Traffic World articles from September 2007

Traffic World archives from September 2007

Credit Due.
September 3, 2007... BYLINE: Paul Page To most of the transportation and logistics world, Home Depot''s impact on business is based on the home improvement company''s role as one of the country''s largest shippers. The retail giant''s biggest actions lately...

A New Deal.
September 3, 2007... BYLINE: John Gallagher and William B. Cassidy When YRC Worldwide''s Mike Smid opens contract talks with the Teamsters this month, he''ll have plenty of elbow room. With ABF Freight System pursuing a separate contract with the Teamsters...

New Contract, New Times.
September 3, 2007... BYLINE: John Gallagher If an early start to NMFA talks paves the way for a successful conclusion by the March 31, 2008 deadline, it will serve as a bookend for decades-long changes in trucking and point to a new route for the highly...

Private Roads, Public Rage.
September 3, 2007... BYLINE: Ari Natter Terri Hall home schools her six children, helps her husband run a Web design business, and in her free time - mostly nights - spends 40 to 80 hours a week fighting public-private partnerships in Texas. "We are just...

Targeting Toll Roads.(Brief article)
September 3, 2007... Teri Hall has been fighting moves to privatize some of the state''s roadways since 2005, when she learned of attempts to turn a major highway that connects her bedroom community of Spring Branch, Texas, to San Antonio into a toll road that...

Shifting Screening.
September 3, 2007... BYLINE: Ari Natter Cargo screening will be moving away from airports - and up the supply chain - under a new Transportation Security Administration program that will place an emphasis on inspecting passenger airline cargo before it is...

Freight TSI Falls.(Transportation Services Index)(Brief article)
September 3, 2007... The Freight Transportation Services Index fell 0.7 percent in June, reflecting the volatility in the general housing market and the slowdown in the housing market, according to Ken Notis, a TSI economist for the Department of Transportation....

Shipping More With Less.(Survey)
September 3, 2007... BYLINE: William Hoffman A large portion of manufacturing executives say they are not getting the resources they need to keep their supply chains "world class." The executives'' anxiety is highlighted in a report from Capgemini and IW...

Building the Little Guy.
September 3, 2007... BYLINE: William Hoffman Years of logistics industry consolidation produced some enormous companies striving to become the be-all, end-all of supply chain service. But some argue there''s still room for an ambitious upstart. With 60...

Southeast Asia Advances Trade.
September 3, 2007... Officials of 10 Southeast Asian governments plan to sign an agreement this week to deregulate transportation and logistics services with an eye toward creating a single market by 2015. Maritime cargo handling, warehousing, freight brokerage...

Logistics Assets Setting Sail.(Company overview)
September 3, 2007... BYLINE: Paul Page When Horizon Lines last month carved out its nascent logistics operation into a separate business division, the ocean container line set sail into waters that are increasingly popular, and potentially turbulent. ...

Building Through Recession.
September 3, 2007... BYLINE: John Gallagher When Jevic Transportation received the first shipment of a second fleet of 2008 model tractors, it marked a small but potentially significant sign that some believe a freight recession that''s gone on for six...

Just 15,900 To Go.
September 3, 2007... BYLINE: Stephanie Nall and William B. Cassidy An industry coalition has upped the ante in the debate over how best to clean the air above Southern California ports. Retailer Target Corp., ocean carrier NYK Line and drayage trucking...

Con-way Completes CFI Buy.(Contract Freighters Inc.)(Brief article)
September 3, 2007... Con-way finalized its $750 million acquisition of Joplin, Mo.-based truckload operator Contract Freighters Inc., officially making it one of the largest LTL and truckload operators in the country. The merger added 3,000 employees and a...

Brokering Healthy Drivers.
September 3, 2007... Truck broker Greatwide Logistics Services is testing a new lifestyle program designed to improve the health of its owner-operators. The program, dubbed "Drive and Thrive," will focus on diet, exercise and smoking cessation, the three...

Storms Clobber Rail.
September 3, 2007... BYLINE: John D. Boyd Storms that tore through the Midwest buffeted railroads in August, as floods washed out tracks and bridges. By the end of August, many major railroads plus some smaller ones had suffered traffic disruptions or...

