Traffic World articles from January 2009

Traffic World archives from January 2009

Manufacturers Cut Back.
January 2, 2009... BYLINE: Thomas L. Gallagher Manufacturers of every type are reducing inventories and shutting down capacity to offset slower activity in their own markets and in the economy generally, according to a closely watched monthly survey. The...

Adding Up.
January 5, 2009... There were plenty of kind words and advice for Ray LaHood when President-elect Obama named the Illinois congressman last month as his choice for secretary of transportation, but perhaps the most important statement about his challenges came out...

Freight Needs Strong Voice, Vision.(Viewpoint essay)
January 5, 2009... BYLINE: John B. Ficker Dear President-elect Obama: Although you face a multitude of problems - both domestic and international - the health of our freight transportation industry is critical to the defense of our country and its...

Rail Safety is No Paper Chase.(Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008 )
January 5, 2009... BYLINE: Kevin Sheys The Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008 signed into law in October is without a doubt the most comprehensive rail safety reform legislation in the past three decades. In addition to the widely reported...

Obama Picks LaHood.(Barack Obama)(Ray H. LaHood)
January 5, 2009... BYLINE: William B. Cassidy There was little on Ray LaHood''s schedule Dec. 16 to indicate he might be the next U.S. transportation secretary. The soon-to-be-ex-congressman and former social studies teacher spent the morning with...

Ray LaHood.
January 5, 2009... Born: Dec. 6, 1945, in Peoria, Ill. Son of a restaurant owner, grandson of Lebanese Christian immigrant Education Bachelor of Science in Education and Sociology, Bradley University, 1971 Experience 1971-1977 Junior high...

Everybody Loves Ray.(Ray LaHood)(Brief article)
January 5, 2009... "I said I was committed to finding the best person for the job, regardless of party. Ray''s appointment reflects that bipartisan spirit." President-elect Barack Obama "Ray LaHood''s experience will be critical to forging reasonable...

Climbing a New Hill.
January 5, 2009... BYLINE: Ari Natter Transportation interests on Capitol Hill will face a changed political landscape when the 111th Congress begins this month as new committee assignments, electoral defeats and even shake-ups within the Democrats'' own...

Bigger Trucks are Reloading.
January 5, 2009... BYLINE: Ari Natter When International Paper announced last year it was closing its Louisiana pulp paper mill in Bastrop and laying off more than 500 workers, the company was hardly alone. As the lumber industry shrinks amid weak...

ARTBA: DOT Fails Math.(American Road and Transportation Builders Association)(Department of Transportation)
January 5, 2009... A key transportation group says the Department of Transportation is using politics, not math, to analyze information on highway use and tax receipts. The American Road and Transportation Builders Association said falling sales of trucks...

Big Blue Boost.
January 5, 2009... BYLINE: William Hoffman French logistics provider Geodis will use its December acquisition of IBM''s global logistics operation as a lever to build a new lead logistics provider division inside the company and extend its service platform...

Leasing Large.
January 5, 2009... BYLINE: William Hoffman Rising inventories, slowing sales, a frantic search for untapped consumer markets and the need to find a strategic place for shippers'' stuff are helping to drive a surge of new leases for warehousing and...

Canada Needs Competitive Logistics.
January 5, 2009... BYLINE: Alex Binkley Canadian importers and exporters need to adopt more sophisticated logistics practices to better compete with companies around the world, according to the first big-picture assessment of the state of logistics practices...

Shipping''s Breathtaking Shift.
January 5, 2009... BYLINE: Bill Mongelluzzo The stereotypical harbor drayage truck, an end-of-the-line vehicle that is too old and too dirty for over-the-road work, is fading fast at U.S. seaports. This is especially true in Southern California, where the...

Fees Hit an FMC Speed Bump.(Federal Maritime Commission)
January 5, 2009... The Federal Maritime Commission hasn''t been able to get the courts to stop parts of the clean trucks programs in Southern California but the agency is putting some new speed bumps. The commission voted last month to seek more information...

