Shipping Updates and Holiday Closure (April 15, 2022 / Good Friday)

Holiday Schedule / Good Friday

NASA and it’s shipping partner Hillebrand Gori will be closed on Friday April 15, 2022 for Good Friday.  Port terminals, rail and logistics facilities may also have closures or reduced hours or operations as well. 

Please contact your Hillebrand representative to adjust schedules for any pending airfreight shipments scheduled to arrive on April 15th or the following weekend.  

For import customers please note that the cutoff for US Customs Importer Security Filing (ISF) is Wednesday April 13, 2022 for departures through Tuesday April 19, 2022. 


Spain Trucking Strike Over 

Last week the independent trucking associations reached an agreement at Bilbao ending protests at the terminals there.  After three weeks of disruption across Spain there is still a significant amount of backlog to process so there will be some residual delays expected.  

Portugal / Rail and Feeder Service Delays 

Shipments from Portugal are experiencing additional delays due to congestion at the Leixoes rail terminal.  As an alternative, dry cargo is moving to the maritime feeder vessel service with Mediterranean Shipping Company to avoid some of the rail backlog, but plan for additional costs and delays out of this region.

Oceania Update 

Equipment and space remains critical out of Oceania due to vessel service changes and container shortages.  Prepare for significant delays out of this trade lane to the both US West and East coast ports.    

US West Coast Port Labor (ILWU)
Negotiations are scheduled to start on May 12th, 2022 between the US West Coast port labor (ILWU) and the PMA (Pacific Maritime Association).  The current master contract for all US West Coast ports is set to expire on July 1st, 2022 which has raised concerns of potential labor slowdowns or strike action if the parties cannot reach an agreement before that date. 

US Senators have introduced legislation called the Preventing Labor Union Slowdowns (PLUS) Act to protect the “national supply chain during upcoming maritime union negotiations”. It’s not clear whether this effort (last introduced in 2017) will move forward, but multiple associations and industries are reaching out to elected officials to petition them to intervene to avoid any further disruption to the supply chain and port congestion.  


Update on Ocean Shipping Reform Act 2022 

The Ocean Shipping Reform Action (OSRA22) has moved forward in both houses of Congress and will head to a committee for a final version to be submitted for signature by the President.  The legislation focuses on unfair ocean carrier shipping practices related to detention, demurrage and export cargo refusals as well as expansion of the scope and jurisdiction of the Federal Maritime Commission.   

For more information on port congestion by region, please view the updates on Hillebrand Gori’s website below.www.hillebrand.com