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Mar 30, 2017

VELOCITY & VISIBILITY * USA: SHIPPERS DEMAND TO TRUCKING INDUSTRY

* New York - Report: US shipper demand for velocity, visibility reshaping trucking


--- Shippers' desire for a bird's eye view of shipments at all times helped increase demand for dedicated trucking services in 2016... Trucking is a changing business, driven by shipper demands. A new report on the largest 50 US motor carriers gives some indication of how trucking is changing and where, and how fast... Start with a look at the top: of the five largest companies in this year’s ranking of the Top 50 US Trucking Companies, prepared for JOC.com by SJ Consulting Group, only two are a straightforward freight-hauling trucking companies — J.B. Hunt Transportation Services and YRC Worldwide... The three largest companies are UPS and FedEx, express package and logistics giants with industrial trucking subsidiaries, and XPO Logistics, a global logistics operator with LTL and last-mile trucking assets... Shipper demand for greater supply chain control, velocity, and visibility drove growth in dedicated trucking in 2016, and that also accounted for the increase in Top 50 revenue. J.B. Hunt and other trucking operators have been shifting more assets into dedicated service... In 2017 and beyond, shippers can expect the largest trucking operators to increasingly shift drivers, trucks and other resources toward integrated and specialized services that provide a pricing premium... 
NY, USA - JOC, by William B. Cassidy - Mar 29, 2017

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Sep 7, 2016

JOBS at LOGISTICS Cos. * USA: Growth in August

* DC - Logistics, Transport fueled growth of 14,900 jobs

--- Logistics and transportation companies added 14,900 jobs in August, the U.S. Labor Department said Friday, extending strong hiring growth for a second month despite reports of low shipping volumes and manufacturing activity... Warehousing and storage companies led the surge, adding 4,300 jobs to its steady incline as online shopping growth fuels demand for more workers to package and ship goods...  Distribution centers have added more than 48,000 jobs in the past year. Courier and messenger companies, which also benefit from the e-commerce boom, added 4,000 jobs in last month and have expanded employment by 22,600 jobs over the past year... Industry consultants say companies in industries close to e-commerce have been hiring earlier than usual in anticipation of the annual crush of shipments for the holidays as a tighter job market and rising wages in other sectors have created more competition for workers... Trucking firms, which shed jobs for most of the first half of the year due to weak demand, added 3,400 jobs in August after adding 1,700 jobs in July...
(Photo from Bloomberg News - Warehouse and storage companies have added 48,000 jobs in the past 12 months as companies have faced growing demand for online sales fulfillment) -- The WSJ, by LORETTA CHAO - Sept. 2, 2016

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Mar 15, 2016

TRUCK's APPOINTMENT SYSTEM * USA: Decreased turn times?

* California - Preliminary data shows no correlation


-- Truck appointment systems are one of the “innovations” port and industry leaders tout will help optimize the supply chain. The hope is that such systems would decrease truck congestion and turn times by creating a more orderly process for trucks arriving at terminal gates. If port drivers had an appointment, the theory goes, they would not cue outside the terminal hours before the gates open, jockeying to get through the gates first in hopes of getting their container and back out more quickly. Recent data made available by the Harbor Trucking Association does not support this theory, at least in their execution to date. Preliminary results from the five terminals that implemented an appointment system in 2015 were mixed, failing to show a correlation between an appointment system and improving turn times... Critics of appointment systems point to the fact that if drayage companies and drivers are the only ones with “skin in the game” to comply with these systems, there will be little motivation for other stakeholders to change their behavior, leaving the drayage community to yet again bear the increased costs in the supply chain... This case study presents a strong argument for drayage industry consolidation being a critical piece of the puzzle for improving port efficiency...
Los Angeles, CAL, USA - American Journal of Transportation - Mar 11 2016

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Oct 21, 2015

TRANSPORTATION NETWORK * USA: 17.0 billion tons of goods for $17.9 trillion were moved on

