Traffic World articles from July 2007

Traffic World archives from July 2007

Correcting.
July 2, 2007... BYLINE: Paul Page When Frederick W. Smith discussed the company''s outlook for coming months along with its earnings last quarter, the FedEx chairman, president and CEO looked past the somewhat dour view for the summer by pointing to the...

''Robust'' Security for Crossborder Trucking.
July 2, 2007... BYLINE: Stephen Russell The trucking industry plays a critical link in the economic interdependency among the United States, Canada and Mexico, moving almost 70 percent of the value of freight between the United States and Canada, and...

Taking Truckload Control.
July 2, 2007... BYLINE: Paul Page The trucking business is a buyer''s market these days, and that''s true for more than just freight transport service. The management buyout bid of truckload giant U.S. Xpress Enterprises announced last week is a sign...

Tracking Mexican Trucks.
July 2, 2007... BYLINE: Ari Natter Opposition to the Bush administration''s plan to allow some Mexican truckers to operate in the United States is mounting on Capitol Hill and gaining ground across the country - at least according to a survey released...

AAR''s Backtracking.(Association of American Railroads)
July 2, 2007... BYLINE: Ari Natter If the correspondence between the railroad industry and congressional leaders is any indication, the debate on Capitol Hill over the future of rail regulation is reaching something of a boiling point. The clearest...

Feds Break Smuggling Ring, Seize Counterfeit Goods.(Brief article)
July 2, 2007... Federal authorities arrested 29 people June 26 and charged them with smuggling more than 950 shipments of counterfeit goods into the United States. Among those charged are importers, truckers, freight forwarders, customs brokers, owners...

Market Rebooting.
July 2, 2007... BYLINE: William Hoffman The shift of consumer preferences toward notebook computers and away from desktop units will have significant consequences for the computer industry''s supply chains, and not just in terms of more compact shipments....

Tracking Skills.
July 2, 2007... BYLINE: William Hoffman Radio frequency identification technology seems to have a chicken-and-egg problem. Are shippers and transportation logistics providers slow to adopt the track-and-trace technology because there aren''t enough...

KN Acquires Border Brokerage.(Kuehne & Nagel International AG)(Romero and McNally Co. Inc)(Brief article)
July 2, 2007... Kuehne + Nagel is taking a bigger role in customs brokerage along the U.S.-Mexican border with the purchase of Romero and McNally Brokers. The acquisition of Romero and McNally in Otay Mesa, Calif., gives Kuehne + Nagel four border...

Regionals'' Shifting Challenge.
July 2, 2007... BYLINE: John Gallagher Competing for freight in the country''s dense manufacturing markets has always been a challenge, but severe weather during the 2006-2007 winter season and a lingering freight recession is making it even tougher for...

The Cost of Going Green.
July 2, 2007... BYLINE: John Gallagher Getting freight in and out of Southern California may get more expensive when directors at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach sign off on a final Clean Air Action Plan proposal within the next two months. ...

C.R. England Cited for Violations.
July 2, 2007... BYLINE: John Gallagher The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association and C.R. England both claimed victory in a federal district court decision that cited C.R. England for violating federal truth-in-leasing regulations. U.S....

Driver Turnover Rate Increases.(Brief article)
July 2, 2007... Weak freight demand helped push driver turnover rates in first quarter 2007 for large truckload and LTL carriers to its highest rate since the end of 2005. The American Trucking Associations, which has tracked driver turnover statistics...

FedEx Refuses Contract Talks.(Brief article)
July 2, 2007... FedEx is standing firm against contract talks with the Teamsters despite a National Labor Relations Board ruling certifying a union election at two FedEx Home Delivery facilities. The company, seeking to defend the core business model at...

A Mighty Fortress.
July 2, 2007... BYLINE: John D. Boyd Fortress Investment Group - a private equity firm once better known for its real estate and hedge fund holdings - is close to owning a $7 billion rail empire. Shareholders of Interpool - an intermodal equipment...

