XenonFS Blog

It may feel like volumes have begun to pick back up over the last couple weeks, but according to industry experts, we are a long way away from reaching 2019 numbers. China, Vietnam, India, Malaysia, and Bangladesh make up the region that is responsible for the world's manufacturing and apparel industries. The volume of containers moving along the intra-Asia trade lane will tell you the strength of the world's consumer. More volume means more demand for products, less volume means less demand. Based on year-over-year growth, we have had a 4 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) volume plunge. This shows the hardship that the world is still facing that will translate into fewer containers being exported out of China to the United States and around the world. Check out the full article  here .

Volumes have been on a heavy decline since the outbreak of COVID-19. Even though we have begun to see some stabilization and many businesses and regions are beginning the reopening phases, we have not seen the sudden spike in volumes in the shipping industry as originally expected. With that being said, if you look at the numbers for May, it appears that China has become an even bigger importer for U.S trade than before. Hopefully, this means that we will start seeing the spike in volumes as the heavy imports into LA/LB are dispersed to various regions throughout the country. See the full article  here .

It seems as though everyone has felt the impact of COVID-19 and the dramatic decline of business. However, there may be a glimmer of hope for those that handle International, primarily ocean freight. With air rates significantly increasing and capacity decreasing, many shippers are turning to the ocean to move their cargo. This could mean a steady, or hopefully speedy, increase in volumes. Fingers crossed! See the full article  here .

"Leasing companies say a neutral chassis pool lacks incentive to invest the tens of millions of dollars each year to maintain a viable chassis equipment." Even though ocean carriers have moved the ownership of their chassis to third party service providers, many believe that they still have influence over the cost to use the equipment. This has upset draymen so much that the IMCC (American Trucking Associations' Intermodal Motor Carriers Conference) is prepared to file legal action if necessary. It will be interesting to see if both the third party providers and ocean carriers are persuaded to make any changes. Check out the full article  here .

There's no denying that the ELD regulations that went into effect a few years ago caused major panic throughout the industry. It caused a number of truckers to refuse longer haul moves and/or minimize the number of loads they would handle. On top of that, we saw a decrease in capacity with many truckers quitting and an increase in costs as many implemented a layover fee to cover those additional expenses. Since that time, many truckers have found ways to make it work but the layover fees and additional costs have stayed in effect. With COVID-19 and the hardship we have already seen as an economy and an industry, it appears that the FMCSA (Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration) is set to implement "tweaks" to the regulations . Among these tweaks is governing how much time truck drivers may work behind the wheel or on docks each day and week. These changes will create $274 million in annual savings for the U.S. economy and the trucking industry. Check out t

We, in the logistics industry, have already seen the immediate effects of the Coronavirus to international shipping. With China being the first to experience the Covid-19 pandemic, the U.S saw an immediate slow down of imports. Now that the disease has made its way to the United States, we are experiencing the effects even more with many businesses being forced to close shop until the spread of the virus slows down. This is posing a serious problem when it comes to inbound ocean containers that were already on the water when the pandemic began. Many containers are arriving into ports but have nowhere to go as the receiving facilities are closed until further notice. As you will see in the JOC article below, BCO's are being urged to contest demurrage and detention charges with the steamship lines as blank sailings will cause a rash of penalties if it remains difficult to return empty containers to marine terminals. Recent reports are indicating that China will be increasing prod