Newsletter – June 13, 2022

AIR FREIGHT UPDATES

Paris airport scraps 25% of flights, shuts runways amid strike

ajot.com
A quarter of flights were canceled and two runways shut Thursday by a strike at Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport, the latest upheaval to hit the European transport industry struggling to meet higher demand for travel. Read more here.
The walkout by a broad range of employees at the French capital’s international hub is also expected to cause delays for passengers whose flights weren’t scrapped, according to a spokeswoman. While the strike didn’t extend to Orly airport, some disruptions may also occur there, she said. Read more here.

OCEAN FREIGHT UPDATES

Boxship newbuild prices break records

splash247.com
Japanese owners are paying record sums for the latest megamax containerships, further evidence of today’s sky-high charter environment and the increasingly solid bargaining position full up shipyards find themselves in. Read more here.

Busan sees steep decline in volumes as truckers’ strike hits key industries

theloadstar.com
South Korea is counting the economic costs of the fallout from the intensifying truckers’ strike, which is continuing for a third day as South Korea’s largest port in Busan reported a major decline in cargo movements.
Unionised truckers, including cement mixers and car-carrying trailers, have stopped work while non-unionised drivers have not shown up for work in fear of reprisals from their trade union colleagues. Read more here.

‘Outrageous’ box lines ‘need to be aware their day is coming’, says US

theloadstar.com
Yesterday, president Biden tweeted: “One of the reasons prices have gone up is because a handful of companies who control the market have raised shipping prices by as much as 1,000%. It’s outrageous — and I’m calling on Congress to crack down on them.” The first shot has been fired, and the language is strengthening. A spokesperson for Senator Klobuchar, who is working on a bill, added: “The ocean shipping companies need to be aware that their day is coming, that their ability to manipulate the market – to purposefully, for their own economic benefit, for their profitability, to really screw American exporters – is over, and that I’m not backing away from this issue.” Read more here (login required).

GROUND AND RAIL FREIGHT UPDATES

FMCSA revising guidance on freight brokers and agents

freightwaves.com
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is moving closer to settling a controversy over how to define freight brokers while also clarifying the level of financial penalties for unauthorized brokerages.
In a notice scheduled to be published in the federal register on Friday, FMCSA is asking the public for responses to a series of questions “to inform future guidance on the definitions of broker and bona fide agents,” the agency stated. Read more here.

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS – GOVERNMENT UPDATES

Early-termination agreements a burr in parcel shippers’ saddle

freightwaves.com
Early-termination agreements, which penalize parcel shippers for diverting traffic from their carriers and causing volumes to fall below contractually pre-set levels, have been around for years. About a decade ago, they became more commonplace. Since 2020 when the parcel-delivery industry became a seller’s market, they have become a contract staple, much to shippers’ chagrin. Read more here.