This week:
- Speakers at transportation and logistics conference join calls for federal cargo theft legislation
- Canadian government again intervenes in Port of Montreal labor dispute, orders arbitration
- BLS revises employment data, revealing fewer jobs and structural shifts in the US trucking industry
- Following a record-setting start to 2025, February cargo volumes remain high at Port of LA
Support Grows For US Cargo Theft Legislation, Federal Task Force
Transportation and shipper groups are now among the supply chain stakeholders urging the US Congress to act on the cargo theft crisis. This follows a group of industry leaders who recently spoke before a US Senate subcommittee hearing on the topic. Pending legislation in the House of Representatives would strengthen criminal penalties and create a federal cargo theft task force.
Speaking at the 51st annual Transportation & Logistics Council Conference last week in Houston, Chris Burroughs, president and CEO of the Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA), voiced support for the Safeguarding Our Supply Chains Act. Burroughs said if the bill were to become law, it would unify the government’s response to cargo theft.
“There’s a lot of finger-pointing going on within the federal agencies about who’s really in charge,” Burroughs said of the current situation. “Every federal regulatory agency should have a role in this because it affects everybody.”
Danny Ramon, director of Intelligence and response at Overhaul, noted the increase in sophisticated theft and fraud schemes. “The rewards [of the crimes] are so great, and you don’t even have to be in contact with the goods or in this country,” he told the conference crowd.
At the Senate subcommittee hearing three weeks ago, stakeholders testified that US supply chains lose up to $35 billion annually to theft and fraud. The Safeguarding Our Supply Chains Act, introduced last June, would establish a supply chain crime coordination center and a multi-agency task force. The bill allocates $100 million in funding over five years to support these initiatives.
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Canadian Government Intervenes in Ongoing Montreal Port Labor Dispute
The Canadian government has stepped in to force arbitration in the ongoing labor dispute at the Port of Montreal. Negotiations for a new master contract covering 1,300 dockworkers have been unsuccessful for the last 18 months. The previous contract expired at the end of 2023.
The Maritime Employers Association (MEA) said in a statement to the Journal of Commerce (JoC) that a special mediator who had been facilitating talks recently declared an impasse between the MEA and Local 375 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees.
Local 375 took several labor actions last October, which disrupted cargo flows and prompted the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) to become involved. Both sides requested 90 days of mediated talks in November. The CIRB approved and assigned the special mediator. A subsequent 30-day extension recently expired, at which point the CIRB intervened again to force arbitration.
The MEA and Local 375 now have the option to jointly select an arbitrator. If that doesn’t happen, Labour Minister Steve MacKinnon will appoint one. Once an arbitrator is in place, it’s expected the two sides will have 60 days to reach a deal on the new master contract.
Revised Job Data Reveals Structural Shifts in US Trucking Industry
Recent revisions to US employment numbers have unveiled a significant drop in trucking employment for February. This and other data signal structural changes within the trucking market, according to an analysis by JoC Senior Editor William B. Cassidy.
The revised figures, recently released by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), indicate that trucking employment was previously overstated between 2022 and 2024 by as much as 2% to 4%. This correction has pushed for-hire trucking payrolls to their lowest point since May 2021, with February’s figures falling below pre-pandemic 2019 levels.
According to Cassidy, the revised numbers suggest truckload capacity could tighten rapidly once freight demand increases. The data also revealed another trend: employment and resources are moving from larger trucking firms to smaller ones, a shift some experts believe may be permanent.
Small carriers, defined as companies that employ one to five trucks, have surged since 2020, impacting capacity and other market dynamics. Cassidy said that these small carriers are also proving to be more resilient than in previous economic downturns.
Port of LA Continues to See Record-Setting Cargo Volumes in February
Following a record-setting start to 2025, the Port of Los Angeles continued to see strong cargo volumes in February. The port handled 801,398 TEUs last month, a 2.5% year-over-year increase and its second-busiest February on record.
Port of LA Executive Director Gene Seroka praised the efforts of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, terminal operators, truckers, railroads, and other stakeholders. Seroka said the port has achieved year-over-year growth in 17 of the last 19 months. As for the cause of recent surges in volume, he pointed to early imports by retailers and manufacturers as they get ahead of expected tariff increases.
However, Seroka also said that substantial existing inventories and tariff uncertainty could lead to a 10% decline in cargo volumes in the second half of the year. The port plans to seek new business opportunities to mitigate this potential drop.
Overall, the Port of LA has handled 1,725,643 TEUs in the first two months of 2025, a 5.4% increase compared to the same timeframe in 2024.
