Newsletter – November 25, 2021

OCEAN FREIGHT UPDATES

Trucking strike could further impact Port of Vancouver operations

splash247.com
Drivers at two Vancouver port trucking companies have voted to strike “if necessary to achieve a fair agreement,” said Unifor, the drivers’ union, in a statement yesterday. A strike would affect almost 200 truckers servicing the Port of Vancouver on Canada’s West Coast. Read more here.

ILWU rejects contract extension requested by employers at US West Coast ports

splash247.com
The Pacific Maritime Association (PMA), which represents 70 ocean carriers and the US West Coast port terminals, requested in a letter sent earlier this month that the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) extend its current labour contract for another year, to July 1, 2023. The PMA promoted the extension as a “necessary step to protect commerce and our economy during this recovery period.” Read more here.

California ‘container dwell fee’ implementation delayed again

lloydsloadinglist.com
The key US west coast container ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have decided on a further delay to the implementation of their planned ‘container dwell fee’ until at least next week following continued progress moving import boxes out of their congested container terminals. Read more here.

Shippers rage at bunker surcharge hikes – ‘our time will return’, they vow

theloadstar.com
Following huge hikes in FAK rates over the past 18 months, as oil prices surge, shippers now face significant increases in bunker surcharges .
The price of Rotterdam-sourced low-sulphur fuel oil (LSFO) jumped yesterday by $14.50 per tonne, to $573.50, with the cost of heavy fuel oil (HFO) increasing by $13, to $440.50 per tonne. Read more here (login required).

GROUND AND RAIL FREIGHT UPDATES

Media Reports US Deadline to Impose Vaccine Mandate on Canadian Truck Drivers is January 22

cantruck.ca
Major media outlets in the United States are reporting that Canadian truck drivers crossing into the US will have to show proof of vaccination beginning January 22, 2022.  Although an official release has not been issued by Washington, the January 22 date would seem to coincide with the expiration of current US exemptions for Canadian truck drivers crossing, which end on January 21. Read more here.

Self-employed South Korean truckers begin three-day strike

theloadstar.com
Twenty-three thousand unionised self-employed South Korean truck drivers began a three-day strike today to demand better working conditions.
The truckers, whose 22,000 vehicles represent about 5% of the country’s freight vehicles, are members of Cargo Truckers Solidarity (CTS), under the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions’ umbrella. Read more here (login required).

CANADA BUSINESS – GOVERNMENT UPDATES

Further storms inbound as British Columbia works to reopen transport links

splash247.com
Transport links are being reestablished to the Port of Vancouver, Canada’s largest maritime gateway, following dramatic floods that took out road, rail and pipeline arteries earlier this month.
Three out of four highways linking Vancouver with inland destinations have reopened for essential travel – highway five remains closed, likely for a long time, smashed hard by what local officials have described as the worst storm to hit British Columbia in a century. Read more here.

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS – GOVERNMENT UPDATES

Supply shifting from global to regional – Gartner

supplychaindigital.com
In the wake of the pandemic there is a growing appetite for supply chains and manufacturing to be domestically based, a Gartner survey of supply chiefs shows.
Of 1,346 respondents, 30 per cent say they are already shifting from a global supply chain model to one that is regionally based, because they see serving the world from distant global factories as unsustainable. Read more here.