* DC - Report: Dollar value of goods moved on freight network ‘greater than ever before’ 
-- In a new report, the Department of Transportation says the dollar value of goods moved on the nation’s freight network is greater than ever before... Trucks remain the most commonly used mode to move freight, transporting 64 percent of the weight and 71 percent of the value in 2012 — compared to 65 percent of the value in 2007... DOT’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) today released the first product from the newest version of the “Freight Analysis Framework” which they say is the most comprehensive publicly available data set of freight movement... The new data show an increase in the dollar value of goods moved on the transportation network... The newly baselined Freight Analysis Framework estimates show that in 2012, nearly 17.0 billion tons of goods worth about $17.9 trillion were moved on the transportation network, which equates to 47 million tons of goods valued at more than $49 billion a day moved throughout the country on all transportation modes compared with $45 billion per day in 2007... 
(Photo: Our economy can't grow if shipper can't goods to and from ports)   --  Washington, DC, USA - The Trucker News - 20 Oct 2015

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May 18, 2015

CHEAP FUEL but REVENUE PER CONTAINER DECLINES * Hong Kong

* Hong Kong / China - Carriers depend on cheap fuel as volumes, revenue per box declines


-- The first quarter results for container shipping lines are coming in with profits, or at least a narrowing of losses, common among carriers that have so far reported their financials... Unsurprisingly, the results were led by Maersk Line, which measures its quarterly profits in the hundreds of millions, but behind the positive result is a trend that is being experienced across the industry — a drop in container volumes accompanied by falling revenue per container... At the moment the carriers are able to mitigate declining revenue with lower operating costs enabled mainly by cheap bunker fuel. Bunker prices fell by around 40 percent in the first quarter compared to the same period last year, and with more than a third of the operating costs consumed by fuel, the benefits for container lines have been significant... This has softened the blow of falling container volumes and freight rates as demand from the Eurozone and emerging economies remains weak, and the U.S.A. recovery wobbles along... The focus on reducing costs is being aggressively applied across the industry, from deploying mega-vessels by the carriers that can afford it, to cutting unprofitable routes and improving networks, to trimming workforces and forming vessel sharing alliances...With weak freight rates already eroding revenue per container, any sustained increase in the price of oil will quickly start to have an impact... 
(Photo: OOCL saw volumes and revenue per TEU fall in the first quarter)  --  Hong Kong, China -  J.O.C., by Greg Knowler - May 16, 2015

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Apr 23, 2015

BIGGER TRUCKS or LONGER TRAINS ? * USA: Road rage in between

* DC - The trucking and the railroad industries are at odds. Meanwhile infrastructures decaying
(Photo: Trucks on trains “Rolling Motorway” on the Alpes mountain, Europe- The rolling highway is a special form of combined transport in which full trucks are transported on special rail cars, generally accompanied by the truck drivers, who travel in a passenger car. Trains are loaded horizontally only, in other words, without a crane. The truck maneuvers onto the train on its own via a ramp. The rail cars, called low-loader cars, have especially small wheels and a low loading surface)

  ...  While Congress considers how to spend the Highway Trust Fund by May 31 the trucking wants language to allow for bigger trucks; and the rail industry doesn’t because that could divert business. Meanwhile there is the ongoing problem of decaying infrastructure on which all transportation depends. So here we go again, as President Reagan would say, listening to bickering about which mode of transportation is greener and safer. Indeed, the railroad industry and the trucking industry have waged a love-hate relationship since rubber-tired vehicles began hauling freight and competing with the railroads... The USA need a study that will help forecast the optimal mix of modes and vehicles to move nation’s freight. What sizes and weights are required? What impact would this have on the infrastructure, capacity, congestion, fuel consumption, pollution, and productivity? What capital requirements would support the strategy and enable infrastructure improvements and investments? ... The National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission released a seminal report in 2007 that stated: “We need to invest at least $225 billion annually from all sources for the next 50 years to upgrade our existing system to a state of good repair” ...  Given limited resources, the time is right to encourage Congress to fund a comprehensive, holistic plan for intermodal transportation that makes long-term economic sense... 
Washington, DC, USA - The Hill, by Brooks A. Bentz - April 22, 2015

