Category Archives: Supply Chains

Great Lakes welcomes regular dedicated liner service

Posted on September 13, 2021 by | 2 comments

YOu can now have service from Cleveland to Antwerp, Belgium, Europe on a dedicated container ship. It’s not a large one– 869 teu (twenty-foot equivalent units, half of a normal-40 foot ocean container). But it provides a link for Mid-American businesses that avoids using either coast. Antwerp is a major European port.

One of the risks in this trade is the two-month closure of the St Lawrence river locks for maintenance each year. If your goods will be trapped, there is a free-trade zone (FTZ) at Cleveland so you won’t have to pay duty on your detained cargo– it won’t actually be landed yet.

Previously the firm running it, Spliethoff, moved some container trade using a multipurpose ship.

People have been trying to revive the Great Lakes ship trade for a long time. We will see if this gambit works. It looks like Spliethoff has thought through a lot of the problems and brought solutions for some customers.

Sam Chambers September 13, 2021

Great Lakes welcomes regular dedicated liner service – Splash247

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Posted in Logistics, Ports, Shipping, Supply Chains

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CMA CGM startles rivals by vowing to stop spot rate increases for coming five months

Posted on September 10, 2021 by | 2 comments

The third largest liner firm just one-upped other container lines by announcing a freeze in spot rates.

Of course they are at an all-time high. And Hapag-Lloyd, a smaller liner firm, said they had ‘already frozen rates’. But it’s a great piece of publicity.

It is a bit like a car manufacturer saying they will freeze the price of a car at the MSRP (sticker price). No one tries to pay that anyway.

Sam Chambers September 10, 2021

CMA CGM startles rivals by vowing to stop spot rate increases for coming five months – Splash247

Some responses:

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Posted in Logistics, Shipping, Strategy, Supply Chains

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‘Firms undervaluing their drivers caused this shortage crisis across Europe’

Posted on September 8, 2021 by | 2 comments

Europe has much the same problem as the US when it comes to a driver shortage for logistics.

And the problem made it into consciousness for a similar reason– a new regulation that required drivers to take 45 hours of rest outside their truck, and other work rules. The rules were made for safety reasons, and they make a lot of sense.

But the effect was to prevent drivers from using extra hours to earn money from firms that pay too little. ‘Make it up on volume’ is possible only if you have enough hours to do it.

So drivers increasingly are simply walking away from driving jobs, or quitting and looking for jobs from those few companies that pay more fairly.

The speakers in the article make it plain that trucking firms themselves brought this shortage on, by not paying drivers fairly and not providing fair working conditions.

It’s much the same story in the US.

By Alex Whiteman 08/09/2021

‘Firms undervaluing their drivers caused this shortage crisis across Europe’ – The Loadstar

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Posted in entrepreneurship, Labor Economics, Logistics, Supply Chains, Trucking

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