superior@supfrt.com
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