Household Goods Shipping Update

April 25, 2025

After a smooth Q1, Q2 brings turbulence to shipping household goods, specifically with international ocean freight.

Due to the tariffs, nearly 100 Asia-US sailings have been canceled this year. For context, this decline is sharper than we witnessed at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Ocean container bookings have decreased by over 60% in the past three weeks.

This situation has resulted in delays of at least two weeks in Trans-Pacific shipping. If this continues, we will experience ripple effects, as fewer ships arriving here will lead to a container shortage in the US and further impact the global supply chain.

Our teams are advising our transferees, partners, and clients to expect longer transit times than the already extended times due to the ongoing Red Sea Crisis, which has prevented shipping lines from using the Suez Canal.

In the EU, our friends at HARSH are reporting historically low water levels on the Rhine, a crucial shipping route connecting the ports to some of the major EU markets. Low water charges are in place, and our partners are exploring all alternatives to help minimize delays and costs.

We expect crew capacity in the US to be good this year. TRANSCOM reports that the volume of government and military household goods is down over 10%.

As always, the best way to mitigate these challenges is to initiate relocations sooner rather than later so our teams have more time to find the best options for your relocating transferees.