Editor Spotlight is staffing , it ’ s crew availability , it ’ s [ locomotive ] power and people ,” Hinrichs said . “ Having more predictability , having more people stay as part of our organization gives more stability to the people side of that , and it ’ s the right thing to do . It ’ s the right thing to do for our employees .”
The railroads have been criticized for reducing head count too sharply and then being unprepared to handle increases in volumes . Shaw ’ s “ resiliency approach ” at NS , which discontinues the practice of furloughing thousands of conductors , engineers and other front-line workers during a freight recession , has drawn scorn from his activist investor opponent . The Ancorabacked candidates for CEO and COO at NS have said that while they would not furlough employees , they also would not backfill some positions when workers leave the company .
With the next round of union negotiations already under way , Warren Buffett ’ s terse remarks in his annual missive to Berkshire Hathaway investors on Feb . 24 noted the impact of rail contract negotiations on the costs of Berkshire-owned BNSF Railway .
“ Though fuel costs also fell , wage increases , promulgated in Washington , were far beyond the country ’ s inflation goals ,” Buffett said . “ This differential may recur in future negotiations .”
email : mark . szakonyi @ spglobal . com
WSC presses for clarity on new FMC D & D rules
Ocean carriers are asking a US court to clarify what they see as a discrepancy in soon-tobe-implemented detention and demurrage rule making . The World Shipping Council ( WSC ) filed a petition on April 18 before the District of Columbia Court of Appeals seeking answers on the US Federal Maritime Commission ’ s ( FMC ) official rulemaking about detention and demurrage billing to port truckers working on behalf of ocean carriers . The current rule , WSC argues , has created “ an internal contradiction in [ the FMC ’ s ] new rule on detention and demurrage . That inconsistency is already creating substantial confusion and uncertainty for ocean carriers and other industry participants ,” WSC President and CEO John Butler said in a statement . The FMC ’ s Feb . 26 rulemaking on detention and demurrage aimed to ensure that billing invoices from ocean carriers and marine terminals go to the shipper or receiver that contracted for the container , and not to port truckers or other intermediaries that handled the box . The rule would go into effect May 28 . However , the WSC said the rulemaking is
Port of Los Angeles unclear about whether an ocean carrier can bill detention and demurrage to a trucker working for the carrier . Butler said the current rule ’ s preamble allows ocean carriers to invoice a “ motor carrier with which it holds a contract . The language of the rule itself , however , appears to prohibit such billing .” He added , “ WSC asked the Commission to fix this inconsistency through a technical correction to the final rule , but the FMC has not done so . Therefore , the WSC is petitioning the DC Circuit to correct this inconsistency in order to ensure regulatory clarity for ocean carriers , their customers and business partners .” The rulemaking , which has broad support among motor carriers , limited issuance of detention and demurrage invoices to “ the person for whose account the billing party provided ocean transportation or storage of cargo and who contracted with the billing party for the ocean transportation or storage of cargo ,” according to its text . Its goal is to stem the practice of marine terminals locking out truckers that couldn ’ t pay detention and demurrage for the cargo owner . But the WSC pointed out that the rule ’ s language doesn ’ t jibe with its preamble , which allows ocean carriers to bill truckers in some cases as well . The preamble itself states the rulemaking doesn ’ t prohibit a vessel-owning common carrier ( VOCC ) “ from issuing a demurrage or detention invoice to a motor carrier when a contractual relationship exists between the VOCC and the motor carrier for the motor carrier to provide carriage or storage of goods to the VOCC . A primary purpose of this rule is to stop demurrage and detention invoices from being sent to parties who did not negotiate contract terms with the billing party ,” the rule states . “ That concern is not present where a motor carrier has directly contracted with a VOCC .”
Rising China – ECSA trade leads carriers to revamp services
Growing trade between China and countries along the East Coast of South America has led CMA CGM , Cosco Shipping and two partners to revamp services on the trade with the deployment of larger vessels and extra port calls . The move comes amid a surge in freight rates that have risen more than 30 % in the past month , according to Brazil-based freight forwarders who also report a space crunch since the end of March . Under the revamp , CMA CGM , Cosco Shipping , Singapore-based PIL and Taiwan ’ s Evergreen Marine will reshuffle their joint services to provide dedicated coverage to specific East Coast
South America countries including Brazil , Uruguay and Argentina . The Asia – Latin America trade is now the second-largest in terms of scheduled quarterly capacity , accounting for approximately 526,000 TEUs , or almost 25 %, of total capacity on Latin America trades in the first quarter this year , MDS Transmodal figures show . Freight forwarders said container freight rates have increased by about a third since the beginning of the month after carriers , including Hapag-Lloyd , levied a general rate increase of $ 1,000 to reach $ 4,000 on all container sizes from Asia to Latin America . Fabrizio De Paulis , managing director of Brazil forwarder De Paulis Logistics & SCM Eireli , said rates are even higher at approximately $ 4,600 per FEU , with the space crunch set to continue . Mauricio Fisch , director of Brazil forwarder Ocean Express , indicated container volumes and rates would continue to remain strong in the coming months . “ Chinese electric vehicle [ EV ] maker BYD will open a factory
6 Journal of Commerce | May 6 , 2024 www . joc . com