Smooth sailing to Guam?

Smooth sailing is not always the case when shipping to Guam. Here are some safety tips to help ensure your shipments arrive safely in Guam.

There are 6,000 miles of ocean to cross for your cargo to arrive in Guam – the equivalent of going from Los Angeles to New York and back again. The ocean is not a smooth paved highway, but rather comprised of vast, turbulent seas with swells as big as four-story buildings through which sea faring vessels need to navigate. The vessels get knocked around quite a bit, causing cargo loaded inside containers to shift and move during transit.

In order to minimize any damage caused by the often rough trip, the shipping professionals at DHX - Dependable Hawaiian Express always take extra care when loading your freight by adding dunnage and cardboard inside the containers to safely secure the loads from shifting and moving about inside your containers.

As a shipper or supplier shipping items to Guam, here are a few shipping tips to help ensure your products arrive safely and intact:

• Always load heavier items on the bottom of pallet, with lighter product on top.
• Use three to four layers of shrink wrap to help keep the load from falling off the pallet.
• If your boxes are soft cardboard, use corner protectors before wrapping, so boxes are not crushed when wrapping.
• Minimize the exposure of products that can be easily scratched by adding protective covering or have the item crated.
• On bagged freight, for example: flour, rice, concrete; use cardboard on the sides prior to wrapping with shrink wrap to prevent bags from being torn.
• When shipping 55 gallon drums, secure drums to a pallet with suitable banding material.

These are just a few safety tips for Guam shipping. By doing your part, you can help ensure your products will arrive safely to your destination and ultimately to your customer.

At DHX - Dependable Hawaiian Express, we will always do our part as your Dependable partner!

Shipment types to/from Hawaii

DHX-Dependable Hawaiian Express specialize in ocean carriage in less than container load (LCL) shipments or full container loads (FCLs) and air freight service, throughout North America, to and from Hawaii.

Whether shipping weekly or monthly, organizing a special project or needing to ship an oversize piece of equipment, we provide the shipping support and the logistical solutions to enable execution with ease.

We are the largest asset-based LCL shipping company servicing and located in Hawaii. With more than 100 tractors and trailers as well as the ownership of four trucking terminals, we can give you flexibility with pricing and service offerings that can positively impact your complex supply chain.

In addition to our biweekly distribution of LCL and/or FCL shipments, our enterprise solutions include trucking services in Hawaii and inter-island shipments and consolidation. We offer specialized shipping services that may require “Final Mile” and/or “White Glove” delivery, as well as project consolidation or assembly-based on purchase order, timeline, project area or project phase for retail, construction and hospitality.

Our Project Cargo department provides simple solutions for complex shipments that require the handling of non-standard freight. Your shipment may not conform to standard shipping containers, such as oversized, over height/too tall, over length, over width/wide, unusually shaped, heavyweight, which may require permitted escort vehicles, roll-on roll-off, low boy transport or requires other unusual cargo transportation. Our oversize cargo experts have extensive experience in this specialized shipping service for both ocean and air.

To find out more about Dependable Supply Chain Services, contact us today.

Insights on shipping rates to Guam

When shipping to Guam, finding the lowest shipping rates and prices to Guam do not always add up to savings. Other facets that should be considered in rate savings include:

• How long your shipment will take to arrive to Guam
• How quickly the shipment will clear Customs
• How soon the shipment will deliver on Guam

Though you might not suffer direct out-of-pocket costs when figuring out shipping rates to Guam, consider how much money may be lost by not having the shipment in your customer’s hands in the shortest amount of time possible. If it’s not in your warehouse, you can’t deliver it. If it’s not on the shelf they cannot sell it.

The possible loss of time can cause delays on a job with workers standing by idle or machinery down waiting for parts and not making money. Or worse, your customer elects to buy from another vendor because the product is taking too long to get there.

Another consideration is cash flow. The sooner the customer receives the product, the sooner you will be paid, reducing the time between when you are paid for the product and when you received you’re reimbursed.

By using our sister company to ship to and from Guam, DGX – Dependable Global Express, you get the latest shipping cut offs for weekly sailings to Guam, with expedited Customs clearance and delivery of shipments within 48 hours of container availability at the port.

When thinking of shipping to Guam, contact us for an affordable rate quote!

What is included in the cost to ship to Hawaii?

Do shipping costs into Hawaii seem high? Ever wonder why?

