P&O NEDLLOYD PREDICTS U.S. MOVE TO "CLEVER CONTRACTING"

   Shippers and carriers are ready to move toward "clever contracting,"
after an initial period of rushing into one-to-one basic service contracts,
a senior executive of P&O Nedlloyd said.
   Paul Windfield, executive vice president of P&O Nedlloyd, said that most shippers and carriers "were concerned with getting contracts signed" when the first round of confidential contracts was done after the enactment of the U.S. Ocean Shipping Reform Act in May.
   "But no one has completely taken advantage of the new contracting
environment in the U.S.," he said.
   Windfield predicted that "clever contracts" will now incorporate service performance clauses, financial rewards or penalties for the carrier or shipper based on performance, equipment availability provisions, documentation completion times and other innovative terms.
   A carrier and an individual shipper can also agree to align their
container flows to reduce empty repositioning, which cost from $300 to $500 per move, he added.