TSA Carriers Call for Emergency Rate Hike

Get ready for another rate increase on the Transpacific Eastbound trade lane.

The TSA carriers have announced an “emergency revenue charge” scheduled to go into effect on January 15, 2010.  The adjustment will act as an interim increase until the 2010 contracts are negotiated in April of next year.  The scheduled increase is as follows:

USD 320 per 20’ container
USD 400 per 40’ container
USD 450 per 40’ hi-cube container
USD 505 per 45’ hi-cube container

This increase is in addition to the increase that the carriers announced back in October that would take place during contract negotiations next Spring.  In October, the TSA carriers advised that they will seek to increase freight rates by $800 per FEU to the West Coast and $1,000 to the East Coast.

From what I am hearing, mitigating the January 15th increase will be extremely difficult.  The driving force behind the increase is the financial state of the carriers coupled with decreased capacity due to the carriers withdrawing vessel space. I would expect many carriers will continue to remove additional capacity out of the market over the winter period.

As always, check with your forwarder regarding the possibility of mitigating the proposed increase.

TSA Carriers:

APL, Ltd.
China Shipping Container Lines
CMA-CGM
COSCO Container Lines, Ltd.
Evergreen Line
Hanjin Shipping Co., Ltd.
Hapag Lloyd AG
Hyundai Merchant Marine Co., Ltd.
Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (K Line), Ltd.
Maersk Lines (membership effective December 24, 2009)
Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC)
Nippon Yusen Kaisha (N.Y.K. Line), Ltd.
Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL), Inc.
Yangming Marine Transport Corp.
Zim Integrated Shipping Services

Oakland truckers plan a strike at the port Dec 15-18, 2009

Update: 9:00am PST – Received reports that police presence in and around the port/terminals is pretty heavy. Also rumors that the strike might only last through today.

I received a copy of a flier that’s been circulating amongst the drivers at the Port of Oakland. Supposedly it’s being organized by the Northern California Port and Rail Truckers Association as well as the National Port Drivers Association in Los Angeles. I’ve heard of the National Port Drivers Association but must plead ignorance regarding the Northern California Port and Rail Truckers Association. A quick Google search of both turned up some news articles, but failed to produce a web site for either. If you stumble across sites for either or both, let us know and we’ll be happy to link.

Bottom line, now that the deadline for retrofitting trucks to meet new CARB (California Air Resources Board) and BAAQMD (Bay Area Air Quality Management District) emission regulations is fast approaching (December 31st) a number of drivers who either could not, or did not bother, to get grants or pony up to retrofit their trucks are panicking at the fact that they will be barred from entering the port to pick up and drop containers. An overview of the new air regulations can be found at CARB’s website here:

Trucks with model year 1993 or older engines are no longer legal at ports and intermodal rail yards starting January 1, 2010.

Trucks with model year 1994 – 2003 engines must be equipped with an ARB approved Level 3 control device (e.g. a particulate filter) starting January 1, 2010.

While I have a great deal of sympathy and respect for owner operators in general, this regulation has been long in coming and well publicized by the Port of Oakland, terminal operators, CARB, BAAQMD, local media, politicians, etc. Lots of outreach and communication was done on behalf of the trucker community over the past year not only advising them of the upcoming regulation but also educating them about how to secure grants or funds for retrofitting 1994-2003 year trucks. There are certainly plenty of struggling drivers who tried but could not get money to retrofit their trucks, but there’s also plenty of drivers who either did not care to be informed or couldn’t be bothered to keep up with the regulations. Not to mention plenty of fly-by-night drayage companies who did not bother to think about their drivers and what will happen when they can’t enter the ports.

It will be interesting to see how things pan out at the port today. As we hear more, we’ll let you know how much support this has gotten amongst the drivers and whether there is any significant disruption.

How to use U.S. Customs Data within 3PLs – Zepol.com Guest Post

The transportation industry makes up a large portion of users of U.S. Customs data. Because U.S. Customs data relates directly to every portion of a NVOCC, Customs Broker, or 3PL’s import business, these users see the data as an essential business tool. A transportation service provider that works without import manifest data is at a significant disadvantage to their competition.

3PLwire.com readers are looking for the best tools to grow their businesses, and trade data provides a number of uses that break through traditional lead generation. Because the transportation service industry is unique, there is a need for different information to help sales people do their jobs. Companies and sales people in this industry have the challenge of both maintaining their current relationships and finding new customers to grow their businesses.

What are some of the ways that transportation companies are utilizing U.S. trade data?

Qualifying Companies for their Sales Teams

The most popular use of U.S. Customs data is to analyze what and how often potential customers are actually importing. I have heard stories about sales representatives going to local Customs offices to read through Customs entry books, but it is much easier to use an online application that shows the manifest records of every shipment and that is accessible from anywhere.

Because the data from U.S. Customs is rich with useful information, users use the data to develop lists of leads that meet their requirements. These lists could be based on the number of TEUs imported during a month or what products the lead ships, but none of which could be done with directories or paper records.  Once a target list is identified, further analysis can be done on an importer’s activity to educate a sales person before they step in a logistics manager’s office.

Competitive Analysis

To do effective competitive analysis in the transportation industry, companies must have access to both House and Master Bills of Lading as they exist in the source data provided by U.S. Customs. By being able to view both types of bills, transportation providers can gain an understanding of which providers are currently handling an importer’s trade. See the example of a House and Master Bill of Lading below for a better understanding why this field is important.

Trade Lane and Market Profiling

Instead of basing decisions on broad industry wide reports, smart marketing and trade departments at transportation companies are using U.S. import data for specific, accurate analysis. With a quality trade data tool, these companies are able to drill into their markets no matter how they describe them (region, trade lane, commodity, or other). This data allows them to determine accurate market shares and fully understand who the most important players are and what products are the most traded for a region or market sector.

This also provides a clearer understanding of the supply side of a 3PL’s business, because they can look closely at the available carrier options. Getting a better understanding of which competitors use a specific carrier for a port can provide important ammunition in rate negotiations. With the way that next year’s ocean environment looks, looking at both sides of your 3PL business is prudent.

This guest post is provided by Zepol Corporation. Kevin Palmstein is the Marketing Manager for Zepol Corporation. Zepol is the leading provider of United States trade information. Zepol’s products, TradeIQ™ and TradeView™, provide access to the latest U.S. Import Customs trade data and U.S. Import/Export Census trade statistics respectively. To learn more about Zepol, visit www.zepol.com and read their trade data blog, www.zepol.com/blog.