Ports pivot as ship lines “blank” sailings to control capacity, shave costs, prop up rates
The coronavirus pandemic shook the maritime industry to its core. Ports and vessel operators moved aggressively to adapt. Where’s the light at the end of the Covid-19 tunnel for ocean shippers?
Gary Frantz is a contributing editor for DC Velocity and its sister publication CSCMP's Supply Chain Quarterly, and a veteran communications executive with more than 30 years of experience in the transportation and logistics industries. He's served as communications director and strategic media relations counselor for companies including XPO Logistics, Con-way, Menlo Logistics, GT Nexus, Circle International Group, and Consolidated Freightways. Gary is currently principal of GNF Communications LLC, a consultancy providing freelance writing, editorial and media strategy services. He's a proud graduate of the Journalism program at California State University–Chico.
The coronavirus pandemic has roiled the maritime industry unlike any economic or natural disaster event before it. Blank, or canceled, sailings have hit record levels. Operators are laying up vessels, some never to return to service. Seafarers have been stranded on ships for months at a time, well past their contract expirations, essentially quarantined at sea. Slow-steaming and other cost-cutting tactics have been deployed, new ship orders and cap-ex plans slashed.
The ripple effect on the nation’s ports has been dramatic. They’ve reset operations to cope with fewer ship calls, adjusted to having office staff work from home, and for those longshoremen, stevedores, truckers, and other essential workers still on the dock, acquired protective equipment and instituted new procedures to protect their health and safety.
And while many maritime and port executives are encouraged by a slow reawakening of the economy and a modest recovery in import volumes, uncertainty abounds, and a full recovery remains elusive—at least for this year.
FINDING DISCIPLINE (FINALLY)
Containership lines have seen demand contract with unprecedented speed and scope across all trade lanes and, in response, have canceled hundreds of sailings, says Lars Jensen, CEO of SeaIntelligence Consulting. “Carriers have been extremely diligent in removing capacity [such that] freight rates in many cases have gone up,” he adds. The reining-in of capacity has been so tight, Jensen says, that “[carriers] will likely be more profitable in the second quarter than the first” of this year.
Industry consolidation, Jensen notes, “is finally taking hold. The market needed to get to a point where there were sufficiently fewer players such that the others could be disciplined with capacity management.”
Copenhagen, Denmark-based A.P. Møller Maersk, which operates some 700 container vessels, has kept its nominal fleet capacity flat at around 4 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) since 2018, says spokesperson Tom Boyd. Capital expenditure discipline remains key. “We have no plans for new orders of large vessels,” he adds. The carrier’s strategy for weathering depressed volumes has been maintaining a tight balance between capacity and demand, and “as a logistics operator with assets, to stay agile to respond to market fluctuations quickly and mitigate costs while responding to customers,” he says.
Global containership operator Hapag-Lloyd “will refrain from ordering any new ships, and even if new orders become strategically necessary … we will only make them when the market environment is right again,” says company spokesman Tim Seifert. The Hamburg, Germany-based ship line has “adapted our service network to align with lower demand, and we have screened all cost categories,” he adds.
And vessel operator Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL), Japan’s biggest shipping line, is shrinking its fleet of 800 ships by 5% over the next three years in response to what it expects to be a significant decline in global trade volumes driven by the coronavirus pandemic.
AS VOLUMES DROP, PORTS ADJUST
Like their ocean carrier clients, port operators are scrambling to adapt to the new reality. “With [the number of] blank sailings … we see a double-digit downturn [in activity] through the summer,” says John Reinhart, executive director of the Virginia Port Authority (VPA). The port was notified of 79 blank sailings, or canceled ship calls, starting in April and extending through the end of August, equaling a loss of some 109,000 containers. In response, the port idled one of its facilities, reduced gate hours during the week, and suspended Saturday gate hours.
Successfully navigating the pandemic’s challenges, Reinhart says, has required “understanding your data, [adjusting] your infrastructure [and resources], and making intelligent decisions to deliver exceptional service” while being fiscally responsible. And, he stresses, taking early and aggressive steps to protect the port’s employees, all of whom are considered essential workers.
