American Shipper

Chris Gillis Thursday, December 19, 2013

U.S., Libya ink TIFA

   The deal will establish a joint U.S.-Libya Council on Trade and Investment, which will address issues including market access, intellectual property, labor, and environmental challenges, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said.

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FreightWaves Staff Thursday, December 19, 2013

EU to change tariffs for developing countries

   The European Union is changing its trade duties for developing countries exporting goods to the EU, reducing the number of nations eligible for its Generalised System of Preferences from 177 to 90.    On Jan. 1, those 90 countries will benefit from a “powerful tool for economic development by providing the world’s poorest countries […]

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FreightWaves Staff Thursday, December 19, 2013

COSCO, MSC announce GRIs

   COSCO will increase its rates for all shipments, including reefer cargo, from the Far East to South America West Coast and Mexico, and MSC’s rates will increase on all cargo from the Far East to West Africa and Angola.

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FreightWaves Staff Thursday, December 19, 2013

Commentary: Heard around town

   Timothy Skud, deputy assistant secretary for tax, trade and tariff policy at the Treasury Department, missed the Nov. 15 meeting of the Commercial Operations Advisory Committee because of a longstanding commitment. The panel meets quarterly to provide industry input to the departments of Homeland Security and Treasury on cross-border customs and security issues. Skud’s […]

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Chris Gillis Thursday, December 19, 2013

Commentary: American Shipper nets Seahorse Award

   Eric Kulisch, trade and transportation editor of American Shipper, received an award from the London-based Seahorse Club Dec. 10 for his September issue cover story, “Breaking down the wall”, an analysis on how e-commerce has hastened retailers toward omni-channel strategies.    The Seahorse Club is a networking group of public relations, marketing, advertising and […]

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FreightWaves Staff Thursday, December 19, 2013

Commentary: D.C.’s clean truck bill upsets truckers

   The American Trucking Associations wants the brakes put on a Washington, D.C., clean air bill that requires trucks entering the city after 2017 to be powered by at least some portion of alternative fuel.    In a letter signed by the ATA’s Robert Pitcher, the    organization told Phil Mendelson, D.C. council chairman, the […]

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FreightWaves Staff Thursday, December 19, 2013

Commentary: YRC struggles to offload debt

   After a lengthy negotiation between less-than-truckload carrier ABF Freight and its union on a new contract — a discussion that dragged on throughout 2013, necessitating numerous contract extensions and even bringing about a strike vote — officials at YRC, another LTL trucker, are taking a different tact with their employees.    Last fall, YRC’s […]

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FreightWaves Staff Thursday, December 19, 2013

Commentary: Foolish thieves

   Thieves hijacked a truck in early December carrying radioactive waste from a hospital in Tijuana, Mexico, to a waste storage center, and then abandoned the vehicle a few days later after having removed, then discarded, the radioactive material, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.    The truck loaded with Cobalt-60, which is used […]

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FreightWaves Staff Thursday, December 19, 2013

Commentary: Ports go better together

   The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach appear locked in the very definition of a zero-sum game.    When one port’s container volume grows, the other contracts. That’s because the organic growth predicted for the two ports only a decade ago has dried up. Whereas once it was forecast that the two ports […]

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FreightWaves Staff Thursday, December 19, 2013

November truckload rates rise

   According to the Cass Truckload Linehaul Index, truckload linehaul rates in November were 1.8 percent higher than in November of last year.     Linehaul rates for the first 11 months of 2013, on average, are up 1.8 percent as compared to 2012. Truckload volumes continue to grow, posting a three-month average of 7.2 percent […]

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FreightWaves Staff Thursday, December 19, 2013

Tiger Cool Express acquires 200 refrigerated containers

   Tiger Cool Express announced Wednesday it has acquired an initial order of 200 refrigerated containers for its start-up operations this spring.    “The acquisition of our first 200 refrigerated containers for the efficient and safe delivery of fresh produce and food products across the country is just the first of several orders we will […]

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FreightWaves Staff Thursday, December 19, 2013

CEVA to continue partnerships with Ford, Vileda

   CEVA Logistics said Wednesday that it will renew its business with Ford Motor Company, specifically at the Kentucky Truck Assembly Plant, and has also secured a contract renewal for Vileda, a cleaning solutions provider.    “Our role with Ford is to help drive cost effectiveness in its manufacturing processes,” said Jim Barnett, CEVA’s vice […]

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Chris Gillis Thursday, December 19, 2013

TMS keeps shipper-carrier relationship strong

   Let’s face it, shippers and non-vessel-operating common carriers are wed to their liner carriers, for better or worse.    The economics of the container shipping industry are such the carriers that are here today will be the ones there tomorrow for shippers and NVOs. Even during the depths of the recession several years ago, […]

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Chris Dupin Thursday, December 19, 2013

Drewry says carriers ‘spooked’ by overcapacity

   In a new analysis, Drewry Supply Chain Advisors has found that “carriers continue to be spooked by the specter of imminent big ship deliveries and so are fighting to hold onto market share.    “This market behavior will put further pressure on freight rates through 2014.”    It added that the issue really comes […]

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Chris Dupin Thursday, December 19, 2013

Blank field

   This case arose out of a disagreement between Radiant Global Logistics’ Airgroup and fashion apparel shipper Donna Karan over a stolen shipment.    The parties did not dispute any fundamental facts about the shipment or theft. At issue were two questions — whether Airgroup’s liability for the theft was limited by the Carmack Amendment […]

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FreightWaves Staff Thursday, December 19, 2013

Waiting for impact

   Considering Shanghai is the world’s busiest container port and China is the world’s largest producer of containerized goods, it’s remarkable that the country’s announcement in September of a new free trade zone in the port city made relatively little splash.    The proposed FTZ had been a long time coming, with the shipping, banking, […]

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