Moving freight from the mainland into the Hawaiian Islands is a detailed and complex venture and unlike moving ground freight within the continental United States. It doesn't have to be difficult if you understand the cost to ship into Hawaii and use a trusted, experienced and quality freight forwarder like DHX - Dependable Hawaiian Express.

DHX - Dependable Hawaiian Express has been moving freight into the Hawaiian Islands since 1980, and does handle both LCL (Less than Container Load) and FCL (Full Container Load) ocean and air freight. The cost to ship into Hawaii is driven by several key factors. One would be the distance as well as the majority of freight moves via ocean vessel or the more expensive option of air. Currently, there are only two ocean carriers that move freight from the mainland into Hawaii. Think supply and demand.

Consider the steps and labor cost of picking up freight, handling and reloading into ocean containers, trucking to port, handling at the port to reload onto ocean vessels, then departing with a minimum of four to five days over water in transit to Hawaii, off-loading of containers onto chassis at the port, trucking back to a terminal for unloading of freight. Then reloaded on to box trucks or flatbeds for delivery. Your shipment finally ends up at your customer’s door which may or may not have a dock, forklift or even a pallet jack so additional labor could be required at time of delivery. Sound expensive?

Let's review a few more items that drive the cost of shipping into Hawaii. The amount of fuel required to move these large vessels and cost of fuel. There’s limited land space in Hawaii along with the cost of warehouse buildings and labor in Hawaii. Intra-island movement of freight and all the logistical support of making sure your freight arrives on time. Then, last, but not least, there's the Jones Act which ensures American built and crewed vessels call on Hawaii.

Additional points to consider when evaluating the cost of shipping into Hawaii are the key parts that make up pricing. The Hawaii tariff is expansive and detailed with many items to consider that could impact the cost of the type of commodities you want to ship and the pricing. Where is the freight originating from? Is it picked up locally near the ports or does it originate back east therefore incurring additional cost? What is the cube, weight, and density of your freight along with exact and specific commodities? Yes, it makes a difference in your pricing.

The more data and information shared during pricing discussions with your carrier will vastly improve your ability to obtain better rates so be open to communicating when you're asked numerous questions concerning freight characteristics. You may want and receive options and help in reducing your costs on shipping.

Other items to consider that drive up the cost of shipping to Hawaii are hazardous materials, over length freight, out of gauge, and any special pickup, handling, or delivery requirements.

There are many factors and things to consider when working on the cost to ship to Hawaii so make sure you work with an asset based, well qualified ocean and air provider like DHX - Dependable Hawaiian Express when making your transportation decisions.

We specialize in Hawaii and make shipping easy and cost efficient! Contact us today for a free rate quote.

Shipping to Guam?

DHX – Dependable Hawaiian Express’ affiliate, DGX - Dependable Global Express, is your best option for shipping to Guam. We use the most experienced and knowledgeable personnel and partners in the shipping industry to ensure your transportation is easy and less stressful from start to finish.

Our services to help run your business more efficiently and save you money include:

• air freight
• ocean shipping
• local trucking moves on Guam
• short-term or long-term storage (with our affiliate DDC)

Some of the benefits that differentiate us from our competitors:

• DGX is the only forwarder that offers the latest West Coast port cut-offs to ship to Guam
• We are committed to a 48-hour delivery to your door, starting when your shipment is available in the port
• You have a wide range of electronic notification choices such as an arrival notice two weeks before your freight arrives in Guam
• Conveniently, we also offer website tracking and tracing

Always looking after your best interest, we work to find the most cost-effective way to move your freight from point A to point B. So next time you think about shipping to Guam, contact us for assistance with quotes, shipment routing, local trucking, etc.

DHX - Dependable Hawaiian Express and DGX - Dependable Global Express.
We are Dependable. From start to finish!

Shipping from Hawaii to mainland

DHX - Dependable Hawaiian Express, located in Honolulu on Oahu has been shipping eastbound from Hawaii to the US mainland for over 20 years. We have gained the expertise necessary to ensure our customers are happy with the type of eastbound service offerings as well as the quality of our services offered.

Our eastbound shipments represent a microcosm of the Hawaiian Islands: our ocean containers are loaded with “Made in Hawaii” products such as beer, barbecue sauces, coffee, clothes, water, etc. Shipping these products to the USA mainland allows the Hawaiian islands to spread Aloha throughout the Continental United States. Additionally, we also relocate the property of those moving to the mainland as well as the returning of retail merchandise being rejected or/and returned to the seller or a third party.

