Truckers caught in the middle of Charleston port's cargo boom
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https://www.postandcourier.com/business/truckers-caught-in-the-middle-of-charleston-ports-cargo-
boom/article_d6e87eb0-9001-11ec-9c8d-c712fcd1223b.html
Truckers caught in the middle of Charleston port’s cargo boom
By David Wren dwren@postandcourier.com
Feb 20, 2022
Truckers are having to spend more time picking up and dropping off cargo at the Port of Charleston’s congested terminals.
That has some of them avoiding the port altogether. File
What had been one of the Port of Charleston’s top selling points — its quick turn-
around time for truckers picking up and dropping off cargo — is fast becoming a
liability as the State Ports Authority looks to ease congestion on the waterfront.
It now takes an average of about one hour for a driver to wait in a queue to enter
one of the terminals, check in at the gate, pick up or drop off a shipping container
and exit the property. A year ago, it was just under 42 minutes.
Those averages can be deceiving because it includes all of the State Ports
Authority’s terminals, not just the workhorse Wando Welch, where 75 percent of
all cargo is moved. The so-called turn times can be much longer at the Mount
Pleasant hub, especially during peak hours.
Gate transactions — the number of times a container is picked up or dropped off —
were down 9.1 percent in January compared to the previous month. That’s partly the
result of it taking longer to maneuver through the nearly 66,000 cargo boxes sitting
on the terminals — about a third more than the SPA can efficiently handle.
BUSINESS
Supply chain logjam could be around for most of 2022, reports say
By David Wren dwren@postandcourier.com
Frustration is another factor, as some truckers are avoiding the port altogether.
“Container drayage is largely an entrepreneurial market where the pool (of drivers)
is not increasing, and they’re rather independent,” said Jim Newsome, the SPA’s
chief executive. “They can work when they want to work, and not work when they
don’t want to work. That’s just another of the challenges because, bear in mind, 80
percent of what we do is by truck. We’re doing what we can to influence it, but the
options are finite.”
Barbara Melvin, the chief operating officer, said the maritime agency isn’t happy
with the hour-long average.
“We’re in constant contact with our motor carriers about this,” she said. “This is not
what we want to see. We’re used to seeing it in the 45- to 47-minute timeframe.”
BUSINESS
Anchored ship logjam increases off SC coast as Charleston port sees
container overload
By David Wren dwren@postandcourier.com
Melvin said the higher turn times are partly the result of a hiring spree at the SPA as
the agency deals with a record amount of cargo.
“Our yards, with a lot of trainees, are not as fast as they used to be,” she said. “We do
not allow our trainees to just kind of rip off containers. We ask them to take their
time to get comfortable with the process and be safe in their operations.”
A labor dispute between the SPA and the International Longshoremen’s
Association has also kept the new Leatherman Terminal from being fully utilized
to ease the congestion elsewhere because most shipping lines won’t use it while the
two sides are sparring. The Leatherman’s first phase can handle 700,000 cargo
boxes a year. Through the first seven months of the SPA’s fiscal 2022, which started
July 1, just 79,584 containers have moved across the new North Charleston wharf —
less than 20 percent of its capacity.
Meanwhile, truckers say they’re caught in the middle of what they see as a no-win
situation.
“Once we have our tickets it is not that bad most of the time, but getting into the
kiosk and getting checked in by the (ILA’s) checkers is the major delay in my
opinion,” trucker Fletcher Pilling said on Facebook. “One side blames the
computer system and the other side blames the labor issues and us truckers are the
ones affected the most.”
Dueling Volvos
Volvo Cars will build its next-generation XC90 sport-utility vehicle in South
Carolina, but that doesn’t mean the old version of the automaker’s top-selling
vehicle is going away.
Automotive News reported last week that the company will continue to build a
hybrid XC90 in Sweden even as its all-electric replacement will start production late
this year at the $1.2 billion manufacturing campus near Ridgeville. Volvo CEO
Hakan Samuelsson said production of the two models is due to the continuing
strong demand for hybrids in the U.S and China.
BUSINESS
Volvo reportedly to build new crossover as 3rd vehicle at SC plant
By David Wren dwren@postandcourier.com
The new XC90 will reportedly be called Embla — the first Volvo with a name rather
than a mix of letters and numerals. It will join the S60 sedan on the production line
at the plant off Interstate 26. Automotive News also reported that a third Volvo
model — an as-yet-unnamed crossover that will sit between the automaker’s mid-
sized and biggest sport-utility offerings — will be built at the South Carolina plant,
along with the all-electric Polestar 3 for its high-performance sister brand.