Engineers OK Rail Pact.
July 2, 2007... BYLINE: John D. Boyd U.S. railroads have key support for their five-year contract agreement from a Teamster-led coalition of unions, which covers about half of the labor groups the industry bargains with. The Brotherhood of Locomotive...

That New-Locomotive Smell.(Canadian National Railway Co.'s new locomotives)
July 2, 2007... Canadian National Railway is doubling the number of new locomotives it will purchase in its 2007-2008 spending plan, using the equipment to boost fuel conservation and emissions-control efforts. Splitting its order between two big...

FreightCar America Sees Equipment Downturn.(Financial report)(Brief article)
July 2, 2007... FreightCar America, the top builder of aluminum railcars and coal-hauling cars in North America, says the weak state of rail equipment market is dragging down its earnings. "The North American market for most railcar types has softened...

Recovery''s Deferred Delivery.
July 2, 2007... BYLINE: Ian Putzger Concerns about the direction of the air cargo company are spreading as lackluster and demand overcapacity in key markets erode carrier margins. According to Frederick W. Smith, chairman, president and CEO of FedEx,...

Airbus Sold On Freighters.(Brief article)
July 2, 2007... Airlines showed at the Paris Air Show that they still have plenty of capacity for buying freighters and for the first time in a long time the planes were being bought from Airbus. Airbus toted up about 46 firm orders for A330 freighters in...

DHL Choppers Delivery.(DHL International Ltd.)(Brief article)
July 2, 2007... DHL is bringing the helicopter back into its air cargo fleet and using the vehicle to improve next-day delivery from New York to Europe. The carrier started the stepped-up service for delivery from lower Manhattan to nine major business...

Alpine Seeks Targets.
July 2, 2007... Regional cargo carrier Alpine Air Express says it is on the lookout for acquisitions now that it has shored up its finances. The Utah-based operator of small all-cargo aircraft showed an $879,462 net profit in its fiscal second quarter...

EGL Settles Case.(Brief article)
July 2, 2007... EGL is hoping to put a government fraud case behind it with the payment of $300,000 to settle charges it overbilled the government for shipments heading to the war in Iraq. The U.S. Department of Justice said the company agreed to make the...

Men Overboard at Maersk.
July 2, 2007... BYLINE: Peter T. Leach As the shockwaves from A.P. Moller-Maersk''s management shakeup begin to subside, the company rushed to assure shippers Maersk Line remains on course - even if it''s low in the water. "It''s true that we are...

Canada Will Unify B.C. Ports.(Brief article)
July 2, 2007... Lawrence Cannon, Canada''s minister of transport, infrastructure and communities, late last month announced an "intention to amalgamate" the British Columbia Lower Mainland port authorities of Fraser River, North Fraser and Vancouver. As...

Chiquita Peels Back.
July 2, 2007... Chiquita Brands International completed the sale of its 12 refrigerated cargo vessels for $227 million, a move to the fruit company is making to get out of the business of managing transportation equipment. The ships have been chartered...

Oceania Carrier Group Upgrades Australasia Services.(Brief article)
July 2, 2007... The three carrier members of the Oceania Vessel Sharing Agreement - Hamburg Sud, Hapag-Lloyd and Maersk Line - plan to upgrade their services linking the west coast of North America, Australia and New Zealand. The Pacific Southwest String...

Portland Boxes Surge 43 percent.(Brief article)
July 2, 2007... The container recovery at the Port of Portland is all but complete. Driven by two new trans-Pacific services by Zim Integrated Services and Yang Ming Line that began a year ago, along with expanded services on the part of Hanjin Line, the...

People.(appointments)
July 2, 2007... The Aerospace Industries Association named Brian Elson director of legislative affairs at the group, which represents aviation-related manufacturers in Washington. Elson had been associate director of congressional affairs at the Department of...