We offer twice weekly service from the outer Hawaiian islands to Oahu, where the goods/merchandise are transshipped to Oahu and then combined with those items starting the journey in Oahu to the mainland. The containers in Oahu are loaded weekly to come back to the continental United States. Our weekly service for Long Beach and Oakland (and if necessary Seattle) sails to the Port of Long Beach. Our Seattle barge service sails every other week. Freight shipped into Los Angeles and Seattle gets trucked to its ultimate consignee or picked up at our Rancho Dominguez facility, near Long Beach, by the consignee or their agent. The carrier used is dependent on the type of facility and equipment available to handle the goods that the consignee requires.

Because the goods are starting their trip within a state of the USA, there are no customs requirements for these goods to enter the continent.

We realize some customers are not in a rush for goods so we offer a slower, less expensive barge service to the Pacific Northwest. We also use this service to receive freight destined to Alaska as most customers’ shipping to Alaska are not in a rush, and generally choose this routing to Seattle ultimately for Alaska.

However, when a customer is really in a rush to get goods to the mainland, we offer to expedite a portion of their order via DGX Air and load the remaining part of the shipment into one of our weekly ocean containers.

We have dedicated eastbound coordinators on Oahu, Maui and in Kona whose customer service is second to none. DHX - Dependable Hawaiian Express is constantly finding solutions for both first-time shippers and our consistent, long-term customers.

We take pride in what we do, and we try to do it better than anyone else!

Dependable. From start to finish.

What is the cost to ship to Guam?

Shipping ocean freight to or from Guam can be a complex situation for a variety of reasons. Only one carrier services Guam directly with a USA stop-off from the USA mainland – Matson Navigation Company (Matson). Matson’s transit time from Long Beach (SoCA), which includes a stop off in Hawaii, is 12 days from Long Beach to Guam, four days longer from Oakland and five days longer from Seattle.

American President Lines (APL) also ships containers to Guam but their transit time is not less than 23 days from Los Angeles, and perhaps longer depending on the vessel the Guam container gets loaded on and the foreign port where unloaded before being loaded onto a feeder vessel into Guam. APL does not offer any alternative transit times for container shipping to Guam from Oakland or Seattle, but modern day trucking services will allow them to service those areas, although less timely than the Matson direct service.

APL and Matson both have fully developed and integrated rail services to complement those container loads shipping to Guam from origins other than the West Coast. They are both well-respected carriers, and have a lot to offer shippers or consignees. Ask yourself how important the transit time is for the container load move to Guam and can you afford a delay in your goods arriving? If these conditions are ok, then a less expensive container load rate to ship to Guam available via APL transshipment is probably your best value. But if you need speedier transit time due to shipment arrival expectations or container content damage, are worried about humidity while on the vessel, need additional handling of the container during the transshipment process, price/value is not the sole focal point, and/or a delay might hurt business profits, then Matson is a better alternative.

A shipper to Guam also needs to be aware that Guam has its own Customs offices, officers, and laws, in addition to USA Customs offices, officers, regulations and laws. Guam Customs is responsible for, among other things, ensuring the goods arriving from the USA have submitted a commercial invoice, and consignees pay a Guam Use Tax or Gross Receipts Tax, as appropriate. The tax is 4% of the cost of the goods shipped into Guam if the merchandise is not held for resale and is used in the business. If you are working with a freight forwarder such as DHX - Dependable Hawaiian Express, the law requires the forwarder to collect taxes on taxable goods and remit it to Guam authorities. The rule of thumb is that if it’s sold as part of your normal business, no use tax is due; but if the goods are supplies and overhead items to be used in your business rather than sold, then a 4% Use Tax applies.

Another complex issue when using APL is that due to the vessel arriving at a foreign port prior to transshipping to Guam, an Automated Manifest System (AMS) has to be filed, meaning the shipper must provide the Harmonized Code tariff number for what they are shipping. DHX - Dependable Hawaiian Express can help you with that should you decide you’d like to move your containers to Guam through us.

There are also eastbound services available from Guam to the USA mainland or Hawaii, and additional information we can provide for shipping from non-USA origins into Guam. DHX also offers container load and less than container load services from the Hawaiian Islands to Guam. We look forward to responding to your requests for further information: call us at (888) 488-4888, Ext. 2017 (U.S. only)!

