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Port of Oakland becomes next overflow valve for shippers

Posted: 22 May 2021 05:30 PM PDT

Chart of the Week: Inbound Ocean TEU Volume Index – Port of Oakland, Outbound Tender Volume INdex – San Francisco, Stockton  SONAR: IOTI.USOAK, OTVI.SFO, OTVI.SCK

Shippers are booking over two times the amount of freight coming into the Port of Oakland as this time last year — a trend that could make the Northern California markets a much more favorable destination for truckload providers as evidenced by the increasing outbound tender volumes.

Normally a backhaul region, or an area that consumes more freight than it produces, Northern California could see a dramatic increase in outbound freight volumes this summer if the rails are unable to convert quickly enough. There are limitations to how much the existing infrastructure can handle, however. 

According to marinetraffic.com, there are numerous ships in the bay and farther out in the ocean waiting to be offloaded. The largest reason for this surge is the fact that Oakland is the fastest point of entry into the U.S. from China outside of the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, according to FreightWavesMarket Expert Henry Byers. 

The Port of Oakland is not set up to handle the same amount of volume as its neighbors to the south. It handles roughly 2.5 million TEUs per year. The Port of Los Angeles handled over 9 million by itself last year, with Long Beach being accustomed to handling around 8 million. 

Outside of the ports, the implications for surface transportation are significant. Trucking may be in a much better position to handle the extra volumes over the rails for a few reasons. 

Rail infrastructure is much more static and trains are relatively slow to maneuver. The rails are also busy managing the continuous flow of containers from Southern California. Spot rates have been increasing out of both markets over the past month with intermodal rates out of Oakland exceeding those out of Los Angeles.

Truckload rates are rarely lower out of Northern California than from Los Angeles. As mentioned, the region is normally one of the best-supplied with equipment in the country, thanks in large part to an abundance of northbound freight moving from Southern California. 

Inbound trucking volumes outnumber the outbound in Stockton, CA. Chart: SONAR OTVI.SCK, ITVI.SCK

The Stockton market in Northern California is the consummate example of a backhaul market. It is one of the largest markets in the U.S. for freight but consumes about 25% more freight than it produces — meaning many trucks have to drive or wait for a while before they can get moving with a revenue-producing load. 

Tender rejection rates — the rate at which carriers turn down electronic requests for capacity — reflect this relationship as they average well below the national average most of the time. The current average rejection rate of all markets in the U.S. is around 24.5%, whereas the Northern California markets are averaging around 15%. Carriers are much more likely to be able to service their customers in this part of the country because of the inbound volume exceeding outbound demand.

Reefer capacity is much tighter than van in the San Francisco market thanks to produce shipments in the spring. Chart: SONAR – ROTRI.SFO, VOTRI.SFO

Reefer capacity is an exception to this rule. This is one of the largest areas for produce production in the country, and temperature-controlled or reefer demand increases dramatically during the harvest periods, or produce seasons. One of these is currently underway with the Salinas Valley being responsible for producing over 70% of the nation's lettuce, among other items.  

Northern California may not be the next Los Angeles, but truckload carriers could see an added tailwind from this area in the coming months.

About the Chart of the Week

The FreightWaves Chart of the Week is a chart selection from SONAR that provides an interesting data point to describe the state of the freight markets. A chart is chosen from thousands of potential charts on SONAR to help participants visualize the freight market in real time. Each week a Market Expert will post a chart, along with commentary, live on the front page. After that, the Chart of the Week will be archived on FreightWaves.com for future reference.

SONAR aggregates data from hundreds of sources, presenting the data in charts and maps and providing commentary on what freight market experts want to know about the industry in real time.

The FreightWaves data science and product teams are releasing new data sets each week and enhancing the client experience.

To request a SONAR demo, click here.

Why are freight railroads separated into classes?

Posted: 22 May 2021 11:00 AM PDT

A photograph of a train hauling hopper cars across a valley.A photograph of a train hauling hopper cars across a valley.

U.S. freight railroads are usually identified as Class I, Class II or Class III. That can be helpful for several reasons.

The Surface Transportation Board (STB), an independent federal agency that oversees the economic regulation of freight railroads and deals with issues related to railroad rates and rail service, has divided the freight railroads into three categories based on their operating revenue. According to the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA), those categories are: 

  • Class I railroads: annual operating revenue over $489.9 million.
  • Class II railroads: annual operating revenue between $39.2 million and $489.9 million.
  • Class III railroads: annual operating revenue of less than $39.2 million.

