News and Insight

An update from Sunset’s International Team: The following story from our friends at Loadstar details the port closures happening currently in South China. International AND domestic shippers should be aware that the closures we’re experiencing due to another wave of COVID-19 outbreaks in China will likely impact 2021 holiday merchandise imports. If you are a … Read More

The following insights are taken from a weekly discussion between Sunset’s nine US/MX branches. Trends and discussions range from seasonal manufacturing and agriculture trends that affect available capacity to general insight into outside factors affecting freight volumes. Below is a summary of the June 8 call: FREIGHT VOLUMES & CAPACITY Diesel FSC average at $3.274 this … Read More

*Update provided in English and Spanish. Customs Clearance with PITA After the new NAFTA / USMCA began, we have heard a few new acronyms in the world of Mexican Customs. Starting with NICO, which stands for the new format of harmonized classification method, and most recently PITA. PITA stands for Project of Customs Technology Integration … Read More

Sunset’s Director of Corporate Support, John Sutton, spoke on a 3PL panel at the Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA) conference this week regarding the push for carrier selection standards. The discussion follows a recent TIA legislative push to establish a national safety standard for motor carrier selection. From the TIA conference, the May Commercial Carrier Journal … Read More

The following insights are taken from a weekly discussion between Sunset’s nine US/MX branches. Trends and discussions range from seasonal manufacturing and agriculture trends that affect available capacity to general insight into outside factors affecting freight volumes. Below is a summary of the May 11 call: FREIGHT VOLUMES & CAPACITY Unexpected Road Closure – I-40 AR/TN bridge … Read More

St. Louis Managing Director Justin Danks takes us through a few of the outside factors affecting TL capacity as summer quickly approaches: Video Summary In 2020, we saw LTL carriers forced into bankruptcy. Now, labor shortages and e-commerce pressure have these already-struggling networks creating embargoes to rebalance and catch up. International transportation is also in … Read More

An update from Sunset’s International Team OCEAN: Most trade lanes showing strong growth in the last three months Transpacific Eastbound grew by 23% while the Transatlantic Westbound grew by 11% North American and Asia Pacific imports drive the strong recovery of global container trade. Transpacific reached all time high levels in container trade since August … Read More

The following insights are taken from a weekly discussion between Sunset’s nine US/MX branches. Trends and discussions range from seasonal manufacturing and agriculture trends that affect available capacity to general insight into outside factors affecting freight volumes. Below is a summary of the May 4 call: FREIGHT VOLUMES & CAPACITY International Road Check Week 5/4-5/6 HAPPENING NOW. … Read More

The Journal of Commerce (JOC) provides an in-depth quarterly report into the US intermodal market to facilitate conversations between shippers and logistics companies about transportation modal decisions. The JOC Intermodal Savings Index — the Spot Index and the Contract Index — measures how much an average shipper should anticipate saving on the rail versus over-the-road … Read More

The following insights are taken from a weekly discussion between Sunset’s nine US/MX branches. Trends and discussions range from seasonal manufacturing and agriculture trends that affect available capacity to general insight into outside factors affecting freight volumes. Below is a summary of the April 27 call: FREIGHT VOLUMES & CAPACITY International Road Check Week 5/4-5/6. Carriers are preparing … Read More

An update from Sunset’s International Team: The number of container ships stuck at anchor off Los Angeles and Long Beach is down to around 20 per day, from 30 a few months ago. Does this mean the capacity crunch in the trans-Pacific market is finally easing? Absolutely not. Restocking driving volumes higher Trans-Pacific import volumes … Read More

The following insights are taken from a weekly discussion between Sunset’s nine US/MX branches. Trends and discussions range from seasonal manufacturing and agriculture trends that affect available capacity to general insight into outside factors affecting freight volumes. Below is a summary of the April 20 call: FREIGHT VOLUMES & CAPACITY Diesel FSC average at $3.124 this week, … Read More