American Shipper

   Domestic energy production, expanding trade opportunities, and regulatory,immigration and budget reforms, are key areas Washington should focus on this year to speed up U.S. economic growth, U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Thomas Donahue said Thursday in his annual “State of American Business” address.    The nation’s largest business federation is forecasting the U.S. economy will […]

The global enterprise resource planning (ERP) giant on Thursday unveiled a new database option for its system that allows for the capture and analysis of transactional data on a real-time basis.

   The Port of New Orleans and other Louisiana ports are operating business as usual, having avoided the problems related to shallow water levels in the upper Mississippi.    “We do not anticipate any interruptions to deep-draft shipping or cruise operations within the Port of New Orleans as a result of the low river stages,” […]

   Airports Council International, the International Civil Aviation Organization and the International Air Transport Association have established the Young Aviation Professionals Program, which will allow young aviation professionals to work at each of the organizations for four months.    Applicants will work in the safety, security, environmental and regulatory fields.    “The global aviation business […]

   The United States has asked the World Trade Organization for consultations with Indonesia under the dispute settlement provisions concerning restrictive trade measures applied to imports of horticultural products, animals, and animal products.    According to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, Indonesia has created a “complex web of import licensing requirements that have […]

   The U.S. Export-Import Bank has authorized a $15.7 million direct loan to the state government of Lagos, Nigeria, to underwrite the purchase of 32 American fire trucks made by W.S. Darley & Co. of Itasca, Ill.    The loan, which is in line with the Obama administration’s “Doing Business in Africa Campaign,” will support […]

   The Canadian Trucking Alliance has expressed support for a proposed six-month extension to Maritime province exemptions from the biodiesel requirement in Canada’s new renewable fuels regulations.    The law was to impose a 2 percent biodiesel blend in all diesel fuel in Canada, but the organization said the supply and distribution challenges would be […]

   The U.S. International Trade Commission has initiated the first of two investigations into the role of digital trade in the U.S. and global economies.    The investigations were requested by the Senate Finance Committee in a Dec. 14 letter.    The first report, Digital Trade in the U.S. and Global Economies, Part I, will: […]

Marine terminal operators at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach this year hope to develop some simple solutions to reduce delays at their gates caused by truckers due to miscommunication.

Albacor, which primarily deals with project cargo on the surface-transport side of the equation, will give BNSF an entre into Europe and Russia, while EP-Team will strengthen the company’s express air freight activity.

A group of shippers, known as the Coalition for Responsible Transportation, is partnering with the Port of Jacksonville in a voluntary initiative to reduce air pollution caused by shuttle trucks serving the Florida port and their warehouses.

   The Taiwan subsidiary of Yusen Logistics has been certified by China Customs as an authorized economic operator (AEO) since the start of December, the company said Wednesday.    Yusen was granted AEO status for freight forwarding, customs brokerage and warehouse operation. The certification allows Yusen exemptions from some customs procedures, as it’s recognized officially […]

   The cargo division of Verisk Crime Analytics has entered into an alliance with insurance brokerage and risk management firm Integro Insurance Brokers to support the cargo theft prevention efforts of Integro’s domestic property broker and forwarder clients.    Under the agreement, Integro will provide complementary membership to Verisk’s CargoNet system for all of its […]

   Drewry Shipping Consultants is predicting that this year contract rates negotiated with shippers on the key East-West trade lanes will be higher when compared to the low levels of 2012.    Referencing its latest quarter Container Forecaster report, London-based Drewry forecasts global container demand to increase by 4.6 percent this year, but says “Considerably faster […]

ILA spokesman Jim McNamara said a meeting next week on master contract issues for 14 container ports on the East Coast and Gulf Coast “is still on” and local negotiations are continuing in other ports.

The average price of diesel will fall to $3.87 per gallon this year, a price drop of 10 cents compared to the average cost of diesel fuel in 2012, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

   Global liner schedule reliability declined from 84 percent in October to 82 percent in November, according to figures released this week by the maritime analyst SeaIntel.    However, despite a downturn in vessel on-time arrival percentage, the actual delivery time of containers improved from October to November, SeaIntel said.    Based on analysis of […]

   After a decline from September to October, freight activity in the United States was again on the rise, bumping up 1.7 percent, month over month, in November, according to the U.S. Transportation Department’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics.    The bureau’s freight transportation services index — a measure of tons and ton-miles taken for all domestic […]

   The global trade management software provider Kewill said this week it has appointed Andrew Hicks as chief financial officer.    Hicks joins Kewill from Misys, the banking software provider, where he most recently held the post of global head of integration, overseeing the operational integration of its merger with Turaz, where he was previously […]

The breakdown reportedly centered on work rules changes proposed by the New York Shippers’ Association that were unpalatable for the dockworkers’ union, after the two sides opened discussions Wednesday.