Containers

The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) announced it is raising the number of daily vessel transits to 24, effective January 16, 2024. The current number of vessel transits is 22, ACP officials said, and are divided into six Neopanamax and 16 Panamax vessels, with scheduled increase bringing those numbers to seven and 17, respectively, next month.

Rail carloads, at 229,424, decreased 2.5% annually, and intermodal container and trailer volumes, at 269,670 units, were up 5.5% annually.

Rail carloads, at 1,128,573, were down 0.0% annually, or a mere 102 carloads. Intermodal containers and trailers, at 1,279,906, rose 5.0%, or 60,486 units, annually.

Sustainability was an issue for the automaker, but bins with higher levels of recycled plastic were just a design change away.

From October to November, Descartes reported that U.S.-bound container import volumes fell 9%, to 2,099,408 TEU (Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units), which the company observed is consistent with late-in-the-year declines seen in recent years. For the same period, from 2019 through 2022, volumes were down 8.2%, 8.3%, 5.0%, and 12.0%, respectively.

From Make-a-Wish and Blessings in a Backpack, veterans groups and more, resuable packaging supplier ORBIS and its employees engaged in multiple charitable efforts in 2023.

Total October volume, at 1,515,201 units, fell a mere 0.4% annually, continuing a trend of slimming sequential declines, following 4.0%, 7.5% and 9.8% annual declines, in September, August and July, respectively.

Rail carloads, at 224,415, fell 5.2% annually, and intermodal containers and trailers, at 260,342 units, rose 1.5%.

Rail carloads, at 921,951, were off 0.3%, or 2,921 carloads, annually, and intermodal containers and trailers, at 1,075,731 units, rose 2.2%, or 23,201 units, annually.

Total third quarter volume, at 4,213,559, fell 7.1% annually. While volumes were off again annually, they rose on a sequential basis, topping the second quarter, which came in at 4,148,328 units.

Rail carloads, at 234,893, increased 1.5% annually, and intermodal containers and trailers, at 271,092 units, rose 2.1% annually.

The Port of Los Angeles reported that total September volume, at 748,440 TEU, was up 5% annually, marking its second consecutive month of annual growth. The Port of Long Beach reported that September marked its highest-volume September on record, with volume at 829,429 TEU, increasing 11.8% annually, and topping the previous September high in 2020 by 78,849 TEU.

Rail carloads, at 225,405, were off 2.0% annually, and intermodal containers and trailers, at 267,376 units, increased 2.8%.

Total September volume, at 1,410,278 units, was off 4.0% annually, continuing a trend of slimming sequential declines, following 7.5% and 9.8% annual declines, in August and July, respectively.

Shipping bottlenecks, increased costs, and disrupted deliveries could result in shifting transportation of goods from the Middle East as a result of the Israel-Hamas war.