Sustainability efforts benefit bottom line, community. By Eric Kulisch Minimizing the environmental impact of operations and products involves reducing waste — and waste reduction is the core principle behind Walmart’s low cost and low-price strategy. Cutting waste saves money and protects the planet, Walmart officials like to say. In 2011, Walmart continued […]
Last year saw a number of small containership lines drop out of the transpacific trade amid flat demand growth and intense competition. The drop-off was notably sharp in the second half, with American Shipper affiliate ComPair Data estimating a 15-percent withdrawal of eastbound transpacific capacity was withdrawn from July. In late February, American Shipper spoke to Brian Conrad, executive […]
Mitigating freight rate volatility. By Eric Johnson Up, down, up, down. That’s been the theme on the transpacific in recent years, and those swings don’t just apply to annual periods, but rather quarters, or even months. In response to the swings that have frankly been a feature of liner shipping […]
“This is the first time a settlement addresses Clean Air Act violations in the marine engine manufacturing and ship building industries,” said Ignacia S. Moreno of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division.
Exports to Asia are healthy, but they’re not enough for carriers to structure service networks around the westbound transpacific trade. By Eric Johnson Westbound transpacific trade grew a robust 10 percent in 2011, while eastbound transpacific trade actually receded by 1 percent. What’s more, over the past four years, U.S. export […]
Fuel savings help support retailer’s everyday low prices. By Eric Kulisch Walmart is well on its way toward its goal of doubling the efficiency of its truck fleet by 2015, but reaching that milestone involves more than boosting the miles per gallon of its vehicles. It takes a network-centric approach, says […]
As more customs agencies begin to communicate and cooperate with one another, the cloud is often viewed as the vehicle to share information. “The dialog that’s going on today is around data management and what information needs to remain on-premise in a government data center and what data can reside off premise on a […]
U.S. Commerce Secretary John Bryson promoted partnerships between U.S. and Indian businesses as he discussed the U.S.-India trade relationship with Indian government officials during a five-day trade mission to India.
DDN, one of the largest providers of outsourced business services to the life sciences industry, will now offer DDN Urgent Access, a service for manufacturers of life-saving products that have time-sensitive delivery requirements. The service promises to get these products to patients in eight hours or less anywhere in the continental United States, every day […]
The $225 million in air freight price-fixing fines handed out Wednesday by the European Commission to 14 air forwarders has dwarfed previous penalties or settlements for related cases in other jurisdictions. The European Union antitrust division’s case for the penalties – including more than $140 million against Kuehne + Nagel, Panalpina, and UPS alone […]
LOT Polish Airlines will begin two new services connecting Chicago and Poland. Chief Executive Officer Marcin Pirog said Wednesday the company will operate the Boeing 787 Dreamliner on the Chicago-Warsaw route beginning in January 2013. He noted LOT also began an all-cargo flight last month between Chicago and Katowice, Poland. “Chicago was selected for the […]
Menzies Distribution, a newspaper distribution specialist, has produced a mobile application designed to allow retail staff to manage stock claims directly from the retail floor level. The i-Menzies app – available on the iPhone, Android and Blackberry devices – was downloaded by more than 500 retailers during a three-month trial and is now […]
TBS International, which operates a fleet of about 40 multipurpose tweendeckers and handy-size/handy-max bulk carriers, said Wednesday the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York confirmed its reorganization plan. The company said this approval “paves way for expedited emergence from Chapter 11.” TBS said pursuant to the plan that ownership of […]
The container line Mediterranean Shipping Co. said Thursday it plans to hike rates from Mexico to east coast of South America from May 1. The increase, $200 per 20-foot container and $300 per 40-foot container, is applicable to destinations in Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay.
Hong Kong-based Kerry Logistics said its net profit increased 11 percent year-on-year to $95 million in 2011 on turnover that rose 47 percent to year-end $2.1 billion. The net profit excludes a $17 million fair value adjustment on investment properties, the company said. The company’s integrated logistics unit saw turnover rise 43 percent […]
Seago Line, the intra-Europe specialist line of the A.P. Moller-Maersk Group, said this week it is temporarily ceasing acceptance of cargo to or from the Suez Canal Container Terminal in Port Said, Egypt. The line said the halt is due to a slowdown in productivity in the terminal. “The duration of the […]
Maersk Line said this week it’s raising rates on a number of trades starting next month. The increases are: Far East to Indian Subcontinent, $150 per TEU, from April 15. Far East to east coast of South America, $600 per 20-foot container and $1,200 per 40-foot, 40-foot high-cube, or 45-foot high-cube container, from […]
International Asset Systems (IAS), a provider of cloud-based applications for intermodal and container shipping, has developed a new set of Business Intelligence (BI) modules for customers to better see their data. The BI modules will help customers view and analyze all of the data generated in day-to-day repair and dispatch operations, adding in the […]
A group of sweetner users asked the U.S. Department of Agriculture on Wednesday to “take immediate action on April 1 to increase the tariff rate quota (TRQ) for sugar, and simultaneously work with the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to reallocate known shortfalls under the current quota.” “The U.S. market needs substantial […]
Los Angeles-based Less Software, a supply chain management service provider, has joined Avalara’s list of certified original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and will now integrate Avalara’s Software-as-a-Service platform for sales tax management into its own applications. Avalara said that its OEM partners, which in this case are software publishers and providers, typically offer the Avalara […]