At the outset, the port established a Covid-19 planning task force, which initially met three times a week. Among its decisions: Those who could were instructed to work from home. Workers still in offices were separated for appropriate social distancing. Touchless temperature scanners and hand-sanitizer stations were installed. Extra sanitizing steps were implemented for public spaces. A “no visitor” policy was put in place. Personal protective gear was acquired and provided. And technology was leveraged, using cameras and remote sensors to control container movement and limit people in container yards physically monitoring equipment. “We really put in best-in-class practices and collaborated with many [port constituencies] to keep the port operating and critical cargo moving safely,” Reinhart notes.
Virginia’s strategy was emulated by many other ports, including Los Angeles, Houston, and Oakland, California, all of which moved aggressively to protect workers and adjust for fewer ship calls and lower volumes.
PORTS PUSH AHEAD WITH EXPANSION PLANS
The pandemic, however, has not curtailed port capital improvement plans.
The Port of Oakland’s largest terminal will take delivery in September of three 300-foot-tall ship-to-shore cranes. Ordered by terminal operator SSA at a collective cost of $30 million, each crane can reach 125 feet across a ship’s deck and can service the ultra-large “mega” containerships operating today.
Oakland’s volumes for the first half of this year are down 7.8%, noted Business Development Manager Andrew Hwang, who believes the pace of sailing cancellations will decline into the fall. He also sees vessel operators pushing more cargo onto bigger ships with fewer port calls. The largest near-term variable to a recovery: a potential second coronavirus surge, “which may plunge the country back into restrictions.”
The Port of Los Angeles, which saw 40 canceled sailings in the first quarter and 23 in the second, is handling about 80% of the cargo it normally would this time of year. Nevertheless, Los Angeles is pushing ahead with $367 million worth of infrastructure improvement and expansion projects, says Executive Director Gene Seroka. “We feel we are in a really good position to be ready when the American economy recovers,” he notes.
Seroka, who lived in China during the SARS epidemic, has seen firsthand what a virus outbreak can do. Covid-19, he observes, is “10, 20, 30 times worse” than SARS. He believes the recovery will be long and protracted, looking “more like a hockey stick, a really long one from a very tall left wing.”
A sustainable recovery won’t take hold until consumers feel they can safely go out and resume normal activity. Given the risks, “people are saying they just aren’t ready to go out yet,” he notes, adding, “If you open too fast, there are no replacements. You can’t just put the B team of longshoremen in. We have to be really sharp about policies … and listen to the medical experts.”
The Port of Houston recently reached a milestone for its billion-dollar Houston Ship Channel widening project, receiving Army Corps of Engineers sign-off on its plan. Planned modifications to the 50-mile-long commercial waterway include easing bends and widening the bay reach of the channel to 700 feet and the Bayport Ship Channel and Barbours Cut Channel to 455 feet.
“We’re pushing hard to make sure [the widening project] is front and center,” says Port Houston Executive Director Roger Guenther. The port also recently won a nearly $80 million federal grant to renovate wharf and yard space at its Barbours Cut Container Terminal.
Guenther noted that while business was down 12% to 15% in the second quarter, overall, 2020’s first-half volumes were up about 1%. “I never thought I’d say I’d be thrilled [with the second quarter], but it’s about what we expected,” he says. “Houston is in a great spot. We’re in this for the long game.”
The Port of Virginia is sailing ahead with infrastructure improvements as well. It spent $320 million at the Virginia International Gateway, adding 13 container stacks and 10,000 feet of double-stack–capable on-dock rail, and increasing annual throughput to 1.2 million container lifts. Another $375 million went to redevelop the Norfolk International Terminal’s south-side container yard. The last eight new gantry cranes went into service in July, increasing container-handling capacity by some 60% to nearly 2.2 million containers a year.
NO MORE CHASING FREIGHT AT ANY PRICE
Given containership operators’ history of embracing mega-ships and then chasing freight at any price to fill them, that they are able to profit at all during the worst economic contraction since the Great Depression has shocked many industry analysts.
John Urban has spent 30-plus years in the ocean freight business, as an executive with American President Lines and later as co-founder and president of software company GT Nexus, which nearly 20 years ago established the first online “portal” that let shippers book freight with multiple ocean carriers over a common platform. With Infor’s purchase of GT Nexus several years ago, Urban shifted to consulting and now sits on several boards.
Ship lines have evolved, he says. Once driven by a quest for market share and a penchant for running ships at little or no profit, they are finally embracing capacity discipline, Urban observes.
