Month in Review – June 2025
Maritime
June 4: BCMEA and ILWU Local 514 Joint Announcement – BCMEA negotiations website
The British Columbia Maritime Employers Association (BCMEA) and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Ship & Dock Foremen Local 514 (ILWU Local 514) have ratified a new four-year collective agreement.
The agreement extends from April 1, 2023 to March 31, 2027.
June 10: Global Disruptions Drive Containership Fleet to Near Full Capacity, Alphaliner Says – gCaptain
The global container shipping industry is experiencing unprecedented levels of fleet utilization, with commercial idle capacity hitting a remarkable low of just 0.6% of the world’s 32.0 Mteu fleet, according to Alphaliner. This development comes amid a complex interplay of geopolitical tensions and supply chain disruptions affecting maritime trade.
According to Alphaliner’s latest survey from June 2, only 70 vessels, accounting for 185,157 TEU, remain commercially idle. This exceptionally low idle rate “confirms that the liner sector is ‘fully employed’ with idling only occurring for incidental operational reasons,” the analyst said.
Several factors are tightening capacity. Suspended U.S.-China tariffs have increased Transpacific shipping as companies rush to move goods before August’s potential tariff reinstatement. The Red Sea diversions and global port congestion further strain vessel availability, with estimates indicating that ships rerouting around Africa are reducing global shipping capacity by 8%.
June 14: Shipowners Warned to Avoid Red Sea and Strait of Hormuz amid Israel-Iran Conflict – Marine Insight
After Israel launched large-scale attacks on Iran on June 13, tensions in the Middle East have led to major concerns for global shipping.
Shipping companies are now taking extra precautions, with many avoiding the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf, especially near the Strait of Hormuz-one of the world’s most important maritime routes for oil and goods.
The Combined Maritime Forces, a U.S.-led coalition that monitors regional waters, confirmed that the Strait of Hormuz remains open and commercial traffic is moving. However, they also stated that the likelihood of regional conflict has increased to a “significant” level.
Greece and the United Kingdom have issued official advisories.
June 20: Shipping Lines Raise Surcharges amid Cost and Route Pressures – Fresh Plaza
Global shipping lines, such as Maersk, CMA CGM and MSC, have announced a new series of peak season surcharges (PSS) starting from late June and July. These adjustments respond to strong seasonal demand, increased bunker costs and ongoing disruptions in shipping routes.
Maersk has introduced a $4,000 surcharge per container for shipments from the Indian Subcontinent and the Middle East to the U.S. and Canadian West Coast, effective July 16. An additional $3,500–$4,000 surcharge will be applied to containers destined for the U.S. East Coast and Gulf, with the amount contingent on origin points.
June 24: Strait of Hormuz GPS Jamming Remains Major Security Issue – CNBC
Despite a tentative ceasefire between Israel and Iran, security issues in the Strait of Hormuz continue for shipowners, with GPS jamming incidents forcing vessels to reduce transits.
According to Angeliki Frangou, chairman and CEO of Navios Maritime Partners, which owns and operates dry cargo ships and tankers, vessels in the Strait of Hormuz are still being threatened by continuous GPS signal blocking. The GPS jamming has more vessels waiting to pass through the Strait of Hormuz.
“We have had about 20% less passage of vessels through the Strait of Hormuz, and vessels are waiting outside,” Frangou told CNBC. “You are hearing a lot from the liner [ocean shipping] companies that they are transiting only during daytime because of the jamming of GPS signals of vessels. They don’t want to pass during the nighttime because they find it dangerous. So it’s a very fluid situation,” Frangou said.
Air
June 20: Canada’s Competition Bureau Calls for More Foreign Investment in Domestic Airline Industry – Skies
In a bid to diversify Canada’s airline market and make flights more affordable, the Competition Bureau is calling for a raft of policy changes, including cabotage rights that would allow foreign carriers to operate domestic routes in Canada.
The recommendations appear in a new market study of Canada’s airline industry that is already getting pushback from the Canadian Airports Council (CAC).
“Cabotage is not the answer to competition in a country as sparse and large as Canada,” said Monette Pasher, president of the CAC, in a statement.
June 23: Airlines Weigh Middle East Cancellations After U.S. Strikes in Iran – American Journal of Transportation
Airlines on June 23 were weighing how long to suspend Middle East flights as a conflict that has already cut off major flight routes entered a new phase after the U.S. attacked key Iranian nuclear sites and Tehran vowed to defend itself.
Cancellations in recent days to typically resilient aviation hubs such as Dubai, the world’s busiest international airport, and Qatar’s Doha by international carriers show how aviation industry concerns about the region have escalated.
The usually busy airspace stretching from Iran and Iraq to the Mediterranean has been largely empty of commercial air traffic for 10 days since Israel began strikes on Iran on June 13, as airlines divert, cancel and delay flights through the region due to airspace closures and safety concerns.