Formula for Battle.
September 3, 2007... BYLINE: John D. Boyd The rail industry and a group of utility coal shippers can agree on one thing: Changes to the Surface Transportation Board''s railroad capital costs formula would be a big deal. They''re having a harder time,...

Buffett Buys More of BNSF.(Warren Buffett)(Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp.)(Brief article)
September 3, 2007... Warren Buffett''s Berkshire Hathaway investment company bought another 10.1 million shares of BNSF Railway in the Aug. 23-27 period, bringing his total holdings to nearly 15 percent of the company. Buffett took an 11 percent stake in BNSF -...

Union Trading Parcels?
September 3, 2007... BYLINE: Michael Fabey As UPS and the Teamsters union get ready to resume contract negotiations Sept. 4, the heat is on for a quick settlement to prevent shippers from looking for alternatives. That''s putting pressure on both sides to...

FedEx Mastering Mexico.(Brief article)
September 3, 2007... FedEx is hoping to use two new border transportation centers as part of an effort to cash in on the growing Mexican and Latin American markets. Although the additions are meant to help handle the growing crossborder trade in the short...

Celestica Tabs DHL for Express.(contracts of DHL Express)(Brief article)
September 3, 2007... Nibbling at global logistics market share one client at a time, DHL became the primary express carrier for electronics manufacturer Celestica and added high-end logistics work to the deal. Under the express contract, DHL will handle...

World Air Sale Done.(Brief article)
September 3, 2007... World Airways, a major operator of MD-11 freighters around the world, is now officially a subsidiary of Global Aero Logistics. The parent company of ATA Airlines completed its acquisition of World Air Holdings, the parent of World Airways...

Study: Airbus Will Catch Up to Boeing.(Brief article)
September 3, 2007... Airbus got caught flat-footed by the market response to Boeing''s new 787, but the European jet manufacturer should get back into the race, according to a study by Forecast International. The study, "The Market for Large Commercial Jet...

Securing Houston.
September 3, 2007... BYLINE: Peter T. Leach A tactic often used to raise extra funds for municipal services is being turned to port security in Houston. Harris County, which encompasses the city and port of Houston, is forming a special assessment district...

Peaking at Europe.(congestion surcharges on ocean containers)
September 3, 2007... BYLINE: Bruce Barnard Shippers are bracing for congestion surcharges on ocean containers passing through Europe''s top ports in the countdown to the start of the peak shipping season. While ports such as Rotterdam and Antwerp have...

CMA CGM Upgrades Car-Carrying Fleet.(Brief article)
September 3, 2007... French shipping line CMA CGM will begin equipping its vessels with car-carrying containers outfitted with a system of retractable ramps that can transport up to four vehicles of any kind. The carrier is promoting the 40-foot containers as...

People.(briefs)(Ceres Gulf Inc.)
September 3, 2007... USF Glen Moore, the truckload operating unit of YRC Regional Transportation, named Phil Nelms and Tim Dull to management positions. Nelms, a 38-year industry veteran, was named vice president of operations. Dull was named manager of recruiting...

Stuck Between a 3PL and a Hard Place.
September 3, 2007... BYLINE: Colin Barrett Q: We''re a motor carrier. We have a situation where we picked up a shipment that was supposed to be paid by a third party. The shipment moved on a bill of lading from the third-party logistics provider showing...

The Back Page.
September 3, 2007... Blocked. Top Flite Express and the City of Roseville, Mich., lauded truck driver John Vanscoy for helping paramedics by blocking highway traffic with his tractor-trailer so they could reach accident victims trapped in a car. We''re awaiting...

September 3, 2007.
September 3, 2007... Blocked. Top Flite Express and the City of Roseville, Mich., lauded truck driver John Vanscoy for helping paramedics by blocking highway traffic with his tractor-trailer so they could reach accident victims trapped in a car. We're awaiting word...

Stuck Between a 3PL and a Hard Place.
September 3, 2007... BYLINE: Colin Barrett Q: We're a motor carrier. We have a situation where we picked up a shipment that was supposed to be paid by a third party. The shipment moved on a bill of lading from the third-party logistics provider showing the...

Laboring for A New Deal.
September 3, 2007... BYLINE: John Gallagher and William B. Cassidy When YRC Worldwide's Mike Smid opens contract talks with the Teamsters this month, he'll have plenty of elbow room. With ABF Freight System pursuing a separate contract with the Teamsters...