“Ten years ago, to access 80% of sailings, you had to deal with up to 25 ocean lines,” he recalls. “Today, to get access to 90% of capacity, you need only deal with 10 alliances because there’s been so much consolidation.”
The result: a market where rising or falling prices do very little to change volume, Urban notes. “Carriers have bought into discipline and are finally managing the capacity they have for profit.”
Robots are revolutionizing factories, warehouses, and distribution centers (DCs) around the world, thanks largely to heavy investments in the technology between 2019 and 2021. And although investment has slowed since then, the long-term outlook calls for steady growth over the next four years. According to data from research and consulting firm Interact Analysis, revenues from shipments of industrial robots are forecast to grow nearly 4% per year, on average, between 2024 and 2028 (see Exhibit 1).
EXHIBIT 1: Market forecast for industrial robots - revenuesInteract Analysis
Material handling is among the top applications for all those robots, accounting for one-third of overall robot market revenues in 2023, according to the research. That puts warehouses and DCs on the cutting edge of robotic innovation, with projects that are helping companies reduce costs, optimize labor, and improve productivity throughout their facilities. Here’s a look at two recent projects that demonstrate the kinds of gains companies have achieved by investing in robotic equipment.
FASTER, MORE ACCURATE CYCLE COUNTS
When leaders at MSI Surfaces wanted to get a better handle on their vast inventory of flooring, countertops, tile, and hardscape materials, they turned to warehouse inventory drone provider Corvus Robotics. The seven-year-old company offers a warehouse drone system, called Corvus One, that can be installed and deployed quickly—in what MSI leaders describe as a “plug and play” process. Corvus Robotics’ drones are fully autonomous—they require no external infrastructure, such as beacons or stickers for positioning and navigation, and no human operators. Essentially, all you need is the drone and a landing pad, and you’re in business.
The drones use computer vision and generative AI (artificial intelligence) to “understand” their environment, flying autonomously in both very narrow aisles—passageways as narrow as 50 inches—and in very wide aisles. The Corvus One system relies on obstacle detection to operate safely in warehouses and uses barcode scanning technology to count inventory; the advanced system can read any barcode symbol in any orientation placed anywhere on the front of a carton or pallet.
The system was the perfect answer to the inventory challenges MSI was facing. Its annual physical inventory counts required two to four dedicated warehouse associates, who would manually scan inventory to determine the amount of stock on hand. The process was both time-consuming and error-prone, and often led to inaccuracies. And it created a chain reaction of issues and problems. Fulfillment speed is one example: Lost or misplaced inventory would delay customer deliveries, resulting in dissatisfaction, returns, and unmet expectations. Productivity was also an issue: Workers were often pulled from fulfillment tasks to locate material, slowing overall operations.
MSI Surfaces began using the Corvus One system in 2021, deploying a small number of drones for daily inventory counts at its 300,000-square-foot distribution center (DC) in Orange, California. It quickly scaled up, adding more drones in Orange and expanding the system to three other DCs: in Houston; Savannah, Georgia; and Edison, New Jersey. The company plans to add more drones to the existing sites and expand the system to some of its smaller DCs as well, according to Corvus Robotics spokesperson Andrew Burer.
Those expansion plans are based on solid results: MSI’s inventory accuracy was about 80% prior to the drone implementation, but it quickly jumped to the high 90s—ultimately reaching 99%—after the company initiated the daily drone counts, according to Burer.
“We actually had an incident early on where one of the forklift drivers ran into the landing pad, rendering it inoperable for about a week while the Corvus team fixed it,” Burer recalls. “When we restarted the system, we noticed MSI’s inventory accuracy had dropped down to the 80s. But after flights resumed, accuracy quickly improved back to near perfect.” He adds that such collisions are rare as Corvus mounts landing pads high off the floor to avoid impacts but that accidents can still happen.
Overall, the system has helped speed warehouse operations in two key ways: First, the accuracy improvement means that associates no longer waste time searching for missing material in the warehouse. And second, the associates who used to conduct the physical inventory counts have been reallocated to picking and replenishment—creating a more efficient, and optimized, workforce.
A SAFER, MORE EFFICIENT WAREHOUSE
Robot maker Boston Dynamics is well-known for its Stretch and Spot industrial robots, both of which are at work in warehouses and DCs around the world. Earlier this year, Stretch made its debut in Europe, teaming up with Spot at a fulfillment center run by German retail company Otto Group. The deployment marks the first time Stretch and Spot are being used together—in a partnership designed to improve Otto Group’s warehousing operations by increasing efficiency and making warehouse work safer and more attractive to workers.
