Investors help risk management visibility software startup, incubated out of Flextronics, make splash. There aren’t a whole lot of supply chain software providers that fly out the gate with celebrity investors attached and that’s what made the startup Elementum’s public unveiling in early April so noteworthy. The company didn’t just enter the marketplace. […]
Latin America’s growth is attractive, but carriers to the region face potential for overcapacity. In January, U.S. Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker announced the government’s “Look South” Initiative focused on increasing U.S. trade with 11 Latin American economies with which the United States has free trade agreements: Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, […]
Businesses that control freight have leverage to keep down additional costs. Global Shippers’ Forum (GSF), an umbrella organization of shippers groups such as the National Industrial Transportation League (NIT League) in the United States, said it will organize a new global campaign to confront what it says are “unsubstantiated shipping surcharges, terminal charges and […]
Retailers’ tighter delivery options put more power in buyers’ hands. With every move toward the standardization of same-day, or even next-hour, shipping, the transportation industry is moving closer to putting shipping power into the hands of the consumer. This trend, according to Rob Howard, chief executive officer of Grand Junction, a local-delivery software […]
The Port of Long Beach in May held its first Environmental Achievement Awards ceremony and honored 22 shipping lines for their efforts to improve air quality by slowing down or deploying cleaner vessels. Previously, the port authority held an annual event for its Green Flag and Green Ship Awards. Port officials have now […]
Maersk Line, the world’s largest containership operator, has achieved substantial reductions in exhaust emissions for the past six years in large measure due to its careful network planning and execution, according to Lee Kindberg, director of environment and sustainability in North America. Last year, the carrier’s carbon emissions dropped 12 percent even though […]
Sen. Orrin Hatch, ranking member on the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, recently urged Congress to pass Trade Promotion Authority legislation and the Obama administration to ensure that strong language supporting trade facilitation is a central part of any new free trade agreements. But time is of the essence, he said. In January, Hatch, […]
While not the sole cause, lack of adequate infrastructure to keep up with the rapid growth in container traffic in Latin America is one of the contributing factors to corruption at some of the region’s ports, said Thomaz Favaro, an analyst at the consulting firm Control Risks and co-author with Niels Lindholm of a […]
How Vietnam’s once promising container future was scuttled by poor port planning and an ill-timed economic downturn. Editor’s note: The cover story of the December 2007 issue of American Shipper chronicled the potential of Vietnam as a sourcing location for containerized cargo. The country was a couple of years away from seeing the opening of […]
As representatives of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and Pacific Maritime Association negotiate a new labor contract to replace the one that expires July 1, shippers say they should be thinking about how to make the ports more productive over the long term. “A good contract, in my view, would be one […]
By Jerry Cook As we dash through spring, I remain positive about the exciting developments in our trade realm, in particular the Customs community. The U.S. Senate confirmation of Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Gil Kerlikowske ushers in new opportunities…
Is an offshore drilling rig — a vessel so large that it cannot pass through the Panama Canal — “merchandise” subject to the Jones Act’s restriction that cargo transported between two domestic points be carried on ships built and registered in the United States and crewed by Americans? Yes, said a federal judge […]
By Walter Kemmsies, chief economist, Moffatt & Nichol The freight movement industry has had a lot to worry about — the drawn out, often hesitant economic recovery, a changing landscape due to infrastructure investments and larger ships, and more recently, some speculation that world trade has reached its peak…
The importance of maintaining and improving infrastructure cannot be overstated. That’s because when cargo movement is delayed, redirected or seriously impeded, critical shipping deadlines are missed, orders get canceled, the cost of goods goes up, companies lose sales, businesses downsize, and America’s international competitiveness sinks. As a nation, many of the goods we […]
Your lead article “Ache at the Gate” (May 2014) effectively covers the waterfront on the past and future of turn time, and is mostly accurate and commendable. One paragraph contains gross factual errors: “Terminal operators three years ago published a study claiming that the median queue time to discharge or pick up a load […]
FedEx Ground’s switch to dimensional pricing causes shippers to exercise options. For new parents, placing multiple orders of diapers through online retailers is an easy way to stock up on an essential item. But for the carriers who bring the product to those consumers’ doorstep, the boom in online retail has lead […]
Gil Kerlikowske, who has been on the job as head of U.S. Customs and Border Protection for less than three months, said his law enforcement background in some ways gives him more credibility in pushing an agenda of reducing security and regulatory barriers for cross-border shipping. The former director of the White House […]
By Biju Kewalram For the last four or five years, the term “big data,” (closely related to “data analytics”) has become a key trend in using systems to gain competitive advantage. At its core, this subject revolves around the use of massive databases to derive patterns that can add commercial value…
Ports around the nation have mandated or encouraged the voluntary transition to modern, cleaner-burning diesel engines for motor carriers serving marine terminals, but federal, state, local or private sector assistance to help small businesses upgrade to new tractors should be targeted at 2010 model year engines because they do a better job at controlling […]
EPA ramps up effort to improve air quality around nation’s seaports.
