Maersk bought Hamburg Süd last year for $4 billion and is “taking one for the team” by reducing fleet size.  Its current fleet of 750 ships includes 400 chartered vessels – i.e., it doesn’t own them.  Maersk will not start returning them to their owners until freight rates improve.  The hope is that reduced capacity will support higher container rates and wipe out Maersk’s $239 million quarterly operating loss.

 

Super long trains (around 3 miles), powered by up to 4 of the new, higher-powered locomotives (2 in the front, 1 in the middle, and 1 at the end), are 20% less costly on a car-by-car basis.  Running on main routes like LA to Chicago, they are the darling of investors but are being challenged by angry motorists on a safety basis.