Trans-Pacific Maritime

Special Report

Small trans-Pacific forwarders feeling ignored by carriers

By Bill Mongelluzzo

Smaller non-vessel-operating common carriers ( NVOs ) in the eastbound trans-Pacific are being advised to pool their volumes to secure vessel capacity and more favorable rates , given that carrier-direct bookings on the trade are at their highest level since April 2024 . The suggestion also comes as sources say some carriers are signing fixed-rate contracts only with the largest forwarders .

“ Smaller NVOs have to pool their cargo with a number of other NVOs . They do that [ through co-loading in Asia ] a lot ,” an industry consultant who was formerly the logistics manager at two national retailers told the Journal of Commerce . Co-loading occurs mostly on an ad-hoc basis .

A second method some NVOs choose for pooling cargo volumes is to participate in a formal working relationship with aggregators where fixed-rate , or named account ( NAC ), bookings are secured on a continuous basis year-round .

Jon Monroe , an aggregator with more than two dozen forwarder partners in Asia , said an increasing number of mostly smaller NVOs have been participating in the aggregator model this past year as carriers have been focusing more on larger direct shippers and NVOs as spot and freight-all-kinds ( FAK ) rates remain high and space tight in the eastbound trans-Pacific .

“ This started some time ago ,” Monroe said . “ If you ship less than 500 TEUs a month , where do you go ?”

NVO control of eastbound trans-Pacific bookings hit an annual peak of at 51.8 % in July 2024 , according to data

Trans-Pacific NVO bookings rebounding after H2 2024 slide

Percentage of US imports from Asia handled by NVOs vs . direct carrier contracts

Control of import trade

54 %

52 %

42 50 %

48 %

46 %

44 % L Jul Jan 2024 Jul

Jan 2025

NVOCC

Carrier direct

Notes : The PIERS analysis doesn ' t include less-than-containerload shipments

Source : PIERS , S & P Global © 2025 S & P Global

L from PIERS , a sister product of the Journal of Commerce within S & P Global . By December , NVO bookings had dropped to 45.8 % of the market .

Some NVOs say the fixed-rate allocations in their current 2024 – 25 contracts , many of which expire at the end of April , have not been affected by the price and capacity trends in the market . One NVO source said he hasn ’ t experienced any difficulties in securing space , adding that the forwarder has “ rock solid ” allocations .

Focus on larger accounts

Still , some NVOs are becoming increasingly agitated by what they describe as a clear trend among some carriers to focus on their larger accounts while ignoring smaller forwarders .

“ If the carriers keep this up at the current pace , it ’ s going to do away with the small to midsize broker and forwarder ,” said an NVO who did not want to be identified .

But a carrier source told the Journal of Commerce it is not accurate to make a blanket statement that carriers will deal only with larger NVOs .

“ Carriers are very aware of refusing to handle someone ’ s cargo ,” the source said . “ No one is going to get refused . Everyone will get an offer .”

Other sources said the problem from the perspective of smaller NVOs is that the carriers tell them to book their freight at the higher-priced FAK rates , which , in the current market , are much higher than the fixed-rate contracts the larger NVOs have with carriers .

As carrier costs have increased in recent years , they have cut back on their sales staff and reduced travel budgets , and the carriers began to concentrate on fewer but larger clients , the consultant source said .

“ The greater the number of clients you have to deal with as a carrier , the more your costs go up ,” he said .

A second carrier source said some liners operate under a model in which they get 80 % of their business from 20 % of their customers . “ For the smaller NVOs , it ’ s ‘ Sorry , not interested . You can book on the spot market ,’” the source said .

On the other hand , a few carriers have built their business plan on the forwarder model and continue to deal with most forwarders , no matter their size .

“ My view of the market is the guy who books 5 TEUs today will book 500 TEUs tomorrow ,” a third carrier source said . “ We nurture those accounts .”

16 Journal of Commerce | March 3 , 2025 www . joc . com