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Navigating the Waves: Examining the Looming Threat of Port Congestion

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Global Logistics, Global Trade Daily, News, Ocean Ports

Navigating the Waves: Examining the Looming Threat of Port Congestion

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By Bryn Heimbeck, President and Co-Founder of Trade Tech, an industry-leading global logistics platform. He asks the question: Is it time to worry about port congestion again?

The following outlines Mr. Heimbeck’s position on why shippers and stakeholders throughout the supply chain should be looking for solutions to address the challenge of entering what he calls the “congestion zone” again.

According to Mr. Heimbeck, the White House’s announcement of the formation of the Council for Supply Chain Resilience is coming none too soon. There are a set of key facts facing the US Supply Chain Market today:

  • Carriers have an enormous number of new vessels on order and coming on line now.
  • New tonnage is driving freight rates down, although they seemed to plateau over the summer Peak Season.
  • The US Economy grew at an amazing 5.2% in the 3rd quarter according to Reuters and indications are for continued strong growth.
  • The low water issues in the Panama Canal has significantly reduced the number of vessels that can transit the canal and avoid the US West Coast ports.

“The pivotal point here is the level of container throughput in the ports. This was the bottleneck in 2020 – 2022 and will be the bottleneck again until capacity at the ports is enlarged either through capital development or process changes yielding greater efficiency.

The concern should be that October container volumes reached the same level where port congestion started in 2020. It is probably safe to project that November through February will have lower seasonal volumes but if March and beyond is normal and the economy continues to grow and carriers reroute vessels away from the Panama Canal, then we should anticipate port congestion is exactly the way we project traffic during rush hour in any large city. Congestion is just what happens when traffic volumes exceed a known point.

CALL TO ACTION

It’s time for the industry and the government to move forward quickly in discussing alternative ideas and concepts for process changes in cargo management. Focusing on these process changes stands a better chance of mitigating port congestion rather than waiting for several years to see capital projects implemented.

It’s time to look seriously at leveraging the data flowing to US Customs from the ocean carriers and NVOCCs as part of the 24 Hour Rule. This data includes all legal shipments, is standardized to meet US CBP’s requirements, is complete or otherwise rejected, and yields full accessible visibility that so many in the market have called for.

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Air Cargo, Archives, Global Logistics, Global Trade Daily

CargoAi Is Announcing An Exciting New Partnership with Air Cargo Inc.

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CargoAi is happy to announce a new strategic partnership with Air Cargo Inc., the oldest and largest network of Air Freight cartage agents providing first and last mile services to the Air Cargo Industry North America since 1941. This collaboration is designed to grow both companies’ ability to deliver to their customers the most innovative and advanced way of managing their shipments through CargoAi’ freight forwarding solution.

Driven by the passion for building upon and expanding by providing information, service and value, ACI offers an optimized-to-date booking experience of first and last-mile transportation to freight forwarders and air carriers in US and Canada.

A Partnership to Improve Customer Experience

To help its customers, CargoAi is partnering with Air Cargo Inc. to provide freight forwarders and their customers with real-time visibility.  The synergy between the two companies allows for mutual cross integration of the two platforms that will enrich customer experience on both ends by providing visibility on multimodal shipments across the globe.

This partnership will allow ACI’s customers to access CargoAi’s freight forwarding solution, and, CargoAi’s customers will have access to ACI’s platform.

Innovating to help freight forwarders and their customers

CargoAi’s platform enables real-time visibility, predictive ETAs, and the ability to assess route viability and performance. The CargoAi platform will allow existing and ACI’s customers to access air and ground services and get up-to-date and accurate information on their shipments through a single platform.

“We are delighted to announce this partnership and continue in our commitment to make real-time visibility and industry standard. We are certain that this partnership will help to provide a better level of customer experience for Air Cargo Inc and CargoAi customers,” added Matthieu Petot, CEO of CargoAi.

