American Shipper

   Industry leaders concurred during testimony on Capitol Hill Wednesday that the freight transportation industry is doing a lot to make fleets greener, but said Congress could help reduce air pollution by making it easier to adopt clean energy systems and get infrastructure projects completed that reduce congestion.     Fred Smith, the founder, chairman and chief executive […]

   Southwest Airlines’ first-quarter freight operating revenue increased 5.4 percent, year over year, to $39 million, representing the largest revenue rise among the carrier’s three revenue streams.    Total operating revenue ended the quarter at $4.08 billion, a 2.3-percent, year-over-year rise.    While revenue in all sectors rose, the number of passengers carried fell by […]

   UTi Worldwide has opened a new multi-client logistics center in New Taipei City, Taiwan.    The facility, measuring 461,000 square feet, is located about 20 minutes from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and just off Taiwan’s Highway 2 for quick access to the island’s main distribution channels.    “This facility is adaptable to the requirements of […]

   Kuehne + Nagel is opening an office in the Russian Far East port city of Vladivostok.    The new office will be managed by the operation in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk where K+N started its activities in 2002 to cater to the needs of oil and gas companies.    In addition to Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, K+N operates two more locations […]

   The U.S. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has ordered Royal Transport, Nationwide, Freight and Midwest  — all trucking companies based in Olathe, Kan. — to cease operations.    The agency claims the four carriers served as chameleons for a company that had previously been shut down.    The four carriers had been operating under […]

   UPS has acquired Budapest-based pharmaceutical logistics firm CEMELOG, a move that will help expand the integrator’s growing healthcare arm, for an undisclosed amount.    Officials expect to close the deal in the second quarter.    The 14-year-old European company boasts a number of large healthcare brands as clients and will help UPS gain a foothold […]

   Just when you think it couldn’t happen — not in this day in age when communications are instant and regulatory oversight abounds — somewhere along the supply chain someone falters and you pay a hefty price.    The risks of trading globally have always been huge — that’s why we have legal instruments like […]

By Alan Spear, U.S. director of cargo security loss control for AIG Global Marine    Participation in professional organizations has traditionally revolved around conferences or seminars put on by the organization during the year. In years past, some of these were boondoggles where more time was spent on the beach, the golf course or in […]

   The Web-based global trade management software provider QuestaWeb said it has entered into an alliance partnership with AduanaSoft, a Chihuahua, Mexico–based provider of IT solutions that automate Mexican Customs clearance.    Under the terms of the alliance, QuestaWeb and AduanaSoft have integrated their software to simplify compliance for U.S. companies manufacturing in Mexico’s maquiladora […]

   This case highlights the importance of clean equipment when carrying ingredients for moving food.    In 2006, Cargill and Ron Burge Trucking entered into a motor transport agreement that included rules about what loads Burge could carry before hauling food-grade salt, and how Burge had to wash its trucks before loading the salt.    […]

   During the 19th and early 20th centuries, logs were frequently transported in rafts, and sometimes sank to the bottom of rivers. Aqua Log is a company that recovers sunken logs.    These consolidated appeals, Aqua Log v. Lost and Abandoned Pre-Cut Logs and Rafts of Logs. 11th Cir. Nos. 11-15060, 11-15076, 11-15078. Feb. 15, […]

   UPS has agreed to pay $40 million to avoid prosecution for shipping drugs from illegitimate online pharmacies, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency announced in late March.     The Atlanta-based global express delivery company has fully cooperated with the investigation and will implement a compliance program to prevent illegal online pharmacies from using its services.

   When we talk about technology empowering a shipper’s logistics operations, sometimes it’s easy to forget that even in 2013 the evolution from manual processes to those which are automated is still a required first step.

   Exasperated by the federal government’s inability to adequately maintain navigable channels and dredge deeper in major container ports, some states have opted to front their own money to jumpstart long-stalled projects amid wider cries that the lack of investment in maritime infrastructure is hurting the nation’s economic competitiveness. 

By Walter Kemmsies, chief economist, Moffatt & Nichol    Optimism is not abundant in this fifth year of recovery from the Great Recession. Employment, consumer spending, home sales and starts are past their worst points but have not yet recovered to their 2007 levels. Similarly, container volumes handled at ports, railcar volumes and truck tonnage […]

In early March, word trickled out that executives at the world’s biggest liquor supplier, U.K.-based Diageo, had taken a long look at the company’s supply chain and were hoping to drain off excess expenses.

Terminal operating systems developers use economic downturn to focus on new technologies. By Eric Johnson    During the depth of the economic recession in 2009 came an inflection point for investment in container terminal operating system (TOS) technologies.    Rather than use a downturn in volumes as a reason to retrench on investment and development, North America’s key players […]

   Not everything shipped by rail fits in an intermodal container, gondola, hopper, or box car. For high, wide or oversize loads railroads such as BNSF Railway use specialized railcars.    Products hauled by the Class I railroad include farm and construction machinery, tanks and other military vehicles, wind turbines and blades, pipeline segments, turbines, boilers, transformers, generators and other equipment that require customized planning. […]

Ports, terminals prepare for challenges from bigger ships, expanding alliances. By Chris Dupin    Ports and terminals in the United States and worldwide will have to accommodate growing numbers of larger containerships in the years ahead.    Later this year, Maersk is expected to put the first of 18,000-TEU “Triple E” ships into service in […]

Railroad BNSF and owner Buffett bet on project cargo logistics. By Eric Kulisch    The recent news that Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway is partnering with a private equity firm to acquire the iconic H. J. Heinz Co. for $28 billion captured headlines around the world, but less noticed by the mainstream media was the Oracle […]