Hawaii Freight Forwarding News
 Keep up to date with the latest industry news
  • 27-Jan-2012: SS Line announces 5% fuel-surcharge increase
  • 09-Dec-2011: UTS's end of year holiday schedule for 2011
  • 22-Nov-2011: SS Line announces general rate increase
  • 05-Oct-2011: SS Line announces 2% fuel-surcharge decrease

27-Jan-2012 - SS Line announces 5% fuel-surcharge increase
The steamship line serving Hawaii from the West Coast will increase their fuel-surcharge from 40.5% to 45.5%, effective 26-February-2012—no announcement concerning the steamship line's fuel-surcharge for their Guam service has been made as of this time. Concomitantly, we will increase our Hawaii service fuel-surcharge in line with the steamship line's and continue to monitor fuel oil prices to identify trends and predict future adjustments. Back to top

09-Dec-2011 - UTS's end of year holiday schedule for 2011
In observance of the holidays, our operations and Carson, CA, facility will be closed as follows:

  • Christmas Holiday
    • Closed: Monday & Tuesday, 26 & 27-Dec-2011
    • Re-open: Wednesday, 28-Dec-2011

  • New Year's Holiday
    • Closed: Monday, 02-Jan-2012
    • Re-open: Tuesday, 03-Jan-2012

Please make a note of this schedule and advise your vendors and/or carriers as need be. Also, note that, although our noontime Friday cutoff will remain in effect for the last two Saturday sailings of the year, customers are strongly encouraged to plan to have shipments for those sailings delivered to our packing facility by the Thursday prior to the holiday weekend. Back to top

22-Nov-2011 - SS Line announces general rate increase for 2012
The steamship line serving Hawaii from the West Coast announced that they will raise their rates by $175 per westbound container and by $85 per eastbound container, effective 01-January-2012. In addition, the steamship line announced that they will increase their hazardous material handling charge by $10 and their terminal handling charge (THC) by $50 per westbound container and by $25 per eastbound container, also effective 01-January-2012. Per the S.S. Line press release, the rate and THC increases together will result in an average increase of 5.6% for shipping costs.

Because the SS Line's ocean and THC charges represent a major fraction of our operating costs, we will pass-along a similar increase that will be reflected in our line item charges. Though we are still analyzing the numbers, we are estimating a $0.15 per cubic foot (PCF) increase to our LCL ocean charges and a $0.05 PCF increase to our LCL terminal handling charge. As your dedicated Hawaii Freight Forwarder, we remain steadfast in our commitment to providing our customers with the most cost-effective and competitive rates in the industry. Back to top

05-Oct-2011 - SS Line announces 2% fuel-surcharge decrease
Effective 09-October-2011, the steamship line serving Hawaii and Guam from the West Coast will reduce their fuel-surcharge from 42.5% to 40.5% and from 44% to 42% in their Hawaii and Guam services, respectively. Concomitantly, we will reduce our fuel-surcharges in line with the steamship line's and we will continue to monitor fuel oil prices to identify trends and predict future adjustments. Back to top