Shipping containers to and from Hawaii

There are a variety of items to consider when determining how to ship a container to Hawaii. The first couple of items are the transit time and deadlines you may have to meet.

From our experience on timing and deadlines, no one is faster than Matson Navigation Company, a primary mode of ocean transportation for DHX - Dependable Hawaiian Express. Matson’s transit times are shorter than the other ocean carrier by a day from Long Beach, and out of Oakland and Seattle. The other carrier, Pasha Hawaii, does not compete time-wise. Barge services offering Hawaiian Island connections also do not compete time-wise to or from Hawaii. So, if you are under a deadline or transit time is important, your first option will be Matson.

Another important factor is the origin of your container being shipped to Hawaii. From most origins within the US other than the West Coast, the rail transit times and rail service between the two are very similar. Pasha’s overall rail/inland may be a little less expensive, usually within $100 of Matson’s. Most intermodal or rail moves get shipped into Los Angeles for the subsequent sailing to Hawaii.

You’ll also want to look into the pricing of your container shipment to Hawaii. Depending on whether your shipment to Hawaii is recurring in nature or not, and depending if you are a business or an individual, your pricing will normally be at published tariff rates. If you are not a business and if your shipment of containers to Hawaii is not recurring in frequency, the ocean carriers have tariff rates allowing them to charge everyone uniformly.

Matson tariffs have evolved over a 100+ years, and they are based on a combination of the service offerings Matson has, the value of the goods in the container, the likelihood that what's in the container can be damaged, the weight of the container’s contents, etc. The competitor to Matson is Pasha and they normally have a tariff that is quite similar to Matson’s tariff, so the pricing is similar except if one of the carriers can be negotiated with to price their shipments differently.

DHX - Dependable Hawaiian Express has people who are experts in the carriers’ tariffs and have the knowledge to help you ensure your shipment arrives on time, intact, and competitively priced.

We represent a very healthy option for a business interested in reducing their rate basis as well as for those looking for answers to questions with respect to shipping containers to Hawaii.

Congratulations DHX - Dependable Hawaiian Express, Oahu!

In June 2017, we will celebrate the 25th anniversary of opening our own trucking terminal and delivery operation in Honolulu on Oahu.

A huge gamble and large investment at the time, DHX - Dependable Hawaiian Express opened in Honolulu, Oahu. Like all other freight forwarders then, we were using trucking agents to deliver freight across the island. Because we used third-party agents, the quality of the service was not reliable and the scope of services we could offer was limited such as short or long term storage and warehousing, assembly and distribution, or local trucking. We were a freight forwarder to Hawaii, like many others, but opening on Oahu made us distinct among the forwarding community.

Although we had started a trucking operation in Guam in 1989, the Honolulu operation helped us define future strategies in the islands. Once we had quality under control with freight handling being done through a single group of companies with the same management, we evolved into an outstanding service from the beginning of the shipment move to the end.

We started using credos like “on time, intact, every time” because we controlled all aspects of the move. Excuses like, "we'll have to check with our agent to see if they can do that and if there will be additional charges," went away because we were the agent and could easily make these business decisions. For customers, that meant less waiting, more seamless operations and a better quality shipping service to Honolulu. Because Oahu worked out so well, over time we expanded our delivery operations to include the destination ports Kawaihae on the Big Island and Kahului in Maui.

DHX - Dependable Hawaiian Express Honolulu has earned a big 25th anniversary congratulations! We wish to thank the management and staff for contributing to making us the biggest and best among all our competition there.

Thank you, DHX – Dependable Hawaiian Express, Oahu and Happy Anniversary! You help make us DEPENDABLE. From Start to Finish!

What is the cost to ship to Guam?

Shipping costs to Guam vary, depending on your needs. If you’re interested in ocean transport, here are the areas to consider:

• Do you have a Less-than-Container Load  (LCL) shipment?
• Do you have a Full-Container Load (FCL)? Different rates apply for LCL vs. FCL.
• What is your point of origin?
• What is your ultimate destination?
• Do you want to use a reliable carrier with newer vessels who sails directly into Guam from the West Coast via Hawaii – or – a carrier with a barge service who sails into an Asian port and then barges the goods out of Asia to Guam (adding a week to the transit)?
• Are you using a motorized carriage vs. a barge service (much slower)?

All these variables will make a difference in the cost of shipping to Guam.

Air freight pricing differences can vary too. Again, consider the origin and destination as well as the expected time frame of the service.

