A federal appeals court has ruled the Occupational Safety and Health Administration may regulate so-called “vertical tandem lifts” (VTLs) of containers or flat racks, where more than one container or flat rack is lifted at a time. (National Maritime Safety Association v. Occupational Safety & Health Administration, D.C. Circuit. No. 09-1050. June 17.) […]
New UP facility will bring together bulk agriculture grain, empty containers. By Chris Dupin Union Pacific Railroad will give agriculture exporters another way to tap the plentiful supply of empty containers in Southern California with a facility slated to open late this summer in Yermo, Calif. The new facility will be able to […]
Piracy worldwide costs the international economy $7 billion to $12 billion per year, according to a December study by One Earth Future Foundation, a non-profit organization that seeks to solve global problems through improved governance that incorporates the expertise of the business community and civil organizations. A more recent and robust study by […]
Maersk Line made news in late June when the container line said it will begin assessing a $100-per-container no-show fee on bookings that fail to materialize. Unlike simple no-show penalties of the past, the new initiative is an attempt at quid pro quo. If Maersk has overbooked on a sailing and has to […]
NATO’s bombardment of Libyan government facilities in an effort to drive Col. Muammar Qaddafi from power continues. Libya is a small country and the loss of trade opportunities due to hostilities is having minimal impact on the global economy, although individual companies in Europe and elsewhere are certainly suffering from the loss of […]
Education key to NVO’s plan to complement Obama’s export call. By Chris Dupin If President Obama wants to double exports in the next five years, he could do worse than find more businessmen who think like Daniel L. Gardner. Named chief executive officer of Ocean World Lines (OWL) in January, Gardner notes that […]
For the better part of the past decade transportation management systems (TMS) vendors and consumers have complained about SAP’s ability to “freeze” their market with promises of a new release that never seemed to materialize. In June, SAP, the German business software giant, made good on its promise with the long-awaited release of […]
Experts say it’s better to report attempted wrongdoing to federal regulators. By Chris Gillis If a buyer makes a questionable export request, the smart company would turn down the business. However, the more diligent company would take the matter a step further by reporting the suspicious activity to federal authorities in charge of […]
2010 logistics costs go up despite better inventory management, study says. By Eric Kulisch U.S. logistics costs increased 10.4 percent, or $114 billion, to $1.2 trillion in 2010 because there were more shipments as the economy recovered from the recession and indirect costs for storing inventory increased, according to the 22nd annual State of […]
2011 was not expected to see strong economic growth. Walter Kemmsies chief economist, Moffatt & Nichol Given the poor performance of the U.S. economy year to date, it is worth reviewing the 2011 outlook published last December (“Better, not great,” pages 14-17). The key points were: • “For 2011 a 2.4 percent […]
ComPair Data and SeaIntelligence.com have teamed up to produce a quarterly benchmark report analyzing contract rates and allocated capacity on trades to and from the United States. This report examines data from the last two quarters of 2010 and the first two quarters of 2011, measuring allocated capacity figures and rates at the end […]
Top 20 container lines
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 […]
