The U.S. Postal Service, effective May 16, has prohibited primary lithium metal or rechargeable lithium-ion cells and batteries, as well as devices containing the power packs, from being mailed internationally. The move is temporary. USPS, which reported $3.2 billion in losses during the fiscal year third quarter, said it expects to lift the […]
US Airways is trying to buy bankrupt American Airlines, but it’s easy to overlook the fact that American is not a willing partner. The casual observer might assume that the two sides are talking about a merger, but in reality US Airways is putting pressure on American creditors to do a deal while […]
UPS Supply Chain Solutions is offering an intermediate service option on the U.S. southern border as more manufacturers open plants in Mexico to serve the U.S. market. UPS CrossBorder Connect, introduced in mid-April, bundles an expedited ground freight service and customs brokerage for shippers who want faster deliveries. In the past, cross-border […]
U.S., EU customs administrations recognize respective supply chain security programs. By Eric Kulisch U.S. and European Union customs officials have finalized an agreement to treat qualified shippers in their respective supply chain security programs as equivalent to their own, but a wide range of technical details must still be worked out before low-risk companies can […]
The U.S. Federal Maritime Commission wants to modernize regulations for non-vessel-operating common carrier and ocean freight forwarder licensing, registration, and proof of financial responsibility, FMC Chairman Richard A. Lidinsky Jr. told the National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America’s conference on April 24.
U.S. citizens applying to become customs brokers should be able to obtain their licenses in a quarter of the time it now takes once U.S. Customs completes a nationwide rollout of a new system for processing their applications. Licenses are being approved in less than three months compared to the normal nine to 12 months
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 […]