So the answer is, shipping to Guam costs depending on the variable factors involved.

To simplify your quest for a rate, we offer online quotes via our Online Rate Quoter, also you can email us, or you can call and ask for the Rate Department at 888.488.4888. Our friendly folks can quickly and more precisely help you determine the cost of shipping to Guam!

Life in Guam

DHX - Dependable Hawaiian Express started shipping to Guam from the continental USA in 1981, when Founder, Ron Massman, bought a company that shipped to Guam for a grocery distributor. When current president Brad Dechter joined DHX - Dependable Hawaiian Express in 1982, the Guam trade lane became the first trade lane for which he was responsible.

Since DHX - Dependable Hawaiian Express was shipping from California to Guam at that time, Guam helped with the future direction of the company: helping to refine their mainland trucking network to cover more inland points. Also, it helped them to replace their delivery agent on the Island and realize they needed to begin shipping from Guam to California.

Lessons learned in the microcosm of the Guam trade were eventually used across all services. As DHX - Dependable Hawaiian Express listened to the needs of their Guam customers, they changed their name to help the local customers feel their specific needs were being addressed. In 1989, the company opened their trucking operation on Guam, which was so successful it became the impetus behind opening future trucking operations in Hawaii. DHX - Dependable Hawaiian Express also opened shipping from Guam to California and the rest of the USA, an eastbound service similar to their operation in Hawaii. Eventually Mr. Dechter became president of the Forwarding Group of the Dependable Companies and was thankful for his Guam experience that helped to launch his subsequent career.

DHX - Dependable Hawaiian Express wants to thank their many friends in Guam that helped them develop their business on the island and meet the many, diverse needs of the local businesses there.

“Thank you to the people of Guam for the opportunity to handle your shipping to Guam (and Saipan) as well as being good people and helping us in our quest to be the best at shipping to Guam!” -- Brad Dechter, President, DHX - Dependable Hawaiian Express.

DHX - Dependable Hawaiian Express - ocean freight history

Whether we load them ourselves or our customers load them, DHX - Dependable Hawaiian Express specializes in container shipping to Hawaii (and Guam). We’ve built an excellent reputation within the communities we serve by opening operations in the major port cities to better serve our customers. We’ve become members of the community, living and working alongside those we do business with.

Shipping containers to Hawaii isn’t all we do; we also provide local services like public warehousing and local trucking in order to be a One-Stop Shop for our customers’ transportation needs. DHX - Dependable Hawaiian Express opened facilities in Los Angeles in 1980, Oakland in 1981, Seattle in 1987, Guam in 1989, Honolulu, Oahu in 1992, Kahului, Maui in 1996 and the Kona side of the Big Island in 2006.

Striving to do a great job as experts in shipping containers to Hawaii, we use the Matson Navigation company as our exclusive carrier for our container shipping to Hawaii and Guam. Why Matson? When it does not make sense economically, we search for and partner with those who we consider among the best to represent us.With newer, more reliable vessels than their competition, and being in the Hawaii trade for over 100 years, we can’t see using others to do what Matson does so well and with such a commitment to the islands.

Being the best and being committed to our communities is part of who we are. Please visit our Ocean Freight services page to see all of our capabilities.

Shipping to and from Hawaii with one of our best assets: Promoting from within

In our last blog post, we discussed the contributions of Ralph Merolla, our previous Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing at DHX - Dependable Hawaiian Express, one of The Dependable Companies. With Ralph’s retirement, we say Mahalo and Aloha for his service, even though we will still be working with Ralph in a Sales Guru Emeritus position.

David Bartelt has been promoted to move into Ralph’s position and we feel great about his taking over! David has been with DHX - Dependable Hawaiian Express over 18 years. Prior to joining us, David spent roughly nine years in the trucking industry in Sales. For the first three years with DHX - Dependable Hawaiian Express, David was the Director of Sales in the Los Angeles area. He spent the next five years managing both the Los Angeles and Hawaii Sales efforts.

In 2006, David was promoted to Vice President of National Accounts. We are thrilled that in August this year he was promoted to Senior Vice President of Enterprise Sales, managing the Hawaii and Guam sales efforts for us.

We want to wish David the very best in his new position and good luck with the challenges it will bring!

DHX - Dependable Hawaiian Express has always prided ourselves on being the best of Hawaii shipping and logistics companies. It’s because of our “can-do” attitude as well as our expertise in shipping to Hawaii from the mainland (and shipping from Hawaii to the mainland) and our knowledge of the Hawaiian Islands. Those characteristics separate us from our shipping competition.

