Fic Logistics

PORT PRODUCTIVITY IS GENERALLY EVALUATED BASED ON THE NUMBER OF CONTAINER MOVES PER HOUR. When comparing the first half of this year’s performance to 2017’s, there has been a 4% decrease in port productivity, which means vessels spent 70,000 extra hours in ports earlier this year. Each additional hour a vessel spends in a port could cost approximately $2,500. With 70,000 extra hours during the first-half of 2018, the growing size of vessels calling ports, the number of containers being exchanged with each port call, and the idle vessel fleet being at a low-point for 2018, the additional costs for the logistics industry could total more than $175 million. Terminals are limited in their capacity to handle larger vessels. Physically adding more cranes may not be possible, or may be highly-challenging, for some terminals. To increase productivity, terminals must focus on and consider alternative solutions. DIGITIZATION IS ONE KEY SOLUTION THAT COULD HELP IMPROVE COLLABORATION AN...

Article source: China Road Transportation Network In the face of changes in the domestic and international environment, China will implement a more active open strategy and build an open economic system. One of the important measures is to actively expand the scale of imports by holding the first international import fair. The expansion of the scale of imports means that the proportion, structure and flow of imported goods in China will change significantly, which will bring significant benefits to China's freight logistics industry. The author believes that the most anticipated impact is that it may change the control of foreign-funded logistics enterprises on import and export transportation rights. For a long time, China's foreign trade export goods are mostly traded on FOB terms, and the decision to transport is in foreign buyers. Due to the heterogeneity of services and the lack of overseas networks of domestic enterprises, buyers will choose foreign logistics com...

FREIGHT FORWARDERS ARE RAISING THE ALARM ABOUT THE INCREASING DEMURRAGE AND DETENTION FEES CARRIERS ARE CHARGING TO MAXIMIZE THEIR PROFITS. Demurrage refers to a charge that a merchant pays for a container that sits at a terminal without being picked up by a trucker. In the case of demurrage, the terminal incurs extra costs from acting as a storage yard. In detention, however, ocean carriers lose the opportunity to return their containers for other shippers needing to move freight. ACCORDING TO FIATA (THE INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF FREIGHT FORWARDERS ASSOCIATIONS), THE AMOUNT OF FREE-TIME AT TERMINALS AND FOR USE OF CARRIER EQUIPMENT HAS BEEN DECREASED, WHILE TARIFFS IMPOSED AFTER FREE-TIME ENDS HAVE BEEN INCREASED. Terminals and steamship lines oppose the continued use of detention and demurrage charges as a way to encourage pick up and return of containers to scale up cargo fluidity that has been challenged by discharge of large mega-ships. Additionally, FIATA does not be...