U.S. Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service Director George H. Cohen said in a statement today that the U.S. Maritime Alliance and the International Longshoremen’s Association “made progress” during the past three days of contract negotiations held in Galloway Township, N.J. He said both sides “agreed that the negotiations will continue under our auspices.” […]
Cargo volumes in Southern California’s two major container ports were little changed in 2012 over 2011, but Long Beach benefited as a service used by the world’s three largest container carriers switched from a terminal in Los Angeles. Terminals in the Port of Long Beach moved a total of 6.05 million TEUs in […]
Drewry said its Hong Kong-to-Los Angeles container rate benchmark, published in the latest Container Freight Rate Insight report, jumped 14 percent to $2,524 per 40-foot container this week. The London-based firm said the $311 per 40-foot box increase in the benchmark rate shows that members of the Transpacific Stabilization Agreement achieved around 50 percent of their $600 target […]
Piracy on the world’s seas has reached a five-year low, with 297 ships attacked in 2012, compared with 439 in 2011, the International Chamber of Commerce’s International Maritime Bureau (IMB) said Wednesday. Worldwide figures were brought down by a huge reduction in Somali piracy, though East and West Africa remain the worst hit areas, […]
In December, truck freight volumes in the spot market rose 5 percent, year over year, according to the DAT North American Freight Index. Even though the result made for the busiest December since the index’s inception in 1996, it still came on a month-to-month decline of 18.4 percent. This follows a typical seasonal […]
“First and foremost, they still lack a global trade compliance capability, the third major pillar of GTM. Integration of existing capabilities within the two platforms will be key to achieving an effective system,” the Gartner analysts wrote.
Cathay Pacific and sister airline Dragonair saw their air freight volume increase 3.4 percent year-on-year in December to 146,897 tons. The airlines’ combined load factor fell by 0.4 percentage points to 67.4 percent, while capacity, measured in available cargo/mail ton kilometers, rose by 1 percent. For the whole of 2012, tonnage declined by […]
CMA CGM said in anticipation of reduced production during the Lunar New Year period in China, starting Feb. 10, it plans to cancel six sailings in the Far East-to-North Europe trade. Cancel one sailing on FAL 1, week 7. Cancel one sailing on FAL 10, week 7. Cancel one sailing on FAL 3, week 7. Cancel two sailings on FAL […]
Genesee & Wyoming only experienced a few days of controlling RailAmerica’s rails in 2012 due to approval of the merger by the U.S. Surface Transportation Board that didn’t come down the pike until Dec. 28, and it is the hope that the acquisition will offer improved volume numbers for January. Without RailAmerica, GWR […]
The container terminal operator Modern Terminals has signed an agreement with the business process outsourcing company WNS, the companies announced this week. The deal will see the Modern, which operates a network of container terminals in Hong Kong, South China and Taicang (near Shanghai), work with WNS to provide shippers, forwarders, third party […]
Shipments of iron ore on the Great Lakes totaled 61.6 million tons in 2012, a slight improvement over 2011. The Lake Carriers’ Association (LCA) said the increase, 245,000 tons, is equal to about four cargos in a 1,000-foot-long vessel operating at current drafts which are significantly reduced by the dredging crisis and falling […]
Francisco Sanchez, undersecretary of international trade at the U.S. Commerce Department, said exports were up 34 percent from $1.5 trillion to $2.1 trillion in 2011.
London-based Notbox Co. has brought its eco-friendly cardboard box alternative to the United States and Canada, hoping to gain some market share in the $424 billion global packaging industry, of which North America accounts for more than 25 percent. Recyclable Notboxes are said to use lower costs — the company claims that removing cardboard […]
Philip H. Greene Jr. will become president of TOTE Services, when Jorge Aguirre, a 33-veteran at the company, retires at the end of this month. Aguirre spent 16 years at sea, coming ashore with TOTE Services in June 1980 as a port captain at the Philadelphia headquarters of the company, then known as Interocean Management […]
Shippers are watching the talks nervously after ILA negotiators walked out of a negotiating session to discuss work practices in the Port of New York and New Jersey with the New York Shipping Association on Jan. 9.
The nation’s top court will review the constitutionality of an environmental regulation imposed by the Port of Los Angeles after a challenge brought by the American Trucking Associations was struck down in a district court in 2010.
In the next seven years, infrastructure in the United States will require investment totaling $2.75 trillion, and with planned expenditures of only $1.66 trillion, the country needs to increase its support to ensure no transportation shortfalls, according to the American Society of Civil Engineers. While instituting sustainable practices will help, the bulk of the problem […]
Ainsworth Pet Nutrition has selected third party logistics services and software provider Transplace to handle transportation management for all its outbound shipments, Transplace said Tuesday. The deal will see Transplace implement its transportation management system (TMS) to enhance process automation and achieve greater visibility to reduce transportation costs and improve operational efficiency for Ainsworth, which […]
The Panama Canal Authority has advertised that the massive project underway to expand the man-made shortcut between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans will enable transits by 12,500-TEU vessels, but a top official now says the facility’s operating capacity could bump up to accommodate even larger ships. Rodolfo Sabonge, executive vice president for planning and […]
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative on Tuesday signaled its intent to begin negotiating an international services agreement (ISA) with 20 other nations. In a letter to Congress, U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk said the negotiations would be aimed at promoting international trade in services and supporting increased U.S. service exports and jobs. The […]
