Background noise is the drip-drip water torture of modern supply chains. And the impact is felt no more keenly than in transportation procurement. This is where the overused concept of big data becomes a tangible, visceral problem for transportation managers in the digital age. Buyers of transportation services are literally inundated with […]
Container Analytics with Ben Meyer Several months ago, this column said the recently formed 2M and Ocean3 vessel sharing agreements (VSA) of Maersk Line and Mediterranean Shipping Co., and CMA CGM, United Arab Shipping Co. and China Shipping Container Lines, respectively, appeared to be on a collision course in the major east-west trades (November […]
Port Tampa Bay Chief Executive Officer Paul Anderson painted a rosy picture in his Jan. 27 “State of the Port” address of the facility’s progress handling cargo and boosting the local economy. But many of the statistics cited presented a best case scenario involving cargo generated outside the port’s jurisdiction. The discrepancy results […]
Port Tampa Bay takes long-term approach to business development.
Increased funding for ports—not just for marine terminals themselves, but connections via water and land—continue to be a key focus for the American Association of Port Authorities. In January, AAPA held a roundtable in the Port of Long Beach to draw the media’s attention to what it believes is a need to boost […]
Something for every shipper to keep their eyes on in California — aside, you know, from crippling port congestion — is the state’s legal position on whether drayage drivers are considered employees or independent contractors. Recent case law suggests the state sees these drivers as employees, while the current system relies almost entirely on them being independent owner-operators. Adding opacity […]
With heartfelt thanks and plenty of sadness, we are bidding farewell to three members of American Shipper’s editorial board in March. Virginia Thompson, formerly senior director of global transportation and trade compliance at Crate & Barrel, is leaving the home furnishings retailer to become vice president of product management at the global trade management software provider Integration Point. Thompson provided valuable […]
Apparel, footwear shippers struggle with West Coast port issues.
Nothing short of a system reset based on policies characterized by intermodalism will avoid what could eventually be years of freight gridlock.
“Believe it or not, we deal in perishables,” said Joseph Roisman, executive vice president with Perry Ellis International. Like other apparel companies, Perry Ellis has struggled with congestion at West Coast ports during the past year. Roisman, who has been with the Miami-based company since 1970, said “I don’t think it has ever […]
Differences between the ILWU and ILA abound, but can port labor negotiations be structured more effectively?
Fast growing U.S. forage exports hit by West Coast port problems.
While the asset-based freight transportation business continues to consolidate into the hands of fewer and larger firms, the non-asset-based counterpart—made up mostly of freight forwarders and non-vessel-operating common carriers—remains bountiful, although fragmented. That’s not to say that these intermediaries haven’t experienced their own share of mergers and acquisitions in recent years. However, a […]
Three U.S. Customs Centers of Excellence and Expertise will transition beyond the test phase and assume trade processing for all transactions associated with their respective industries, starting Jan. 28. The industry integration centers consolidate internal expertise, eliminate significant duplication of work for compliant importers and enable inspectors at ports of entry to focus […]
Commercial truckers and travelers have a new way to find out how long it will take them to get through a port of entry on the southern and northern borders of the United States. U.S. Customs and Border Protection in December launched a free app that displays border wait times and open lane […]
I’ve written before about the shortsightedness of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union when it comes to dragging out contract talks with the marine terminal operators to the point they impact other industries and jobs that depend on the ports to sell their goods. There may be some short-term gain to playing hardball […]
Amid the news about port congestion, the Port of Oakland was able to draw our attention to a little good news in February. The Army Corps of Engineers completed dredging 400,000 cubic yards of mud from a 50-foot shipping channel leading to the port, and brought it to Suisun Bay where it is […]
In Ben Meyer’s Container Analytics column, “Skipped sailings still on the rise,” in the February issue, he has hit on an important topic. He discussed it with regards to overcapacity and carrier attempts to adjust it. However, there is another take on blank sailings—slow steaming, schedule revisions, alliance changes, alliance operations, and […]
Air Transport with Jon Ross The lengthy labor fight on the West Coast and the resulting congestion at major seaports has wreaked havoc on ocean transportation and the shipment of goods from Asia to the United States, but it is also leading to a surge of air cargo volumes, both domestically and internationally. […]
Dewayne Gregoire said he was injured in a slip-and-fall accident while working as a tankerman on Enterprise Marine Services’ vessel, Marie. Like many injured seafarers, he chose to file a claim in state court, in this case the 32nd Judicial District Court for the Parish of Terrebonne, La. As attorney Marissa Henderson […]