Categorizing freight railroads into different classes is useful for regulatory reasons.

For instance, if a Class II railroad and a Class III railroad want to merge, they have fewer benchmarks to reach to gain regulatory approval from the STB than two Class I railroads seeking to merge. Because of their size, two Class I railroads must ensure that their operations and networks complement each other. The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) may also want the two railroads to file safety integration plans.

Class I railroads are held to a higher regulatory standard. They must submit reports to STB detailing financial and operating statistics, including employment and traffic data. The board uses this information to produce monthly and quarterly employment reports, annual wage statistics of those railroads, and quarterly rail fuel surcharge reports. 

To learn more about what regulatory requirements Class I railroads must follow, go here.

Knowing what class a railroad falls under also helps stakeholders understand what government funding is available for infrastructure projects. 

According to FRA, the nearly $80 billion freight rail industry is made up of almost 14,000 route miles and consists of seven Class I railroads, 22 regional railroads and 584 short line railroads. The regional and short line railroads make up the Class II and Class III railroads.

Unlike other transportation industries, the major U.S. freight railroads are financially responsible for maintaining their own infrastructure.

Smaller railroad companies, such as the Class II railroads and Class III railroads, may be eligible for federal tax credits aimed at infrastructure improvements to help pay for maintenance, or they may take part in state or federal grants when working with public partners

Meanwhile, the larger railroads spend nearly $25 billion annually to maintain their networks and ensure there is enough capacity to handle all the volume that travels via their tracks, according to FRA. However, Class I railroads may also participate in state or federal grants if they work with partners that are eligible for government funding.

The railroad classes also serve as an unofficial shorthand for customers, local partners and government officials in understanding whom a freight railroad might serve. Class II and Class III railroads are known as short line or regional railroads that function as the first mile and last mile in a supply chain. They may serve rural communities or ports, and they connect or interchange with the larger Class I railroads. Some are family-owned and maintain close relationships with customers, whereas others may be part of a company that oversees several short line railroads across the U.S. and Canada. The length of their networks can also be short: Class III railroads have a median length of haul of 15 miles, according to ASLRRA.

In contrast, the networks of Class I railroads span thousands of miles across several states, and their volume capacity is much greater than those of the Class II and III railroads. Their public nature — six of the seven Class I railroads are publicly traded — also enables them to be more visible proponents — or targets — of issues that might affect the freight rail industry as a whole.

Subscribe to FreightWaves' e-newsletters and get the latest insights on freight right in your inbox.

Click here for more FreightWaves articles by Joanna Marsh.

Viewpoint: How Silicon Valley is transforming the freight industry

Posted: 22 May 2021 08:00 AM PDT

The views expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of FreightWaves or its affiliates.

By Ryan B. Schreiber 

Because of the work we do at CarrierDirect, the single most common question I get is, "Where's the industry going?" Yet, often the same companies that ask this also reject out of hand what the most innovative companies in the space are taking on. The ethos seems to be, "That's not how it's done here."  

The recent announcement from Redwood Logistics shows how accessible it is for companies to define their future by engaging with the simplest ideas — and yes, they may come from Silicon Valley. 

Almost one year ago, after Uber announced it might be getting out of freight, I wrote an opinion piece that, for myriad reasons, suggested this move would be bad for the industry. That is not a humblebrag (maybe it's a little bit of a humblebrag), but one of the reasons Uber's involvement in freight was (is) important is that by extension, involvement from Uber creates the imperative to consider how to be different, not incrementally better.  

So when as part of the FreightWaves LIVE @HOME event, Redwood Logistics announced its newest offering — Logistics Platform as a Service (LPaaS) — it became clear that the Silicon Valley approach is really transforming logistics. 

Transportation companies broadly, and particularly logistics service providers (LSPs), have long considered how to snuggle up closer to shippers — or get "stickier" as it's called in "The Valley." 

In a way, some might look at the LPaaS announcement as nothing new — integrate tighter and deeper into shippers' systems to get more freight or more data or both. It looks a lot like capitalizing on a recent trend of technology companies and LSPs doubling down on integrations within existing TMS platforms, from BlueJay to MercuryGate to SAP, to get there. 

In that sense, it may be true that LPaaS is not new and Redwood Logistics CEO Mark Yeager admits the same when he says, "[W]e're reorienting our suite of services and giving a name to what we do best."

