Nippon Express launches service to avoid West Coast port congestion

Shipments will travel from US and Canada to Asia via Mexico

Noi Mahoney

2 years ago

Aiming to get around cargo bottlenecks at West Coast ports, Nippon Express has launched a multimodal service that will transport cargo from the U.S. and Canada to Asia via Mexico.

Nippon’s U.S. Export Service via Mexico (U.S.E.ME) conveys cargo overland by tractor-trailers from various locations in the U.S. and Canada to a Nippon Express warehouse in San Luis Potosí, Mexico, according to a press release.

From San Luis Potosí, cargo is transshipped to containers and transported by sea from Mexico’s Port of Manzanillo to ports in Japan and other Asian countries.

“Port congestion along North America’s West Coast has led to changes and delays in ship schedules, making it difficult to secure new space, congesting railway terminals and thereby slowing transshipment and creating a shortage of truck drivers, all of which have had a major impact on logistics,” Nippon Express said.

“The outlook remains uncertain, with concerns over the risk of port strikes having arisen in the course of labor-management negotiations at points all along the West Coast.”

Japan-based Nippon Express is one of the world’s largest logistics services providers, offering air and ocean freight and truck transport.

Nippon Express plans to avoid port congestion on the West Coast by offering a constant lead time of about 37 days. The lead time for transporting cargo overland (railway and truck) along the same route via the West Coast is currently about 40 to 60 days, Nippon said.

Primary collection will be in Toronto; Minneapolis; Chicago; Indianapolis; Detroit; Nashville, Tennessee; Atlanta; Houston; and Columbus and Cincinnati, Ohio. But goods can also be collected from major cities across the U.S. and Canada on dates specified by customers.

In August 2021, Nippon Express started a service from Japan to North America via Mexico. With the U.S.E.ME option, services via Mexico are now available in both directions between Japan and North America.