Transportation News

The House Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime will hold a hearing Wednesday on whether there is sufficient ship capacity to serve U.S.

foreign trade.

The subcommittee is planning another hearing next week on the “state of United States’ merchant fleet in foreign commerce.”

Wednesday’s hearing is because of anecdotal evidence and media reports that “suggest that the ability of the United States to expand export levels is threatened by the lack of vessel capacity and regional shortages within the United States of the containers in which many goods are now shipped,” the subcommittee said.

Lidinsky

Capacity limitations could significantly impact President Obama’s National Export Initiative that seeks to double exports over the next five years, it said.

U.S. export demand has rose, particularly towards the end of 2009, due to the weakened U.S. dollar and Asia’s continued economic growth. An imbalance between increased exports and sharply lower imports created a container shortage in some U.S. markets. “As global credit markets began to ease and the U.S. economy began to rebound, the issue of a container shortage became more pronounced in late 2009,” the subcommittee said.

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TSA renews call for rate hikes

Member carriers in the Transpacific Stabilization Agreement said Monday they will continue to pressure shippers for $800 per 40-foot container rate hikes to the U.S. West Coast during ongoing service contract negotiations.

The TSA held chief executive officer-level meetings in Taipei last week and “reiterated their support for the recommended TSA guideline rate increases,” which also includes a hike of $1,000 per 40-foot container for cargo moving to U.S. East and Gulf coasts, as well as U.S. interior points, via all-water or intermodal services.

The lines have taken heat from shippers for their concerted effort to raise rates this year to what carriers consider sustainable levels. At a recent container shipping event in Southern California, shippers seemed most upset with the pace at which carriers were trying to increase rates (not to mention that shippers were being asked to accept slower transit times and insufficient active capacity as rates spiked).

But in its message Monday, the TSA said rates are still nowhere near where they need to be.

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