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Apr 18, 2015

TRANSPORTATION SECTOR * USA: The second largest source of GHG

* DC - EPA report: transportation 2nd largest contributor of GHG emissions

-- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today reported a 2 percent increase in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in 2013 from 2012 but a 9 percent drop since 2005... By sector, power plants accounted for 31 percent of total U.S.A. greenhouse gas pollution. The transportation sector contributed a reported 27 percent, an EPA report says... The transportation sector was the second largest source of GHG with power plants being the No. 1 culprit, the agency stated... The statistics were in EPA’s 20th Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks just released... In June 2013, the president's Climate Action Plan called for the Department of Transportation to develop fuel-efficiency standards and the EPA to develop GHG standards for medium- and heavy-duty on-highway vehicles and work trucks in a joint rulemaking within the president's second term. In February, 2014, the President directed DOT and EPA to complete the second phase of the standards... 
(Photo: Truck traffic to the Bronx)  --  Washington, DC, USA - The Trucker News Services - 16 April 2015

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Nov 4, 2014

PORTS CONGESTION * USA: Los Angeles & Long Beach Ports

* California - Cargo challenges create opportunities


(Photo: The congestion at Los Angeles and Long Beach ports has been going on for at least two months) 
San Diego,CAL,USA -JOC, by David Arian -Nov 02, 2014: ... The current restructuring, based on much-needed cost savings for the (shipping) industry, dates back to about 2008. The industry’s first solution was bigger ships. Large ships in 2007 were approximately 7,500 TEUs. Today, based on construction orders for new ships between now and 2016, sizes will range from 7,500 to 18,000 TEUs... With newer, larger ships entering service, there is a surplus of containership capacity, which has depressed shipping rates and squeezed margins. In response, carriers have begun to form mega-alliances. Most of the world’s largest shipping lines now are part of a handful of alliances... These alliances are spreading their cargo to numerous terminals, which is new to the industry. This makes it extremely difficult to consolidate cargo for rail and truck transport, so cargo must be shifted from terminal to terminal or sit for long periods on the docks... 
So what are the solutions? There are a number of ideas to solve the congestion issue: 
* Create a gray or neutral chassis pool run by a non-profit organization to better administer the availability of chassis. 
* Implement a universal, technology-based portal system that oversees all movements of containers, chassis and other equipment in the Los Angeles-Long Beach complex. 
* Work with our alliance partners on a more efficient approach to use of terminals. 
* Create incentives for efficiencies at each container terminal. 
* Work with the state and federal government to invest in a cargo-movement incentive program. 
* PierPass, which was created to shift cargo truck trips from days to nights in order to avoid freeway congestion, has worked well for its intended reason. The program should be updated, however, to to realize greater operational efficiencies in the port complex. 
* Consider the wider use of inland distribution centers so our on-dock terminals are used more efficiently. We need to move cargo off our docks quickly and perhaps distribute them at another location. 
* Shipping lines should analyze cargo flow, stowage and information flow for efficiency improvements.

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Mar 9, 2013

MAKING POOLS for TRANSPORT and LOGISTICS * France

* According to ECR France, 62% of firms make pooling

Paris,France -Logistics Magazine, by NF -8 March 2013: -- According to the first annual survey of ECR France on pooling logistics, 62% of respondents mutualize transport or storage. A trend that is expected to increase in the coming years due to the increase in fuel prices in particular... ECR France, joint body which brings together decision makers and distributors of industrial sector of consumer products, food and non-food, made ​​its first annual survey on sharing logistics. 74 companies (manufacturers, distributors, logistics providers), all sectors of activity (food, automotive, crafts, cosmetics ...), were interviewed between December 15 2012 and January 31, 2013... First lesson of the study: 62% of respondents are already pooling, whatever its form, and 16% of respondents reported having a mutualisation project horizon to two years... 22% of respondents are not the barometer of sharing logistics and did not plan to do so in the coming years, although they are aware of this practice... Finally, 25% reported being somewhat or not convinced of the benefits of this practice... Factors accelerating pooling, who topped the polls is higher fuel (87% of respondents cited as a criterion for pooling). Followed by customer requirements (81%) and changes in the legal framework, including the arrival of the heavy tax, supposed to encourage the deployment of pooling for 69% of companies...

