CaroTrans, the global non-vessel operating common carrier and ocean freight consolidator, has resumed direct, all-water import service from Rotterdam to Los Angeles.

Shippers are still steaming over delays caused by West Coast dockworkers during contract negotiations with terminal operators in late 2014 and early 2015. But problems at the region's ports extend well beyond union intransigence.

Revenues for U.S. 3PLs, which provide services ranging from booking truck drivers to managing warehouses, rose 7.4 percent to $157.2bn last year, faster than the 2.8 percent growth in logistics spending overall, according to the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals, which recently released its annual State of Logistics report.

It's been about five years since ocean carriers began selling off their chassis in the U.S., forcing shippers to obtain the equipment elsewhere. But the new regime is anything but settled.