Newsletter – June 21, 2022

AIR FREIGHT UPDATES

IATA Director General Takes Aim At Governments Over COVID-19 Decision Making

simpleflying.com
The Director-General of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has accused governments of destroying jobs, inflicting misery on people, and dismantling connectivity in a series of politically expedient COVID-19-related decisions that crippled the airline industry and saw global airline losses last year reach US$42 billion. Read more here.

OCEAN FREIGHT UPDATES

Empty container boxes stuck at Rotterdam may stoke Asia shortage

ajot.com
Empty container boxes crucial for Asia’s exporters are getting stuck in the port of Rotterdam as a growing backlog of undelivered goods at Europe’s export hub forces ocean carriers to prioritize shipments of filled boxes.
The Dutch port has faced an onslaught of both goods and empty boxes offloaded from other European maritime operations, shipping experts said. This has coincided with carriers reducing the number of vessel trips from the continent to China after Shanghai authorities locked down the city in March, they said. Read more here.

Indian forwarders brace for major peak season rate hike and PSS surge

theloadstar.com
Indian exporters and freight brokers, now savouring a temporary slide in sky-high rate levels, are bracing for a peak season surcharge (PSS) shock.
Carriers are planning to quadruple the charges. Read more here (login required).

GROUND AND RAIL FREIGHT UPDATES

CN Maintains Normal Rail Operations across Canada as IBEW Strikes

ciffa.com
CN announced yesterday that normal rail operations continue safely as it has implemented its operational contingency plan. The plan allows the company to maintain a normal level of safe rail operations across Canada and serve its customers for as long as required.
Following the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers’ (IBEW) rejection of CN’s latest offer, CN Executive VP and COO Rob Reilly sent a letter to all employees represented by the union to inform them of CN’s latest offer. The letter is available here. 

CN Network Update: Track Disruption near Spences Bridge, B.C.

ciffa.com
CN tracks were passable as of yesterday morning after a service disruption that resulted from a derailment on the Ashcroft Subdivision near Spences Bridge, B.C. that affected the CN mainline.
CN is working through the backlog of traffic that resulted.

No surprise: Report finds logistics costs spiked in 2021

freightwaves.com
The 33rd annual State of Logistics Report, the year-over-year report card of the U.S. business logistics system, confirmed empirically what everyone already knew: 2021 was nirvana or a nightmare depending on what one does for a living.
Total logistics costs, which measure how much was spent on transportation, warehousing and ancillary services such as support and administrative, soared 22.4% last year to nearly $1.85 trillion, according to the report.  Read more here.

CANADA BUSINESS – GOVERNMENT UPDATES

Inflation is on track to hit 7.3% in Canada, highest since 1983

bnnbloomberg.ca
Canada’s inflation rate has probably hit its highest in nearly 40 years, according to a Bloomberg survey of economists.
Statistics Canada data due next week are expected to show the consumer price index rose 7.3 per cent in May from the previous year. That would be the fastest yearly pace since 1983, and will all but cement expectations for a 75-basis-point interest rate hike from the Bank of Canada at its next meeting. Read more here.

Quebec union flags Amazon’s tactics in thwarting campaign at Montreal DC

insidelogistics.ca
A major labour union in Quebec is calling recent action by the management of an Amazon warehouse in Montreal “tactics of intimidation and harassment” that interfere with a recently launched unionization campaign. Read more here.

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS – GOVERNMENT UPDATES

Biden attempts to curb inflation with law aimed at cutting shipping rates

ajot.com
President Joe Biden signed legislation on Thursday aimed at cutting overseas shipping prices, calling the new law another move by his administration to curb stubborn inflation.
The law will stop “shipping companies taking advantage of American families, farmers, ranchers and businesses,” the president said at a signing ceremony for the broadly bipartisan measure—an indication of the White House’s urgency to show voters it’s trying to bring down price increases stuck at a four-decade high. Read more here.