Truckload in the Bank.
January 5, 2009... BYLINE: John Gallagher While his competitors trim budgets, lay off employees and park trucks, Stephen Russell is kicking tires and looking for deals he figures will pay off big once capacity tightens again. The president and CEO of...

Driving Through a Strike.
January 5, 2009... BYLINE: John Gallagher Oak Harbor Freight Lines started 2009 with a three-month long trucking strike under its belt but with service and operations intact even as freight demand continues to decline. "We are happy to say we are fully...

Central Freight Closes St. Louis Terminal.(Brief article)
January 5, 2009... Central Freight Lines is closing its St. Louis terminal and will focus on business closer to its Waco, Texas, headquarters, according to local reports. The pullback is more evidence that the recession is forcing LTL regional operators to...

UPS Raises Service Bar in Illinois.(United Parcel Service of America Inc.)(Brief article)
January 5, 2009... UPS reduced transit times to and from central Illinois in the latest service upgrade within its LTL division. UPS Freight can now provide next-day service throughout the state and major markets such as Dallas, Atlanta, Pittsburgh and...

Carloads in Reverse.
January 5, 2009... BYLINE: John D. Boyd The worst thing about the negative rail freight numbers before Christmas is that they didn''t even reflect the warnings last month that foundering U.S. automakers would start idling factories. Many key cargo...

Economy Undercuts Profits.(Brief article)
January 5, 2009... The economy is starting to hit railroads and intermodal middleman firms, which often posted strong earnings through two years of a weakening freight market. Kansas City Southern and intermodal marketing giant Hub Group both warned the...

Rails Lock in Power.(railroad firms prepare for future demand by ordering new engines)
January 5, 2009... BYLINE: John D. Boyd Even as rail freight traffic is shrinking at ever-increasing rates, some railroad firms are preparing for future demand by ordering new engines. The deals allow the railroads, at a slow time for equipment...

Port Disputes Rail Line Cost.(Oregon International Port)(Brief article)
January 5, 2009... The Oregon International Port of Coos Bay is back before the Surface Transportation Board over that closed rail line it agreed to buy, asking the regulators to knock at least $9 million off the selling price. The STB last month set a...

FedEx Hits Reverse.
January 5, 2009... For the first time in its 35-year history, FedEx is getting smaller. From its signature air express network to the trucks in its far-flung domestic business, FedEx is starting 2009 by grounding aircraft, parking other equipment, cutting...

Europe''s Airports in Cargo Slide.(Report)(Brief article)
January 5, 2009... The global air cargo slowdown is starting to hit Europe''s largest airports. After holding up through most of 2008, freight shipping through Frankfurt, Amsterdam and London took a sharp turn downward in the third quarter amid a general...

Deadline Pressure.(clean-trucks program )
January 5, 2009... BYLINE: Bill Mongelluzzo Harbor truckers in Los Angeles-Long Beach are looking ahead to Jan. 1, 2010, and they''re getting nervous. Barely a year from now, the nation''s busiest container ports will swing into the next phase of their...

Maersk Cuts Rates.(Maersk Line)(Brief article)
January 5, 2009... BYLINE: Peter T. Leach Maersk Line has slashed container freight rates from Asia to the U.S. West Coast by nearly a quarter as the American economy slows, according to reports from Hong Kong. "Container shipping rates have come down...

Vancouver Faces Strike Threat.(Brief article)
January 5, 2009... A long-brewing labor dispute at western Canadian ports could result in a strike at the start of the new year. Workers at British Columbia ports in the Lower Mainland, Vancouver Island and Prince Rupert have threatened to walk out on Jan. 2...

Long Beach Postpones Projects Fee.(Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners )(Brief article)
January 5, 2009... The Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners voted to delay for at least six months the collection of a container fee intended to help fund road, rail and bridge improvements in the harbor area. The fee, known as the Infrastructure Cargo...

People.(Air Transport Association of America Inc. appoints Glenn F. Tilton)
January 5, 2009... The Air Transport Association of America, Washington, an industry trade organization representing U.S. airlines, elected United Airlines Chairman, President and CEO Glenn F. Tilton as chairman of the ATA board of directors. He will serve a...