BUSINESS
Charleston cruise business shows pent-up demand as port sets a new cargo
record
By David Wren dwren@postandcourier.com
Volvo has said all of the new vehicles it makes will be fully electric by 2030. Car and
Driver points out that leaves plenty of time for gas-powered models like the XC90
to phase out.
Reach David Wren at 843-937-5550 or on Twitter at @David_Wren_
MORE INFORMATION
Georgia-Pacific investing $20M in SC plant expansion
David Wren
This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies for distribution to your colleagues, clients or customers visit https://www.djreprints.com. https://www.wsj.com/articles/ship-backup-off-port-of-charleston-swells-to-30-vessels-11645220187 LOGISTICS REPORT Ship Backup Off Port of Charleston Swells to 30 Vessels Officials at the South Carolina port, one of the largest import gateways on the East Coast, expect to clear the backlog by mid-April The Port of Charleston in South Carolina. The number of ships waiting off shore expanded last month as the Omicron variant sent around 10% of hourly lift operators home sick at one point, according to port officials. PHOTO: SAM WOLFE/BLOOMBERG NEWS By Lydia O’Neal Feb. 18, 2022 4:36 pm ET CHARLESTON, S.C.—A backup of container ships waiting for berths at South Carolina’s Port of Charleston has reached 30 vessels from 19 last month as the supply-chain congestion that has frustrated U.S. importers extends to more gateways. Jim Newsome, head of the South Carolina Ports Authority that owns and operates the port, said he now expects the backlog to be cleared by mid-April after earlier estimating that the armada of vessels offshore would dissipate by mid-March. “There’s really not a minute except for when a ship leaves and when a ship comes that the berth is empty,” he said. “They’re working. But the productivity is not what it could be when a terminal is full like this.” That has left some ships staying longer as containers are loaded and unloaded, he said.
The backup at Charleston, the fourth-busiest gateway for container imports on the East Coast, is growing as the lengthy backlog that has continued for more than a year at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach appears to be easing, but remains extensive by historical standards. The number of ships in the queue for the California ports slipped to 72 on Thursday, according to the Marine Exchange of Southern California, down from a peak of 109 on Jan. 9. The import surge has been fueled by a rush to restock inventories that were depleted early in the pandemic and as retailers have pressed to meet strong consumer demand, triggering shortages of freight-handling equipment, truck drivers and warehouse space. Last year, the Port of Charleston handled a record 1,294,901 imported containers, measured in 20-foot equivalent units, a 25.4% increase over the year before, making it one of several East Coast ports that saw inbound volumes grow more than 20% year-over- year. The backup in Charleston started forming around Thanksgiving, as large holiday inventory orders reached the U.S. and container lines and their shipping customers sought to divert cargo from swamped West Coast ports to alternative gateways. That has created congestion at some East Coast ports. A large backup off Georgia’s Port of Savannah reached around 30 vessels in September, but the port says the flow of ships improved after it added space to store more containers on shore. The number of ships at sea off Charleston expanded last month after the Omicron variant of Covid-19 swept through the port’s workforce, at one point sending home roughly 10% of its 250 hourly lift operators, Mr. Newsome said. There are about 7,500 containers at terminals that have waited more than 15 days for transport to inland destinations, he said, up from under 1,000 boxes that are usually waiting. “We have four times the import containers on our terminals than we had back in 2019, 2020,” he said. “That’s an incredible backup of cargo.” Write to Lydia O’Neal at lydia.oneal@wsj.com
https://www.postandcourier.com/greenville/real-estate/special-report/record-breaking-2022-expected-in-booming-
upstate-industrial-sector/article_3c3f06d6-9006-11ec-8684-db6ab5a50b12.html
Record-breaking 2022 expected in booming Upstate industrial
sector
By David Caraviello | Special to The Post and Courier
Feb 18, 2022
With 51 million square feet of space under construction and a vacancy rate of just 4 percent, the Greenville-Spartanburg
area could see record-breaking growth in 2022, one commercial real estate company suggests. The Duncan/Greer area,
with facilities such as The Cubes at Inland 85, leads the Upstate in industrial square footage. (CRG/Provided)
With 51 million square feet of space under construction and a vacancy rate of just 4
percent, the industrial sector in the Greenville-Spartanburg area is on track for
unprecedented growth in 2022, according to a report from a commercial real estate
firm.
