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Posted 9/20/2016 by Genevieve Giuliano
METRANS Blog - Perspectives Series
Introduction by Genevieve Giuliano
Welcome to our METRANS Blog PERSPECTIVES series. We have asked our experts to comment on the Hanjing Shipping Co bankruptcy, which took place on August 31, leaving cargo laden ships stranded around the world. Here are three entries from our faculty port and maritime experts. As always, our blog entries do not represent the view of METRANS or our funding organizations.
Posted 9/20/2016 by Thomas O'Brien
METRANS Blog - Perspective Series
The question of broader supply chain disruptions as a result of the Hanjin bankruptcy, and our ability to predict them, was the subject of a recent Perspectives column in the Long Beach Business Journal by METRANS Associate Director Tom O?Brien. In the column, O?Brien argues that the supply chain needs to be ready to absorb shocks from continued consolidation in ocean carriage as well as from other key economic changes like those facing manufacturing.
Posted 9/20/2016 by Jean-Paul Rodrigue
METRANS Blog - Perspective Series
For many years, the shipping industry has been in a situation of overcapacity, which was depressing rates and impairing the profitability of shipping lines. To make matters worse, almost every major shipping line was ordering larger containerships, caught in a vicious circle of trying to boost profitability with economies of scale. Capacity was growing faster than demand.
Posted 9/16/2016 by Geraldine Knatz
METRANS Blog - Perspective Series
Hanjin Shipping Company receivership filing is a dramatic sign of the distress facing the ocean carrier industry. While small container lines have come and gone in the recent past, such as The Containership Company, which called at the Trapac Terminal in Long Beach, the demise of the seventh largest ocean carrier reflects the inability of an industry to sustain year after year of losses due to low shipping rates and ship overcapacity.
Posted 9/4/2016 by Sandip Chakrabarti
The LA Times study highlights that most public transit agencies in Southern California, including Metro, the largest regional carrier, have experienced declines in passenger boardings between 2006 and 2015. For some agencies, the loss looks quite dramatic. This is a problem because the agencies have all made substantial investments, with public dollars, over that period for expanding and improving their service, and Metro has spent $9 billion for its light rail and subway projects. So, it?s not unfair to ask whether Metro et al.
