“As paychecks shrink for all households due to higher taxes, I’m expecting a weak first quarter (2013) for tonnage and the broader economy,” the ATA’s chief economist, Bob Costello, warned in a statement.
Seaspan has signed contracts for the construction of four 10,000-TEU class vessels that will be chartered to the Japanese liner carrier. The ships, to be built in China, are scheduled for delivery in 2014.
The liner carrier Hapag-Lloyd said this week it plans to raise rates on refrigerated containers out of Mexico next month. The increases, which take effect Feb. 23, impact the trades from Mexico to North America, Central America, the east and west coasts of South America, Caribbean, Far East, the Middle East, and India. The […]
A new independent shipping line has been established to serve the Pacific island markets. The new carrier, Greater Pacific Shipping (GPS), is a partnership between three regional carriers – Pacific Direct Line (PDL), Sofrana Unilines (Sofrana) and Swire Shipping, the liner shipping division of The China Navigation Company (CNCo). PDL is a subsidiary […]
Lufthansa Cargo’s time:matters company has expanded its network to Shanghai and Hong Kong, offering faster transport times and speedier customs clearance. With the expansion, the company hopes to tap into far-flung destinations in China. Using partner airlines instead of flying to key Chinese hubs and then transporting goods by truck, time:matters can […]
BX Solutions, a Toledo, Ohio-based multimodal company borne from the debris of BAX Global, has added a time-definite, airport-to-airport trucking service to its 31 markets. Expansion of the service will be rolled out in the coming months. So far, the service routes from its hubs in Toledo, Atlanta and Chicago. “BX Solutions has […]
The liner carrier MOL on Wednesday released the latest monthly performance metrics for its North America service, as well as its latest quarterly intermodal performance metrics. Of 13 service dimensions that MOL tracks and releases information about monthly, eight worsened from November to December, while four stayed the same, and one (customer scorecard compliance) […]
The U.S. government has renewed its contract with global defense and aerospace contractor AAR, giving the company a $9 million, six-month contract for airlift support in Western and Central Africa. AAR will transport supplies and personnel in support of the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command and the U.S. Defense Department’s Counter […]
The Postal Service has been losing out on these contracts to FedEx and UPS. The GSA has had shipping contracts with USPS since May 2009, while FedEx and UPS have been on board since 2001.
The Lake Carriers’ Association said it will continue to focus its lobbying efforts on Great Lakes dredging needs in 2013. LCA’s 2012 Annual Report, released Wednesday, said inadequate dredging took a big toll on Great Lakes shipping in 2012. “The drought has pushed water levels on Lake Michigan and Huron to record lows,” […]
Cargo security firm Freightwatch International said a suspect hijacked a last-mile courier load of pharmaceutical products at gunpoint outside of a pharmacy in Detroit on Monday morning. The load was being monitored by a FreightWatch covert GPS tracking device as well as an on-person panic device that was with the driver. During the hijacking, […]
Canadian National Railway is investing in two intermodal facilities in the Midwest to help shippers access the West Coast ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert. The facilities are scheduled to open in June.
“It is not feasible to divert East Coast vessels to the U.S. West Coast, so this is not part of our contingency planning,” the liner said. “Depending on the scope of the strike, however, some vessel schedules could be modified.”
A German shipping fund plans to auction 14 containerships because of an inability to charter them profitably. MPC Offen Flote, a fund organized by MPC Capital, bought the ships for $630 million five years ago, but charter rates have dropped so much that the fund is losing $56 million annually, according to Reuters. […]
The spread between South American and U.S. corn prices is beginning to narrow as growing world demand exacerbates infrastructure constraints in those countries that make it difficult to get grains from farms to ports.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is asking the U.S. Commerce Department to fund operation and maintenance (O&M) of a system that measures tides and currents this year and include funding in future budgets. Foye Patrick Foye, the authority’s executive director, said in a letter to Commerce Acting Secretary Rebecca Blank […]
DHX – Dependable Hawaiian Express, an ocean freight consolidator in the West Coast Jones Act trades, said it launched a door-to-door rate application that calculates combined transportation costs for LTL (less-than-truckload) and LCL (less-than-containerload) shipments for any continental U.S. origin to Hawaii and Guam destinations. DHX said users receive a door-to-door quote based […]
Cargo plane operator Southern Air is moving from its long-time home in Norwalk, Conn., to Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport by March. Further details, such as the impact of the move on employees, were not released. In a statement, a company spokesman said the move was agreed on after careful analysis and is seen as […]
The supply chain technology provider Terra Technology on Tuesday released an online sustainability calculator designed to help manufacturers determine the environmental impact of reducing excess stocks through better demand prediction and inventory optimization. The calculator uses three steps to measure the environmental benefits of reducing inventory and to help companies understand the magnitude […]
A new study by the global supply chain information and technology company Data2Logistics assesses the shippers’ exposure, impact, and options to mitigate avoidable supply chain transportation costs by determining what portion of their parcel expenditure is exposed to pricing increases. Data2Logistics’ professional services group data-mined shippers’ historic supply chain flows to determine service […]
