b'6American Journal ofTransportation ajot.comACL AJOT_SailSchedule_2020_ACL2/27/209:33 AMPage 1(ALLIANCEScontinuedlikeThe ocean carrier alliances,Ofrom page 4) haseveryalli- theother parties immersed inONNEESSHHIIPPTheres a demand forecastingsupply chain, were ill-pre-process that each alliance goespared for the disruptions caused through(And)by the COVID pandemic. The ancemembertheirrightstuttering movement of boxes to go ahead and declare whatfrom China has exacerbated theC onCo nttaaiinneerrss,,RROORROO,,BBrreeaakkbbuullkkCCaarrggootheywanttherearesomeinherentproblemwithimbal-nuancestotheextentthatances and caused massive pile somearegettingmorethanups at West Coast and now East whattheycontribute,someCoastports.Thesizeofthe want less than what they con- Chinese ports is so much larger tribute.Butgenerallyspeak- that when they release the pent ing, alliance structures are tiedup volume it is like the opening to contribution [of ships andof a dam with the downstream slots], similar to some of thebarriers too small to handle the other asset type models. flood of containers. Whiletheoverallmodel is fairly straight forward, thea n ewoSRaand theRORO Customer Serviceday-to-daynetworkman- a llianceS A SERVICE AL1 SERVICE AL2 SERVICE 877-918-7676agement of the system can beFair or unfair, both Amer- FROM NEW YORK Cuto Friday Cuto Thursday Cuto Monday Export Customer ServiceLOLO RORO LOLO LOLOquite complex. In the case oficanportsandshipperswhoTO Transit Time Transit Time Transit Time Transit Time 800-225-1235North America, the high value,rely on the alliance ship callsANTWERP 1620 18Export Documentation 888-802-0401lowvolumeinboundfreight,havebeenunhappywiththeDUBLIN 12Import Customer ServiceparticularlyfromChinaandcurrentstateofaffairs.ThisBELFAST 13888-802-0403SoutheastAsiaisbalancedhasculminatedinabilltoGTEBORG 21LogisticsHAMBURG 13 17 15 22againsttheexportsoflowupdate the Ocean ShippingLE HAVRE17 866-821-7449valuebutheavyfreight. TheReform Act (OSRA) of 2022,LIVERPOOL 9 13 Credit & Collectionsinherentsystemwideimbal- (ALLIANCEScontinuedLONDON GATEWAY20 19 888-225-7747anceintermsofbothdollaron page 9) ROTTERDAM11 20value and containers compli-cates vessel rotations and con-tainer repositioning.a llianceS and theU nalliedIdeally,alliancesliketo havesimilarvesselsizesor classes,operatingwiththeir networks. But one-size doesnt alwaysfitall,asportsand terminalsoftencantaccom-modatethevesselsthatan alliance wants as its linehaul ships. So, what happens when an alliance member wants to deploy a class too large for a port or terminal because of a draftorequipmentconsid-erations?Thatportislikely droppedfromtherotation. Even in cases where the ship can be handledbut not opti-mallythe port is likely to be the first bypassed or subject to the industrys well-used oxy-moronblanksailings.The reasoning (or at least the most oftenspokenreason)forthe bypassorevenaportbeing blankedisusuallybecause the schedule has deteriorated, often because of congestion at a previous port and to make uptime,theshipcallsnext port in the rotation. One port executive asked about why his.ON A WHOLE NEW SCALEport in particular, was blanked out so often, simply answered thealliance.Offeringthat while some alliance members might want to make the call,DOUBLES RAIL CAPACITY TOthe demands of a preeminent carrier in the alliance, dictated1 MILLION the bypass. Yet for an industry that is built on the modicum keep theassetmoving,thenextCONTAINER LIFTS PER YEARport-of-callisntnecessarily the fastest or least congested. But in nearly every instance, it is a hub port that best fitsEXTENDS REACHTO AMERICAN MIDWESTthecarriersneedsinher-enttothecontainerflowof high value inbound and lowCUTS TRANSIT TIMES BY 24 HOURSvalue outbound cargo imbal-ance conundrum. And among theseprioritiesistherepo- MASONMEGARAIL.COMsitioningofcontainersfor return (often to Asia).'