Both the House and Senate passed 90-day extensions of the nation’s major surface transportation bill on Thursday after the House failed to agree on longer term legislation. The House approved H.R. 4281, the ninth extension of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible and Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users, by a vote of 266 […]
ChemLogix, a provider of chemical industry transportation management, technology, and supply chain consulting services, has launched a new module for its transportation management service (TMS) geared to rail fleet oversight. To do this, ChemLogix has partnered with GeoMetrix and adding that company’s rail logistics guidance technology to its TMS. GeoMetrix’s software adds intra-plant management, […]
The World Shipping Council said Thursday that Tadaaki Naito, representative director and senior managing corporate officer of NYK, has been elected to the council’s board of directors to fill the seat previously held by Kenji Mizushima of NYK. Other WSC board members are Philip Chow, OOCL; Thomas Crowley Jr., Crowley Maritime Corp.; Rafi […]
TradeCard, Inc., which operates a supply chain and global trade platform, announced a new partnership with Technia to extend its services to more trading partners in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. Technia supplies the Nordic region with a product lifecycle management system. The partnership will extend TradeCard’s growing presence in Europe and […]
Microsoft and partners help resource-strapped customs agencies leapfrog IT. By Geoff Whiting When it comes to monitoring inbound trade, many developing countries’ customs administrations still rely on inefficient paper-based processes, often resulting in significant cargo clearance delays at the border and worse — a potential for corruption. Microsoft, whose software engineers’ goal […]
International Longshoremen’s Association President Harold Daggett recently made it crystal clear to the shipping industry that his purpose is to protect the interest of his union workers, even if that means shutting down the East and Gulf coast docks. One of the big sticking points in the upcoming contract negotiations this year between […]
By Alan F. Spear TAPA Americas chairman, and U.S. director of cargo security loss control for Chartis Fortuitous events such as fire, flood, accidents and cargo theft may all result in cargo loss, but the underlying cause of loss may, in fact, be miscommunication…
Rather than buying insurance for each shipment, shippers often rely on marine “open cargo” or “open cover” policies to insure the goods they move. This is an arrangement where an insurer undertakes to issue policies for shipments when required by the assured, and is popular due to its flexibility. Marine open cover […]
The 10-year anniversary of the crippling lockout of International Longshore and Warehouse Union workers at U.S. West Coast ports in 2002 is looming, and International Longshoremen’s Association members look to be commemorating the anniversary with their own threatened work action this year at U.S. East Coast ports. Ignoring for the moment the potential […]
The global containership fleet capacity idled as of mid-March reached 913,000 TEUs, according to the liner analyst Alphaliner. That’s still far short of the 1.5 million TEUs in layup in early 2010, but significantly up from the beginning of 2012. But don’t expect the idle fleet to cross the 1 million TEU level […]
Shippers are hit with planned rate hikes, despite burden of vessel overcapacity. By Eric Johnson Try as the liner shipping industry might to portray a situation that rates aren’t the only factor in service contract negotiations, the reality is clear: the transpacific trade is preoccupied with rates. The issue is particularly acute and understandable this year, […]
During the depths of the Great Recession four years ago, shipping lines introduced “slow steaming” on almost all global trade lanes. Their reason — to save on fuel costs which would help reduce their huge losses. Customers complained loudly that reducing ship speeds and lengthening transit times drove up their inventory costs. For many, […]
The Strategic View By Walter Kemmsies As economic data continues to show the recovery is gaining traction it is time to start looking farther down the road to see where major trends in place will lead the economy. Unfortunately the conclusions one would draw from these trends are not encouraging. […]
Green supply chains remain priority for retailers, freight companies, reports show. By Eric Kulisch Preserving the environment, and the wellbeing of communities and employees, has become a key business consideration for the retail and freight transportation sectors, affecting all aspects of strategy, operations and marketing, two new reports confirmed. Whereas companies several […]
The ubiquitous wooden pallet has been a staple of the shipping industry since the advent of containerization almost 60 years ago, enabling companies to move stacks of goods at one time. While some shippers have incorporated plastic pallets into their supply chains, the cheap wooden skid still dominates as the shipping platform of choice. […]
PO Shipping survived a tough 2011 on the transpacific when other small carriers didn’t. By Eric Johnson To say 2011 was a tumultuous year on the transpacific would be an understatement. According to American Shipper liner research affiliate ComPair Data, of the 29 vessel operators in the trade at the start […]
In mid-February, Maersk Line announced it was pulling 9 percent of its Asia-Mediterranean capacity from the end of March through a reshuffling of its joint Asia-Med service network with CMA CGM. That announcement, coming as it did on the heels of Maersk’s confirmation that it would be pulling one of its seven Asia-Northern […]
U.S. Customs and Border Protection is expected to soon release a draft strategic plan for taking its Air Cargo Advanced Screening system from a limited pilot program to a mandatory requirement that carriers pre-file information on all air shipments bound for the United States, according to industry representatives and government officials involved in the project. […]
The U.S. Transportation Security Administration in February expanded its TSA PreCheck pilot program to Salt Lake City International Airport and New York’s JFK International Airport. TSA PreCheck began last October as a limited trial for expedited screening of pre-approved passengers who provide advance information about themselves and verify their identity at airport checkpoints. Pre-screening […]
U.S. Customs and Border Protection published a notice of proposed rulemaking on Feb. 22 that would make substantial changes to the way imported merchandise is transported inland under a bond, enabling the cargo owner to defer payment of duties until it reaches the destination port or is exported. The primary fixes involve making […]
