Logistics news

Traffic links between the port of Vancouver and the Canadian interior are gradually being restored after they were severed by severe flooding, but the situation remains tenuous and a full recovery of cargo flows is still a long way off.

An incensed US trade union has responded to a Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) proposal, to extend the current contract by another year, with a long list of headlines reporting the massive profits being enjoyed by ocean carriers.

Matson and Ocean Alliance member containerships arriving at the heavily congested US west coast hub ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are getting worked well ahead of their competitors, according to an Alphaliner survey.

The Class I rail company announced yesterday it was expecting to re-start operations between Kamloops and Vancouver, a section of line that had been knocked out by heavy rain and flooding that disrupted connections in British Columbia a week ago.

Amazon is to insert an extra layer of warehousing in its parcel distribution infrastructure, between its fulfilment and distribution centres. It has started trials with clients of its Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA) programme.

The Canadian military has deployed transport planes, helicopters and several hundred troops to assist with the evacuation of Vancouver where, since Monday, flooding and mudslides have left much of the city cut off from both road and rail.

India’s container shipping market has “cooled” in recent weeks, but a lack of capacity at east coast ports is a headache for exporters.

For the second time this year, severe weather has severed cargo flows between Canada’s largest port and the interior. Torrential rain has halted rail traffic to and from the port of Vancouver and paralysed major road arteries linking the area to the rest of the country.

Throughout last year, the type of cargo routinely stolen swung away from electronics and luxury items, “more towards essential goods” such as food, drink and fuel.

Severe congestion across major airports appears to be hampering air cargo volumes. Dynamic week-on-week global load factors fell 1.5%, in the week to 10 November, according to the latest research from Clive Data Services.