Mid-size lines spearhead the latest wave of big-ship orders. Backed into a corner by the changing dynamics of container shipping, a handful of the world’s top liner carriers finally made their move in the last 12 months. That is to say, they entered into the mega-vessel market, ordering ships of massive scale and equally massive […]
Companies attempt to put an idea from the 1920s into the shipping industry's environmental playbook. By Chris Dupin There is renewed interest in an 85-year-old technology that may help shipping companies lower fuel costs and reduce their impact on the environment. It's called the Flettner rotor, after German engineer and inventor Anton Flettner, […]
NOL head Ron Widdows to retire at year’s end, as Singapore company goes through transition. By Eric Johnson It’s hard to precisely quantify the impact that NOL President and Chief Executive Officer Ron Widdows has had on the industry he’s served for most of the past four decades. There are 1,018 search results […]
Pirates demonstrate coordinated logistics approach in spreading mayhem. By Eric Kulisch In the last year, pirates have quadrupled their zone of operation in the Indian Ocean, from 600 nautical miles off the coast of East Africa to the tip of India, and have become more violent. A multinational military presence has reduced the […]
Report focuses on vulnerable trade hubs, suggests shippers plan now for how to contend with a major disruption. By Eric Johnson It’s hard to wrap one’s arms around the idea of supply chain security, and there are a couple of reasons. For one, no two companies have the same profile, meaning every company is exposed […]
CSX, Ports America put Baltimore on container map despite distance from ocean. By Eric Kulisch The Port of Baltimore, relegated to the lower tier of harbors in the container trade for the better part of 20 years, is poised for significant growth as new wharf and intermodal investments get underway and private sector partners […]
It seems the more the liner carriers near their destination, the more they’re slip, sliding away. That destination is maintaining a positive bottom line through properly managed assets and sustainable freight rates for container transport. They — the top 15 publicly traded liner carriers — mostly accomplished this in 2010 through tightly controlled […]
On Second Thought … Thomas Nightingale Chief Marketing officer, Con-way Inc. board of directors Transport Marketing and Sales Association nightingale.tom@con-way.com The Transportation Worker Identification Credential was launched with the best of intentions, spurred by the tragic events of 9/11. With security measures heightening everywhere, Congress, through the Maritime Transportation Security Act, established what […]
High-tech CSX hub takes intermodal to next level. Companies like CSX are applying new approaches to increase the density and efficiency of new intermodal terminals. These include stacking stored containers trackside, using cantilevered, wide-span electric cranes that can cross several tracks at once, employing advanced software to optimize the order of lifts, and […]
OAKLAND Matson has ended one of its two U.S./China services a year after it was launched, citing sustained high fuel prices, downward rate pressure and overcapacity in the transpacific trade. Matson in late August discontinued its expanded China-Long Beach Express service (CLX2), which includes service between Hong Kong, Yantian, Shanghai and Long Beach. […]
Improved demand brings return for German heavy-lift specialist’s westbound service from India to Europe. By Eric Johnson Here’s a peek into how the recent economic recession affected trade regions differently: through the dark days of the crisis, project cargo and heavy-lift specialist carrier Rickmers-Linie continued to serve India from Europe, but there wasn’t nearly […]
It’s been said low ocean freight rates can’t induce demand. Consumers either want their extra-large flat-screen TVs or they don’t, and the price of such products relies little on the ocean rate makers like Sony or Samsung can secure at a given time. So if carriers can’t compel customers to ship more with […]
Airlines had a difficult time making a profit during the first half of the year, but industry executives feel more confident about being in the black going forward as concerns about soaring fuel prices have abated in recent weeks, according to a survey on airline business confidence. The survey, conducted each quarter by […]
It seems only natural to think the bigger the customs broker the more import entries they can efficiently process. However, that’s not actually the case. A recent survey of 140 industry executives by Kewill found productivity, or the number of monthly customs entries per full-time customs employee, peaked with mid-sized broker operations, and […]
American Shipper’s International Transportation Management Systems (ITMS) Benchmark Study, published November 2010 (available for free at www.AmericanShipper.com/ITMS), demonstrated that shippers use an average of about four-and-a-half IT systems to manage international transportation, while best-in-class firms or “winners” actually use more. More technology isn’t necessarily a good thing. Most likely these shippers have adopted […]
APL Logistics rebuilds domestic intermodal business a decade after selling double-stack business to Pacer. By Chris Dupin It’s back to the future at APL Logistics as the company rebuilds its domestic intermodal business a dozen years after selling it to Pacer International. APL, as American President Lines, pioneered double-stack intermodal rail and 53-foot […]
Soviet era-built AN-124s still reign as world’s dominant super-heavy haulers. By Chris Gillis The world’s biggest commercial cargo planes, the Antonov 124s, didn’t feel the downdraft of the most recent global recession. The planes’ handful of operators mostly benefited from pre-existing long-term project cargo transport contracts, which often take several years to complete, […]
Sputtering recovery translates into fewer shipments. By Eric Kulisch Growth has been choppy since the U.S. economy pulled out of recession two years ago, alternating between lukewarm and anemic expansion. Most economists have minimized the likelihood that the U.S. or global economies will fall into decline again, but economic data and shipment volumes […]
Congress has introduced legislation that would impose a national policy for regulating discharges of ballast water to prevent the introduction of invasive species. The bill, H.R. 2840, also aims to regulate incidental “gray water” discharges from ships ranging from oily water separator effluent and refrigeration and air condensate effluent. Reps. Frank LoBiondo, R-N.J., […]
