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TOP TRADE DISRUPTORS While the pandemic is firmly in our rearview mirror, a new batch of disruptions have popped up to challenge the supply chain. The Q1/ Q2 2024 Retail Sourcing Report from TradeBeyond outlines the top trade disruptors that are likely to throw a wrench into global sourcing plans and buying decisions in 2024. Here are the key highlights: • Rate fluctuation: Extreme shipping rate volatility with attacks in the Red Sea have sent shipping rates surging since December, more than doubling the rates on some European lanes and creating substantially longer transit times. • Looming uncertainty: The shipping crisis has made supply chain disruptions more likely, elevating fears of a return to the bottlenecks, component shortages, and product delays that supply chains endured in recent years. • Tech spend coming: The pace of digitalization continues to accelerate in retail supply chains, with more than 90% of supply chain managers saying their companies are actively engaged executives anticipate that AI, cognitive computing, and cloud applications will be their greatest areas of investment in digital operations over the next three years. • Manufacturing slump: The most recent GEP Global Supply Chain Volatility Index warned of continued downturn in global manufacturing through at least the first quarter of 2024 amid softened demand, especially in Europe. in digital transformation. And 46% of supply chain
Mega Money for Intermodal Projects In a win for intermodal infrastructure, the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) recently selected 37 projects to receive funding through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s Mega and Infrastructure for Rebuilding America (INFRA) grant programs. Several of the projects will boost intermodal infrastructure across the country. The Mega Program, also known as the National Infrastructure Project Assistance program, funds large, complex projects that are difficult to fund by other means and likely to generate national or regional economic, mobility, or safety benefits. Congress established the program in 2021 through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and dedicated $5 billion to the program over five years. The most recent awards were the second round of funding, worth roughly $2 billion. INFRA is a competitive grant program that provides funding for multimodal freight and highway projects of national or regional significance to improve the safety, efficiency, and reliability of freight movement in and across rural and urban areas. The most recent annual program funding amount is $3.1 billion and the annual award amount is $1.5 billion. Intermodal projects receiving grants in this round of Mega and INFRA funding include: • America’s Green Gateway: Pier B Rail Program Buildout, Long Beach, Calif. The project will complete the Pier B On-Dock Rail support facility program by significantly enhancing container-on-rail service to and from the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles. • St. Lucie River Railroad Bridge Replacement Project, City of Stuart, Fla. The project will replace the existing 100-year-old St. Lucie River Railroad Bridge with a new double-track structure. By diverting freight traffic to rail, the project will increase safety for marine traffic, decrease the potential for blocked grade crossings and vehicle collisions, and shift single-occupancy vehicles to passenger rail travel. • East River Berth Replacement Project, Garden City, Ga. The project will replace a port berth and two vessel berths at Georgia Ports Authority’s Port of Brunswick’s East River Terminal and will also reduce greenhouse gas emissions by supporting a modal shift from truck to rail for transporting commodities to the Port of Brunswick. • Louisiana International Terminal Project, St. Bernard Parish, La. The project will construct a new container terminal on the Gulf Coast for the Port of New Orleans that is not air-draft restricted and can accommodate larger vessels.
February 2024 • Inbound Logistics 17
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