CargoAi is currently in use by over 5000+ forwarders as well as multiple airlines in 102 countries. These airlines include:

Air Canada Cargo, IAG, Etihad, TAP, Finnair and many more

Air Cargo Inc.’s 2700 freight forwarders would be able to access CargoAi’s digital freight forwarding platform, just to be valued customers. Simply click this link to create a free account and you’ll get access to rates and perform eBooking and eQuote from more than 60 airlines.

CargoAi customers can open a free account with ACI by clicking here.

About CargoAi

Launched in 2019, CargoAi is on a mission to bring the best available technologies to airfreight. Cloud native and with an API-first architecture, the company is closing the technology gap and driving the enablement of an efficient and connected airfreight ecosystem.

CargoAi offers a complete range of digital air cargo solutions to freight forwarders, airlines and GSAs, including a SaaS booking application available either as a marketplace and under White Label, an API Suite that integrates directly into TMS and ERP systems, an AI-powered Cargo Business Intelligence as well as an integrated Sustainability solution that spans the entire portfolio.

Using the CargoAi solutions, forwarders are empowered to drive every stage of the air freight procurement process with greater efficiency and visibility- from planning, booking, and executing shipments right through to monitoring cargo deliveries. The gains in efficiency, customer reach and business opportunities directly translate to top and bottom-line impact for carrier partners.

The airfreight’s largest AI-powered ecosystem was selected in the Gartner Cool vendor in Supply Chain Execution Technologies, 2021. CargoAi is headquartered in Singapore with teams in all continents. For more information about CargoAi, visit www.cargoai.co.

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Archives, Global Logistics, Global Trade Daily, Ocean Ports

Port of Savannah to Grow Capacity by 60 Percent

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Georgia Ports will grow capacity by 60% to accommodate increased demand in container trade. The enhancements will bring the Port of Savannah’s annual capacity from 6 million twenty-foot equivalent container units to 9.5 million TEUs by 2025.

“Our expansion is being matched by incredible growth in both warehouse space and logistics workforce,” Georgia Ports Authority Executive Director Griff Lynch said. “The public and private investment that we’re seeing, as well as the number of people being drawn to the business, make Savannah the hottest market in the country for transportation and logistics.”

The Savannah market added 6.5 million square feet of industrial space in 2021, for a total of 84 million, according to Colliers
International. Savannah led the nation in terms of net absorption of overall inventory, so the vacancy rate remained at only 0.76%
at the end of the first quarter of calendar year 2022. Another 18 million square feet are under construction, lifting the market beyond 100 million square feet. From July through December 2021, companies invested $10 billion in new and expanding business infrastructure across the state.

“Georgia’s growing manufacturing, distribution and retail sectors will mean additional cargo through the Port of Savannah, driving the need for increased container handling capacity,” said GPA Board Chairman Joel Wooten. “Higher demand for our services is the reason we have expedited major expansions at the Port of Savannah.”

GPA’s Peak Capacity Project has added 900,000 TEUs of annual container yard capacity to Garden City Terminal as of April 13. Another 300,000 TEUs of capacity are expected to come online by July. Separately, the Garden City Terminal West project will add a total of 1 million TEUs of annual capacity, with the first phase coming online in 2023.

The Port of Savannah moved a record 5.6 million TEUs in Calendar Year 2021, growing volumes by nearly a million TEUs, or 20%, compared to 2020. The unprecedented level of trade crossing GPA’s docks has continued into the current year. Added capacity and adjustments to operations, including popup container yards, have restored fluidity for commerce. Now, Lynch said, GPA is building
to ensure Savannah’s ability to grow new business for decades to come. He noted the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project is now complete, deepening the river channel to allow 16,000+ TEU vessels to take on heavier loads and transit the river with greater scheduling flexibility.

Also aimed at serving larger vessels, GPA is super-sizing Berth 1 at Garden City Terminal. By the spring of 2023, the expanded berth will allow Savannah to simultaneously serve four 16,000-TEU vessels as well as three additional ships. The renovations will add an estimated 1.5 million TEUs per year of berth capacity