Dear Valued Customer,
The September 30 deadline for the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) and the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) has prompted many East Coast and Gulf Coast port providers to adjust their operations ahead of a potential strike. If no agreement is reached by September 30, the ILA has unanimously pledged to support calls from its leadership to strike beginning October 1. 36 U.S. Ports from Maine to Texas would be impacted by a work stoppage.
Some East and Gulf Coast ports have announced extended gate hours to allow importers to remove containers ahead of the potential strike, including the Ports of
Savannah,
Norfolk, and
Charleston. Stay in contact with your C.H. Robinson team for up-to-the-minute port status updates.
Many ocean carriers have also communicated operational changes as of September 23:
•
COSCO and Norfolk Southern: cancelling all rail bookings with an estimated arrival date at port close to Oct. 1.
•
HMM: paused RIPI shipments from Midwest points to the U.S. East Coast
•
ONE: accepting dry cargo currently, refrigerated bookings for coastal and rail are paused for vessels departing on or after Oct. 1. Also, any bookings to USEC or USGC ports going to Asia are not being accepted after Oct 1. They are redirecting those bookings via the U.S. West Coast.
•
CMA: no longer accepting refrigerated bookings out of USEC or USGC.
•
Hapag-Lloyd: still accepting exports as long as rail providers and terminals are accepting containers. Encouraging importers to expedite the readiness of their import documentation and customs clearance so they can retrieve their cargo from the terminal before any potential work stoppage.
C.H. Robinson continues to assist customers with freight that may be impacted with alternate options and diversions. For up-to-the-minute updates from each organization use the links below:
•
International Longshoremen's Association
•
United States Maritime Alliance
C.H. Robinson remains in contact with all providers and is actively assisting shippers with impacted freight.
Please stay in close contact with your C.H. Robinson team for continued updates in this evolving situation and for help navigating any impacts to your supply chain. We are available and committed to delivering competitive alternative options across all impacted geographies.
Thank you for being a valued customer.
Sincerely,
C.H. Robinson