Recent News

Roll out the Barrel: Fuel Rates Rising
The world consumes roughly over 97 million barrels of oil per day. The US currently has 35 billion barrels in reserve today, making it 11th in the global rank of oil reserves. We could stop drilling right now and still have enough oil to last us for just under 50 years before we ran out. […]

Mindy Avants: Finding Balance in Bestway
Starting with Bestway International in January of 2020, the job Mindy Avants walked into ended up looking very different almost instantly. Within a few months, everyone was working outside the office, ocean rates started to spike and the logistics of the world was unrecognizable as the pandemic unfolded. Even now, with lessons learned from the […]

Updates with Ukraine: Supply Chain Disruption
With Russia’s decision to invade Ukraine, shippers can expect more increases in freight rates, fuel costs, supply chain disruption (both in the war-affected area and globally), and surcharges. With disruption and delays being the biggest concern, it’s likely going to be a ripple effect. China to Europe shippers may even switch to sea to avoid […]

FMC Detention Fees Fire Up
The FMC has received a response from Wan Hai, the Taiwanese carrier denying the illegality of the detention and demurrage charges applied to twenty-one containers. The issue arises from an FMC investigation that is looking into the way charges are applied and if there are mitigating circumstances that precluded a prompt pick-up. Demurrage and detention […]

On the Rise & By the Truckload
Concerns that truckload pricing will continue to rise in 2022 bear out as analysts predict tighter capacity on the horizon. One of the market signifiers, the last time spot rates increased in the month of January was back in 2018 at the start of a bull market that lasted well into June of that year. […]

Forced Labor, China, & Trade
With the issues and events impacting US trade from China, including the coming Beijing Olympics, Lunar New Year public holiday, and changing COVID restrictions, trade actions against Chinese goods that are made in Xinjiang produced using forced labor have emerged as critical. As awareness and evidence of genocide, forced internment, and human rights abuses mount, […]

Reviewing 2021 & the Bestway forward
You know the old saying, “It’s always darkest before the dawn.” Upon reviewing 2021, it’s easy to see we’ve had quite the year, from setting new records in the LA and LB ports back in June, to being so bogged down with cargo sitting, unable to be moved. And it didn’t help things globally when […]

Preparing for 2022 Lunar New Year
As 2020 drew to a close, the concern surrounding Lunar New Year was centered around the blanked sailings that we typically need to prepare for, but the challenges of this year make the mess even bigger than before. The blanked sailings could be the best and worst thing to hit us in over twenty-four months. […]

Bills of Waiting: Port Fees Fiasco
As the port fees start pouring in from the delayed cargo at the ports, logistics professionals say the retailers and cargo owners will ultimately pay the cost of the drastic new fees announced back in October in response to the mounting congestion disrupting the US supply chain. The port fees purportedly penalize the ocean carriers […]

The People-First Approach of Kelli Adkins
For ten years, Kelli Adkins has embodied the Bestway vision that puts relationships, trust, honesty, and personal ownership above all else. Her dedication to creating friendships through clients and taking pride in their satisfaction has led to a decade of successful leadership with Bestway International. Starting as the manager of market development, Kelli came to […]

A Midwest Approach to Container Congestion
Los Angeles and Long Beach, California are getting bogged down with millions of containers the focus has been honed onto their issue to get the congestion cleared out so things can run more smoothly. However, in this process, other ports such as Savannah, New York, and New Jersey, are all experiencing congestion of their own with little […]

Bust Bunker Surcharges with Strategy
The announcement of bunker surcharges under Bunker Adjustment Factor (BAF) from ocean carriers comes as no surprise, considering fuel costs for crude oil are up to close to $80 per barrel. The continued disruption of ocean cargo has reached out to impact the other modes, hitting rail and truck shipments hard. Obviously, the carriers have […]