Rail
June 11: CPKC System Cutover Triggers Service Woes in Some Former KCS Locations – American Shipper
The Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger has gone smoothly over the past two years – until a long-planned computer system cutover last month in former Kansas City Southern territory in the U.S.
CPKC Chief Operating Officer Mark Redd says the cutover – during which CP’s operations system replaced the old KCS system and processes – led to localized service problems in Louisiana, eastern Texas and parts of Mississippi. “We’ve struggled just a bit with some of the operating features,” he said on June 11.
The biggest impact has been to local customer switching service, Redd says. “We deeply regret some issues that we’ve had,” he says, noting that the railroad has been working closely with shippers.
June 23: CPKC Says Service Is on the Mend in Former KCS Territory – FreightWaves
Canadian Pacific Kansas City expects service to return to normal by late July in former Kansas City Southern territory that has experienced congestion, delays and missed customer switches since a May 3 computer cutover.
“CPKC’s level of service performance on the legacy-KCS network since May 3, 2025 – as reflected in part in the [first mile/last mile] and manifest [on-time performance] metrics – does not measure up to CPKC’s standards for the quality of service it provides customers or the efficient operation of its network,” the railway said in a June 20 letter that was posted to the Surface Transportation Board website.
The letter was filed in response to STB Chairman Patrick Fuchs’ request for information about the service problems, including their causes and how and when CPKC intends to fix them.
“While it is too early to offer firm predictions about the timing of a full return to the high level of service performance that CPKC strives to provide customers, CPKC anticipates that service levels for the vast majority of legacy-KCS customers will be in the normal range in the second half of July,” the Calgary-based railway said.
Trucking
June 2: Report Finds 30% of Trucks in GTHA Suited for Electrification – Today’s Trucking
Nearly a third of trucks in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA) could go electric today using commercially available battery-electric trucks (BET), according to new research from the Pembina Institute. That figure could rise to more than 50% by the early 2030s, if the right policies are in place.
The study analyzed real-world travel data from trucks (Classes 3 through 8) operated in the GTHA region, collected through Altitude by Geotab, which has roughly 250,000 telematics units installed in light-, medium- and heavy-duty vehicles across Canada. The telematics data spanned two one-month periods, January 2023 and July 2023, to capture potential seasonal variations between winter and summer.
The analysis considered whether trucks return to a fixed base long enough to recharge overnight, and whether their daily travel distances are within the range of commercially available battery-electric trucks under both summer and winter conditions.
Most trucks analyzed had predictable, limited daily ranges that could be met even with conservative assumptions, including up to 50% range reductions in winter. The report estimates that 40% of trucks could rely on overnight charging at their home base, without needing public infrastructure.
June 3: First Ministers Commit to Expanded Trucking Pilot to Remove Internal Trade Barriers – Canadian Trucking Alliance press release
At meetings in Saskatoon, the First Ministers announced an agreement to implement an efficient and effective strategy to coordinate major nation building projects, while directing ministers of transport across the country to cooperate in rapidly expanding the trucking pilot announced in 2024, with the goal of removing many internal trade barriers within the domestic trucking supply chain.
“The Prime Minister and the First Ministers have reaffirmed the critical role the trucking industry plays in Canada and made it clear to Canadians and the business community that measures to improve productivity and efficiency in the supply chain will be implemented quickly,” said CTA President and CEO Stephen Laskowski. “Today’s announcement to expand the trucking pilot should allow our industry, all levels of government and the contractors for these nation-building projects to mitigate costly permitting issues that create significant delays.”
June 3: Data Shows Widespread Trucking Abuse of Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker Program – Today’s Trucking
Abuse of Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) program in the trucking industry is rampant, with the trucking industry accounting for more than 10% of violations and most monetary penalties going unpaid.
Those are the findings of a trucknews.com analysis of Government of Canada data on TFW program violations. There were 821 total violations of the program between 2020 and year-to-date 2025, with trucking companies accounting for 83 of those – slightly more than 10%.
There have been 17 violations so far this year, already matching last year’s total and on pace to surpass the 30 trucking violations seen in 2023. More than $2.481 million in monetary penalties have been levied against Canadian trucking companies for violations, but $1.277 million of that has been unpaid, with those carriers deemed ineligible to participate in the program.
June 4: Enforcement Blitzes Unveil Non-Compliance ‘Insanity’ Facing Trucking Industry – Canadian Trucking Alliance press release
Recent ESDC blitzes continue to expose the harsh reality that many segments of the trucking industry are out of control when it comes to labour and tax compliance and obeying other rules.
“This comes as no surprise to those of us who have fought tooth and nail to run compliant operations and survive for the past decade; nor to the many political officials in all levels of government throughout the country who are very aware of the rampant abuse and manipulation of the labour system in our industry,” said CTA president and CEO Stephen Laskowski. “Now, the government’s own enforcement data confirms it even further.”