An increase in activity and expansions at Inland Port Greer, a strategic location
between Charlotte and Atlanta, e-commerce and supply chain reconfigurations, the
availability of shovel-ready sites, and the ongoing expansions of automotive and
advanced manufacturing operations all combined to create a surge in industrial
demand in the Greenville and Spartanburg areas in 2021, according to Colliers. Those factors are “paving the way for a record-breaking 2022,” the company added in its report detailing activity in the fourth quarter of last year. The area also has one of the fastest-growing populations and workforces in the country, making it an even more attractive market for ongoing and future investment, Colliers added. More than 10 million square feet of new industrial projects have been announced since January 2021, and another 5.43 million square feet are in the planning stages or proposed for future development. At this time a year ago, only 3.62 million square feet had been announced or were under construction. Recent transactions included sale of one 1.4 million square foot facility, and the lease of a 1.5 million square foot building. Total inventory in the Greenville- Spartanburg area is up to 207.8 million square feet, Colliers reported, with 57.195 million of that in the Greer/Duncan area. Mauldin/Donaldson Center is home to 36.5 million square feet, and greater Spartanburg 24.335 million. Meritage opens two new model homes Meritage Homes recently announced the opening of model homes at two new townhome communities: Douglas Townes in Mauldin and Foxcroft Townes in Greenville. Douglas Townes is off I-385 on East Butler Road, near Mauldin High School. The community is situated in a growing area close to the town of Mauldin, offering easy access to the Woodruff Road shopping district, restaurants, entertainment, parks and hiking trails. Foxcroft Townes is three miles from the restaurants and cultural attractions of downtown Greenville, and near the Swamp Rabbit Trail. Douglas Townes will offer townhomes starting from the high $200,000s, with two floor plans varying from approximately 1,700 to 1,830 square feet. The community includes 56 homesites. Foxcroft Townes offers townhomes starting from the low $200,000s, and two floor plans ranging from around 1,400 to 1,600 square feet. It includes 54 homesites.
The opening of Douglas Townes and Foxcroft Townes marks three recent Meritage Homes townhome community openings in the Greenville area. The Village at Chapel Green opened in July 2021 on Laurens Road in the midtown area with townhomes starting in the low $300,000s. Upstate metros see double-digit increases The Greenville and Spartanburg metro areas were among those that saw double- digit year-over-year appreciation on existing single-family home prices in the fourth quarter of 2021, according to a recent report from the National Association of Realtors. Out of 183 measured markets, 67 percent of metros reached double-digit fourth- quarter price appreciation compared to 78 percent in the third quarter, the NAR said. Nationally, the median single-family existing-home price rose at a slower rate of 14.6 percent year-over-year to $361,700, compared to the year-over-year pace in the third quarter, which was 15.9 percent. Of the four regions studied, only the South saw double-digit price appreciation, at 17.9 percent, compared to single-digit gains elsewhere. “Homebuyers in the last quarter saw little relief as home prices continued to climb, albeit not as fast as earlier in the year,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist. “The increasing prices are indicative of a seller’s market, with an abundance of eager buyers and very limited supply.” The Greenville-Anderson-Mauldin area saw the median sales price of an existing single-family home increase 16.7 percent year-over-year in the fourth quarter to $294,300. Prices in greater Spartanburg rose 14.2 percent year-over-year to a median figure of $246,000. Metros in the sunbelt and mountain states led the list of areas with the highest yearly price gains, with Punta Gorda, Fla. (28.7 percent), Ocala, Fla. (28.2 percent) and Austin-Round Rock, Texas (25.8 percent) at the top. The top 10 most expensive
markets in the fourth quarter saw prices surge, with San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif., leading the way with an increase of 19.6 percent to a median price of $1.675 million. Swayngim promoted to VP at Colliers Dillon Swayngim, an industrial brokerage specialist in the Spartanburg office of Colliers, has been promoted to vice president, the commercial real estate firm has announced. Swayngim specializes in landlord and tenant representation as well as industrial investment sales. Recipient of Colliers South Carolina’s 2020 Rising Star Award, he is a member of the Spartanburg Young Professionals, an organization of the Spartanburg Chamber of Commerce that focuses on social and leadership development, and United Way of the Piedmont’s Young Leaders Society. Swayngim graduated from the University of South Carolina Upstate with a degree in business administration, with a concentration in economics and finance. Greenville site among Crescent acquisitions A Greenville location is among three new industrial developments recently closed by the industrial arm of Crescent Communities, which has been rebranded as AXIAL Industrial. AXIAL Crosspoint in Greenville, AXIAL Bonds Farm in Concord, N.C., and AXIAL 301 Manatee in Bradenton, Fla., join a collection of industrial investment projects in the company’s portfolio totaling over 22 million square feet and representing nearly $2.4 billion of total investment. The three new investments total 1.65 million square feet across eight buildings. Charlotte-based Crescent rebranded its industrial arm ”to further strengthen the company’s already successful industrial division,” the company said in a statement, and provide “customers and investors with unparalleled, customized options that contribute significant value and solutions throughout the entire development process.”