After all, it’s where we got our start in 1980, 36 years ago, before our foray into the international and global shipping arena as DGX - Dependable Global Express. DHX - Dependable Hawaiian Express is still our heartbeat.

Whether you ship to Hawaii or you ship to Guam, we’re all about shipping it right!

We’re Dependable. From Start to Finish.

Shipping to and from Hawaii with one of our best assets: Ralph Merolla

If you are deciding which vendor to use for shipping to Hawaii or for your shipping to Guam, you are probably already aware of who DHX - Dependable Hawaiian Express is and what we do. As a leader in Hawaii shipping and Guam shipping, we did not start as the largest or best freight company, but from our incorporation in 1980 until today, we've earned those platitudes.

A large part of the reason is our people. One of our best, Ralph Merolla, who is and has been an integral part of how we got to where we are today, is semi-retiring in a couple of months.

We’ll all miss him!

Ralph Merolla came to DHX - Dependable Hawaiian Express when we acquired the company he was working for in 1981. His role at that point was with the Northern California Sales department. He eventually worked his way up including roles as as Oakland Terminal Manager, Regional Terminal and Sales Manager, Vice President of Sales and Marketing, and today, Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing.

But here’s the important point: it didn't matter what type of customer you were. If you were shipping a container to Hawaii, delivering a smaller shipment or needing a “shipping to Hawaii cost,” Ralph always stepped in to help, looking for creative ways to help you minimize shipping and logistics costs. All this with an eye to helping you grow your business.

He eventually helped build the DHX - Dependable Hawaiian Express infrastructure and special culture that provides the same excellent service with the same positive attitude today.

Ralph is one of the top members of our management team. To those that work with him or for him, Ralph is a great mentor, coach, and friend.

In 34 years we have never heard him raise his voice. We have only heard him make positive remarks unless he was requested to give his opinion on something. At which point he was honest.

He never seemed to have any ulterior motives; the actions he took were taken with the company’s best interest at heart. He’s DHX - Dependable Hawaiian Express through and through. His responses to questions over the years, plus training, coaching and mentoring, have left a permanent imprint on our culture and who we are.

Ralph will still be working with us, but in a reduced role in his semi-retirement. We are thrilled that he will still assist our customers and us.

That being said, these are huge shoes he leaves to fill, and Ralph’s successor has some catching up to do! After all, his replacement has only been with us 18+ years and is still wet behind the ears.

We’ll miss you Ralph!

Thank you for all your years of service and for making us the winner we are today!

America is great and can be better

We at DHX - Dependable Hawaiian Express and Dependable Global Express try to be “apolitical.”

Someone asked me why we sponsored the radio coverage in Hawaii of the Republican Debates leading up to their national convention. The debates and related primary process are healthy for America. Plus I believed it was the best use of our advertising dollars.

Given the manner in which the candidates were bashing each other, complete with name-calling, derogatory remarks and other “misbehavior,” it was incredibly astonishing, humorous and sad entertainment. We were surprised by the bitterness of the rhetoric, but found the various scenarios enlightening and the unfolding thoroughly entertaining. For our advertising dollar, I felt it was good use of our monies with great exposure.

We’re getting ready to sponsor the Democratic Convention, too. This time we’re sponsoring the Democratic Convention so our Democrat Party constituency out there among our customers does not feel we’re playing favorites. We’re not. We’re balanced.

I have two main thoughts about what I have been listening to in the past few months:

• The Office of the Presidency is one of the most powerful positions in the world. It should not be disrespected. Those running for office should act the part, so as to not reduce the office in stature or reputation.
• Being president of both DHX-Dependable Hawaiian Express and DGX (Dependable Global Express) I have traveled the world. A conclusion reached, and I know I am biased: America is the greatest country of all the countries I have been to. Others are good, but honestly, our freedoms, rights, and processes of civilization including the flow of foods, medicines and trade are unparalleled in the rest of the world. AMERICA IS GREAT. (That does not mean we couldn’t do better.)

Thanks for listening to my explanation and thank you for your business!

When Capacity Issues Thwart the Best Laid Plans

Pasha Hawaii (Pasha) recently took over the ocean carriage and shipping from Horizon Lines (RIP) to/from the US Mainland and Hawaii. Pasha announced numerous changes to the ship to Hawaii sailing schedules and attempted to hit the ground running while reducing staff previously employed by Horizon Lines (Horizon) and not taking on all of Horizons systems.