So what? Redwood deserves credit for claiming it. Convoy has done this incredibly well. I have had myriad conversations with leaders in logistics who complain that Convoy "isn't doing anything new," and while I disagree that Convoy is not doing anything new, there are parts of its approach that are simply repackaging what LSPs have done for years. 

What Convoy is doing that others aren't is, as my friend Kevin Hill (FreightWaves executive publisher) calls it, "Name it and claim it." My response in these conversations is invariable — "[Insert company being talked about] is telling the story, and you can too." 

In the sense that Redwood is taking this page out of the Silicon Valley playbook, it still deserves credit. It speaks to how the investment in our space is pushing our industry to think differently and be better. 

But it isn't entirely true that this is played out; it is new, in a sense, or at least for transportation. 

Time for an unpopular opinion: Historically, transportation companies have looked to solve customer problems by solving their own problems first. It can work — look at what U.S. Xpress is doing with Variant, looking in the four walls of the building and delivering better for its clients by being better by rejecting what's been done before. 

There is nothing inherently wrong with this approach, but there are inherent risks and problems with it. 

Most often, what customers want and need diverges from what vendors offer. An echo chamber is created as vendors look at other vendors to see what "they should be doing," with each telling the story about how it is giving its customers what the customer wants. The customers, for their part, are clamoring for something different and better. 

The outcome is that the industry becomes homogeneous and commoditized. How many times does a shipper have to ask what differentiates one approach from another before it becomes apparent that the solutions in the market are all the same? 

That's the story of trucking and logistics, at least since the early years of deregulation. If there were a "you are here" button on a "transportation industry map," this is where it would be.

This is unpopular because most people who read this will shout from the rooftops that their customers are the most important thing, but that is different from developing solutions with the customer at the center — and that's where "disruption" in logistics and other industry stems. 

The clear signal from Redwood is that shippers have a problem — digital transformation of their supply chains — and that the problem is thorny. Putting its customers at the center, Redwood is able to clearly see how and why current solutions do not solve the problem. Largely for shippers, it centers around complexity, expense and risk within their technology stacks. 

We see the same thing at CarrierDirect constantly — shippers have incredibly complex, expensive and interdependent technology ecosystems as compared to transportation companies. Asking a shipper to adopt or adapt is asking too much because it is too risky for a shipper's business, with too much cost tied up in the change. 

Frankly, it's not worth it. 

It is not that shippers do not care. Transportation can be the most important part of a shipper's strategy, and yet a digital transformation would be disruptive in the more traditional sense of the word, so Redwood has gone out and created a solution for that problem in an attempt to lower the risk for its customers and yes, get stickier. 

That's different, not just better. 

How much credit Redwood deserves will certainly be in the execution, as it always is. So why is this important? Precisely because we, as an industry, need to engage with these concepts instead of rejecting them as "Silicon Valley." 

This is not to say that Redwood is right, or that any other company is either. We won't know if the solutions are the right ones for the market for some time. 

But the approach is right. It's also not to say, "You need to be developing your own LPaaS." It is to say, engaging with the tactics, instead of rejecting them out of hand, allows every organization to find the right balance for itself in the future of how to innovate safely. 

Be different, not just better.


Ryan Schreiber is director of engagement at CarrierDirect and co-founder and adviser of Kinetic, a company focused on FreightTech companies for their go-to marketing, content marketing and customer success.

Target and Walmart building inventories for different reasons

Posted: 22 May 2021 06:45 AM PDT

This is an excerpt from Thursday's (5/20) Point of Sale retail supply chain newsletter sponsored by ArcBest.

Target welcomes margin compression if it means fewer empty shelves

Chart: Andrew Cox/FreightWaves; Data: Company earnings releases

On Wednesday, Target reported monster first-quarter results, handily beating Wall Street expectations on the top and bottom lines. In the first three months of the year, comparable sales grew 23%. This is remarkable given that the quarter was lapping a big 10.8% comp last year. 

Target has now posted four consecutive quarters of 20+% comps, which is exceptional. 

The numbers:

  • Total comp. sales +23% yoy
  • Store comp. +18% yoy
  • Digital sales +50% yoy
  • Gross margin 30%, +490 bps yoy
  • All-time high EPS of $3.69 vs. $2.02 consensus 

The takeaways. 

Store traffic rebounding faster than competitors. Target has seen an enthusiastic return to in-store shopping earlier than its rival Walmart or competition from department stores and other off-mall retail. Target's comparable store sales (a key metric that tracks sales at stores open at least 13 months) rose 18% in Q1, "driven almost entirely by higher traffic and accounting for the vast majority of our growth," according to CEO Brian Cornell. 