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Feb 4, 2012

T & L Report * Sweden - Shipping now a key means of moving illegal weapons

Container shipping is used to transport weapons

(Photo: Pirates Approaching Container Ship)
Stockholm,Sweden -Eye for Transport (UK) -Feb 3, 2012: -- Container shipping is regularly used to channel weapons by Iran and other countries embargoed by the United Nations, as well as 'non-state actors', according to a report just published by the Swedish research institute the 'Stockholm International Peace Research Institute' (SIPRI)... The study was based on substantial data collected by SIPRI which is supported by the Swedish Government. The report found that states such Iran and North Korea have learnt from the methods used by drug smugglers to move large quantities of illegal cargo at low cost and with a fairly low chance of being caught... This method of moving weapons around the world is also being used by a variety of terrorist organisations... Admittedly, the report found that the largest single means of movement of such cargoes was the use of older vessels under 'flags of convenience.' However, it appears that ships owned by German, Greek and US companies were also prominent in carrying illegal loads; companies that included some of the world's largest container lines... SIPRI identifies ports as being the key "choke points" where containers can be monitored for illegal cargoes. However this suggestion appears similar to those made by the US Government in its attempts to screen for radioactive materials which might be used by terrorists...

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Jan 23, 2012

T & L MARKETS STUDY * WORLDWIDE

* China’s exports slow as Germany’s grow

London,EN,UK -eyefortransport -Jan 11, 2012: -- The latest trade figures from China are being seen as evidence that its economy is slowing down whilst its trade surplus may be shrinking... The figures released by the Chinese General Administration of Customs for December showed both lower import and export growth, with imports growing by 11.8% year-on-year as compared to November's figure of 22.1%. The figure for exports was a year-on-year growth of 13.4%; which is roughly flat over the past 12 months... These numbers might suggest that the Chinese economy is not merely seeing lower levels of growth in its export activity, driven by lower consumer demand in Europe and the US, but is also seeing reduced growth of consumption within China... In contrast, German trade figures published on Monday (9/1/2012) by the Federal Statistical Office show an economy aggressively growing exports. Year-on-year German exports increased by 8.3% and compared to the previous month they grew by 2.5%. However, imports actually shrank by 0.4%...

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Apr 5, 2010

REPORT * UK - Tackle congestion through Strategic Freight Network

FTA head of road network management policy Malcolm Bingham says the association supports the idea of re-trunking roads

London,UK -Road Transport, by Chris Tindall -1 April 2010: -- An influential group of MPs say the cost of rail freight is preventing a modal shift and that congestion will only be tackled through developing the Strategic Freight Network... The Transport Select Committee's report into the major network also urges the DfT to consider "re-trunking" roads that have been handed over to local authorities and are not being adequately maintained... It highlights the need for new investment in upgrading the country's creaking motorway network and says the Highways Agency must minimise delays when essential maintenance work is being carried out... The committee warns that shifting freight onto rail is unlikely and cites an example of Royal Mail saving £90m by replacing rail with road, adding: "Tangible steps, such as the development of the Strategic Freight Network, are required to encourage modal shift for freight. This, in turn, will help to reduce congestion and pollution on the major road network"...

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Feb 16, 2010

TRUCKING ANALYSIS * USA & Canada - Trucking companies: struggling with overcapacity but seeing signals of recovery

With the reduction in fuel prices and excess capacity, US trucking companies are engaging in price wars and competing in the difficult environment to increase volumes

New Jersey,USA -Trading Markets/Datamonitor via COMTEX -Feb 11, 2010: ... Conditions are predicted to improve, however, with anticipated increased business spending in the country set to boost demand for trucking services... The trucking industry in the US, including less-than-truckload (LTL) and full-truckload (TL) transport, has been seriously hit by weak demand. Truckload operations involving manufacturing and retail goods saw demand dwindling due to the low purchasing power of clients and the overall slowdown of the US economy. As a result of overcapacity in the market, the largest truck operators in the US have reported losses in 2009... To increase truckload volumes, many trucking companies, such as Old Dominion Freight Line (ODFL) and FedEx, slashed their prices during the year, leading to a decline in LTL rates of 5-15% compared to 2008. Although there has been a gradual revival in volumes, firms in the sector are yet to see a rise in profitability... Nevertheless, Q4 saw a reduction in the ongoing losses experienced by the trucking operations of these companies... (Picture from boolsite.net


* REPORT - Indicates more shippers are going green and expect suppliers to follow

New York,NY,USA -Logistics Management, by Sean Murphy -16 Feb 2010: -- Not only are corporations getting on the green bandwagon, but they are beginning to demand the same from their suppliers, to the point of cutting loose any suppliers that don't have carbon management plans of their own, according to a new report from the non-profit Carbon Disclosure Project and consultant firm A. T. Kearney... If your company acts as a supplier to larger corporate clients, you'd better be prepared to discuss sustainability and environmental business practices, because you can bet your clients will want to... That's the message of the results of a new survey conducted by the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), a nonprofit organization that collects climate change data from the corporate world. The CDP conducted the survey with the help of global management consulting firm A. T. Kearney, which released the results last week...