ATA Petitions to Keep HOS.
September 3, 2007... BYLINE: Thomas L. Gallagher The American Trucking Associations submitted a petition Friday asking the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to retain the 11-hour daily driving limit and 34-hour restart provisions of the...

Buffett Could Buy One-Fourth of BNSF.(Warren Buffett)(BNSF Railway)(Brief article)
September 4, 2007... BYLINE: John D. Boyd BNSF Railway, the second-largest railroad company in North America, said Warren Buffett's investment company Berkshire Hathaway has signaled that it will keep buying BNSF shares and could acquire more than 25 percent....

Mexican Trucks Approval Seen Wednesday.(Brief article)
September 4, 2007... BYLINE: Ari Natter A federal appeals court denied a request for an emergency injunction to stop the Department of Transportation's crossborder trucking program, paving way for the start of the program, which the agency hopes to begin as...

Court Convicts Air Control Officials.
September 4, 2007... A Swiss court found four air traffic control managers guilty of manslaughter Tuesday in the 2002 collision between a DHL freighter and a passenger charter aircraft carrying Russian children that killed 71 people. The court also acquitted four...

Diesel Prices Jump Three Cents.(Brief article)
September 4, 2007... Average diesel prices pushed up three cents a gallon to their highest point in a month at the start of September, according to the Energy Information Administration. The EIA put average prices for the week of Sept. 3 at $2.893 a gallon, with...

Screening Shifts.
September 5, 2007... BYLINE: Ari Natter Cargo screening will be moving away from airports - and up the supply chain - under a new Transportation Security Administration program that will place an emphasis on inspecting passenger airline cargo before it is...

Building the Little Guy.
September 5, 2007... BYLINE: William Hoffman Years of logistics industry consolidation produced some enormous companies striving to become the be-all, end-all of supply chain service. But some argue there's still room for an ambitious upstart. With 60...

TSA Predicts Moderate Growth in 2008.(Transpacific Stabilization Agreement)(Brief article)
September 5, 2007... Members of the Transpacific Stabilization Agreement gave their outlook for 2008 - and they don't think volume will slow down anytime soon. While TSA Chairman Ron Widdows acknowledged that it was too soon to know what effects a slowdown in the...

Panama Canal Breaks Ground on Expansion.(Brief article)
September 5, 2007... Threatened with the possibility of becoming obsolete, the Panama Canal is undergoing its first expansion since its construction in the early 20th century. The $5 billion project will widen the two locks on the canal and expand shipping...

RedPrarie to Open Data Centers.(Brief article)
September 5, 2007... RedPrairie will open new data centers in Atlanta and Washington, D.C., in September and October respectively, to support its software as a service offerings in partnership with Savvis, an IT infrastructure service provider. Stewart Chisam,...

Canadian Pacific to Buy DM&E.(Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd.)(Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad Corp.)
September 5, 2007... BYLINE: Paul Page Canadian Pacific Railway announced an agreement late Tuesday to acquire the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad for $1.48 billion, a purchase that could dramatically increase railroad competition in North America and...

No Initial Objection From Shippers.(Brief article)
September 5, 2007... A major shipper group says it sees no major objections to the Canadian Pacific Railway's proposed purchase of the DM&E regional railroad on a first look at the deal. John Ficker, president of the National Industrial Transportation League, said...

Coal-to-Liquids Coalition members detail benefits of coal-based fuels.
September 5, 2007... Washington, D.C. - Members of the Coal-to-Liquids Coalition today detailed the numerous economic, energy and environmental benefits America stands to gain by expediting the production of clean, domestic coal-to-liquid (CTL) transportation...

STB Rules on Rail Relief.(United States. Board of Surface Transportation)(Brief article)
September 5, 2007... The Surface Transportation Board on Sept. 4 refined its rail rate dispute resolution procedures to make them more affordable to shippers moving small- and medium-sized shipments. The board said it will allow captive shippers to select...

Just 15,900 To Go.
September 6, 2007... BYLINE: Stephanie Nall and William B. Cassidy An industry coalition has upped the ante in the debate over how best to clean the air above Southern California ports. Retailer Target Corp., ocean carrier NYK Line and drayage trucking...

