Newsletter – June 6, 2022

AIR FREIGHT UPDATES

Brits Stuck Abroad As Flight Cancelations Leave Passengers Stranded

simpleflying.com
The extended bank holiday in celebration of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee has been marred by a weekend of chaos at UK airports. As airlines and airport services faced down their busiest post-pandemic surge to date, cancelations, delays and disruption soared, leaving thousands of passengers stranded at their holiday destinations. Read more here.

OCEAN FREIGHT UPDATES

Ship fuel enters uncharted territory as prices hit new wartime peak

freightwaves.com
It’s not just the price diesel, gasoline and jet fuel that’s way up. The price of the marine fuel consumed by the world’s container ships, tankers and bulkers is breaking records.
The price of very low sulfur fuel oil (VLSFO) — the 0.5% sulfur content fuel that powers most commercial ships — just exceeded the price spike that occurred soon after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Read more here.

Shippers have lost up to $10bn from delayed ships during the pandemic

splash247.com
The dire schedule reliability among containerlines, where 70% of ships arrive late, has led to billions of dollars being squandered during the pandemic, a new study from Copenhagen-based Sea-Intelligence shows.
The record delays caused by vessels not arriving on time leads to having to hold inventory longer than usual. Holding inventory for a longer period is equivalent to a financial loss, and a model created by Sea-Intelligence based on the actual delays of cargo at sea shows a loss of some $5bn to $10bn. Read more here.

GROUND AND RAIL FREIGHT UPDATES

ATA Leader Chris Spear Doesn’t See Automation as Threat to Drivers

ttnews.com
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — American Trucking Associations President Chris Spear said he doesn’t view the ongoing advancement of autonomous trucking as a threat to drivers, since economic factors will ensure demand for drivers for years to come. Read more here.

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS – FREIGHT UPDATES

The robots are marching in

freightwaves.com
As labor shortages continue to hamper business operations, robot sales are soaring. According to data from the Association for Advancing Automation (A3), automation providers sold a record 11,595 robots in the first quarter of this year, at a total value of $646 million. Read more here.