* Analysis - Truckers benefit from factory activity

Kansas City,MO,USA -Today's Trucking (CAN) -12 Feb 2010: -- A U.S.-based transportation consultancy says the recent rise in factory utilization and industrial production is causing increased activity among full load (TL) carriers south of the border... Analysts with TranSystems say haulers carrying steel, copper, plastic resins, and other materials critical to industrial manufacturing are seeing upticks in activity as more and more companies gear up to fill reorders of merchandise... Players in the LTL arena, on the other hand, are reporting worse than average seasonality in January... The most recent TranSystems Transportation Activity Index (TTAI) shows economic recovery is largely benefiting the air cargo industry, marine carriers, and certain elements of the trucking industry...


* Canada - Forbes Energy Services Reports Selected Operating Data for January 2010

Yukon Territory,Canada -PR Canada.net, by marin2008 -16 Feb 2010: -- Forbes Energy Services Ltd. today announced its rig and trucking hours billed for the month of January 2010... - See . . . (pr-canada.net/index) - ... Working days represent the week days in the month less holidays. Rig and truck hours represent actual hours billed to customers... John Crisp, Forbes Energy's President and Chief Executive Officer, commented, "We're pleased to report that the new year has seen a continuation of the recent upward trend in rig and truck hours. Based on industry trends and conversations with customers, we expect to see gradual improvement throughout 2010, driven largely by oil related activity and the growth of the Eagle Ford Shale play in South Texas"... Forbes Energy Services Ltd. is an independent oilfield services contractor that provides a broad range of drilling-related and production-related services to oil and natural gas companies, primarily onshore in Texas, Mississippi, Pennsylvania and Mexico... (Photo from boolsite.net)

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Jun 20, 2009

MARKET'S REPORT * Argentine - Freight Transport Report Q3 2009

New market research report: Argentina Freight Transport Q3 2009

City of Buenos Aires,Argentine -PR Inside, by Mike King (UK) -17 June 2009: -- The obstruction of Argentina´s main trucking routes worsened in late March 2009, stalling freight cargo movement between the South American country and its neighbours... The protests escalated to affect trade volumes between Argentina and neighbouring Brazil, the largest single destination for Argentine exports with more than US$10bn worth of exports to the country in 2007... For the 2009-2013 period we are now expecting average annual freight growth across all transport modes -measured in million tonnes-km (mntkm)- of only 0.7%. Various factors support this core prediction... Across our 2009-2013 forecast period, we have reduced the average annual GDP growth forecast to only 0.6%, a pretty dismal performance when compared to the 8.5% annual average registered in the preceding five-year period... The freight industry is now experiencing much more manageable fuel prices, but this contribution to the bottom line will not be enough to dispel the gloom caused by slumping demand... Road haulage will continue to be the dominant freight transport mode. Investment is still needed in both the highways network and truck fleets, but recession will ease bottlenecks. Over the forecast period annual average growth in road freight carried will be 0.7%, down sharply from the preceding five years... We give Argentina a freight transport rating of 54.7 (out of a theoretical maximum of 100.0), which puts it in the medium range of key Latin American markets that the report monitors. Positive factors contributing to the country's score include the country's long-term economic and political risk assessments and potential for growth in infrastructure. The total value of transport and communications GDP will rise to US$44bn in nominal terms by 2013, representing 9.9% of Argentina's GDP. The transport and communications sector employed around 666,000 people, or 7.1% of the labour force, in 2008. We see the figure rising to 701,000 by 2013, although as a proportion of the labour force it will remain unchanged at 7.1%...

