Week 26 finds the industry managing reinstated terminal fees at the Port of Houston, cooling trans-Pacific demand, and cross-border parcel disruptions due to labor actions in Canada.
U.S. PORT HOUSTON REEFER DWELL FEES
Port Houston will introduce tiered dwell-time surcharges for refrigerated import containers beginning July 1. After one week of free time, fees will apply at $51.60 per day for days eight through ten, $77.40 per day for days eleven through fourteen, $103.20 per day for days fifteen through twenty and $154.80 per day thereafter. The measures follow reefer volumes surpassing 10,000 TEUs in May and aim to accelerate cargo turnover ahead of peak summer demand.
TRANS-PACIFIC DEMAND COOLING
Carriers added extra sailings on the U.S. West Coast in June to absorb booking surges, creating temporary overcapacity. Those supplemental voyages are now being withdrawn as forward bookings return to levels manageable by standard rotations. No extra sailings are planned for July, allowing slot availability to improve and balance capacity between West and East coast services through the summer peak. If volumes pick up again, West Coast utilization may tighten, but current forecasts indicate sufficient capacity.
U.S.-CANADA CROSS-BORDER PARCEL DISRUPTIONS
DHL Express suspended all operations in Canada on June 20 after labor negotiations stalled under Bill C-58, which prohibits replacement workers during a legal strike. Shippers of time-sensitive parcels face lead-time extensions at Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal gateways and increased reliance on U.S. 3PL consolidation hubs in Buffalo, Detroit and the Pacific Northwest.
ONGOING GLOBAL PORT DISRUPTIONS
Northern Europe’s network remains constrained by rail maintenance in Germany and Central Europe, low Rhine River levels limiting barge capacity, heavy rainfall in south-eastern Spain restricting road haulage, and the July 4- July 8, 2025, A 26 West rail suspension to Hamburg’s main terminals. Since May, carriers have also rerouted U.S.-bound South Asia shipments around India-Pakistan trade bans, directing Pakistan-origin containers away from Indian ports and diverting Indian-origin loads from Pakistani gateways.
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