Category Archives: Logistics

Loose cable connection destroys bridge?

Posted on September 18, 2024 by | Leave a comment

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Office of Marine Safety released a report on the Dali bridge ‘allision’ (not a collision) that destroyed the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore MD USA.

We all read with amazement at the destruction of this major bridge, which carries much East Coast auto and truck traffic between New York-Philadelphia and Washington DC. The cost to repair it is estimated at well over a billion dollars.

What caused the accident? The ship owner, ship operator, captain, and many insurance providers will be anxious to find out who can be held financially responsible— who is to blame.

The report indicates there was prior knowledge before the voyage of a loose cable connection which could have been responsible for the ship’s major 440V power system blacking out. That could be a cause of the accident since it would include the steering system and engines.

The team performing the investigation had a wide variety of members including the shipbuilder, classification society, flag-state port authorities, shipowner, and ship managers.

It may take a year to get the final report out. So no decisions are possible for quite a while.

It seems like a potential for a loose cable is something that should have been taken care of immediately if discovered. The accident occurred on 26 March. Why was it not discovered and fixed in prior inspections? I believe fixing it would have been time-consuming, causing quite a bit of lost steaming time. Were prior inspections not rigorous enough to disclose such problems? Or were the possibilities simply ignored? Maybe the lawyers will find out! See the second article below. And the US government is getting into the act (third article).

With the bridge repair costs so high, the stakes are large.

Barry Parker, New York Freelance Correspondent

September 14, 2024

https://www.seatrade-maritime.com/accidents/did-a-loose-cable-connection-cause-dali-blackouts-

Sam Chambers September 18, 2024

https://splash247.com/dali-lawsuits-pile-up-in-the-us/

Barry Parker, New York Freelance Correspondent

September 18, 2024

https://www.seatrade-maritime.com/accidents/us-department-of-justice-files-100m-suit-against-dali-shipowner-manager

Leave a comment

Posted in Logistics, Shipping, Supply Chains

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

SONAR data show shippers’ East Coast strike worries

Posted on September 12, 2024 by | Leave a comment

It’s interesting how when we measure something we soon are able to pick up signals that something different is happening. Freightwaves has been publishing SONAR data on different logistical measures for quite a while. This article shows several measurements which tell us that shippers are looking for alternatives in advance of any East Coast port strike in the US.

Inbound bookings are up at Los Angeles. Outbound container volume is up at LA and down at New York.

The trick in the graphs here (from the article) is to look at the white line representing 2024 volumes. It’s only two-thirds of the way across. But it’s way up in LA.

So already there is evidence of a flight by shippers to the West Coast ports from the East Coast ports. That’s not good news for the East Coast and South ports, who are the potential targets of the strike by the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA). Those who follow the news know that September 30 is the date by which an agreement should be reached. So far the government has not intervened to force arbitration and require work to continue.

I love the statistics in this article. For instance the Long Outbound Tender Volume Index (tender bids (measured by an index) for trucking outbound from LA is up to 171 this year, way above the las two years. It will be hard to get trucking services outbound from LA in the immediate future; capacity will be short.

A logistics pro might well consider using the SONAR data to look for trends that might affect how she looks for transportation services, and the price she’s willing to offer.

Michael Baudendistel·Tuesday, September 10, 2024

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/shippers-wariness-of-potential-ila-strike-visible-in-sonar-data

Leave a comment

Posted in analytics, Logistics, Supply Chains, Trucking

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Your packages will cost more to ship

Posted on August 29, 2024 by | 1 comment

UPS is adding surcharges to package shipments. The ‘surge fee’ is applied to packages from China and 12 Australasian countries arriving by air.

It should result in a big revenue gain. Shipments from China to the US are up more than 20% from last year. Many of the shipments are de minimis, which means they are small in size and/or weight, and don’t need a special customs handling. The ‘surge fee’ will add 50 cents per pound to these shipments, and all others.

Do you think UPS’ volumes will take a hit? Will shippers go elsewhere? Probably. But the business may not be very profitable, and the least profitable segments will move first.

UPS has also been adding fuel surcharges to package shipments.

At some point, shippers will look elsewhere for a carrier. And meantime, your e-commerce orders will start costing more.

By Ian Putzger  29/08/2024

Surcharges add up for parcel shippers – and there may be more to come

1 Comment

Posted in Logistics, Shipping, Supply Chains

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,