Chart: Placer.ai

Target has experienced foot traffic growth compared to 2019 in three of the first four months of the year, with the only exception being in February, when much of the country was hit with severe winter weather. But the return to stores hasn't derailed Target's rapid e-commerce acceleration, which grew 50% yoy. Indeed, Target's e-commerce sales growth slowed considerably, but from the torrid triple-digit rate it's posted throughout the pandemic. 

Same-day services continue to flourish. The same-day services that consumers flocked to for safety during the pandemic have remained highly sought after for their convenience. Sales through same-day services rose more than 90% in the three-month period, led by 123% growth of Drive-Up sales. In-store pickup sales rose 52%, while sales through Shipt gained 86%. Target has believed same-day services would be a big hit with its customers for some time, but even management has been surprised by the growth. Drive-Up, Target's well-oiled curbside pickup machine, has seen sales volumes grow through the service 21x over the past two years. Target is now fulfilling two-thirds of online orders and more than 95% of sales from its stores. 

Because of its same-day service penetration, and a keen focus on every aspect within its stores, Target has created advantaged unit economics vs. its competitors. While its competitors have seen supply chain and digital fulfillment costs outpace sales, Target, by removing the packaging and parcel/final-mile delivery costs, has seen stable supply chain costs compared to last year. 

Target is continuing to invest in its same-day operations, with plans to optimize the front ends of more than 100 locations this year to free up additional capacity for same-day growth. The company will add refrigeration and freezer space to expand the product assortment available for pickup while making the layout safer and more efficient for employees. Also, Target recently announced adult beverages will be available for pickup and Drive-Up in more than 1,200 stores and available for same-day delivery via Shipt in more than 600 stores across the country. 

Target wants to avoid leaving sales on the table again. Despite significant supply chain challenges, Target was able to grow inventories substantially over this time last year. Management was able to match inventory growth to sales growth, with each rising roughly 23% yoy. CFO Michael Fiddelke said the company "feels really good about our inventory position heading into the second quarter." 

However, when looking back on 2020, he stated, "We were sold through in a lot of seasons last year, and that's not optimal for us." As I wrote back in November, by prioritizing the fastest-moving SKUs, retailers (Target included) purposefully left other shelves empty in the back half of the year. And after leaving sales on the table last year, Target doesn't want to see empty shelves at the end of a season set in 2021. The trade-off means more promotions and clearance markdowns, but Fiddelke said, "I would welcome a little bit of that rate drag because it means that we're full and in stock for the guests throughout the season." 

TL;DR — Target posted another incredible quarter as investments in exclusive brands, supply chain and fulfillment services strengthened customer loyalty and kept them coming back. Foot traffic is returning in a major way, with growth vs. 2019 in three of the first four months of the year. While demand for durable goods remains strong, Americans have shifted to buying more items tied to reopening, including apparel, luggage and cosmetics. Target was able to grow inventories in Q1 and plans to continue building inventories as it seeks to avoid the empty shelves of yesteryear. 

Walmart is building inventories, doubling down on price amid rising CPG costs

Walmart handily beat consensus expectations when it reported its first-quarter results this week. The company said it too is seeing accelerating traffic to stores, especially for groceries, where President and CEO Doug McMillon said the company gained market share. John Furner, president and CEO of Walmart U.S., said the company is focused on its principle of everyday low prices after a year when rollbacks were limited. In the first quarter, Walmart grew gross profit margin 96 bps while also having "30% more rollbacks in stores" vs. last year, according to Furner. 

The numbers:

  • Total comp. sales +6%
  • U.S. e-commerce sales +37%
  • Sam's Club comp. sales +7.2%; e-commerce +47%
  •  EPS (adj): $1.69 vs. $1.21 consensus

The takeaways. 

Strong e-commerce growth amid customers returning to typical patterns. Walmart posted 37% online sales growth, even as customers returned to stores and returned to normal shopping patterns. During the pandemic, both Target and Walmart benefited from the rise of "mission-driven shopping," a trend that pushed shoppers to spend more time in fewer locations. The result was an increased visit duration that drove larger basket sizes and privileged the type of one-stop-shop experience that Walmart and Target were built to satisfy. According to Ethan Chernofsky, VP of marketing at Placer.ai, as the duration has declined back to normal, both retailers are simply seeing the behavior shift with visitors making more, albeit shorter, visits to compensate. 

