As the United States prepares to begin enforcing its new low-sulfur fuel requirements for ships operating in coastal waters this month, experts are worried about the availability and cost of fuel both now and as the environmental regulations ratchet up in the years ahead.
The project cargo business has been one of the more stable sectors of the shipping industry in recent years and continues to have a fairly bright outlook.
AlixPartners starts maritime restructuring and advisory practice for carriers. By Eric Johnson The global business advisory firm AlixPartners is a well-known name in the circles of financial restructuring and business performance. So what better arena to apply those principles than to the beleaguered maritime industry? In late April, the company announced […]
Data accuracy is utmost critical to keeping containers and payments moving. By Eric Johnson If you’re looking for excitement in container shipping, documentation accuracy isn’t exactly the most goose bump-inducing topic. But it may well be one of the more critical aspects of a shipment. Incorrect bills of lading or […]
Every once in a while, shippers get a detailed view into an area that’s typically opaque: carrier operating costs. One such occasion popped up in late June when Juergen Pump, senior vice president at Hamburg Süd North America, described for attendees of the Agriculture Transportation Coalition’s annual meeting the costs of a single […]
U.S. Customs and Border Protection wants to make filing Air Cargo Advanced Screening (ACAS) data as flexible as possible for freight forwarders. Officials have consistently stated they don’t intend to require a carrier to re-transmit shipment data from the air waybill submitted by the forwarder to Customs. Some forwarders are still nervous […]
U.S. forges common screening standard with Canada, EU to minimize impact on trusted shippers. By Eric Kulisch The Department of Homeland Security has recognized the screening protocols of Canada and the European Union for air cargo on passenger aircraft as meeting U.S. requirements, effectively eliminating a redundant layer of security for inbound shipments and […]
Express carrier DHL opened its biggest hub in Asia on July 12 at the Shanghai Airport. The $175 million facility covers 16 football fields of space, has extensive energy-saving features and can process up to 20,000 documents and 20,000 parcels per hour. DHL said it will invest another $132 million for eight […]
An International Civil Aviation Organization committee in July agreed on a common metric for measuring and comparing carbon dioxide emissions that takes into account aircraft types and different technologies, paving the way for formal adoption of a worldwide carbon standard that drives further improvement in fuel efficiency. The system accounts for factors such […]
The race between Boeing and Airbus to capture orders and produce commercial aircraft continues unabated, raising questions about whether their respective supply bases can keep up with demand, according to a new report from Forecast International. The situation will only get worse with the introduction of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and Airbus A350 […]
The 44-year old insurer TT Club is now offering coverage for a new group of customers—shippers.
Rick Campbell, chief executive officer of ICAT Logistics, said franchising is one of the fastest growing segments of U.S. business, and he also believes it’s an effective way to organize a logistics company.
The major benefit of current technology trends like cloud computing and heavily integrated systems is that companies have more data at their fingertips than ever before, but that comes with the pitfall of figuring out how to manage it all.
Nearly every innovation JDA Software is planning for its future relies on cloud technology, and so it was with boldness that Hamish Brewer, the company’s president and chief executive officer, recently announced plans for a major shift to the JDA Cloud Strategy.
Over the last 12 months the dollar has appreciated due to stronger economic trends in the United States compared to other countries. However, this may be coming to an end. The U.S. economy is growing, albeit at a slow pace of 2 percent, compared to an average rate of 3.1 percent during the […]
The U.S. Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration recently cemented a partnership with Cintermex, a trade show organizer in Mexico that hosts more than 600 events per year, to cross-promote exports in each country. Related Magazine Content Boosting U.S. competitiveness The ITA’s Commercial Service will train Cintermex staff in Mexico on the benefits […]
White House makes exports priority, but will fall short of ambitious target, expert says. By Eric Kulisch The United States may have been on track during the first two years of President Obama’s five-year plan to double exports from $1.6 trillion to $3.2 trillion by the end of 2014, but has no realistic chance […]
The decision to draw down 30 million barrels of crude from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) is still making news a year later. That’s not much oil in a world that consumes 88 million barrels a day, but hauling it would have been a nice piece of work for the U.S. tug […]
Sometimes things just fall into place for shippers who thought they were at the end of the world. Such may be the case for agricultural exporters in North Dakota and the upper Midwest, possibly the most landlocked region in the United States. North Dakota has gotten a massive — if that’s a […]
By Peter Schauer President, Orion Marine Corp., Chicago In early July, the International Longshoremen’s Association and U.S. Maritime Alliance made progress on negotiating a new contract to replace the one expiring on Sept. 30, easing some concerns that shippers will face a dock labor confrontation on the U.S. East and Gulf coasts. If the parties […]