196-acre sale leads Earle Furman closings The Greenville-based commercial real estate firm NAI Earle Furman recently announced several sales and lease agreements spanning locations across the Upstate. They included the sale of a 196-acre property in Honea Path where the seller was represented by Rusty Hamrick of Huff Creek Properties, the company’s timber and recreational land division. In Laurens, Tyler Whims represented seller Robert Graham, in the sale of a 32.97- acre property on Ekom Beach Road to Andrew Flavell. In Anderson, Michael Branch represented seller, Shivamaya LLC in the sale of a retail property at 3808 Clemson Blvd. Jake Van Gieson represented buyer NLJ Ventures, LLC. In Seneca, Branch represented Reckon Group in the sale of a retail property at 508 East North 1st St. to Mickey Kapoor. In Greenville, John Baldwin represented seller Sweetiebyrd Development in the sale of a car wash at 703 Mauldin Road. Geoff Beans represented the buyer, Hollywood’s Luxury Bubbles. In Greer, Michael Roth represented buyer Mended 1473 Properties LLC, in the purchase of 7.81 acres at 851 Robinson Road from Chatim LLC. In Spartanburg, Chandler Ayers represented buyer Weems Acres LLC in the purchase of a retail investment property at 172 South Pine St. In Clinton, Dallas Wright of Huff Creek Properties represented seller Leo Bates in the sale of a 47.9-acre property on Emerald Circle to David Stephens. In Spartanburg, Stuart Smith represented seller MPMM LLC in the sale of a restaurant space at 451 East Henry St. Kevin Pogue represented purchaser High Ball Investment. In Greenville, Whims represented seller Augusta Road Storage LLC in the sale of a 4.88-acre property at 6008 Augusta Road to Aladdin Development Group. In Spartanburg, Brian Hammond and Andrew Babb represented buyer Newburg Investments in the purchase of a retail property located at 228 South Pine Sr. In Spartanburg, Dan Dann represented buyer Danimor LLC in the purchase of a retail property at 220 East Daniel Morgan Ave. from Motte Real Estate. In Cowpens, Grice Hunt, Clay Williams and Will Coker represented the buyer in the
purchase of a 44.11-acre property. In Greenville, Earle Furman, Keith Jones and McNeil Epps represented seller 60 Bear Drive LLC in the sale of an office space at 60 Bear Drive. Michael Branch represented the purchaser, Tarvi LLC. On the leasing front, Jones and Epps represented landlord Welltower OM Group in the lease of an office space at 10 Enterprise Blvd. in Greenville to Blue Mountain Diagnostics. Beans represented landlord Evans Best in the lease of a retail space at 30 Orchard Park Drive in Greenville to Nolan Adult Day Care. In Spartanburg, Katherine Fulmer represented landlord Warrior DMA in the lease of an office space at 104 North Daniel Morgan Ave. to Kennedy Brannon. In Piedmont, Hunt, Williams and Coker represented the landlord in the lease of a 158,886-square-foot industrial space. In Greenville, Keith Jones and Epps represented tenant Rodi Management in the lease of an office space at 2 West Washington St. Jones and Epps also represented the landlord in the lease of an office space located at 2510-C Wade Hampton Blvd. in Greenville to World Relief Corporation of the National Association of Evangelicals. In Greenville, Jones and Epps also represented the landlord in the lease of an office space at 355 Woodruff Road, while Jason Richards represented tenant The Period Project. And in Spartanburg, Andrew Babb and John Bauknight represented landlord 142 Magnolia Street LLC in the lease of a retail space at 142 Magnolia St. to Golden Ticket Meals LLC.