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Report * USA - Logistics costs drop for first time in six years

Total spending on U.S. logistics dropped to $1.3 trillion last year, a decrease of $49 billion from 2007

Washington,DC,USA -Logistics Management,by John D. Schulz -17 June 2009: -- For the first time in six years, total spending on U.S. logistics dropped to $1.3 trillion last year, a decrease of $49 billion from 2007. That’s the gist of the 20th Annual “State of Logistics Report” released by the Council of Supply Chain Professionals (CSCMP) on Wednesday... The annual respected benchmark report revealed the financial damage done to the sector by the ongoing recession. After rising by more than 50 percent the previous five years, business logistics costs fell to 9.4 percent of U.S. Gross Domestic Product last year. That is down from 10.1 percent in 2007... Transportation costs rose 2 percent, but that was not enough to offset the 13.2 percent decline in inventory carrying costs, primarily due to record-low interest rates last year. Transportation ($872 billion) now accounts for 6.1 percent of nominal GDP while inventory carrying costs ($420 billion) account for 2.9 percent of GDP... Trucking, which accounts for 78 percent of transport by revenue and half of all business logistics cost, was particularly hard hit, rising just 1.3 percent compared with 4.4 percent for the other modes (rail, barge, air cargo, oil pipelines and forwarders)... For shippers, this has resulted in bargain transport rates, especially in trucking and ocean transport, according to Rosalyn Wilson, the long-time author of the SoL report... Noting that the rails and trucking companies used to be “mortal enemies,” John Lanigan, a long-time veteran of Schneider Nation said, those days are over. “We’re not anymore,” he said. “Three of our 10 largest rail customers are trucking companies.”... (Photo from oocl.com: US unit train)

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May 24, 2009

NEW REPORT * UK - Reveals contract logistics top ten players

Transport Intelligence announce its annual rankings of the largest contract logistics operators on a Global and regional basis

London,UK -Transport Intelligence, by Joanne Hutchinson -22 May 2009: -- "About Global Contract Logistics 2009": Provides Transport Intelligence's most comprehensive market sizing and forecasting data ever, now covering 70 countries. It provides market shares and top ten rankings in the three major regions: Europe, North America and Asia Pacific as well as on a worldwide basis. It also includes the profiles of 22 global contract logistics providers and a wide-ranging summary of all the major trends and developments affecting the industry... According to Ti’s Chief Executive, John Manners-Bell, the market was relatively calm in 2008 after years of change and upheaval. "With a downturn in volumes and margins being pressurized, contract logistics companies are focusing internally rather than looking for external opportunities. I believe this will continue to be the case in 2009 despite the general perception that ‘distressed’ targets may soon be coming onto the market. As the market picks up in 2010 there is likely to be a surge of mergers and acquisitions activity."... (Photo from bmvbs.de: Freight Transport and Logistics Masterplan)

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Mar 22, 2009

REPORT * Russia - Logistics market

10 reasons to invest in

London.UK -Transport Intelligence, by Raphael Chalogany -20 March 2009: -- The report is published at a critical time for the industry which, after a period of intense growth, has been severely affected by the global economic slowdown and credit crunch. This has meant that new transport infrastructure projects, sorely needed after years of underinvestment, are likely to be postponed or cancelled... According to the report’s author, Raphael Chalogany , even during the good times the Russian business environment is one of the most challenging in the world... "Inefficiency, bureaucracy and corruption are rife and security is still a major issue for logistics companies and shippers," commented Chalogany. "Systemic structural problems combine with the vast geography of the country to create truly unique supply chain challenges."... However, despite these problems, the Russian market continues to offer some of the best long term prospects in Europe for logistics and express companies. Chalogany identified ten key reasons why the market continues to attract foreign logistics and express companies: ... Chalogany concluded, "The Russian logistics industry will be one of the key growth markets over the next decade. Although many companies will be put off by the short term pain of falling air, sea and road freight volumes, the real winners will be those who commit to the market for the long term."

