Container volume growth through the Canadian freight network may be slowing but pressure isn’t letting up on cargo owners, forwarders, and other transportation providers. Often caught in the trade war crossfire between China and the US, Canadian exporters are scrambling to find new markets and depend even more on efficient supply chains to stay globally competitive. Importers, be they retailers or manufacturers, are under the gun to keep inventory costs under control while delivering goods faster.

 

Achieving that will require expansion of infrastructure capacity, closer collaboration  among transportation providers, and strategies to respond to volatility resulting from increasing blank sailings by ocean carriers, congestion at marine terminals, or other disruptive events.

 

There’s no time for complacency, even if containerized trade growth through Canada’s four largest ports decelerated from 5.2 percent in 2018 to 4 percent last year and as disruption eased. If anything, this is precisely the time to calibrate to slower freight growth and to invest in the infrastructure, technology, and people to improve freight flows and ensure that Canada stays globally competitive — no matter how the economic and geopolitical winds blow. 

 

Now in its fourth year, the JOC Canada Trade Conference promises a packed, informative, and engaging agenda to help cargo owners better calibrate their supply chains and drive conversations among all stakeholders. Armed with unbiased and actionable information, attendees will come away with the following insights, allowing them to drive needed changes in their organization and within the broader Canadian container shipping industry:

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• Canadian and global economic outlook and the implications for Canadian containerized imports and exports.
   

• How alliances, carrier consolidation, slowing global trade, and other global forces are reshaping the Canadian ocean market. 
   

• Best practices from importers and exporters of containerized goods and commodities. 
   

• Guidance on technology that cargo owners and transportation providers can leverage in the near term to drive cargo flow and visibility. 
   

• Major Canadian port investments aimed at driving cargo flow on and off-terminal
   

• The opportunities and challenges for emerging port gateways.
   

• What Canadian shipping leaders see ahead.
   

• How to build a logistics workforce able to attract and retain new, diverse talent.
   

• What global and Canadian decarbonization pressures mean for containerized supply chains.