Transporting Railcars And Railroad Tampers By Sea
Railcars and railroad construction cars are shipped internationally on several types of ships such as breakbulk carriers, RO/RO carriers and containerships. Breakbulk ships lift the railcars from the pier into the hold with ship’s onboard gear. RO/RO carriers load the equipment on rolling mafi platforms that get towed into the hold via the ships massive ramp. Containerships utilize flat rack containers which are containers with no sides and no roof, designed to carry oversized equipment. The loaded flat racks are lifted on board ships with dockside gantry cranes. Lifting and securing these heavy units is planned with the use of engineering drawings that take into account center of gravity, lifting angles and lashing points. The upcoming Texas and California high speed rail projects will involve these types of shipments.
(Photo credit: ocean_network_express via Instagram: “Special cargo shipment from Europe to Japan”)
Critical Cargo Bypassing Bottleneck at Ocean Ports Aboard Chartered Passenger Aircraft
Bottlenecks in the global supply chain are being bypassed by repurposing passenger aircraft for critical cargo. With retailers worldwide closing shop, warehouses becoming backed up with undelivered goods, increasing trucking restrictions and driver shortages, importers are being forced to delay delivery of goods that can’t be sold or stored. This clogs ports with containers and slows critical food and medical supply chains. Ocean carriers are rerouting containers to transshipment ports and yards close to destination so they can reach markets more quickly when business resumes, while keeping major ports unclogged. To keep food and medical supply chains flowing, critical cargo is moving on passenger aircrafts that have been idle since the travel ban.
Read more about how the ocean and air transport industries are adapting to the crisis at:
https://www.joc.com/air-cargo/idle-passenger-planes-take-mini-freighter-roles_20200317.html
(Photo credit: IAPH/International Association of Ports and Harbors)
Spot Rates Quoted By Shipping Lines Are Often Lower Than Service Contract Rates
Given the increased efficiencies achieved through digital freight platforms, dynamic pricing in the spot rate market often yields lower rates than service contracts. Contract rates are agreements between a shipper and a carrier in which a shipper commits to a large annual volume of containers in order to benefit from a lower rate than that offered to the general public.
Read more on JOC.