DB Schenker has officially opened its new headquarters at the Frankfurt Airport. The development has space for 500 workers, and a little more than 400 employees from Schenker’s European rail operations and the company’s transportation and logistics division moved in on Aug. 19. The rest — employees from the European Operations Center and […]
The U.S. Surface Transportation Board has increased the fees the shipping public must pay to file for some of its 125 fees for pleadings and other documents, pushing the cost up by less than $100 for 28 documents and increasing the fee more than $100 for 47 pleadings compared to 2012 levels. The […]
Like many states, California has a “sunshine” law via the California Public Records Act (CPRA) that provides for the inspection of public records maintained by state and local agencies. The Pacific Merchant Shipping Association (PMSA) sought to use that law to obtain records by the port agent of the Board of Pilot Commissioners […]
By Eric Kulisch Retailers that want to enable consumers to make purchases when and where they want, and for each of their brands, need help integrating products, Websites, orders, and customer data with their enterprise systems. That’s where providers of holistic commerce suites such as hybris, IBM, Oracle, Digital River, RedPrairie, Magento, Intershop, […]
Tight pest controls open door for S. Florida to import Latin American perishables. By Eric Kulisch A trial program that for the first time in decades would allow shippers in southern Florida to import limited types of South American produce that meets stringent phytosanitary standards is expected to receive the final go ahead from federal […]
By Eric Kulisch Logistics trends associated with online retail in Western Europe differ somewhat from those in the United States. Germany, France and the United Kingdom account for 71 percent of total European e-commerce sales, with the United Kingdom being the most developed market at 12 percent of all retail sales. There […]
Washington state senators introduce bill for a new maritime goods user fee. By Chris Dupin U.S. Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell said they will introduce legislation when the Senate returns in September to repeal the Harbor Maintenance Tax (HMT) on imports and replace it with a new Maritime Goods Movement User Fee that would […]
Dunavant’s mobile devices linked to intermodal TMS empower contract drivers. By Eric Johnson Visibility has become so pervasive in the field of logistics management that it has largely obscured the fact that one major link in global supply chains continues to remain virtually opaque to shippers. Drayage remains the veritable black hole when it […]
FreightWatch worries cargo theft in North America on the rise. In early August, FreightWatch International sent a security bulletin to its trucking members warning of possible supply chain delays in Michoacan, Mexico.
Logistics innovation enables merging of e-commerce, store supply chains as retailers race to implement omni-channel strategy. By Eric Kulisch The globalization of the Internet spawned electronic commerce and simplified shopping for consumers, but it has made life more complicated for big box retailers, department stores and other large merchandisers. In response to market pressure from […]
Deadly Canadian accident may lead to more regulatory scrutiny of industry. By Jon Ross In the early morning hours of July 6, a Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway train carrying crude oil derailed, causing one of the deadliest rail accidents in Canadian history. More than 45 people died, and in the weeks after the […]
Some of the most startling images in shipping publications this summer were those of the MOL Comfort, a containership that split in half during a storm on June 17 off the coast of Yemen. The crew escaped unharmed, but both halves eventually sank, the fore section after catching fire. The casualty is confounding […]
The top two integrators are facing a sea change brought on by international shippers choosing to delay express shipments by one or two days to save money. While this trade-down of shipment priority isn’t hurting the overall shipment volumes at UPS or FedEx, declining revenue per package is forcing both carriers to reconsider […]
When Emirates SkyCargo announced it was changing the way cargo surcharges are calculated — moving from a system that charges for actual weight to the new plan of applying chargable weight to the calculation — on Sept. 1, it joined a growing list of airlines who are also experimenting with new rates. Lufthansa […]
Gemini’s joint venture with logistics partner built on long-time trust. By Chris Dupin Gemini Shippers Association has forged a joint venture with Vizion Logistics to provide transport for smaller shipments and other services for its members. “Gemini is able to provide contracts for full container shipments for our members, but there are many other […]
The TIGER grant program is very popular among freight transportation advocates and at various levels of government because it provides funding for multimodal, cross-jurisdictional projects with good economic benefits that aren’t eligible for federal transportation dollars, most of which are funneled to states through blunt formulas for highway restoration and construction. TIGER gives […]
The U.S. International Trade Commission has voted to institute an investigation of certain wireless devices, including mobile phones and tablets. The products at issue include mobile phones and tablets with features and hardware, such as transmitters and receivers, which may allow these products to be geographically located on a map and tracked. […]
In the 2013 edition of American Shipper’s annual Transportation Payment Benchmark Study, released in March, we asked respondents if they were seeing consistent improvement in audits from their freight payment system. About half of shipper respondents said yes, but less than 20 percent said their rate of catching errors was improving significantly year-on-year. […]
The retirement of Al Gina, assistant commissioner for international trade, was among several personnel moves announced Aug. 7 by U.S. Customs and Border Protection Deputy Commissioner (and de facto acting commissioner) Thomas Winkowski at the quarterly meeting of a federal advisory committee.
The accepted jargon for products among software vendors in the IT world is “solutions.” It’s easy to scoff at the term as abstract and overly “PR.” Is it a system, an application, a platform, a program, a module, a capability, a tool, a managed service, or just a standard thing-a-ma-jig? A pervasive […]