James Brunkenhoefer, Labor Official.(Obituary)
January 5, 2009... James Brunkenhoefer, the longtime top national legislative director for the railroad United Transportation Union, died Dec. 19 after suffering a stroke earlier in the week. He was 61. Widely known as "Brokenrail," he had been the top...

Railroad Bills and Expiration Dates.
January 5, 2009... BYLINE: Colin Barrett Q: I have a railroad trying to bill me for moves from a little over a year and a half ago totaling about $15,000. From looking at these bills, they were originally billed to my supplier, then the patron was...

The Back Page.
January 5, 2009... Sold. The express carriers can hardly afford to pass up a sales opportunity these days. That''s why both FedEx Chairman Fred Smith and CFO Alan Graf took the time on the company''s quarterly earnings conference call to pitch the investment...

January 5, 2009.
January 5, 2009... Sold. The express carriers can hardly afford to pass up a sales opportunity these days. That's why both FedEx Chairman Fred Smith and CFO Alan Graf took the time on the company's quarterly earnings conference call to pitch the investment...

Railroad Bills and Expiration Dates.(Column)
January 5, 2009... BYLINE: Colin Barrett Q: I have a railroad trying to bill me for moves from a little over a year and a half ago totaling about $15,000. From looking at these bills, they were originally billed to my supplier, then the patron was...

Freight Needs Strong Voice, Vision.(Column)
January 5, 2009... BYLINE: John B. Ficker * Rail Safety is No Paper Chase Dear President-elect Obama: We stand ready to work with you and your team to ensure that our transportation system remains the barometer against which the rest of the world...

Rail Safety is No Paper Chase.
January 5, 2009... BYLINE: Kevin Sheys * Freight Needs Strong Voice, Vision Despite the high cost, no one can seriously question the safety benefits of a national, interoperable PTC system. The Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008 signed into law in...

Obama Picks LaHood.(Barack Obama)(Ray LaHood)
January 5, 2009... BYLINE: William B. Cassidy Related Stories: * Stats * Everybody Loves Ray There was little on Ray LaHood's schedule Dec. 16 to indicate he might be the next U.S. transportation secretary. The soon-to-be-ex-congressman and former social...

Shipping's Breathtaking Shift.
January 5, 2009... BYLINE: Bill Mongelluzzo The stereotypical harbor drayage truck, an end-of-the-line vehicle that is too old and too dirty for over-the-road work, is fading fast at U.S. seaports. This is especially true in Southern California, where the...

Kirchner to Lead UTi Worldwide.(appointment of Eric W. Kirchner)(Brief article)
January 5, 2009... UTi Worldwide on Monday named forwarding and logistics industry veteran Eric W. Kirchner to lead the company, one of the world's largest logistics operators, on the retirement of longtime Chief Executive Officer Roger I. MacFarlane. ...

Babcock & Brown Correction.(Correction notice)
January 5, 2009... Babcock & Brown Infrastructure Fund North America, a private fund focused solely on investment in infrastructure in North America and separate from Australia's Babcock & Brown, owns ICS Logistics, which operated Jaxport Refrigerated Services,...

Navistar Forecasts Growth in 2009.(Brief article)
January 5, 2009... BYLINE: Thomas L. Gallagher Navistar expects production of Class 8 trucks to increase in 2009, following the lowest volume in 30 years in 2008. The maker of International brand trucks forecast total industry retail sales for the United...

CSX Reviews Its W.Va. Resort.(Brief article)
January 5, 2009... BYLINE: John D. Boyd CSX, best known for running one of the two largest  freight railroads in the eastern United States, said it is "examining all strategic options" for The Greenbrier, a famed resort hotel it operates in White...

Schiphol Expects Traffic Drop.(Brief article)
January 5, 2009... BYLINE: Thomas L. Gallagher Airport officials see a worsening trend in low traffic figures for 2008 at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. Last year, cargo traffic fell 1.4 percent to a total of 1,588,000 tonnes. Passenger traffic also fell...

