Journal of Commerce

Con-way Freight to Build Facility in Wisconsin

JOC Staff — Wed, 22 May 2013 19:14:44 +0000

Con-way Freight will build a new, 96-door freight service center in Fond du Lac, Wis. The $8 million, 47,000 square foot facility will serve as the local hub from which the less-than-truckload trucking company will provide daily local freight pickup and delivery services connecting the greater Fond du Lac metropolitan area...

US Diplomat: Piracy Falling But Progress 'Fragile and Reversible'

Mark Szakonyi — Wed, 22 May 2013 18:17:48 +0000

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Somali piracy is declining as more commercial vessels employ armed guards, foreign navies ramp-up security and courts dish out justice to offenders, but “progress is still fragile and reversible,” a U.S. State Department official warned yesterday. Advances in piracy prevention could easily be lost if vessels stop hiring...

Carriers Elevate Rates to Avoid Renegotiating Trans-Pacific Contracts

Peter T. Leach — Wed, 22 May 2013 17:21:30 +0000

Trans-Pacific container lines got a reprieve from sliding freight rates this week when they put a general rate increase into effect on May 21, but freight rates are likely to continue to slide in the major east-west trades because some carriers continue to slash rates after repeated GRIs in an...

IMPEX Logistics Launches Purchasing Co-op for NVOCCs

JOC Staff — Wed, 22 May 2013 16:58:25 +0000

IMPEX Logistics has launched an ocean transportation purchasing cooperative for small and medium-size non-vessel-operating common carriers. “Over the past 15 years, IMPEX Logistics, as manager of the United Shippers Alliance, has helped more than 150 shippers across the country achieve competitive ocean and [less-than-truckload] transportation rates,” said Randy Smith, president of...

DAT Freight Index Sees Steep Drop in April

JOC Staff — Wed, 22 May 2013 16:54:10 +0000

The DAT North American Freight Index fell 16.5 percent year-over-year in April 2013, down to 1488, compared with a record April high in 2012, according to the latest release from DAT. This is the third straight month of declines. DAT North American Freight Index Full-size image The current spot market freight volume slipped roughly...

10 Steps to Improve Discretionary Grant Programs

Paul Lewis and Joshua Schank — Wed, 22 May 2013 16:52:34 +0000

Recent years have seen a strong shift in emphasis toward a more performance-based federal transportation policy in Washington. Performance-based competitive grant programs can be an important component of this shift. A few federal discretionary grant programs, such as TIGER Grants and Transit New Starts, already award transportation funding on a...

MOL Enters Canadian Liner Market

JOC Staff — Wed, 22 May 2013 16:50:26 +0000

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines will begin operating in Canada as “MOL (Canada),” effective Aug. 1. The liner agent agreement between MOL (America) and Montship will expire on July 31. Montship has represented MOL’s Canadian liner services for more than 53 years. All other agent agreements between MOL’s non-liner divisions and Montship will continue...

MSC to Raise Asia-Europe Rates

JOC Staff — Wed, 22 May 2013 16:44:56 +0000

Mediterranean Shipping Co. will boost rates for all cargo on its route from Asia, excluding Japan and Bangladesh, to North Europe, the U.K., Scandinavia and the Baltics, effective July 1, by $750 per 20-foot-equivalent unit. Maersk Line has also announced a similar rate increase for July 1. MSC will also increase rates for all dry and refrigerated...

Average US LTL Yield Increases 3 Percent

William B. Cassidy — Wed, 22 May 2013 16:23:09 +0000

Average change in U.S. LTL yield through the first quarter of 2013. Sources: company reports, JOC analyses.Average less-than-truckload yield increased 3 percent in the first quarter among large publicly owned motor carriers tracked by The Journal of Commerce. That rise was the first sequential quarterly increase in the percentage rate of...

Increased IT Spending Drives CargoWise's Americas Revenue Up

JOC Staff — Wed, 22 May 2013 15:24:40 +0000

Despite challenging economic conditions, CargoWise’s revenue for the Americas region has increased 34 percent year-over-year in the last 12 months, and the number of users has expanded 47 percent, the logistics technology provider said. Expenditure on enterprise resource planning systems, which were postponed in the first half of the year, are now...