Details of the recent federal and provincial enforcement initiatives held across Canada are beginning to come in and the numbers are grim. The compliance data stem from joint provincial and federal initiatives at roadside in Nova Scotia, Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia, as well as on-site facility inspections.
“These roadside and on-site initiatives are confirming that non-compliant operators continue to show no will or desire to address and correct their illegal behaviours, but would rather flagrantly thumb their nose up to the law,” says Laskowski. “We are encouraged this ‘catch-me-if-you-can’ businesses model in the underground economy has been exposed. They are getting caught and are hopefully no longer untouchable.”
June 5: Cargo Theft Gets More Sophisticated, Experts Warn – Transport Topics
The trucking industry continues to confront an evolving cargo theft landscape, with experts signaling the spread of more sophisticated operations during the first quarter.
“We’ve seen [an] increase in fraud and fraud attempts,” said Keith Lewis, vice president of operations at Verisk Analytics’ CargoNet, which tracks cargo theft data in Canada and the U.S. “That scares me because the hardest crime to combat is the fraud. Under the fraud column [are] attempts – contact scams – and even if the attempt didn’t go through, it’s still an attempt. So, it’s still a crime.”
CargoNet data found that criminal activity was more lucrative during the quarter; the estimated average value per theft increased 42% to $401,000 from $282,000, even as cargo theft incidents overall decreased 10.9% year over year to 824 from 925. Drilling down, the data showed that traditional straight thefts accounted for 451 of the total incidents, while the rest were more advanced strategic-type thefts.
June 16: Minimum Rates to Increase for Container Truck Drivers in B.C. in July – Today’s Trucking
Container truck drivers operating to and from the Vancouver ports and within the Lower Mainland will see their minimum rates increase on July 1, following a formal rate review and consultation process conducted by the Office of the B.C. Container Trucking Commissioner (OBCCTC).
“The 2025 rate review was part of my commitment to engage with the industry to continue to maintain a balance between the need for fair compensation for drivers and the realities facing many stakeholders,” Commissioner Glen MacInnes said in a statement.
“Automatically adjusting the minimum rates paid to drivers based on the inflation rate ensures fair compensation for container truck drivers who service our ports and predictability and stability for company owners and other stakeholders in the drayage sector.”
For company drivers and indirectly employed operators, the minimum hourly wage will increase to $33.85 for those with under 2,340 cumulative service hours, and $35.29 for those above the threshold. These rates are inclusive of benefits and apply to container trucking services performed for any licensee under the Container Trucking Act.
June 17: Enforcement Drive in Southwestern Ontario Puts Almost 50% of Vehicles OOS – Today’s Trucking
A recent commercial vehicle safety blitz in southwestern Ontario put almost half of the 96 vehicles inspected out of service (OOS).
The four-day enforcement drive – from June 10 to 13 – resulted in 46 vehicles being put OOS, according to a Grey Bruce Ontario Provincial Police news release. Also, 80 charges were laid under the Highway Traffic Act, and 55 warnings were issued for minor infractions.
June 20: CTA Survey Reveals Some Drivers May Struggle with U.S. English Proficiency Requirements – Today’s Trucking
One in five trucking companies indicated that some of their drivers might struggle to comply with English language proficiency (ELP) requirements in the U.S., according to about 100 carriers who responded to the Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA) survey since May.
An average of 15% of the combined surveyed fleets indicated drivers could be negatively affected by the change in enforcement, according to a CTA news release.
The industry was notified on May 20 that commercial motor vehicle drivers who fail to comply with ELP requirements will be issued a citation and placed out of service when the CVSA driver out-of-service (OOS) criteria go into effect on June 25, and could potentially have their drivers’ licences disqualified when warranted.
June 27: Werner Wins $100-Million Nuclear Verdict Reversal by Texas Court – Transport Topics
The Texas Supreme Court has ruled in favour of Werner Enterprises, reversing a $100-million jury verdict against the motor carrier upheld by an appellate court in a 2014 fatal crash in which a pickup truck lost control on a slick interstate, traveled across the highway median and collided with a Werner tractor traveling on the opposite stretch of road.
The Texas high court rejected the notion that the Werner driver shared in the fault for the accident. “This awful accident happened because an out-of-control vehicle suddenly skidded across a wide median and struck the defendant’s truck, before he had time to react, as he drove below the speed limit in his proper lane of traffic,” the court wrote. “That singular and robustly explanatory fact fully explains why the accident happened and who is responsible for the resulting injuries.”
CIFFA Advocacy, Communications, Activities
June 3: Expanded CIFFA Resource: Transportation Providers’ Sustainability Initiatives
This report from CIFFA’s Sustainability Committee outlines the sustainability efforts of several prominent transportation providers across the air, ocean and rail sectors in Canada. Each section highlights the initiatives undertaken by these carriers, their stated goals and, where available, measurable results in reducing environmental impact and advancing sustainable practices.
Originally published in the spring with information on key ocean carriers, the expanded report now also includes air and rail carriers serving the Canadian market.