Stockholders Sue Horizon Lines.(Brief article)
January 5, 2009... BYLINE: Thomas L. Gallagher Stockholders filed a class action suit against Horizon Lines, its chief executive officer and several former employees of the company. The suit, filed in the United States District Court for the District of...

Outlook Grim for British Economy.(Brief article)
January 5, 2009... BYLINE: Thomas L. Gallagher A key economic forecast projects the sagging British economy will contract even more sharply this year. IHS Global Insight said it expects the United Kingdom's GDP to fall 2.7 percent in 2009 after an...

Bendix Buys Collision Warning System.
January 5, 2009... BYLINE: William B. Cassidy Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems expanded its range of truck safety products, acquiring Eaton's onboard collision warning system for commercial trucks. Eaton, a $13 billion supplier of heavy truck...

Agility Pakistan wins Procter and Gamble's QA Pinnacle Award.
January 5, 2009... Pakistan, January 5, 2009 -- Procter and Gamble (P&G), the world's leading consumer goods company, has awarded Agility Pakistan its QA Pinnacle Award after an extensive audit of the company's distribution centers by its Worldwide Quality...

T&I Committee Tabs $85B for Infrastructure.(Brief article)
January 5, 2009... BYLINE: Ari Natter The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee identified $85 billion in infrastructure spending recommendations for an economic stimulus recovery package congress is crafting. The recommendations, outlined in...

DHL Taps Puerto Rico Medical Market.(Brief article)
January 5, 2009... BYLINE: Thomas L. Gallagher DHL Global Forwarding opened a dedicated facility in Carolina, Puerto Rico, to serve the life science market. The Life Science Competency Center enhances an existing facility. It is designed specifically...

CaseStack Names Frank R. Kline to Board.(appointment of Frank R. Kline )(Brief article)
January 5, 2009... BYLINE: Thomas L. Gallagher Supply chain technology firm CaseStack named industry veteran Frank R. Kline to its board of directors. Kline is a founder of venture capital firm Kline Hawkes & Co. He directs the firm's venture investments...

STB Targets Rail Hazmat Costs.(Surface Transportation Board )
January 5, 2009... BYLINE: John D. Boyd Conceding that its current system for computing railroad costs may be obscuring how much carriers actually pay to handle hazardous material cargoes, the Surface Transportation Board started a process that could...

BC Port Talks Put Strike Off.(British Columbia Maritime Employers Association)(Brief article)
January 5, 2009... BYLINE: Courtney Tower The threat of a work stoppage at Canada's Port of Vancouver seemed less likely after a marathon collective bargaining session over the weekend. Negotiators for British Columbia waterfront employers and 450...

Antwerp Closes on Rivals.(Brief article)
January 5, 2009... BYLINE: Bruce Barnard Container traffic through Antwerp, Belgium, increased 6 percent in 2008 from the previous year, consolidating the port's third-place ranking among European box hubs and closing the gap with its bigger rivals Rotterdam...

Maersk Counsel Departs.(Charles P. "Chuck" O'Connor leaving from Maersk Line)(Brief article)
January 5, 2009... Charles P. "Chuck" O'Connor, who served as general counsel for Maersk for the past five years, has returned to Morgan Lewis as senior counsel, resident in Washington, D.C., the law firm announced. Prior to his tenure at Maersk, the U.S....

Trans-Pacific Lines Seek FMC Help.(Federal Maritime Commission)(Brief article)
January 5, 2009... The Transpacific Stabilization Agreement wants the Federal Maritime Commission to permit the discussion agreement's members to discuss and agree on management of carrier capacity in the eastbound trans-Pacific trade. The TSA on Dec. 18...

Hutchison Ports in Ecuador Dispute.(Hutchison Port Holdings Ltd.)(Brief article)
January 5, 2009... Hutchison Port Holdings today moved to head off the possibility that it night lose its contract to develop port facilities in Ecuador. Hutchison Ports said it is in compliance with the contract to develop the Port of Manta, refuting...

Construction Spending Slips in November.(Brief article)
January 5, 2009... Construction activity declined as the U.S. economy faltered in late 2008, but not as sharply as many analysts predicted. Total U.S. construction spending fell only 0.6 percent from its October level to about $1.08 trillion in November,...

