Fujian port sea-rail intermodal box volume surges 173pc

THE volume of containers shipped from Fujian to other provinces via sea-rail intermodal during the period from January to May surged 173 per cent year on year to 10,100 TEU, Xinhua reported.

In this period, international container transshipments handled via the port of Xiamen rocketed 688 per cent to 154,500 TEU, taking up 8.7 per cent of the port's container trade cargo throughput.

Trade cargo from the neighbouring provinces that transshipped at Fujian increased 85.9 per cent to three million tonnes.

Evergreen joins others, ending free chassis for US truckers

TAIWAN's Evergreen Line has joined CMA CGM, ACL and OOCL in ceasing to provide free container chassis to US truckers while Maersk has started to charge for them.

From August 15, Evergreen will phase out providing chassis for import and export cargo in Boston, and reduce such offerings in other areas in the US, reports American Shipper.

"The US is the only country where ocean carriers provide chassis," Evergreen said. "And it is neither efficient nor economical to continue to do so," said an Evergreen statement.

"Burgeoning world trade is impacting valuable waterfront terminal space and projected growth of commerce makes the ongoing storage of chassis no longer viable. Limited expansion real estate availability mandates that chassis can no longer be maintained by the shipping companies," it added.

"Drayage companies and owner-operators are fully qualified to manage and maintain chassis fleets with greater ease and cost-effectiveness, while providing the same standard level of service to the importers and exporters," said Evergreen.

"It is expected that the move will also save hours for truckers, reduce turnaround times save fuel, significantly reduce air pollution," said the Evergreen statement.
(Source:www.schednet.com)