The partnership is part of a two-year project in which Boston Dynamics will deploy dozens of its warehouse robots in Otto Group’s European DCs. The first location is a fulfillment site operated by Hermes, the company’s parcel delivery subsidiary, in Haldensleben, Germany—a facility that handles as many as 40,000 cartons of goods on peak days.
At the site, Stretch—which is a mobile case-handling robot—autonomously unloads ocean containers and trailers, using its advanced perception system to pick and place boxes onto a telescoping conveyor inside the container or trailer. Spot—a quadruped robot—helps with predictive maintenance by collecting thermal data and performing acoustic and visual detection tasks throughout the facility to reduce unplanned downtime and energy costs. One of Spot’s jobs is to detect air leaks in the facility’s warehouse automation systems; future duties may include conveyor vibration detection, according to leaders at Otto Group.
Both Stretch and Spot will help the Haldensleben facility run more efficiently, especially during fall peak season when volume increases and work intensifies. The addition of Stretch addresses safety and comfort issues as well: Trailer unloading—a process that entails repeatedly lifting and moving heavy boxes inside a trailer, which can be dark, dirty, cold, and/or hot, depending on the weather—tends to be unappealing to workers. Along with reducing the amount of labor required, automating these tasks will have the added benefit for European facilities of helping them comply with EU (European Union) regulations limiting the amount of time workers can spend in those conditions.
Essentially, the robots are making life easier on the warehouse floor and for the company at large.
“Stretch is going to have a ton of benefits for customers here in the EU,” Andrew Brueckner, of Boston Dynamics, said in a recent case study on the project.
The trucking industry faces a range of challenges these days, particularly when it comes to load planning—a resource-intensive task that often results in suboptimal decisions, unnecessary empty miles, late deliveries, and inefficient asset utilization. What’s more, delays in decision-making due to a lack of real-time insights can hinder operational efficiency, making cost management a constant struggle.
Truckload carrier Paper Transport Inc. (PTI) experienced this firsthand when the company sought to expand its over the-road (OTR), intermodal, and brokerage offerings to include dedicated fleet services for high-volume shippers—adding a layer of complexity to the business. The additional personnel required for such a move would be extremely costly, leading PTI to investigate technology solutions that could help close the gap.
Enter Freight Science and its intelligent decision-recommendation and automation platform.
PTI implemented Freight Science’s artificial intelligence (AI)-driven load planning optimization solution earlier this year, giving the carrier a high-tech advantage as it launched the new service.
“As PTI tried to diversify … we found that we needed a technological solution that would allow us to process [information] faster,” explains Jared Stedl, chief commercial officer for PTI, emphasizing the high volume of outbound shipments and unique freight characteristics of its targeted dedicated-fleet customers.
The Freight Science platform allowed PTI to apply its signature high-quality service to those needs, all while handling the daily challenges of managing drivers and navigating route disruptions.
STREAMLINING PROCESSES
Dedicated fleets face challenges that evolve from day to day and minute to minute, including truck breakdowns, drivers calling in sick, and rescheduled appointment times. PTI needed a tool that allowed for a real-time view of the fleet, ultimately enabling its team to adjust truck and driver allocation to meet those challenges.
The Freight Science solution filled the bill. The platform uses advanced analytics and algorithms to give carriers better visibility into operations while automating the decision-making process. By combining streaming data, a carrier’s transportation management system (TMS), machine learning, and decision science, the solution allows carriers to deploy their fleets more efficiently while accurately forecasting future needs, according to Freight Science.
In PTI’s case, Freight Science’s software integrates with the carrier’s TMS, real-time electronic logging device (ELD) data, and other external data, feeding an AI model that generates an optimized load plan for the planner.
“We’re an integrated data analytics company for trucking companies,” explains Matt Foster, Freight Science’s president and CEO. “We’re talking about AI.”
The benefits of the real-time data are difficult to overstate.
“We’ve been able to execute in the toughest of situations because we’ve got real, live data on how long each event is actually going to take and a system to aid and even automate the decision-making process,” says Chad Borley, PTI’s operations manager. “From what traffic patterns we are battling in the morning and evening with rush hour and things like that, to the impact of additional miles to a route, or even location-specific dwell times, it’s been a huge differentiator for us.”