Discounts Are Legitimate, But Beware.
July 2, 2007... BYLINE: Colin Barrett Q: We just got hit - again - by the old discount scam. It''s the usual story. I won''t bore you with details, but basically we thought we had a discount in place, made a shipment, and then found that our...

The Back Page.
July 2, 2007... Box Seats. One Wall Street analyst made an embarrassing error in a report on YRC Worldwide last week. The analysis said YRC would soon be "throwing off significant free cash flow" in coming months. Turns out YRC Chairman Bill Zollars had only...

Recovery's Deferred Delivery.
July 2, 2007... BYLINE: Ian Putzger Concerns about the direction of the air cargo company are spreading as lackluster and demand overcapacity in key markets erode carrier margins.   According to Frederick W. Smith, chairman, president and CEO of...

July 2, 2007.(briefs)(Brief article)
July 2, 2007... Box Seats. One Wall Street analyst made an embarrassing error in a report on YRC Worldwide last week. The analysis said YRC would soon be "throwing off significant free cash flow" in coming months. Turns out YRC Chairman Bill Zollars had only...

Discounts Are Legitimate, But Beware.
July 2, 2007... BYLINE: Colin Barrett Q: We just got hit - again - by the old discount scam.  It's the usual story. I won't bore you with details, but basically we thought we had a discount in place, made a shipment, and then found that our...

Taking Truckload Control.
July 2, 2007... BYLINE: Paul Page The trucking business is a buyer's market these days, and that's true for more than just freight transport service. The management buyout bid of truckload giant U.S. Xpress Enterprises announced last week is a sign...

'Robust' Security for Crossborder Trucking.
July 2, 2007... BYLINE: Stephen Russell The trucking industry plays a critical link in the economic interdependency among the United States, Canada and Mexico, moving almost 70 percent of the value of freight between the United States and Canada, and...

Regionals' Shifting Challenge.
July 2, 2007... BYLINE: John Gallagher Competing for freight in the country's dense manufacturing markets has always been a challenge, but severe weather during the 2006-2007 winter season and a lingering freight recession is making it even tougher for...

Europe Bans Indonesia Flights.(Brief article)
July 2, 2007... The European Commission will ban all of Indonesia's airlines from flying to Europe starting July 6 because of concerns about the safety of the carriers. The E.C. announced the ban, including a bar against national flag carrier Garuda...

Roadcheck 2007 Completed.(Brief article)
July 2, 2007... BYLINE: Thomas L. Gallagher Even for a pre-announced, targeted inspection, some drivers just couldn't be bothered with safety regulations. So, the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance parked them. In a well publicized annual enforcement...

Nasdaq Warns Velocity.(The Nasdaq Stock Market Inc.)(Velocity Express)(Brief article)
July 2, 2007... BYLINE: Thomas L. Gallagher Velocity Express received a notice June 29 from the Nasdaq Stock Market that it is not in compliance with minimum bid requirements. Common stock in the time definite nationwide delivery company closed under...

Manufacturing Grows in June.
July 2, 2007... BYLINE: Thomas L. Gallagher Economic activity in the manufacturing sector expanded in June for the fifth consecutive month, according to a survey of supply executives. With a PMI Index at 56 percent, up from 55 in May, new orders,...

LA-LB in Talks to Avert Strike.(Los Angeles)(Long Beach)(Brief article)
July 2, 2007... Negotiators for the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach were in talks with a key port workers union in a bid to avert a walkout after the contract with the clerical workers expired Saturday. Some 900 members of the Office Clerical Unit,...

New Century Acquires P&P.(New Century Transportation acquires P&P Transport)(Brief article)
July 2, 2007... BYLINE: Thomas L. Gallagher New Century Transportation acquired New Jersey-based P&P Transport. The two companies cross categories between less-than-truckload and truckload operations. New Century calls its own freight system...

'Fast Track' Expires.
July 2, 2007... President Bush has lost his power to seal "fast-track" trade agreements without intervention from Congress. Despite pleas from the National Association of Manufacturers and other business organizations, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.,...