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JOC (/) PORT NEWS (/PORT-NEWS) US PORTS (/PORT-NEWS/US-PORTS) PORT OF CHARLESTON (/PORT-NEWS/US-
PORTS/PORT-CHARLESTON)
Charleston port offers ILA path to resolve
Leatherman dispute
Peter Tirschwell (/users/ptirschwelljoccom) | Feb 22, 2022 12:44PM EST
Print (/print/3682831) The Hugh K. Leatherman Terminal (pictured) remains largely unused despite a backlog of 27 ships waiting
to berth at the Port of Charleston on Feb. 19. Photo credit: Daniel Wright98/Shutterstock.com.
South Carolina port officials early this month presented ideas at a meeting with leaders of the
International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) for resolving a dispute that threatens to delay,
possibly by years, the full opening of the first new container terminal built in the US in over a
decade.
The meeting came as the Port of Charleston, facing record congestion (/port-news/us-ports/port-
charleston/charleston-projects-mid-march-clear-anchored-vessels_20220209.html) and believing
there is nothing preventing carriers from using the new Hugh K. Leatherman Terminal (HLT), is
considering re-assigning certain services to the half-empty facility irrespective of carriers’ reaction.
Attempting to break a year-old impasse (/port-news/us-ports/port-charleston/ila-appeals-
judge%E2%80%99s-ruling-leatherman-dispute_20211119.html), Jim Newsome and Barbara
Melvin, the outgoing head of the South Carolina Ports Authority (SC Ports) and his successor,
respectively, suggested to the ILA that the port could underwrite the conversion of one of the three
ILA locals or “crafts” from part-time into full-time work.
Although two of the locals representing mechanics and clerks have regular, guaranteed 40-hour
work weeks, the third — 1422, the focus of the proposal — is a mostly temporary workforce that
handles the driving of containers to and from ships and lashing work aboard ships, hiring out atdesignated start times through the hiring hall. In the presentation, the port called the idea “a significant step for ILA 1422 to address the long-held view that 1422 was/is only a temporary workforce.” In return, the ILA would have to agree to allow carriers to call at Leatherman while a jurisdictional dispute over work performed at the terminal works its way through the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Newsome said the port cannot afford to wait for what he said could be up to three years until the NLRB case and subsequent appeals in federal court are completed. “All I am asking for is to allow the terminal to be open pending the outcome of the NLRB review of the matter, given the fact we have spent $1 billion in new capacity and the capacity is needed because we have record congestion in the supply chain,” Newsome told JOC.com. “It is clear that we are very far apart on the end game and likely this has to go through the administrative proceeding and legal process,” he added. Reached for comment, an ILA spokesperson said, “No proposal was made to the ILA leadership from the South Carolina Ports Authority.” In the NLRB case, SC Ports accused the ILA and United States Maritime Alliance (USMX), which represents ocean carriers and terminal operators, of interfering in the opening of the Leatherman terminal after several carriers refused the ports request to move services there ahead of its scheduled opening last March. If the ILA does not agree to SC Ports’ proposal to allow for the temporary use of Leatherman at full capacity, Newsome said the authority may take matters into its own hands. “We are not at all willing to stay with the status quo on HLT. We maintain the absolute right via our terms of service to assign services to any of our terminals consistent with their physical ability to call there,” Newsome said. “We will reach a point soon where we force another service to HLT, at which point the carrier may omit Charleston altogether or incur the wrath of the ILA. Likely, we will consider this with our board in an upcoming meeting.” No time to waste After 14 years of planning and construction, the $1 billion, 300-acre Leatherman terminal has been operating at only half of its capacity since it officially opened in April 2021. As the terminal was about to open, carriers became uncomfortable with the ILA’s view that if their ships called there it would violate the coastwise collective bargaining agreement that grants the union jurisdiction over crane drivers and yard workers at any new facility opened in the South Atlantic. Under longstanding practice, such dockworkers at existing operations at the ports of Charleston; Savannah, Georgia; and Wilmington, North Carolina, and are non-unionized state employees. Union leaders have long aspired to reassign that work to the ILA.