We like Pasha and we like what they stand for – the American dream of a family-owned business making it big. We know they need to be successful in shipping. But thus far the sound of their boots hitting the ground are a distinctive thud.

Because of service interruptions and schedule changes made by Pasha, Matson Navigation Co. (Matson) has been plotting its own changing course in Hawaii delivery.

Matson has taken over the Alaska trade from Horizon, but Alaska is not known for many trade route shipping issues, and it’s not our core business like Hawaii. What DHX-Dependable Hawaiian Express does know is that Matson has increased the number of vessels serving Hawaii, from nine to eleven, a 22% gain in capacity.

Matson now suffers from space issues in their Hawaii terminal, and chassis shortages in Hawaii. The two problems combined have limited Matson’s ability to get vessels into Hawaii because of too little space for their equipment. They are so cramped they have started giving Young Brothers outer island container loads so Matson is not using their terminal space to store outer island containers. Matson also did this so Matson could then get the chassis back to reuse in Matson’s own “container mounting on chassis” efforts.

This is lots of extra work to keep the propellers turning in a clogged sea of containers. It has turned into quite a quagmire for Pasha and for Matson. Matson certainly isn’t running like the Swiss railroad; they’re congested and their on-time performance is suffering. That said, Matson remains fluid and is taking a lot of steps to improve their timeliness.

DHX-Dependable Hawaiian Express knows Pasha has also made numerous positive moves to shore up their service. The results are starting to show in a positive way.

For those of you watching the shipping and logistics industry, the issues should be short-lived. The folks at Matson will react and take necessary measures to keep merchandise flowing to Hawaii, albeit in the short term, with minor delays. Pasha too will rise to the occasion with the necessary corrections to ensure their new systems and operations function as they should.

We have lots of smart people in the ocean shipping business to Hawaii who are facing challenges in the next couple of months. We remain confident that all will be better by then.

Welcome Aboard Pasha!

DHX-Dependable Hawaiian Express just wants to say “Welcome aboard” to the new container shipping services that Pasha Group is bringing to the Hawaiian Islands.

It’s our perspective that Horizon Lines as a publicly-held company was desperately trying to increase their market share, however they did not understand the importance of making a profit for shareholders. It’s our genuine hope that Pasha Group will help stabilize and bring sensibility to the shipping trade to Hawaii regarding pricing and long-term survival.

Our fingers are crossed that Pasha Group did not pick up the “bad apples” Horizon Lines had accumulated in management along the way. With that management group in place and sales and pricing suspect, Horizon Lines could not make a profit and eventually went out of business. No one should subject themselves to an unstable, unprofitable model with the potential to afflict themselves with the same infection.

That being said, best of luck to you, Pasha Group!

We believe that you coming to Hawaii is a very positive development for all!

At Time of Crisis, Remain Calm

Some customers and employees have asked what our plan is with respect to the current West Coast Owner/Longshoreman Contract dispute. Honestly the plan is not to panic. There is currently a slow down by labor and a reduction in working hours by the owners  who are represented by a group called the PMA. Between the PMA and Longshoremen, there is a good chance there will either be a lockout or a strike within the next few weeks. This is actually good for the West Coast ports and their constituents like us because it will cause the government to invoke the Taft Hartley Act. This will then enforce a 90 day cooling off period, forcing both labor and owners back to work in earnest without all the public manipulation and bad faith bargaining that is making it feel to those negotiating like salt being rubbed into a wound.

Given constraints, we have done our best to minimize delays in every possible way (at great cost and expense) while trying to maintain the service our customers have grown to expect and deserve from us. Our normal two-hour turnarounds at the harbor have become 7-8 hour turns, sometimes with no results.

Communication of sailing schedules, which under current circumstances changes multiple times, has resulted in customers receiving 6-7 emails regarding the actual sailing of a single shipment – the time we have invested in trying to communicate these changes is huge. We have pondered moving our International Operations to the East Coast but until a couple weeks ago, the delays had not been insurmountable so as of now, we have not proceeded in that manner. The PMA understands that these types of delays make no sense, and hence have now ratcheted up the heat with the public, forcing a lockout or strike soon and inevitably the invocation of Taft Hartley.