South Korea Signs Free-Trade Pact.
July 2, 2007... South Korea and the U.S. signed a free-trade agreement on Saturday that aims to open the Korean economy to more foreign investment and forge new links for American companies in Asia. The agreement, which faces opposition from Democratic...

Diesel Slips Slightly to $2.829.(Brief article)
July 2, 2007... BYLINE: Thomas L. Gallagher The average retail price for a gallon of diesel fuel was nearly flat this week, dipping six-tenths of a cent to $2.829, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. On Friday, June 29, West Texas...

AMB Acquires 400 Acres.(AMB Property Corp.)(Brief article)
July 2, 2007... BYLINE: Thomas L. Gallagher AMB Property acquired approximately 400 acres of land in the Inland Empire area near Los Angeles. The land will support development of up to 7 million square feet of industrial space, AMB said.  The...

Eyefortransport Names Kuehne + Nagel "Best 3PL for Hi-Tech & Electronics".(Brief article)
July 2, 2007... NAUGATUCK, Conn. - July 2, 2007 - Kuehne + Nagel was named "Best 3PL for Hi-Tech + Electronics" at eyefortransport's Best North American 3PL Awards 2007. The results were announced in Atlanta June 26 at a gala dinner attended by leading...

Dole to Lease Michigan Facility.(Dole Packaged Foods Co.)(Brief article)
July 2, 2007... BYLINE: Thomas L. Gallagher Dole Packaged Foods signed a multi-year agreement to lease a Decatur, Mich., facility from Hanson Logistics.   South of I-94 in an agricultural area, the Decatur facility has a capacity of 1.4 million cubic...

Norfolk Southern CFO Retires.
July 2, 2007... BYLINE: Thomas L. Gallagher Henry C. Wolf, vice chairman and chief financial officer of Norfolk Southern, retired effective July 1 after 34 years with the company. James Squires assumed the title of CFO along with his current position. ...

International Air Cargo Rebounds.(Brief article)
July 2, 2007... BYLINE: Thomas L. Gallagher International air cargo rebounded in May. The 5 percent freight growth was the strongest growth since 5.1 percent in May 2006, so the largest expansion in freight business in a year. "The pick-up in freight,...

CN Reopens Rail Line.(Canadian National Railway Co.)(Brief article)
July 2, 2007... BYLINE: Thomas L. Gallagher CN resumed operations and canceled a traffic embargo on its Toronto-Montreal main line after protesters ended their blockade and tracks had been inspected early Saturday morning. Members of the Mohawk Nation...

Atlas Execs Get Boost From DHL.
July 3, 2007... Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings' decision to sell an ownership stake in its Polar Air Cargo subsidiary will pay off for Atlas' senior executives. William J. Flynn, AAWH's president and CEO, will get more than $100,000 worth of additional...

SMC3 Appeals Antitrust Order.(Southern Motor Carrier Rate Conference )(Brief article)
July 3, 2007... The Southern Motor Carrier Rate Conference appealed to a federal court to overturn a landmark Surface Transportation Board decision stripping antitrust immunity for trucking industry rate bureaus. The rate bureau, which operates in the...

Menlo Worldwide Hong Kong Operations Certified for TAPA Freight Security Standards.(Technology Asset Protection Association)
July 3, 2007... Key Global Distribution Center for Asia Receives Category-B Certification for Security with High-Tech Products  SAN MATEO, Calif., and Hong Kong -- July 2, 2007 -- Menlo Worldwide today announced that its Hong Kong Global Gateway...

U.S. Air Cargo Surges.(Brief article)(Statistical data)
July 3, 2007... BYLINE: Thomas L. Gallagher U.S. air cargo surged 2.7 percent in May, according to the Air Transport Association. The year-over-year increase was the sharpest growth in domestic cargo traffic since August 2006. After three consecutive...