Utilities fight AAR on Extension.
September 6, 2007... BYLINE: John D. Boyd The rail industry and a group of utility coal shippers can agree on one thing: Changes to the Surface Transportation Board's railroad capital costs formula would be a big deal. Click to Enlarge They're having...

FedEx Mastering Mexico.
September 6, 2007... FedEx is hoping to use two new border transportation centers as part of an effort to cash in on the growing Mexican and Latin American markets. Although the additions are meant to help handle the growing crossborder trade in the short...

Celestica Tabs DHL for Express.(Brief article)
September 6, 2007... Nibbling at global logistics market share one client at a time, DHL became the primary express carrier for electronics manufacturer Celestica and added high-end logistics work to the deal. Under the express contract, DHL will handle...

Peaking at Europe.
September 6, 2007... BYLINE: Bruce Barnard Shippers are bracing for congestion surcharges on ocean containers passing through Europe's top ports in the countdown to the start of the peak shipping season. Click to Enlarge While ports such as Rotterdam...

DHL, Wal-Mart Extend Agreement.(DHL Express)(Wal-Mart Stores Inc.)(Brief article)
September 6, 2007... Express carrier DHL and Wal-Mart signed a new three-year contract that will significantly expand DHL's service for the world's largest retailer. DHL will provide air express and ground service throughout the United States for Wal-Mart and...

August Rail Traffic Falls.(Brief article)(Statistical data)
September 6, 2007... BYLINE: John D. Boyd Since a rail slowdown took hold in earnest in last year's second half, the 2007 traffic comparisons were supposed to get better as this year goes on. If so, August did not show it. Major U.S. railroads saw general...

NMFTA Announces ACE-lerate -- Designed to Accelerate the ACE e-Manifest.
September 6, 2007... Alexandria, VA --The National Motor Freight Traffic Association, Inc. (NMFTA) has announced its new ACE-lerate service, powered by CrimsonLogic, to help companies involved in cross border transportation transition to the new Automated...

KLLM Transport Services to Offer Maptuit FleetNav for Directions.
September 6, 2007... BURLINGTON, MASS. - Maptuit Corporation today announced KLLM Transport Services will be deploying FleetNav Directions throughout its national fleet of 1400 trucks providing its drivers with the industry's best-in-class truck-to-dock...

Officials Seek 'Build America Bonds'.(Brief article)
September 6, 2007... Two legislators from different ends of the political introduced a measure Thursday that would seek more private funding to improve transportation infrastructure through what they call "Build America Bonds." Rep. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Sen....

CCL Buys Fleet Global.(acquisitions of Cargo Connection Logistics and Fleet Global Services)(Brief article)
September 6, 2007... Cargo Connection Logistics agreed Wednesday to buy Fleet Global Services, an Orlando, Fla.-based third-party logistics provider. CCL, a New York-based provider of logistics services for import and export shipments, said it would pay $1...

UTi Worldwide Reports Lower Net Income.(Financial report)(Brief article)
September 6, 2007... Supply chain services provider UTi Worldwide reported revenue growth for the second quarter, but lower net income compared to its year-ago numbers. Gross revenue grew 17 percent to $1 billion, compared to $890.1 million in the same quarter...

Retail Container Traffic Sets New Record.(Brief article)
September 6, 2007... BYLINE: Penelope Brown Major retail container ports will get a slight breather in September, but another record-setting month is predicted in October, according to a recent report. The monthly Port Tracker report, released by the...

Lawmakers Continue Mexican Truck Fight.(Brief article)
September 6, 2007... BYLINE: Ari Natter With Mexican trucks poised to roll into the United States this week, lawmakers pledged a new attack on a Bush administration plan to open the the border to Mexican trucking companies. "This administration is...

TNT Launches Environmental Program.(Brief article)
September 7, 2007... BYLINE: Thomas L. Gallagher Netherlands-based mail and express carrier TNT launched an aggressive environmental program that extends beyond the company into employees' homes. At a press dinner in London last week TNT's Chief Executive...

Trans Global Names Regional Director.(Trans Global Logistics appoints Michael Goh )(Brief article)
September 7, 2007... BYLINE: Thomas L. Gallagher Trans Global Logistics, a Hong Kong-based logistics company, named Michael Goh regional director of TGL-China. Trans Global's China operations cover three regions and 13 offices that serve all the major...