Diesel Falls 3.6 Cents to $2.291.(Brief article)
January 5, 2009... BYLINE: Thomas L. Gallagher The long slide in diesel prices slowed in the first week of the year as the West Coast showed a two-tenths-of-a-cent increase while prices in the rest of the country fell to their lowest point since May, 2005....

Dems: Infrastructure Key to Stimulus.(Brief article)
January 6, 2009... BYLINE: Ari Natter Business tax credits may be playing an expanding role in an economic stimulus package being crafted in Congress, but Senate Democratic leadership says there's still room for infrastructure spending. "I think you are...

Merck Gets Distribution from UPS.(Merck & Company Inc.)(United Parcel Service of America Inc.)(Brief article)
January 6, 2009... BYLINE: William B. Cassidy Merck & Co. is writing its own supply chain prescription by turning over key parts of its distribution network to UPS. The $24 billion pharmaceutical manufacturer will give UPS Supply Chain Solutions control...

Montreal Containers Set Record in '08.(Montreal Port Authority)(Interview)
January 6, 2009... BYLINE: Courtney Tower Patrice Pelletier, president and chief executive of the Montreal Port Authority, said Monday that container traffic through the Port of Montreal should reach a record 1,460,500 TEUs in 2008, up 7.2 percent on the...

UPS Names U.S. Chief.(United Parcel Service of America Inc.)(appointment of Jim Winestock)(Brief article)
January 6, 2009... Today UPS announced that Myron Gray will succeed Jim Winestock as senior vice president of United States package operations. Winestock, a 40-year veteran of Atlanta-based UPS, will retire in February. Gray, 51, currently heads the...

San Diego Tabs Port Director.(appointment of Charles D. Wurster )(Brief article)
January 6, 2009... Former Coast Guard Vice Admiral Charles D. Wurster has been hired as president and chief executive of the San Diego Unified Port District. Wurster, 59, whose appointment is effective today, served 37 years in the Coast Guard before retiring...

Cargolux Adds Cairo.(Cargolux Airlines (H.K.) Ltd.)(Brief article)
January 6, 2009... Cargolux Airlines announced that it has introduced a new 747 freighter service to Cairo, Egypt. The service operates from Luxembourg every Tuesday at 8.30 a.m., arriving in Cairo at 1.35 p.m. The flight continues to Hong...

Lakes Pilotage Rates Climb.(Brief article)
January 6, 2009... The U.S. Coast Guard today announced publication of the final rule amending its regulations covering the review of Great Lakes pilotage rates. The final rule increases 2009 pilotage rates by 18.92 percent. The Coast Guard said the increase...

American Cargo Express Relocates.(Brief article)
January 6, 2009... American Cargo Express relocated its corporate headquarters and warehouse facilities to a terminal in Elizabeth, N.J. The new facilities include a 150,000 square-foot warehouse on five acres of property. The new address is 545 Dowd...

Safelite Enters ProLogis Lease.(contracts)(Safelite AutoGlass)(Brief article)
January 6, 2009... Distribution facility developer ProLogis on Jan. 5 said it leased about 282,000 square-feet of space in Ontario, Calif., to Safelite AutoGlass, a provider of vehicle glass repair and replacement services. Safelite will occupy the space at...

Shipment Value Crashed in November.(Brief article)
January 6, 2009... BYLINE: Thomas L. Gallagher The value of shipments of manufactured goods plummeted in November by the largest percentage since the series was first published on its current basis in 1992, according to an updated government report. ...

Truck Orders Dive in Dec.(Survey)(Brief article)
January 6, 2009... BYLINE: Thomas L. Gallagher December was the weakest month in more than six years for new orders of heavy duty trucks used to carry freight, according to an industry survey. Total net orders for Class 8 trucks for all major North...

Maryland Hiking Truck Tolls 50 Percent.
January 6, 2009... BYLINE: Thomas L. Gallagher The Maryland Transportation Authority proposed a 50-percent increase in truck tolls on the state's seven toll facilities. Effective April 15, MDTA plans to hike rates for all multi-axle vehicles between $2...