Hoping to avoid an entanglement with the ILA, most carriers within the Ocean and THE alliances declined the port’s request to relocate services to the new facility. Hapag-Lloyd, the only carrier that agreed to use the new terminal, calls at Leatherman’s single berth on THE Alliance’s trans-Atlantic AL3 loop, which generates about 3,500 weekly lifts. That is approximately half the capacity of Phase 1 of the Leatherman buildout, according to the port. Following Hapag’s decision to use the terminal, the ILA filed a $300 lawsuit against Hapag-Lloyd and OOCL (/port-news/longshoreman-labor/international-longshoremen%E2%80%99s- association/ila-sues-ocean-carriers-and-usmx-over-south-carolina-terminal- workforce_20210423.html) in state court in New Jersey. The case was put on hold last summer. The inability to fully open the Leatherman facility in the face of historic US import volumes contributed to a backup of 27 ships at anchor off Charleston as of Feb. 19, down from an all-time high of 30 on Feb. 18. Similar to most other large US ports, Charleston is experiencing a huge increase in containers dwelling on terminal acreage, which is slowing berth productivity, causing ships to stay at the berth for longer and forcing others to wait offshore. Rapid volume turnaround In a presentation prepared for its February meeting with the ILA and shared with JOC.com, Charleston officials argued that ILA workers have benefited from significant growth at Charleston. Since 2009–10, the three locals of the ILA in Charleston have seen working hours grow 96 percent, according to the port. And since 2019, the port has achieved cumulative annual container growth of 6.6 percent, the fastest among the top ten US ports, and nearly double the national compound annual growth rate of 3.4 percent. In the presentation, Newsome reminded the ILA of the dire position the port was in when he took over in 2009, noting Charleston “had lost 40 percent of its volume,” and “Maersk/CKYH [the COSCO, “K” Line, Yang Ming, Hanjin alliance] was about to leave, [which] would have equated to a 70 percent cargo loss.” Any settlement with the ILA, if it were to occur, would unwind an already significant dispute that has had ramifications beyond Charleston. Last spring, Savannah announced that it would postpone previously announced plans to build a new container terminal across the Savannah river on Hutchinson Island and instead focus on expanding its sprawling Garden City facility. Officials acknowledged the reason was the Charleston dispute and the potential impact on Savannah’s own hybrid workforce of ILA and state employees. In the meantime, Charleston is using available space at the Leatherman facility as overflow storage for long-dwelling containers, moving them there via barge from the larger Wando Welch terminal to free up space for further container discharges at Wando.
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JOC (/) INTERNATIONAL LOGISTICS (/LOGISTICS-ECONOMY/EDUCATION) LOGISTICS TECHNOLOGY (/LOGISTICS-
ECONOMY/TECHNOLOGY)
Cyberattack shuts down digital operations at
Expeditors
Michael Angell, Associate Editor (/users/michael-angell) | Feb 22, 2022 2:11PM EST
Print (/print/3682832) Expeditors said the cyberattack could have a material effect on earnings, depending on how quickly it can
get back online. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com.
Expeditors International of Washington on Sunday said it was the target of a cyberattack that
forced the ocean and air freight forwarder to shut down most of its online operations, including
booking freight shipments.
Expeditors didn’t release further details on the attack or what specific systems were affected.
However, the company said most of its computer networks remain down while it is investigating
the attack, and the outage is limiting its operations.
“While our systems are shut down, we will have limited ability to conduct operations, including but
not limited to arranging for shipments of freight or managing customs and distribution activities for
our customers’ shipments,” Expeditors said in a statement, adding that there is no timeline for
when its digital assets will be fully operational.
Although it is working with customers and vendors to mitigate the immediate damage of the
attack, a prolonged outage could have a “material impact” on the company’s earnings, Expeditors
said. Expeditors was the 10th-largest global forwarder by annual revenue in 2020, (/international-
logistics/logistics-providers/joc-rankings-covid-19-powers-strong-uneven-growth-3pl-
revenues_20210405.html) according to SJ Consulting.
