Strikes, snowstorms, and port congestion* complicate global transportation

From February 26 to 28, 2026, The transport sector in Italy faced a coordinated wave^[4] of strikes affecting aviation, railways, and parts of local transport. Trade unions, including CUB Trasporti, SGB, and USB Lavoro Privato, announced a 24‑hour strike^[7] in aviation on February 26 and a nationwide rail strike from 9:00 PM on February 27 to 8:59 28. The strike affected Frecciarossa and Intercity long-distance trains, regional connections, and some local railways, with a limited number of guaranteed services between 6:00–9:00 AM and 6:00–9:00 PM. Companies from the Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane group, including Trenitalia, Trenitalia Tper, Trenord, and the infrastructure manager RFI, as well as the private carrier Italo NTV and freight operators, prepared special schedules, but many services were canceled. DHL Freight warned customers about delays^[2] in international shipments, especially through key intermodal terminals Verona Quadrante Europa, Milano Smistamento, Messina, and Segrate.

Strikes in Italy paralyze the north–south corridor

The strikes hit both passenger and freight traffic^[5], disrupting the rail-road north–south corridor through Italy. For operators from Poland, this means a higher risk of delays in intermodal transport to terminals in northern Italy and a possible temporary shift of some cargo to road transport, which favors higher transport rates on Alpine routes. The unions point to safety issues of the rail infrastructure after a series of derailments, which increases social pressure for investments in network maintenance^[9].

New intermodal rail–airport connections in Europe

Meanwhile, Deutsche Bahn and Brussels Airlines announced the launch^[11] of the first direct ICE train connection to Brussels Airport as of September 7, 2026. The Cologne–Aachen–Liège–Leuven–Brussels Airport–Antwerp route will be served by two daily pairs of trains^[13], with travel time between Cologne and the airport about 2 hours. The connection will offer a full rail–air code-share model: ICE 3neo trains will receive “flight” numbers, and passengers from western Germany will be able to purchase a single ticket for the entire train–plane journey, with access to about 180 destinations served by Brussels Airport, including a dense network of connections to Africa.

Port congestion from Africa to Asia

At sea, the situation is complicated by growing port congestion^[18]. Everstream Analytics reported that at the port of Conakry in Guinea, the average waiting time for vessels is 14.9 days, with maximum delays up to 22 days, while in Freetown, Sierra Leone, ships wait on average 9 days^[20]. In the Asian port of Qingdao, China, dredging works at the container terminal and high yard occupancy are causing increasing congestion. In Busan, South Korea, the average waiting time is about 1.8 days, with many vessel arrivals concentrated in narrow time windows. Ports in India and Bangladesh face similar challenges: in Nhava Sheva, a slot allocation system change caused truck queues lasting 25–30 hours and some set stays of 3–4 days, while in Chittagong, the average vessel waiting time is 1.92 days, with current berthing delays of 2–3 days. Additionally, local strikes by port workers and drivers and the start of Ramadan reduce operational efficiency.

Strong pressure on sea and road freight rates

On the US Atlantic coast, the situation was worsened by the ‘Blizzard ’26’ snowstorm^[21], triggered by low-pressure system Hernando. Between February 22 and 24, 2026, the New York and New Jersey area received 50–70 cm of snow, while Newark port noted about 13 inches, or 33 cm, by 9 AM on February 23; some locations saw accumulations exceed 27 inches, or 69 cm. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey decided to temporarily suspend^[26] operations at all major container and barrel terminals, including APM Terminals Elizabeth, Port Newark Container Terminal, Maher, Ports America, and Red Hook Barge Terminal, which closed gates and shipping operations at least for February 23–24. The New York–New Jersey port, handling over 7 million TEU annually, became a bottleneck in the multimodal network, generating delays in transatlantic shipping and congestion in rail and road traffic inland.

Consolidation and new multimodal corridors

In ocean freight markets, container carriers aggressively manage supply^[31]. According to J. M. Rodgers, over 100 sailings on Asia–US routes were canceled in February after the Chinese New Year, and capacity on the Southwest Pacific dropped by 60%. Analysis by the Flexport platform shows that spot rates on the Shanghai–Rotterdam route fell by 8–9%^[30] in one month but remain clearly above historic averages, while carriers announced General Rate Increase hikes from March 1 and postponed part of the Peak Season Surcharge to the month’s second half. At the same time, road rates are rising in North America: Scale Funding, using DAT data, reports that the US national average rate for van cargo reached $2.42 per mile, up by $0.10 from January, with a loads-to-truck ratio at 8.29, compared to January’s 6. Reefer rates hit 2.90 and flatbed 2.70, while according to In. Tek the domestic intermodal index excluding fuel remains 4.8% lower year-on-year, enhancing rail’s attractiveness over longer distances.

Against this turmoil, structural processes are visible. The air carrier Etihad Cargo reported transporting^[36] 703 thousand tons of freight in 2025, marking a volume increase of 9% and revenue growth of 8% year-on-year. Expansion of connection networks to China, Europe, and the Middle East, and fleet reinforcement with an additional Boeing 777F freighter operated by Atlas Air, boosts the importance of the Abu Dhabi hub as an alternative node for high-value and short-delivery cargo. In North America, the Fastfrate Group signed an acquisition agreement with Omnitrans Inc.^[40], along with Metro Customs Brokers Inc. and Omnitrans China Ltd., linking Fastfrate’s network of 46 intermodal and road transport locations with Omnitrans’s expertise in global forwarding and customs services across 230 trade corridors. In Europe, the operator Starling Logistics announced development of multimodal corridors connecting 25 markets across the EU, CIS, and Central Asia, while GEODIS launched a new rail–road service in France for cosmetics manufacturer Naos^[43], linking Neuville‑en‑Ferrain with Avignon via the intermodal terminal in Dourges. For Polish companies, this means both the need to consider current operational risks—from Italian strikes to the New York–New Jersey port shutdown—and the opportunity to engage in expanding intermodal networks and benefit from new routes and services, while preparing for upcoming regulatory changes such as the EU ETS for shipping, the CBAM mechanism, and full implementation of the ICS2 system.

* Transport congestion is a situation where infrastructure (roads, ports, railways) is overloaded because traffic volume exceeds its capacity. It manifests itself in prolonged congestion, traffic jams, reduced vehicle speeds and delivery delays, leading to time and economic losses, especially in urban and maritime areas.

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