NOAA Report Traces Potential Oil Pollution From Shipwrecks

JOC Staff — Wed, 22 May 2013 15:15:13 +0000

May 14, 1942 – U.S. Army Air Corps photograph of the burning tanker Potrero del Llano. Source: National Archives in College Park, Md.The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has presented to the U.S. Coast Guard a new report that found that 36 sunken vessels strewn across...

Next Phase of Construction Begins at Toledo Industrial Park

JOC Staff — Wed, 22 May 2013 14:37:36 +0000

Overland Industrial Park is expected to be completed by the end of this year.Ohio’s Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority, City of Toledo, Lucas County and other officials have held a groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of 1,500 feet of new roadway and utilities at Overland Industrial Park. Overland Industrial Park is a...

Trucking Tonnage Index 'Better Than Expected'

JOC Staff — Wed, 22 May 2013 14:25:08 +0000

The American Trucking Associations’ advanced seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index slid 0.2 percent to 123.2 in April, after rising 0.9 percent in March to 123.5. Compared with April 2012, the index was up 4.3 percent, which is the largest year-over-year gain since the 4.7 percent increase in January 2013. Year-to-date,...

XL Group Expands Inland Marine Insurance Offering for Trucks

JOC Staff — Wed, 22 May 2013 14:12:43 +0000

XL Group, an insurance and reinsurance company, has expanded its inland marine business with the addition of truck cargo coverage for medium to large-sized trucking operations in North America. “We can easily tailor our coverage to meet individual insured needs, including flexible limits for 23 additional coverages, 22 optional endorsements, multiple...

Cargotec Opens Technology, Automation Center in Finland

JOC Staff — Wed, 22 May 2013 13:55:37 +0000

Cargotec has unveiled its Technology and Competence Centre in an opening ceremony in Tampere, Finland. “In Tampere, the focus is on the advancement of automation,” said Ilkka Herlin, Cargotec’s chairman of the board, in his inaugural address. “Automated solutions can enhance port and terminal functions and promote their sustainable development. We...

Rotterdam Opens First Phase of Giant Maasvlakte 2 Container Hub

JOC Staff — Wed, 22 May 2013 13:51:45 +0000

Rotterdam today officially opened the first phase of Maasvlakte 2, Europe’s largest container terminal hub, which is expected to unleash a fierce battle for cargo across the Le Havre-Hamburg port range at a time of sluggish traffic growth. “With Maasvlakte 2, the Netherlands is throwing the door wide open to the...

DFDS Loss Widens on Flat North European Cargo Markets

JOC Staff — Wed, 22 May 2013 13:22:51 +0000

Denmark’s DFDS reported its pre-tax loss in the seasonally weak first quarter widened to 118 million kroner ($ 20.5 million) from 98 million kroner ($17 million) a year earlier, as cargo traffic stalled on its key North Sea and Baltic shipping routes. Northern Europe’s largest short sea shipping and logistics company...

Plan to Revamp Food Aid Program Draws Heat in House

Mark Szakonyi — Wed, 22 May 2013 12:00:11 +0000

WASHINGTON — House Republicans and Democrats on Tuesday ramped up their opposition to President Obama’s proposed overhaul of the U.S. food aid program, saying the push highlighted a lack of national maritime strategy. Under Obama’s fiscal 2014 budget proposal, the amount of food aid shipped annually to needy countries would be...

India, China Sign MOUs to Address Trade Imbalance

JOC Staff — Wed, 22 May 2013 01:08:09 +0000

India and China have signed three memorandums of understanding regarding buffalo meat, fisheries and pharmaceuticals, as well as one agreement on feed and feed ingredients, in order to address the expanding trade imbalance between the two countries. India’s trade deficit with China has widened from $1.08 billion in 2001 to 2002,...

Hours-of-Service, Freight Capacity Top NITL’s Forum Agenda

William B. Cassidy — Tue, 21 May 2013 21:11:15 +0000

Freight and infrastructure capacity will lead the agenda at the National Industrial Transportation League’s Spring Policy Meetings in Chicago May 23 and 24. Shippers will face hard choices about transportation modes and supply chains in coming months, as new work rules cut truck driver hours and productivity. In coming years, the lack...