An ocean freight forwarder not affiliated with Expeditors and who asked not to be identified said
that shippers have reported that they are unable to complete bookings or find information on
shipments due to the outage.This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies for distribution to your colleagues, clients or customers visit https://www.djreprints.com. https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-u-s-import-surge-is-skipping-the-train-11645444801 LOGISTICS REPORT The U.S. Import Surge Is Skipping the Train Shippers are increasingly choosing trucks over railroads because of supply-chain bottlenecks and a need for speed, pushing more freight onto the country’s highways Containers being loaded at the Mason Mega Rail station, part of the Port of Savannah in Georgia. PHOTO: SEAN RAYFORD/GETTY IMAGES By Paul Berger Feb. 21, 2022 7:00 am ET Tens of thousands of container loads of cargo that would normally move on railroads are being hauled on American roads each month as companies look to get around continuing supply-chain bottlenecks. U.S. intermodal transports, in which railroads carry containers and truck trailers, were down nearly 12% in the first six weeks of this year from a year ago, according to the Association of American Railroads, after tumbling in the second half of last year even as retailers and manufacturers rushed to bring in goods. Trucking and rail industry officials say demand to move freight 500 miles or more—which is often done by rail—remains strong, as companies restock depleted inventories. But shippers are more often than usual choosing highways over railroads because shortages
of labor, equipment and warehouse space across supply chains can create unpredictable delays. Railroads “should be seizing the day and winning more business,” said Paul Svindland, chief executive of Bensenville, Ill.-based STG Logistics. Mr. Svindland’s firm has been placing more cargo than usual on trucks because he can’t find enough of the containers railroads need to most easily handle such shipments, he said. Intermodal transport, which uses trucking for the final leg of delivery, is slower and more complicated than long-haul trucking. But it is also cheaper and less damaging to the environment. Lawrence Gross, president of Gross Transportation Consulting, said intermodal loads have lost a little over 1% of their market share to long-distance trucking since the Covid-19 pandemic began. Based on current freight volumes, that translates to about 30,000 additional long-distance truck moves each week, he said. John Gray, senior vice president for policy and economics at the AAR, said freight railroads could comfortably handle an extra 20,000 to 30,000 intermodal loads a week. “I am confident there is a lot more capacity out there,” Mr. Gray said. U.S. supply chains are struggling to ingest record cargo volumes that began surging into the country in the summer of 2020, a few months after the Covid-19 pandemic triggered lockdowns, when consumers switched their spending from services to goods. Imports were up 14% in 2021 over the year before at the nation’s busiest container port complex at Los Angeles and Long Beach, Calif., clogging port terminals, rail yards, truck yards and warehouses.
Monthly intermodal volume carried by U.S.
railroads
350,000 Intermodal loads
300,000
250,000
200,000
150,000
100,000
50,000
0
2019 '20 '21 '22
Source: Association of American Railroads
Railroads carried record levels of intermodal cargo toward the end of 2020 and through
the first half of 2021. But last summer, the system ground to a halt as rail yards in the
Chicago area filled with tens of thousands of boxes, backing up shipments at a key hub for
transport to destinations east of the Mississippi River.
Rail and trucking industry officials say the congestion was caused by too many boxes
flowing into the region for warehouses and truckers to handle, a situation that has popped
up intermittently at other intermodal hubs around the country.
Jim Filter, chief commercial officer of Green Bay, Wis.-based trucking and logistics
provider Schneider National Inc., said shipping customers took 30% longer than usual, on
average, to unload containers last year because their warehouse space was packed and
they had too few workers. That tied up the containers and the steel trailers used to pull
boxes, making it harder to find equipment already in short supply.
In July, some railroads restricted cargo into Chicago for days until the bottlenecks
cleared, pushing shippers to trucking for long-distance routes to inland warehouses. The
period coincided with massive bottlenecks at U.S. ports, where container ships at the port
complex in Southern California waited weeks or months to unload cargo.
To make up for lost time, some shippers chose to pay more for the certainty and speed of
trucking, said Bob Biesterfeld, chief executive of freight broker C.H. Robinson WorldwideInc.
MORE FROM LOGISTICS REPORT
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“If they’re waiting for days and weeks to get product out of the port and into their
warehouse, they’re looking for the fastest way to do that, and ultimately that is almost
exclusively by truck,” he said.
Truckload volumes moving through the spot market on routes that mirror the nation’s
busiest inland route, from Los Angeles to Chicago, were up 130% year-over-year in early
February according to DAT Solutions LLC.
