I draw on personal experiences to form my opinion for many things I write about. When I do this, my writing is still fiction but broadly based on real happenings somewhere, sometime. My experiences enable me to form ‘hypotheses,’ but well short of ‘theories,’ and there is a difference between the two. Suppose you use scientific… Read more »
Cargo insurance and moving your cargo through a country at war.
I recently had a customer ask me for a cargo insurance rate for cargo traveling from Qingdao, China, to Germany. What is interesting about that? It was for ground rail transit that would have the conveyance moving through both Russia and Ukraine, that’s what. My customer explained that getting cargo cover was possible because he… Read more »
Lithium Batteries, Hot Fires, & Cargo Insurance
Thinking of capitalizing on the increasing lithium battery demand? Wade into the business slow, there are perils you should be aware of. Lithium batteries run everything from pacemakers to automobiles and store our solar energy. The applications lithium batteries can be used for are almost endless. Comparing lithium batteries side by side to traditional lead-acid… Read more »
Who is winning the game of ‘Take the Freight’?
Get a cup of coffee, this is a long article. Truck-related cargo theft incidents are up. Not just a little up, but a lot up. Truck cargo thefts of all kinds were up in 2022, and the trend is continuing. Thieves may be lazy pieces of human trash, but that does not mean they are… Read more »
Are Dirt Cheap Trucking Rates a Good Thing?
There is no doubt that the truck freight volume is down, and there is little chance it will be ramping back up to those heady pandemic days any time soon. At least in the United States, inflationary pressures and higher interest rates are taking a toll on American consumerism. Even Americans with good discretionary income… Read more »
Will ocean container rates continue to fall?
Container shippers are enjoying relief from the sky-high container rates of the pandemic. Shipping volume has reduced, and congestion has eased, especially at L.A./Long Beach, all from American consumers keeping their wallets in their pockets more. China to West Coast U.S. rates are now at pre-pandemic levels. The long-asked question of the past several years… Read more »
How many marine cargo claims can you have and not get dropped?
Recently I was discussing cargo losses with someone managing continuous truckload shipments of fresh produce within the United States. For the most part, a good portion of the losses never reach the cargo insurer due to carrier settlements and salvage sales, which are common in the produce transport industry, but the incidents were becoming more… Read more »