Anyone who has spent much time in the logistics industry knows that small parcel carriers like UPS, DHL and FedEx charge extra for oversized items. When shipping product Internationally, these charges can add up quickly and can become very expensive. Most people also know that very large shipments often make their voyage overseas on airplanes. The parts in between can be confusing and very expensive, if you’re not prepared and experienced.
In the United States, ports on the west coast such as Seattle and Oakland, CA reported double digit increases in freight volumes compared to the same time last year. In the specific case of the west coast ports, these increases seem to mean that the major delays, labor issues and congestion that plagued them are finally in the past. On the east coast of the USA, major Gulf and Atlantic ports including Houston, Charleston and Norfolk also saw meaningful increases in volume when compared to the early Fall of 2014.
Now that the West Coast longshore workers and the port have reached a tentitive agreement, trucking rates are already being affected. Spot market van rates from LA rose 4 cents to $1.92 per mile within the last 8 days. The bottleneck of freight that was caused by the strike severely decreased available loads that would normally pick up freight at nearby facilities and move them throughout the country. The directors of the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach estimate that things won't return to normal for approximately 90 days.
Tariffs are essentially agreed-upon rates that a carrier offers to a customer. Tariffs are usually given in the form of a percentage discount, subtracted from the general rates offered to the public. A Tariff will usually govern all LTL shipments given to a certain carrier by the shipper. Using tariffs can become problematic when a shipper has several carrier relationships, and then must compare pricing on each shipment among each of several tariffs.