Ariz. Gov. Vetoes Rail Regulation.(Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano )(Brief article)
July 3, 2007... BYLINE: John D. Boyd Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano vetoed a bill from the legislature that tried to curb railroads' use of eminent domain power to acquire property when owners are reluctant to sell. The bill would have allowed the...

Exel Earns EPA's Smartway Partner Designation for Environmentally Friendly Operations.(Environmental Protection Agency)
July 3, 2007... (Westerville, Ohio) July 3, 2007 - Exel, the North American leader in supply chain management and a Deutsche Post World Net company, has earned the SmartWay Partner designation from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for the...

Artisan Aids Habitat for Humanity with Emergency Shipment.(Artisan Group Inc.)
July 3, 2007... Special delivery for non-profit helps build homes for Detroit community DETROIT - July 2, 2007 - Detroit-based third party logistics (3PL) provider Artisan recently participated in a community effort to ensure the successful delivery of a...

Oneida Opens Savannah DC.(Brief article)
July 3, 2007... Oneida Ltd. announced on Monday that its new distribution center in Bryan County, Ga., near the Port of Savannah, is fully operational and handling all of the company's shipping requirements for the eastern half of the U.S.  ...

Chrysler to Make Cars in China.(DaimlerChrysler AG)(Brief article)
July 3, 2007... China's Chery Automobile Co. will make cars for DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler unit in China under an agreement that will be signed Wednesday in Beijing. Chery will make compact vehicles for Chrysler, Vice President Jin Yibo told Bloomberg,...

Felixstowe Handles Record Shipment.(Port of Felixstowe)(Brief article)
July 3, 2007... The Port of Felixstowe said it set a U.K. port record when it handled 5,610 containers on a single vessel. The 9,600-TEU ship, China Shipping's Xin Hongkong, called the port on June 28. Felixstowe says it set the previous U.K. record for...

Tacoma Box Volume Slides.(Port of Tacoma)(Brief article)
July 3, 2007... BYLINE: Bill DiBenedetto SEATTLE -- A rocky May for the Port of Tacoma, in which container volume declined by nearly 13 percent, continued the port's downward trend for the year. Tacoma's total international container volume, including...

Trade Group Backs IATA Standards.(International Air Transport Association)(Brief article)
July 6, 2007... An international trade group recommended that standards set by the International Air Transport Association should be incorporated into national legislation and policy. The 172 countries that are party to the Convention on International...

World Air Lost $2.3 Million.(Financial report)(Brief article)
July 6, 2007... BYLINE: Thomas L. Gallagher World Air Holdings, parent of World Airways, lost $2.3 million in 2006, the company reported on July 5. The company's financial report had been delayed while auditors corrected documentation gaps dating back to...

U.S. Airlines See Cargo Drop.
July 6, 2007... In a new sign of weakness in the U.S. air freight industry, three of the largest American passenger airlines saw their cargo business take a sharp turn downward in June. American Airlines, the largest cargo carrier this year among U.S....

Europe's Air Cargo Growing.(Brief article)
July 6, 2007... Cargo traffic for European airlines grew 2.4 percent in May, the sharpest growth for the business in Europe since last September, according to the Association of European Airlines. The expansion came on sharp growth in African trade and a...

DHL Launches Airport-to-Door.(DHL Airways Inc.)(Brief article)
July 6, 2007... DHL expanded its offerings in the Asia Pacific region with Airport-To-Door Express, bridging the gap between forwarding and express services. DHL launched the service in 13 countries as of July 6 to meet needs of customers who currently...

EGL Shareholders to Meet.
July 6, 2007... Shareholders of EGL will vote on July 31 on the proposed takeover by CEVA. The shareholder meeting will take place at the company's headquarters in Houston, Texas, and will include the election of directors. The proposed merger with...

UP Switches Out Emissions.(Union Pacific Railroad)(Brief article)
July 6, 2007... Union Pacific Railroad announced that by the end of July, it will have replaced the majority of switch locomotives used at its Commerce, Calif., railyard with new ultra-low emission diesel locomotives. The new 2,100-horsepower locomotives...

