Maersk North American operations update

Rail Services

BNSF 

Limited volume between Oakland and Houston is resulting in trains arriving Houston later than the normal schedule. 

CN

On Dec 26th, CN experienced a service disruption near Fraser Fort-George, BC resulting in train delays between inland points and Vancouver/Prince Rupert. The network is expected to recover early this week. 

CN Harvey Ramp (Chicago) is scheduled to become a wheeled operation for Maersk starting January 15th. The operation will be “hybrid” with some containers de-ramping directly to chassis and others could be in ground stacks. DCLI will have chassis at the ramp that drivers can obtain for any containers that are grounded.       

CSX

Network remains fluid – no operational issues to report.

Effective January 1, 2020 requests to make a change to shipping instructions will increase from $50 to $100.

NS                              

NS placed an embargo on traffic heading to PNCT and EMT in Newark from December 22-29 due to a derailment on the Conrail network. 

North America highlights

Port update:

Houston and Savannah closing intermittently due to dense fog at the end of December - so far with minor impact to the Maersk network.   

Prince Rupert experiencing high winds.

Berth congestion due to weather and holiday closures is expected to continue in Prince Rupert, Houston, and most terminals in the US East Coast until mid-January. Some facilities have had to adopt a first-come-first-served policy to maximize berth utilization and minimize waiting times.  

Vessel update:

Export bookings to the Middle East are seeing a recent surge and some strings seeing space tight in weeks ahead.

Intermodal highlights:

No major incidents to report. Most railroads operating normally and have been able to recover relatively quickly when a service disruption does occur. 

In Prince Rupert, Maersk is monitoring rail dwell times as strong winds continue to impact vessel and yard productivity.