Air Cargo Plunges 17.2 Percent.(Brief article)
January 6, 2009... Cargo business for U.S. airlines went into free-fall in November, according to new figures from the Air Transport Association that showed freight traffic declining at a rate the industry hasn't seen since the 2001 terror attacks. Overall...

DHS to Aid Caribbean Island Security.(Department of Homeland Security)(Brief article)
January 6, 2009... BYLINE: Thomas L. Gallagher St. Lucia signed on as the first nation in the world to participate in a U.S Department of Homeland Security program. The tiny Caribbean island nation, a haven for tourists, will accept help from the...

Ryder Names Asia Pacific Chief.
January 6, 2009... BYLINE: Thomas L. Gallagher Ryder System appointed Paul Tay vice president and managing director of Asia Pacific. He will be responsible for developing and running Ryder's supply chain operations in the region. He will report directly...

Trans-Texas Corridor Scrapped.
January 6, 2009... BYLINE: William B. Cassidy The Trans-Texas Corridor, a massive highway, rail and pipeline project, is road kill. The controversial plan to create a 1,200-foot-wide multimodal highway that would funnel freight from Mexico deep into the...

Shipments Index Down 23 Percent.(Brief article)
January 6, 2009... A key measure of freight shipping in the United States fell a record 23.1 percent in December; freight spending also dropped 16.1 percent compared to the same month a year ago, a new sign that businesses are battening down against an economic...

Averitt Associates Make $500,000 Donation to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
January 6, 2009... Donation is the largest in 22-year history of "Averitt Cares for Kids" Dollars help fund operation of Averitt Express Leukemia/Lymphoma Clinic COOKEVILLE, Tenn. (January 6, 2008) - The associates of Averitt Express recently donated...

Alcoa, Dow Make Cuts.
January 7, 2009... BYLINE: John D. Boyd Two big rail freight shippers, aluminum maker Alcoa and Dow Chemical, unveiled new cuts or said they would accelerate efforts already under way. Alcoa said it is cutting its global smelting output by 18 percent,...

MOL Renews GT Nexus Contract.(Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd.)(Brief article)
January 7, 2009... BYLINE: Thomas L. Gallagher Mitsui O.S.K. Lines renewed and expanded its agreement to provide e-commerce services through the GT Nexus trade and logistics portal. GT Nexus has provided Web-based operational and customer-facing...

Group Upgrades Laser Scan.(Lincoln Laser Co. and FreightScan L.L.C. introduced laser scanning device)(Brief article)
January 7, 2009... Laser scanning technology can now read the dimensional weight -- or the space a cargo package occupies -- with a single laser, providing a faster and more accurate tool for determining proper freight charges. The system, developed by...

Box Fleet Shrinks.(capacity of container industry)
January 7, 2009... BYLINE: Bruce Barnard Idled ocean container capacity has reached 550,000 TEUs, with 210 vessels out of work as carriers continue to cut or suspend services in the face of sharply falling demand on key liner trade routes. The idle...

Shanghai TEUs Slow Down.(Brief article)
January 7, 2009... The global financial crisis slowed growth at the Port of Shanghai in 2008. The port complex handled 28 million TEUs, an increase of 7 percent from 2007, Shanghai International Port (Group) Co., Ltd., said in a statement. Total cargo...

NY Airfreight Falls 3.4 Percent.(Brief article)(Statistical data)
January 7, 2009... Air cargo moving through the New York Customs District declined by 3.4 percent to 1.02 million metric tons in January-September compared with the previous-year period. Nationally, air-cargo trade data as reported from all of the nation's...

Yusen Opens Mexico Unit.(Yusen Air & Sea Service Co., Ltd.)(Brief article)
January 7, 2009... BYLINE: Hisane Masaki Yusen Air & Sea Service Co., Ltd., the core logistics arm of NYK Line, announced that it has established a Mexican subsidiary to strengthen its local services in that country. Yusen Air & Sea Service (Mexico) S.A....