Freightliner to Make Military Tractors.(Brief article)
July 6, 2007... BYLINE: Bill DiBenedetto The U.S. Army has awarded Freightliner LLC, the largest heavy-duty truck manufacturer in North America, a delivery order worth $165.9 million as part of a $725.3-million firm-fixed-price contract for military...

Long Beach, Yantian Sign 'Green' Pact.(Brief article)
July 6, 2007... Officials from the Port of Long Beach and the Port of Shenzhen, China, terminal operator Yantian International Container Terminals last month signed a memorandum of understanding to exchange technical information on their best environmental...

Goldman Sachs Buys into SSA Marine.(Goldman Sachs International Ltd.)
July 6, 2007... BYLINE: Bill Mongelluzzo LONG BEACH, Calif. -- Goldman Sachs Infrastructure Partners, a subsidiary of the New York investment bank, announced Thursday it will acquire a major stake in Carrix Inc., parent company of SSA Marine, which has...

ANA to Open Okinawa Hub.(All Nippon Airways Company Ltd.)(government of Okinawa)(Brief article)
July 6, 2007... BYLINE: Hisane Masaki All Nippon Airways and the government of Okinawa have agreed to base the carrier's new Asia cargo hub in the southernmost Japanese island state. Japan's second-largest carrier by sales, ANA and the Okinawa...

Freightliner Machinists Strike Plant.(Brief article)
July 6, 2007... BYLINE: Thomas L. Gallagher A strike at the Freightliner plant in Portland, Ore., entered its fourth day Friday as machinists demanded improvements in their health insurance benefits and requirements for overtime. No talks are...

Carlyle to Acquire ARINC.(Brief article)
July 6, 2007... The Carlyle Group private equity firm said Friday it reached an agreement to buy ARINC, the aviation industry communications and engineering business owned largely by commercial airlines. No terms for the purchase were disclosed. Based...

Anti Trust.
July 9, 2007... BYLINE: Paul Page It''s safe to ship candy canes again, at least this holiday season. That''s the most immediate result, in any case, of the Surface Transportation Board''s decision to push back by four months its landmark ruling on...

Highways Hit a Slowdown.
July 9, 2007... BYLINE: Ari Natter The high-speed drive toward public-private partnerships on the highways is hitting a slowdown. Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell scrapped his controversial plan to lease the Pennsylvania Turnpike last month in the face of...

Shippers Screening Security.
July 9, 2007... BYLINE: Ari Natter Legislation that could set a mandate to have 100 percent scanning of maritime containers and inspection of air cargo shipments entering the United States was on the fast track in Congress, and that had several of the...

FedEx Faces Labor Legislation.
July 9, 2007... FedEx is fighting moves in the House that would open the world''s largest air express company more easily to union organizing efforts. The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee approved a proposal by Chairman James Oberstar,...

STB Reprimands Rate Bureaus.(Surface Transportation Board)
July 9, 2007... The Surface Transportation Board delivered a stern reprimand to the remaining motor carrier rate bureaus for failing to anticipate the board''s decision to terminate all outstanding bureau agreements and have contingency plans in place. ...

Squeezing Supply Chains.
July 9, 2007... BYLINE: William Hoffman Have decades-old mantras about squeezing costs out of the supply chain reached their limits? That occurred to analysts at AMR Research after some surprises in the results of their third annual "Supply Chain Top...

Location, Location ...
July 9, 2007... BYLINE: Bill Mongelluzzo Shippers can do little about record diesel fuel prices or escalating rail rates, so they''re turning their attention to part of the supply chain they can control - the distribution center. Building the right...

Schneider, Goodwill Form Consulting Partnership.
July 9, 2007... Schneider Logistics is teaming up with a Canadian transportation consulting firm in a move that could expand opportunities for shippers to contain freight costs across the NAFTA market. Schneider Logistics, a subsidiary of Schneider...