REALIZING RESULTS
A case in point: the collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge in March. PTI was scheduled to go live with a new dedicated account in the area just days after the collapse, which would mean rerouting and the potential for longer transit times. Instead of recalculating based on assumptions or latent data, PTI was able to reroute freight based on real-time information and analytics to give the customer timely updates.
“With the bridge going out, that changed our ability to make as many turns a day as the customer would expect,” Stedl explains. “But one of the things Freight Science could do [was to] quickly [assess] how much of an impact that traffic would have [and] what the turns [would] be based on what’s happening on the ground.
“So we were able to go back to the customer and readjust expectations in a real way that made sense, using data. Now expectations can be reset¾we’re not asking for forgiveness when there’s no reason for it.”
The system’s advanced algorithms make load planning more cost-effective and scalable as well. The platform allows PTI to monitor trucks, trailers, and driver hours in real time, recommending additional loads with remaining driver hours that would otherwise be wasted.
And they’re doing it all with much less. Stedl says tasks that used to require five people and hours of work can now be accomplished by one person in mere minutes, improving productivity and profitability while reducing labor and operational costs.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Aptean said the move will add new capabilities to its warehouse management and supply chain management offerings for manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors, retailers, and 3PLs. Aptean currently provides enterprise resource planning (ERP), transportation management systems (TMS), and product lifecycle management (PLM) platforms.
Founded in 1980 and headquartered in Durham, U.K., Indigo Software provides software designed for mid-market organizations, giving users real-time visibility and management from the initial receipt of stock all the way through to final dispatch of the finished product. That enables organizations to optimize an array of warehouse operations including receiving, storage, picking, packing, and shipping, the firm says.
Specific sectors served by Indigo Software include the food and beverage, fashion and apparel, fast moving consumer goods, automotive, manufacturing, 3PL, chemicals, and wholesale / distribution verticals.
Online merchants should consider seven key factors about American consumers in order to optimize their sales and operations this holiday season, according to a report from DHL eCommerce.
First, many of the most powerful sales platforms are marketplaces. With nearly universal appeal, 99% of U.S. shoppers buy from marketplaces, ranked in popularity from Amazon (92%) to Walmart (68%), eBay (47%), Temu (32%), Etsy (28%), and Shein (21%).
Second, they use them often, with 61% of American shoppers buying online at least once a week. Among the most popular items are online clothing and footwear (63%), followed by consumer electronics (33%) and health supplements (30%).
Third, delivery is a crucial aspect of making the sale. Fully 94% of U.S. shoppers say delivery options influence where they shop online, and 45% of consumers abandon their baskets if their preferred delivery option is not offered.
That finding meshes with another report released this week, as a white paper from FedEx Corp. and Morning Consult said that 75% of consumers prioritize free shipping over fast shipping. Over half of those surveyed (57%) prioritize free shipping when making an online purchase, even more than finding the best prices (54%). In fact, 81% of shoppers are willing to increase their spending to meet a retailer’s free shipping threshold, FedEx said.
In additional findings from DHL, the Weston, Florida-based company found:
43% of Americans have an online shopping subscription, with pet food subscriptions being particularly popular (44% compared to 25% globally). Social Media Influence:
61% of shoppers use social media for shopping inspiration, and 26% have made a purchase directly on a social platform.
37% of Americans buy from online retailers in other countries, with 70% doing so at least once a month. Of the 49% of Americans who buy from abroad, most shop from China (64%), followed by the U.K. (29%), France (23%), Canada (15%), and Germany (13%).
While 58% of shoppers say sustainability is important, they are not necessarily willing to pay more for sustainable delivery options.
Schneider says its FreightPower platform now offers owner-operators significantly more access to Schneider’s range of freight options. That can help drivers to generate revenue and strengthen their business through: increased access to freight, high drop and hook rates of over 95% of loads, and a trip planning feature that calculates road miles.
“Collaborating with owner-operators is an important component in the success of our business and the reliable service we can provide customers, which is why the network has grown tremendously in the last 25 years,” Schneider Senior Vice President and General Manager of Truckload and Mexico John Bozec said in a release. "We want to invest in tools that support owner-operators in running and growing their businesses. With Schneider FreightPower, they gain access to better load management, increasing their productivity and revenue potential.”