Chalk One Up for Another Successful Peak Season

摘要

This year appears to be trouble-fee, but volumes continue to break records and rail remains a wildcard. This year's big peak season event was that there was none. Unlike recent years, despite record volumes of freight, things have been moving relatively smoothly and they're been only a few minor hiccups. Given the importance of peak season shipping to retailers in particular and the nation's economy in general, it's understandable why everyone - shippers, carriers, and even consumers - are working harder than ever to avoid any potential snags in the system. Granted, the 'peak' of the peak won't occur until the latter half of October, so while we're not out of the woods, it appears that the changes implemented since the infamous peak season meltdown of 2004 have been achieving their goal. "On a volume side, we're pretty much where we expected to be," confirms Richard Hiller, Vice President of Transpacific Trade Management for Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (www.molpower.com). Utilization rates for vessels calling the West Coast have been running in the mid- to high-90 percent range, he says, while utilization rates for vessels calling the East Coast have been even higher.