1002026.29 · Members
How an issue is put together
Back from the break, a note on the house style: what each part of an issue is for, and why the numbers sit where they do.
· 2 min · Methods
- $3,450: Busan to Rotterdam spot, 40ft, +$25
- 38: Asia to North Europe services tracked
- 07:00: Rotterdam time, every Tuesday
Harbor Notes is back after six months off. Before the first full issue next week, here is how one is built, so you know what to skip and what to trust. Every issue follows the same order: the numbers, the argument, the evidence, and what I would do about it.
Pictures carry a caption and a credit, and they are never decoration. Nordica approaching Rotterdam, September 2025. Photo: Alf van Beem, CC0.
The argument comes first
The second paragraph of an issue says what I think happened. If you read nothing else, read that. The rest of the issue is there so you can disagree with it on the evidence and not on my tone.
Sources, in order of trust
- A carrier’s booking system, read on the day.
- Its published schedule feed.
- A tariff PDF, which is usually right and occasionally months out of date.1
- Anything said on an earnings call.
When I quote a figure, I say which of these it came from. When two of them disagree, I print both.
Tables are the charts
I don’t draw charts. A table of lanes shows the shape of the market and still lets you copy the number.
| Lane | All-in spot, 40ft | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Shanghai to Rotterdam | $3,610 | +$40 |
| Busan to Rotterdam | $3,450 | +$25 |
| Port Klang to Jebel Ali | $1,090 | -$15 |
The sources, by how far they run ahead of the weekly index:
| Source | Updated | Lag to the index |
|---|---|---|
| Booking portal | Continuous | 0 days |
| Schedule feed | Daily | 1 day |
| Weekly spot index | Friday | 4 days |
On method. A “loop” is one weekly service, counted once however many carriers sell space on it.
What readers send
I booked Vietnam cargo on a Monday after your note on refresh days, and the quote held. Keep the boring tables.
A forwarder in Hamburg
Letters like that one shape what comes next. Short ones, mostly:
- a screenshot of a schedule that changed overnight,
- an invoice line that does not match the tariff,
- a question I can’t answer yet.
Caution. Nothing here is advice on a specific contract. Check the tariff that applies to you.
Free issues end here, with the subscribe form. Members issues go on past a heavy rule, and what follows it is not on this site at all.
Footnotes
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Issue 104 is the time it was. ↩
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