Our plan:

1. Continue business as usual, do not panic.


2. Continue to communicate with our Customers any delays affecting their shipments.


3. Continue to offer airfreight through DGX-Dependable Global Express for those who must have deadlines met.


4. At the current moment, because so many have tried to move their product off the East Coast or to the East Coast (with a longer transit time) those ports are buried. We are not currently looking at that as a viable alternative. If the Taft Hartley cooling off period does not allow the situation, be it a lock out or strike, to end prior to a month before the cooling off period is over, then we will consider moving to East Coast operations for International shipments.

How Do You Define Permanent?

Yesterday, September 5th, Horizon Lines named a new “permanent” president. A good chuckle. This might be one of the shortest term “permanent”  presidents for a public company in years. Why make such a statement? Here’s the logic.

Prior to the rumors throughout our industry and in public about Horizon Lines selling its Puerto Rico line of business this year, Horizon Lines is, and remains, the largest Jones Act Carrier in the country. Click here for a recent article discussing Horizon’s current state. In the past 10 years, they have been sold at least twice, and have had to restructure their debt once at least, maybe twice. Net result, current shareholders are now debt holders. Subject to a fact check, we believe they haven't had a profitable year in about 5 years. To Hawaii, their ships are old and use really old technology which means they cannot compete cost-wise with the newer vessels that Matson and, to a lesser extent, Pasha now have.

There is plenty speculation among those active in the Jones Act shipping trade as to what the rumors about them selling their Puerto Rico properties and/or line of business means to other trade lanes, Alaska and Hawaii. When we polled our shipping company contacts, we could not get any responses to our questions concerning this. Nothing, not a word. Stonewalled. Someone had to know something!

Then a light bulb went off. Our experience buying other companies came in handy. The only reason we didn’t discover anything on the “coconut wire” was because every ocean carrier with Jones Act business was probably talking to them, and Horizon has good investment bankers who most likely put together Non-Disclosure Agreements with penalties if word were to get out. They must be worried that if it became public knowledge they are selling any of their remaining trade lanes, existing customers would start making deals with other carriers with whom they already have relationships. Neither the buyer or seller want that, so nobody is talking at all, except to say things like “Yes, it will be interesting to see what they do” or “I don't have time to speculate about these things, I'm focused on keeping our business and going after theirs”.

In Hawaii we have suspected for years that Horizon has some sweetheart deals with other forwarders. We’re quite certain those forwarders are watching in angst and may be in discussions now with either Matson or Pasha to try and minimize the impact of a change in carriers. The good news is, this potential change does not impact DHX - Dependable Hawaiian Express at all negatively. We pride ourselves in our outstanding quality of service and had eliminated Horizon as one of our service providers years ago due to the age of their ships among other things.

We speculate these deals are in the making and may be announced soon. Their new “permanent” president’s job may become one of deconstructing Horizon Lines and then liquidating what's left.

How permanent is that?

Horizon Lines Update

The following is an update to our blog published July 21, 2014. We’ve highlighted in red a passage pointing out that Horizon Lines, at some point, has plans to leave the Hawaii market. Our Managers don’t believe they’ll last long enough to sell it, unless it’s soon.

Debt-ridden Horizon Lines in talks to sell Puerto Rican assets to Crowley
Horizon Lines is reportedly in talks to sell off its facilities at the port of San Juan, as well as its ships and routes to and from Puerto Rico, to Jacksonville-based competitor Crowley Maritime.

Industry sources told Caribbean Business that Goldman Sachs is brokering an $80 million deal between Crowley and Horizon.

The talks for the San Juan port facilities and lines are reportedly part of Horizon’s plans to sell all three of its Jones Act routes — San Juan, Alaska and Hawaii — to different buyers for each of these markets.

Last year, Horizon posted more than $100 million in losses and the company has $700 million in debt, the company reported to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Crowley is currently conflicting with the Puerto Rico Ports Authority over tax credits it wants to cover the estimated $100 million the company will need to invest in port facilities to receive two new ships, El Coquí and El Taíno, scheduled for delivery in the second quarter of 2017.

If Horizon does sell to Crowley, then Crowley could use Horizon’s docks without having to improve their own.

“If Crowley buys Horizon’s ports facilities, Crowley wouldn’t have to make the improvements. All they would have to do is move over to Horizon’s facilities at the dock,” one industry source said. “Crowley was expecting to get tax credits from Ports to make the improvements, but since the government is broke, the authority doesn't want to give Crowley tax credits for this investment.”