By Tom Nightingale Let’s face it. No one wants to admit they’re not doing enough to help the environment. So, asking the question, “Is your supply chain sustainable?” might not yield terribly revealing, much less honest answers…
Project and heavy-lift carriers see oil and gas equipment cargoes leading recovery. The outlook for the breakbulk cargo sector, including vessels that carry heavy-lift and project cargo, appears to be brightening, but the industry is still burdened by an oversupply of capacity. “I genuinely think the market is more optimistic than it has […]
Port, private-sector spending expected to boost rail, warehousing, and agriculture facilities. The Port of Oakland is planning to spend hundreds of millions of dollars over the next few years on near-dock warehousing and increased rail infrastructure for both containerized and bulk commodities. The massive “Oakland Global” project “is an exciting story for us for […]
Amerijet reconnects with U.S. airports to take on increased cargo volumes. Amerijet International is getting back into the domestic freighter game. Starting this month, the carrier, which has been running freighters internationally out of its Miami hub since the 1970s, will reintroduce domestic heavyweight service using Boeing 767 aircraft. The offerings, which are […]
By Walter Kemmsies, chief economist, Moffatt & Nichol It has been five years since the 2007-2009 recession ended, but only in the last few months have aggregate macroeconomic and freight movement industry data series indicated that activity has generally returned to pre-recession levels. As capacity utilization rises, negotiating power should shift from buyers, as […]
On the heels of the decision in June by China’s Ministry of Commerce to reject the plan by the world’s three largest liner carriers to form the P3 Network, two of the three—Maersk Line and Mediterranean Shipping Co.—said in July they have agreed to enter a 10-year vessel-sharing agreement (VSA) on the Asia-Europe, transatlantic […]
Former “Saturday Night Live” star Tracy Morgan has filed suit against Walmart claiming the retail giant’s negligence led to the June 7 accident on the New Jersey Turnpike in which one of its trucks crashed into the back of a limousine, severely injuring Morgan and killing a fellow comedian. Morgan, who also is […]
The U.S. Surface Transportation Board is gearing up for a heated discussion related to rail fuel surcharges, asking for comments about its safe harbor provision and if it should be removed. EP 661, which lays out the board’s fuel surcharge methodology, prohibits the use of rate-based fuel surcharges and instead ties the surcharge […]
The day after Germany secured its first World Cup triumph in 24 years, the German software giant SAP tweeted a story about how its HANA database technology had helped the German team win on soccer’s biggest stage. Behind the scenes, SAP has been assisting the German team refine its strategy by giving coaches […]
No matter how many systems or automated solutions a company puts in place, there’s still that ever-present element of human input required to keep the supply chain humming. Any seasoned logistics manager knows of occurrences in which the human element has delayed or even stopped a shipment from moving. The reasons are myriad, […]
This month’s issue of American Shipper contains articles about improvements being made at both the Global Container Terminal and Port Newark Container Terminal, but there’ also been interesting news involving other marine terminals in New Jersey. The Wall Street Journal and Reuters reported in late June that Deutsche Bank is looking to sell […]
Regulators on both sides of the Atlantic are aiming toward a new dawn in air navigation, promising increased benefits for users. But officials seem to be running into some growing pains. During U.S. Senate hearings, regulators are being asked why things are taking so long, and industry bodies in Europe are getting fed up […]
The National Climate Assessment released in May by the federal government warned the U.S. transportation system is becoming “increasingly vulnerable to climate change impacts.” At the 33rd World Congress of the World Association for Waterborne Transport Infrastructure (PIANC) in San Francisco last month, Dan Mecklenborg, senior vice president and chief legal officer of […]
The State Department has released new regulations that shift less-sensitive military electronic equipment, parts and components from Category XI of the U.S. Munitions List to the Commerce Department’s Commerce Control List. The changes are part of the White House’s Export Control Reform Initiative and increase interoperability with close allies. The State Department […]
Mutual recognition is a term that importers and exporters likely have heard as it relates to supply chain security and trade compliance. The concept basically suggests one country will recognize the security or customs regime of a trading partner as equivalent to its own programs so shipments from those countries don’t need to be […]
Trade facilitation is a great concept, but more difficult to achieve. Just get customs authorities to be more reasonable with ticky-tack rules, evenly apply regulations, segment cargo by risk so legitimate shippers don’t have to go through as many security and regulatory hoops, and streamline filing processes. Sounds great, but Customs is only one […]
By Biju Kewalram You can’t avoid factoring in the “cloud” in any current discussion about software or system acquisition. Cloud-based capability now appears on most lists of selection criteria and technology requests for quotations for software…
As Delta and United reconfigure cargo operations, Southwest steps out. When Delta Air Lines recently announced with the departure of its Senior Vice President and Chief Cargo Officer Tony Charaf on Aug. 1 that Delta Cargo would be undergoing realignment, freight forwarders were a bit skeptical. That the news occurred around the same […]
New Jersey marine facility adds capacity for big ships with large technology investment. The seven-year-old APM Terminals facility at the Port of Virginia no longer is the most modern, technologically advanced marine container terminal in the United States. That distinction now arguably belongs to Global Container Terminals’ load center in Bayonne, N.J., which […]
Port of San Francisco sees a future in breakbulk, bulk cargo. Since 2005, when the Port of San Francisco stopped handling containers, its cargo business has dropped dramatically, from 224 vessel calls and 2.4 million tons of cargo in 2004 to 39 vessel calls and 1.2 million tons in 2013. But the port […]
