• TPM25 | March 2-5, 2025
  • TPM25
  • March 2-5, 2025 | Long Beach Convention Center

Alison Leavitt

Wine and Spirits Shippers Association

Managing Director

Alison Leavitt is the managing director of the Wine and Spirits Shippers Association (WSSA), since 2013. Under Leavitt's management, WSSA has grown dramatically and formed coalitions with other industry associations, port authorities, and trade groups. WSSA represents over 600 members involved in the import and export of alcoholic beverages and related products. The Association manages over 35 service contracts and a cargo insurance program that covers over half a billion in value in beverages shipped globally. Leavitt has been involved in the international logistics industry for over 30 years. Prior to joining WSSA, she served for 14 years as the director of business development at Albatrans, Inc., a global freight forwarder headquartered in Florence, Italy, working on global accounts and strategic initiatives. Leavitt serves on various boards, including the Coalition of New England Companies for Trade, the Maine College of Art, and also serves on the Editorial Board of American Shipper and is involved in the Agriculture Transport Coalition. She has worked in all aspects of international trade, including ship agency, customs brokerage, freight forwarding, and contract negotiations. Leavitt has been a licensed customs broker since 1986. 

Sessions With Alison Leavitt

Tuesday, 5 March

  • 04:20pm - 05:00pm (PST) / 06/mar/2024 12:20 am - 06/mar/2024 01:00 am

    Trade Lane Focus: The Trans-Atlantic — Restoring Balance to a Loss-Making Lane

    The withdrawal of capacity on the trans-Atlantic going into the fourth quarter did not match the sharp drop in demand from North American importers that has led to a complete collapse of the spot market. Average spot rates by the end of October were 40% lower compared to the same point in 2019, but a far more relevant comparison is that during the trade lane’s peak third quarter shipping season, average spot market prices declined 35% and long-term rates fell almost 60%. Despite rates stuck on the ocean bed — and pledges by liner CEOs that they will slash capacity on what has become a corridor stained with red ink — the trans-Atlantic Ocean carriers appear resigned to allowing rates to fall where they may in the hopes that demand from North America will finally begin to pick up. Hope is not a strategy, however, and by the end of September, the demand indicators were all heading south. Data from PIERS shows that US import volumes from North Europe have fallen every month since an 8.4% year-over-year increase in January and were down 26% in September. While comparisons with 2022 might not be particularly relevant, the US import volume in September of 151,900 TEUs was still almost 20% below that of the same month in 2018 and 2019. If the weak demand continues into 2024, cargo owners on the westbound trans-Atlantic should prepare for a significant round of blank sailings in the first quarter, mainly because carriers serving the US import corridor will simply have no other options. This session, featuring an industry analyst, freight forwarder, and shipper representative, will take a deep dive look at the trans-Atlantic, and what lies ahead in 2024.

    Related content:

    No bottom in sight for free-falling trans-Atlantic rates
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