Such demand is contributing to high trucking rates. Dean Croke, DAT’s principal freight
market analyst, said spot rates on the Los Angeles to Chicago routes are up 59% year-
over-year, or $1.04 a mile.
But railroad officials say there are signs intermodal freight is beginning to bounce back.
Tom Williams, group vice president for the consumer products business unit of BNSF
Railway, said intermodal cargo volumes on container ships en route to the United States
are up 25% compared with the start of the year.
“It hasn’t arrived yet, but it’s coming,” he said.
Still, officials warn that without sufficient equipment, truck drivers, warehouse space and
workers to process cargo, rail systems could become clogged again.
”We need the entire chain to be able to handle it at the same pace so we don’t get into a
similar situation where the trains keep coming and the street and the warehouses can’t
process it fast enough,” said Elise Gosch, assistant vice president of intermodal sales at
Union Pacific Corp.
Write to Paul Berger at Paul.Berger@wsj.com
Appeared in the February 22, 2022, print edition as 'More Cargo Is Moving By Trucks, Not Trains.'DISTRIBUTION & LOGISTICS
SC Ports posts 4.7% year-over-year increase
in January
By Teri Errico Griffis tgriffis@scbiznews.com
FEB 22, 2022
A cargo ship steams toward the Wando Welch Terminal on the Cooper River. (Photo/Kim McManus/File)
New year, new S.C. Ports Authority records for containers handled.
Coming off a record year in 2021, the S.C. Ports Authority is looking at potentially another
big year with record amounts of cargo to be handled.“The global supply chain continues to see great strain from handling unprecedented
amounts of cargo,” SCPA CEO Jim Newsome said in a statement. “With record throughput
volumes, we are experiencing a record number of import containers on our terminals
awaiting delivery. South Carolina Ports invested strategically in port infrastructure, and we
are deploying creative solutions to ensure fluidity for our customers.”
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SCPA recorded 226,515 TEUs — an industry measurement equivalent to a 20-foot
container — at Wando Welch Terminal, North Charleston Terminal and Hugh K.
Leatherman Terminal for the month of January. The volume is up 4.7% year-over-year.
The SCPA, which works off of a fiscal calendar, has handled more than 1.64 million
TEUs since July, up nearly 15% from this time last year.
For pier containers, which account for containers of any size, the ports handled 125,452 in
January — a 3.5% uptick from a year ago. Overall, SCPA has recorded 913,321 pier
containers in the fiscal year, a year-over-year increase of nearly 15%.
Loaded imports were up 23% from last year as retail imports continue to drive growth. SC
Ports handled 117,181 loaded imports in January. The agency further saw 14,172 vehicles
roll across the docks at Columbus Street Terminal. The volume represented at 16% year-
over-year increase.Further inland, Inland Port Greer recorded 9,301 rail moves in January, while Inland Port Dillon reported 1,942. Combined, the ports have handled 101,913 rail moves to-date in fiscal year 2022. The SCPA also welcomed back cruise ships with the Carnival Sunshine setting sail on Jan. 13. The agency also had three port-of-calls in January, handling a total of 9,490 cruise passengers last month. The SCPA ended 2021 with 2.75 million TEUs, a 9% increase from 2020 and a 13% increase from 2019. The agency also handled 1.53 million pier containers, up 18% from 2020 and 11% from 2019. Reach Teri Errico Griffis at 843-849-3144.
https://www.postandcourier.com/kingstree/community-news/state-leads-the-nation-as-top-exporter-of-tires-and-
completed-passenger-motor-vehicles/article_8503c390-8fff-11ec-8f0d-db7e2bee0c0f.html
State leads the nation as top exporter of tires and completed
passenger motor vehicles
Feb 22, 2022
S.C. export sales topped $29.7 billion in 2021
COLUMBIA, S.C. – Gov. Henry McMaster, the S.C. Department of Commerce and
the SC Ports Authority recently announced that the state’s 2021 export sales totaled
$29.7 billion, according to data from the U.S. Department of Commerce. The state
remains the top exporter of tires and completed passenger motor vehicles.
“International trade plays an incredibly important role in sustained economic
prosperity, and South Carolina consistently demonstrates our ability to move
products around the world,” said Secretary of Commerce Harry M. Lightsey III. “As
industries transform, we are poised to prioritize our support – promoting resources
to best equip companies in maximizing their reach overseas.”You can also read