On Great Quarter, Guys this week, Chernofsky said one of his biggest takeaways from the past few months has been that "behavior didn't change in a really extended period." Placer.ai's data is indicating that behaviors are returning incredibly quickly in regions where COVID limitations have been lifted. 

Inventory growth outpacing sales growth as Walmart looks to double down on price. Walmart's U.S. store sales grew 6% in the quarter, but inventory rose 16%, in part due to the lapping of last year's COVID-related effects on inventory. The company said it continues to monitor supply chain challenges related to transit time and port delays, but said its merchants have taken steps to mitigate, including extending lead times for orders. 

During the first several months of the pandemic, retailers, particularly grocery shops, largely shelved discounts as they struggled to keep up with demand. Rather than low prices to encourage customers to buy multiples, Walmart and others were restricting purchases of hot items like toilet paper and chicken breasts. 

Lately, grocery retailers have been faced with a new challenge: widespread price hikes from CPG companies like Coca-Cola, P&G and others as commodity prices rise. But Walmart is holding the promotional line and is doubling down on its key competitive advantage. In Q1, Walmart rolled out 30% more discounts than it did in Q1 of last year, but a beneficial mix shift helped boost margins. Furner said important shifts are happening not just in the entire box but also the mix within food to higher-margin goods like meat and produce and bakery. 

Walmart's high-margin, fast-growing alternative revenue streams such as its advertisement business and third-party marketplace give it additional flexibility on price without sacrificing profit. 

McMillon recounted a memorable lesson from his time as an assistant food buyer at Walmart that perfectly symbolizes the current environment. 

"My supervisor walked into the room with a few of us and said, 'We're short on our profit number for the month. I need you all to find price reductions that you can put in place quickly. Bring them to me by the end of the day.' And I thought I misheard him," he said. "How do you lower prices and increase profit?" 

He later came to understand, "That's the beauty of retail," he said. Walmart, now with considerable e-commerce penetration and capabilities, paired with Walmart+, Walmart Connect and marketplace, has many levers to "be able to find places to go upstream [and] do things differently than other people are doing it," McMillon said. 


TL;DR — Walmart continues to grow above expectations and isn't getting complacent. The company is in the midst of nearly a dozen technology pilots, ranging from autonomous middle-mile runs to drone deliveries and electric final-mile vans. Like Target, the company is expecting more promotional activity throughout the year, despite the supply chain challenges. But, Walmart executives see rollbacks as an opportunity to boost profits, while Target plans to trade margin compression for fuller shelves. 

If you enjoyed this piece, try Point of Sale, my twice weekly newsletter about the rapidly evolving retail supply chain. Join more than 2,000 supply chain nerds like myself for trends, news, and analysis of every corner of the retail supply chain.

Sign up for free here: https://freightwaves.com/pos

Liam Neeson takes the ice road

Posted: 22 May 2021 05:40 AM PDT

Streaming service Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) has released the trailer for its recent $18 million European film purchase, "The Ice Road." The action-thriller is led by the "Taken" trilogy star, Liam Neeson, and features an all-star crew including Lawrence Fishburne (" The Matrix"), Holt McCallany ("Mindhunter"), Amber Midthuner ("Legion") and Matt McCoy ("Jack Ryan").

Neeson plays the role of Mike, an experienced ice road truck driver who signs up with his right-hand mechanic to join Goldenrod's (Fishburne) rescue team as they set out to deliver 300 feet of pipe to a collapsed, remote diamond mine to save the trapped miners. 

The catch: The team only has 30 hours to drive across a 300-mile, thawing ice road before the miners run out of air.

Video: Netflix – Youtube.com

While the plot is dramatic, ice road driving is a very hazardous, but necessary, segment of the transportation industry.

Ice roads are typically found in the northernmost regions of the world, specifically Alaska, northern Canada and other Arctic areas, and the longest such road is on the Kuskokwim River in Alaska. It stretches along 355 miles of the river from Tuntutuliak to Sleetmute.

These roads are built upon frozen waterways to allow access to areas that cannot be reached by regular roadways or other modes of transportation, including ship or rail, due to hazardous weather conditions.

These types of roads have many driving limitations, including weight and speed limits (25-45 mph), no access allowed during the night and the inability to stop while on the road.

(Photo: Netflix – Youtube.com)

Drivers do not wear seat belts due to the danger of drowning if the ice were to break and are taught to never turn off their engine, as the intense cold can often create problems for the truck.  

