Freight forwarders and customs brokers once operated comfortably between shippers and carriers as managers of shipment documentation, but advances in information technology and its increasingly off-the-shelf nature have blown this niche wide open. Consequently, it’s becoming more difficult to actually define what constitutes a forwarder or broker today. The middle ground between shipper and carrier […]
A new technology alliance is bringing together separate functions from six companies to introduce a cloud-based “control tower.” The technology providers that make up the Logistics Technology Alliance (LTA) want to present a comprehensive set of logistics hardware and software services for a flexible end-to-end systems solution. However, the LTA model will offer a set of […]
By Walter Kemmsies, chief economist, Moffatt & Nichol In April this column focused on the trends which indicate that beyond the near-term recovery this year, the U.S. economy faces potentially significant and long-term employment and inflation risks…
American Shipper liner research affiliate ComPair Data has vastly expanded the range of tools available to its users. The new tools include, most notably, the ability to instantly generate online reports in HTML format, enabling subscribers to quickly access capacity levels on virtually every global trade lane.
Gary S. Taylor, who is credited with bringing the liner carrier perspective to U.S. Customs’ development of the Automated Manifest System, died of cancer on May 12 in Palm Springs, Calif. He was 62.
ZeeVee, Inc., which sells commercial-grade products for processing high-definition video signals, late last year switched from a contract manufacturer in China to one a few miles from its Littleton, Mass., headquarters. The six-year-old company initially marketed converter boxes for consumers to watch online providers like Netflix or search the Web on their TVs […]
One of the largest and most visible companies investing in U.S. operations is General Electric. The conglomerate is spending $1 billion to expand and upgrade its domestic appliance business in Louisville, Ky., Bloomington, Ind., and Decatur, Ala. Hundreds of jobs previously outsourced to China and Mexico are returning to these sites. […]
Companies that have relocated production facilities from overseas to the United States: Tesla – maker of electric sports cars switched most of its Asian and U.K. production back to its Northern California headquarters to reduce cost and quality problems. Sauder – the furniture manufacturer is transferring production from Southeast Asia back home to North […]
According to a notice on carrier’s German Website, cargo can now reach its Cristobal hub (on the Atlantic side of the Panama Canal) direct via its Europe-WCSA service, and can reach Puerto Limon via transshipment over Freeport, Bahamas.
APS Stevedoring LLC, an auto and general/breakbulk cargo stevedoring company based in Long Beach, Calif., recently added to its operations with Hyundai Motor’s Portland, Ore., Terminal 6 – Berth 601 auto terminal. Earlier this month the terminal discharged 976 imported Hyundai units and loaded back 179 Ford exports onto Eukor Car Carriers’ Ryujin. The two biggest car […]
U.S. becomes viable production option for some merchandise. Rising international labor and transportation rates have created optimism in the United States that
Global cost structures have manufacturers reevaluating outsourcing phenomenon. By Eric Kulisch Low labor and overhead costs were primary drivers for outsourcing much of U.S. manufacturing to China during the past 25 years, a development that accelerated with China’s accession to the World Trade Organization in 2001. But changes in global economics and new, sophisticated business […]
American Shipper and BPE Global designed this year’s study to provide readers with a deeper understanding of the trends and issues impacting U.S. import operations and compliance managers. In March 2012, 336 qualified respondents participated in a 35- question benchmarking survey covering organizational structure, training, responsibilities, operations processes, costs, technology and other areas […]
IKEA has updated figures it provided on the number of global stores for a story (“IKEA’s knock on wood,” April 2012) about how the company has weaned itself off wood pallets for shipping boxes. The retailer now says it has more than 300 stores around the world, not 287. The story also should […]
For years we’ve been hearing about a looming driver shortage in the domestic trucking industry. The only saving grace has been a dour economy — a bitter irony that pain in the rest of the equation is the only thing that eases the potential of a shortfall in truck drivers. Yet the […]
PSA said the agreement “forms the basis for both companies to seek further collaboration and expansion.” The two entities already collaborate on port projects in China.
The carrier said its performance in the first quarter was affected by Asian port congestion, particularly in Hong Kong, Yantian, Singapore, and Shanghai, and bad weather in Europe (as well as fog in Shanghai).
Jens Nöldner was named chief executive officer of DB Schenker Rail Automotive GmbH, which handles Deutsche Bahn’s rail freight activities for the automotive industry. Nöldner, 48, will succeed Axel Marschall, who was appointed to the management board of DB Schenker Rail at the beginning of the year where he is responsible for German […]
A congressman from Southern California who chairs the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform has requested documents and information from the Federal Maritime Commission saying the committee has learned agency staffers “may have faced retaliation for testifying in opposition to the employee-driver mandate” that the Port of Los Angeles unsuccessfully tried to impose […]
The Oakland City Council has confirmed Earl Hamlin as the newest commissioner at the Port of Oakland, the port said Friday. Hamlin will serve a term through July 2013, replacing a seat previously held by Michael Lighty. Hamlin has more than 30 years of experience in finance and economic development. He chaired […]
