You’ve heard of “March Madness.” Well, the maritime market is in the middle of its own “August madness.” The maritime market madness has caused some retailers to wonder if Christmas is going to be canceled.

While it may be premature to say Christmas is canceled, any company having to purchase capacity on the ocean is facing unprecedented pressure. The free white paper, Ocean shippers trapped in house of pain, highlights data impacting the maritime market, from the FreightWaves’ SONAR platform, as well as information from many other sources. The pressure in the maritime market has been caused by numerous factors including:

• Historically high U.S. import volume
• COVID-related terminal shutdowns in China
• Higher percentage of container roll-overs
• Surging ocean rates
• Congestion at U.S. ports, especially the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach

The National Retail Federation predicts that August will set a record for U.S. imports. The number of vessels being booked from China to Southern California continues to rise. All data regarding ocean congestion and service issues underscores that these problems will not be alleviated any time soon. 

The ocean market issues have been impacting domestic transportation networks that are already under immense pressure for a number of other issues. Intermodal networks are congested, causing poor customer service and compounding the maritime market issues. The need for expedited and time-definite service to make up for delays will keep pressure on the truckload market.

Download the free white paper to understand how FreightWaves’ SONAR platform can aid in navigating the difficult waters in the ocean market.