Due to the remote locations and lack of cell service, these drivers are usually quick on their feet and are experienced mechanics ready to handle any type of breakdown.

The trials and tribulations of ice road driving have made their way to screens before, particularly on the show "Ice Road Truckers," which filmed from 2007 to 2017.

Now Neeson's character aims to navigate these roads with his experienced platoon, with the film set to release on June 25.

Click here for more articles by Grace Sharkey.

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The Daily Dash: Continued impasse for UAW, Volvo Trucks?

Posted: 22 May 2021 05:00 AM PDT

The Daily Dash is a quick look at what's happening in the freight ecosystem. In today's edition, we highlight a not very well-received tentative deal between the UAW and Volvo Trucks North America, a dust-up over the Interstate 40 bridge closure, and more. 

The High Five

1. United Auto Workers and Volvo Trucks North America bargainers have reached another tentative agreement, but early indications are the rank and file like this deal no more than one they sent down in flames earlier this week. Alan Adler's article


2. U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn believes the nation's top transportation official is not paying enough attention to the Interstate 40 bridge outage and wants better coordination on the issue between federal and state authorities. John Gallagher with more


3. Kansas City Southern has made it official: It's breaking up with Canadian Pacific and going with the merger offer from CP rival CN. Joanna Marsh's story


4. Walmart Inc. is testing a final-mile delivery service in its northwest Arkansas home market with its own branded electric vehicles. Mark Solomon with details


5. Like many companies, gig economy businesses are struggling to find drivers as passengers and deliveries ramp up. Brian Straight with more


Five more to check out

DOT investigating safety of camera-based rearview mirrors

Freight brokers urged to increase security in light of pipeline cyberattack

California to require electric vehicles for most Lyft, Uber drivers

Flood threat persists for truckers in Deep South

NOAA predicting another above-normal Atlantic hurricane season

Viewpoint: An annual reminder to thank all seafarers

Posted: 22 May 2021 03:30 AM PDT

This commentary on National Maritime Day (May 22) was written by Buddy Custard, president and CEO of the Alaska Chadux Network. The views expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of FreightWaves or its affiliates.

By Buddy Custard

Imagine spending 16 weeks on board an oceangoing vessel during a scheduled deployment, living in cramped living quarters, working long days, and then suddenly not knowing when you'll be able to disembark to see your family and friends.

For many seafarers and mariners, that was the frightening reality at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The global shipping industry has been significantly disrupted as travel restrictions and safety protocols designed to protect citizens also prevented ship crews from taking shore leave or changing over. Many of these folks spent weeks or months beyond the end of their contract on board commercial shipping vessels worldwide. 

Even now, a humanitarian and economic crisis is boiling just below the surface, with an estimated 200,000 mariners still stranded at sea.

Throughout the pandemic, these men and women have continued to work, becoming the invisible essential workers who have literally kept our global economy afloat. 

In the U.S., 90% of  imports and exports are transported by ships. Despite initial and ongoing disruptions, international shipping continues to keep needed fuel arriving at our communities, food on the shelves of our grocery stores and essential goods like PPE coming to support the other critical front-line workers. 

Shipping companies and regulatory authorities have allowed for additional flexibility during these unprecedented times. Still, the seafarers who load and unload cargo and steer these massive vessels have borne the brunt of the pandemic's change.

This is especially true here in Alaska. Thousands of tons of goods made their way through the Port of Alaska in Anchorage and were distributed throughout the state. Throughout the pandemic, ships and barges continued to arrive on time, allowing the remote communities of Alaska to sustain in an uncertain global crisis.

Saturday's U.S. Maritime Day was established in 1933 to commemorate the first trans-Atlantic voyage successfully made via steamship. While maritime transportation has changed drastically since then, what hasn't changed is the dedication and tenacity of those who transit our waters. 

So, when you're waiting in line at the grocery store this weekend, spare a thought for those seafarers who have been and are still working hard to keep those products in your basket available for purchase. If you know a mariner or a family member of one, thank them for their sacrifice. 

Throughout the pandemic, we've come together to recognize the unsung heroes and essential workers across the global supply chain. Let's not forget those at sea who are key to sustaining our economy and delivering essential supplies to our communities. 


Buddy Custard is the president and chief executive officer of the Alaska Chadux Network. He possesses extensive knowledge and expertise working maritime operations from both the public and private sectors, including serving with the U.S. Coast Guard for over 30 years, attaining the rank of captain, and as a senior manager for an oil exploration and production company operating in the U.S. Arctic Outer Continental Shelf.

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