WASHINGTON — The Biden administration announced on Wednesday it is gaining ground on its ability to help importers and container vessel operators navigate shifts in freight flows with new information it is publishing from inland rail terminals and warehouses.
The increase in timely ocean container import data being supplied by private industry into the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Freight Logistics Optimization Works (FLOW) initiative confirms what has been predicted since earlier in the year — a boost in U.S. West Coast container volumes caused by detours around the Red Sea and transit blockages through the Panama Canal.
“DOT and supply chain stakeholders are applying lessons learned from the pandemic-caused disruptions as it helps manage changes in freight traffic resulting from the reckless Houthi attacks against vessels in the Red Sea, as well as the reduction of traffic in the Panama Canal due to drought conditions,” DOT stated on Wednesday in announcing the enhanced view of container import trends it has started providing to FLOW participants.
“The Department has held regular listening sessions with the freight industry and mariners since the Houthi attacks began last year and has worked with FLOW participants to leverage data on shifting traffic caused by the ensuing disruptions.”
Launched in March 2022, FLOW allows DOT to collect and aggregate information from participants on container freight imports that starts with importer purchase orders. The 61 current freight industry participants include the five largest U.S. container ports, seven of the largest ocean carriers and nine of the 20 largest retailers by imports.
Speaking on Tuesday at the American Association of Port Authorities’ 2024 Legislative Summit in Washington, Allison Dane Camden, deputy assistant secretary for multimodal freight infrastructure and policy, which oversees FLOW, said she has been leading a biweekly call with industry leaders on how the terrorist attacks against Red Sea shipping are affecting supply chains.
While she didn’t provide specific volume numbers, “we’re starting to see a little bit [of an uptick]” in containers going to the West Coast in the FLOW data, Camden said. “So it’s helping us to be able to look around the corner and be prepared. It’s not perfect — it’s small compared to where we want to grow it, but I think we’ve already gotten some good capability.”
Commenting as a FLOW participant, Jesse Whitfield, director of global ocean freight at UPS [NYSE: UPS], said that the “more granular views” of container imports allow UPS “to consider not only alternate routings but also potential shifts in their distribution networks. That directional insight is invaluable when it comes to being able to pivot during times of disruption.”