CN Unifor Local 100 and Unifor Council 4000 represents roughly 3600 clerical, mechanical, intermodal, and facility management employees, and they have voted in favour of strike action as early as March 21, 2023.

Workers across France have been protesting all week against pension reforms that would raise the retirement age from 62 to 64. There were 1.28 million people protesting on Tuesday, which was the sixth day of protest this year. Our partners in France are reporting that ports are impacted. Some empty container depots and logistics warehouses are blocked and inaccessible. Some blockades may also limit access routes to the terminals.

The nine ocean carriers that are members of the Digital Container Shipping Association (DCSA) have committed to 50% adoption of an electronic bill of lading (eBL) within 5 years and 100% by 2023. Their commitment accelerates the digitization of original bills of lading.

Zim is adding larger ships to their Southeast Asia to US East Coast expedited ocean service next month. Zim’s eCommerce Baltimore Express (ZXB) started as a fortnightly service last year, but will now become a weekly service by the end of February. This comes as Asian imports to the US East Coast in 2022 have seen modest gains, up 6.2% from 2021.

The Global Liner Performance (GLP) report shows that vessel schedule reliability continues to trend upwards. The report includes data from 34 trade lanes and over 60 carriers.

Global air freight levels for 2022 were 1.6% lower compared to 2019 pre-pandemic levels, according to data released by International Air Transport Association (IATA). 2022 levels were down 8.2% compared to the extraordinary demand in 2021. Capacity in 2022 was 4.5% above 2021, but 9.0% below 2019.

The union locals that represent workers from 36 ports from Maine to Texas have started contract talks with employers before the September 30, 2024 expiry date. Both sides are eager to work on a new contract in the midst of difficult labour-management relations across industries, which includes the U.S. West Coast ports that have been without a contract for 7 months and counting.

Air France-KLM Group continues to invest in fleet renewal by placing a firm order with Airbus for four new A350 freighter aircraft. The new aircraft will replace the airline’s current Boeing 747 freights in 2026.

The continued robust demand for industrial construction in North American has driven up overall costs and material lead times. The construction industry is still feeling the lingering effects of the pandemic.

MSC (Mediterranean Shipping Co.) and Maersk announced that their 10-year 2M Alliance will end in January 2025. The two carriers currently have a complex partnership that covers 30 loops and strings on all major trade lanes.

The ILWU are sending a message to West Coast terminals by taking targeted job actions that disrupt terminal operations. As negotiations enter their ninth month, the longshoremen are strategically limiting the level of disruption to avoid the attention of media and the Biden administration.

According to Dewry’s cancelled sailings tracker, 131 blank sailings have been announced between between Jan 30 – Mar 5 (week 5 to week 9). This is out of a total of 693 scheduled sailings across the major trade routes of Transpacific, Transatlantic and Asia-North Europe & Med.

Analytics are predicting that trucking rates are bottoming out. Some key leading indicators like internal truckload freight index and a spot rate data set, have stopped falling. Morgan Stanley’s forecasting tool is now showing that truckload spot rates will move 15% higher over the next 12 months. FreightWaves National Truckload Index shows spot rates have increased 20% from a mid-November low in 2022. But spot rates are still down 33% from the all-time highs that were set 12 months ago.

Israeli carrier ZIM has teamed up with venture capital firm Team8 to invest in Tel Aviv-based fintech company 40Seas, with $111 million in funding. 40Seas is creating a global commerce solution for SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) to access digital financing.

The global pandemic in 2020-2022 disrupted normal operations in global logistics. The 100 vessels waiting outside the Los Angeles ports and other disruptions reduced global capacity by 13.8% in January 2022. During normal circumstances, only 2 percent of capacity is held up.

Chinese New Year begins on January 22, launching China into its longest holiday of the year and creating a slowdown in shipping for the next two weeks. This year is the Year of the Rabbit, which symbolizes longevity, peace, and prosperity.