Spotlight in Brazil later this year , and they are bringing in a lot of cars and auto parts ,” he said . Imports of EVs are expected to be hit when the Brazilian government increases import duties for EVs from 10 % to 18 % in July . The growth of Latin American countries as exporting nations is partly driving the expansion of the carriers ’ East Coast services , PIL said . “ China , and to a lesser extent , Southeast Asia , are the top trading partners of Latin America ,” Lionel Chatelet , PIL ’ s chief commercial officer , told the Journal of Commerce . China ’ s exports to Brazil alone topped $ 59 billion last year , the second-highest on record .

Ship ’ s owners , manager blamed for Baltimore bridge collapse

The city of Baltimore has put the owner and operator of the container ship Dali on notice that it holds them liable for the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge and subsequent closure of the port , claiming the ship was not seaworthy when it crashed into the bridge on March 26 . The city ’ s attorneys on April 22 filed a claim with federal court in northern Maryland seeking to block a petition from Grace Ocean , which owns the ship , and Synergy Marine , which manages it , that

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would limit damages from the collision . Grace and Synergy asked the court to limit any claims made against them from the incident to $ 43.6 million , which is the salvage value of the ship and its freight . Baltimore , though , said that liability shield should be denied and the court should schedule a trial to determine the legal damages from the incident , which killed six construction workers . The city said in its filing that Grace and Synergy ’ s actions “ were grossly and potentially criminally negligent .” The city said the port was responsible for $ 70 billion in economic activity in 2023 . Rebuilding the bridge is estimated to cost $ 4 billion . “ Since

the allision , the Port of Baltimore has ground to a halt . It may take years for it to fully recover ,” the filing said . The National Transportation Safety Board is expected to issue an interim report soon about what caused the crash , with a full report likely to take a year . The Federal Bureau of Investigation also opened a criminal investigation into the incident .

Trucker wait times declining at NS Chicago terminal

Norfolk Southern Railway ( NS ) said it has made progress in relieving congestion inside its Landers terminal in Chicago , which earlier this year caused some truckers to wait for several hours to retrieve ocean containers . NS told the Journal of Commerce that 10 % of all drivers spent more than two hours inside the terminal between Feb . 7 and March 7 . But between March 24 and April 17 , that fell to 5.6 % of all truck moves . Landers is NS ’ primary location for international cargo . “ We ’ ve eliminated many of the multihour outliers , [ but ] it remains true that the hot zone for longer driver dwell is at the middle of the day when we ’ re seeing the bulk of gate activity ,” Truckers acknowledge the situation at Landers is not as bad as it was in January and February . Long turn times remain an issue between noon and 6:00 p . m ., which accounts for about four out of 10 truck moves per day in the terminal . NS said one of the problems is that there are drivers who are cutting in line to get their container faster . From March 24 to April 17 , about 9.5 % of truckers who entered Landers between noon and 6:00 p . m . were inside for more than two hours , but less than 1 % of drivers waited that long before 10:00 a . m . or after 6:00 p . m . NS said it has focused on ensuring cranes are working properly while increasing the number of crane operators . NS also created a dashboard for office staff to check the average dwell time for drivers inside the Landers terminal .

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