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Nov 7, 2008

TRANSPORT & LOGISTICS REPORT * USA - RFID's Quiet Comeback

Warehouses are being changed from the inside out as radio frequency identification technology quietly spreads throughout supply chains

Las Vegas,NV,USA -Traffic World, by Alan Field -3 Nov 2008: -- ... Look at American Apparel. To display all its 26,000-plus SKUs on its store floors, the Los Angeles-based retailer keeps only one garment with each color and style on the floor at a time. Until recently, however, that caused big headaches - 10 percent of the items were getting lost in its stock rooms. So American Apparel applied RFID tags to every single item. That reduced time spent taking inventory by more than 80 percent and increased the accuracy of counts, said Zander Livingston, the company's RFID technology director... "Warehouse on Wheels": The companies will launch a service this fall to provide truckers with up-to-the-minute alerts about weather and traffic events so they can re-route shipments and avoid bottlenecks. The service, using technology developed for the Defense Department, marries RFID systems and geo-positioning technology to make it easier for trucking companies to warn customers about delays... Equally troubling, as RFID gains in popularity, is abuse by hackers. They've figured out how to produce counterfeit tags that they substitute for genuine tags on high-value products. This practice has allowed many counterfeiters to escape detection, despite the rise of RFID as a means to authenticate products... To address that challenge, Anant Agrawal, chief executive of Verayo, has introduced a new sort of RFID chip that cannot be cloned, using silicon biometrics technology. This process, developed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, will engrave a unique silicon fingerprint on each RFID tag...

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Oct 6, 2008

Business soared * USA - Big merger set stage for big plans

Before Virginia International Terminals, there were three competing marine terminals

Newport News,VA,USA -The Daily Press - October 5, 2008: -- And business was dismal.

3 PRIMARY PORT OPERATIONAL STRUCTURES IN THE U.S.

* A number of U.S. ports, including those in New York, New Jersey and Los Angeles, operate under public-private partnerships, where public port authorities act essentially as landlords, collecting money on leases paid by other companies to operate there. Public port authorities own the land and provide security and maintenance to the sites, while the private companies are responsible for everything from the ground up: operations, cargo, equipment and employment.

* In Virginia, the port authority uses a separate operating subsidiary, Virginia International Terminals, to operate its Newport News, Norfolk and Portsmouth terminals because under current state law, Virginia cannot legally employ the unionized workers that comprise a significant percentage of waterfront employment.

* Other U.S. ports, including those in Savannah, Ga., and Houston, are owned and operated solely by a government agency. That means those government-run authorities own the property, infrastructure and equipment and also are responsible for all operations and employment... (Photo by Adrin Snider, Daily Press - Trucks departing with cargo containers exit Portsmouth International Terminals through radiation detection portals)

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Sep 2, 2008

T & L's REPORT * WORLDWIDE - Forwarding industry sees lowest growth for four years

The 'Global Freight Forwarding 2008'

London,UK -Transport Intelligence, by Sara Smith -2 Sept 2008: -- Growth in the global freight forwarding market slowed to its lowest rate in four years during 2007, according to latest figures published today by industry analyst Transport Intelligence in its 'Global Freight Forwarding 2008' report. However, the research also showed that despite worldwide economic uncertainty, the market still proved resilient, returning low double-digit growth... The report additionally identified that the sea freight market considerably outperformed its air counterpart. Annual air freight forwarding growth dropped sharply, by almost five percentage points to 7.5% as the market cooled significantly. This was undoubtedly as a result of lower volumes due to the economic slowdown and the migration of some traffic to cheaper sea freight... Sea freight forwarding, meanwhile, continued to grow at a similar rate to the year before. China 's trade continued to develop at a very strong pace and was one of the key drivers of that growth. US exports went some way towards mitigating weakness in that market's imports, and throughout the year, Asia Pacific-Europe trade volumes grew markedly. Market growth was 14.3% in 2007... Of the main forwarding markets, Europe and Asia Pacific performed best, whilst North America – specifically the US - dragged down overall growth. The 'credit crunch', which has impacted on the US housing market, as well as the downturn in consumer confidence, particularly affected imports into the region, although exports picked up due to the weak dollar... Weakening economic indicators suggest that Europe will be the next market to be affected and this will no doubt be evident in the 2008 growth figures... Despite the good overall performance of the freight forwarding industry, John Manners-Bell, Ti's CEO, gave a less upbeat assessment of prospects. Commenting on the report's findings, he said: "It is unlikely that in 2008 such high levels of growth will be repeated. There are signs that the European economy has started to weaken in line with the US and this will have a major impact on the strength of the market"...

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