'Women in Trucking' Gains Speed.(Brief article)
September 7, 2007... A group dedicated to promoting careers for women in the trucking industry is gaining speed and gathering members. Women in Trucking, a nonprofit organization created in March, now has more than 500 individual members and 40 corporate...

Study: Airbus Will Catch Up to Boeing.(Brief article)
September 7, 2007... Airbus got caught flat-footed by the market response to Boeing's new 787, but the European jet manufacturer should get back into the race, according to a study by Forecast International. The study, "The Market for Large Commercial Jet...

Qualcomm Hits Top Ten.(Brief article)
September 7, 2007... You don't necessarily have to be a semiconductor manufacturer to be one of the world's biggest semiconductor shippers. Qualcomm is the first "fabless" semiconductor supplier to reach iSuppli's top-10 rankings of the global chip industry, a...

DOT Clears Crossborder Truck Plan.
September 7, 2007... BYLINE: Ari Natter The U.S. Department of Transportation late Thursday cleared the Bush administration's controversial crossborder trucking program to begin Thursday night, officially allowing certified trucking companies from Mexico to...

MSC Hikes Trans-Pac Rates.(Mediterranean Shipping Company S.A.)(Trans-Pacific)(Brief article)
September 7, 2007... Mediterranean Shipping Co. will raise its rates for agriculture exports from the United States to Asia effective Oct. 1, citing rising costs and tighter shipping capacity. The Switzerland-based steamship line said the general rate increase...

ACL Buys Design Firm.(American Commercial Lines L.L.C.)(Elliott Bay Design Group)(Brief article)
September 7, 2007... Barge company American Commercial Lines said Friday it will acquire the assets of Elliott Bay Design Group, a Seattle-based naval architecture and marine engineering firm. Jeffersonville, Ind.-based ACL said the company will continue to...

Creditors Sell Stonepath Assets.(EP-Team)(Brief article)
September 7, 2007... BYLINE: William Hoffman Creditors of Stonepath Group sold assets of the financially exhausted company to a Dallas-based specialist in project logistics for an undisclosed sum. EP-Team, a subsidiary of investment holding company...

TSA's Air Cargo Program Slammed.(Transportation Security Administration)(Brief article)
September 7, 2007... BYLINE: Ari Natter The Transportation Security Administration's program to monitor cargo shipped inside the bellies of passenger planes is faulted, and increases the opportunities for bombs and other dangerous items to be smuggled aboard,...

Furniture Brands on Transport Portal.(Brief article)
September 7, 2007... Furniture Brands International, stepping up an effort to introduce more technology-based management in its global supply chain, went fully on the GT Nexus trade and logistics portal for global transportation management, the home furnishings...

Maersk Opens Big Va. Box Terminal.(A.P. Moller-Maersk Group)(Virginia, United States)
September 7, 2007... BYLINE: John D. Boyd A.P. Moller-Maersk Group officially opened its big new container terminal at Portsmouth, Va., expanding its capacity to handle boxed ocean freight in that area at the same time crowded ports on the U.S. West Coast are...

ATA Files Stay on HOS Rules.(American Trucking Associations)(hours of service)(Brief article)
September 7, 2007... BYLINE: John Gallagher The American Trucking Associations on Sept. 6 asked for an eight-month stay of a U.S. appeals court mandate that eliminates the 11-hour daily driving limit and 34-hour restart provisions of the hours of service...

Cargo Goes to Court.
September 10, 2007... BYLINE: Michael Fabey The British Airways guilty plea to U.S. charges of taking part in an international cartel to fix air freight fuel surcharges may strengthen the case for shippers involved in more than a dozen class-action lawsuits...

September 10, 2007.
September 10, 2007... Hours. Like the rest of the reality-based trucking world, the virtual driver world is anxious to hear the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's response to a court ruling on hours of service. That's because they desperately need a...

Set-off Against Freight Charges.
September 10, 2007... BYLINE: Colin Barrett Q: I have a question for you today that I hope you can help me understand. Is it true that the Interstate Commerce Commission Termination Act repealed the anti-discrimination statute (49 U.S.C. s.10741)? That is,...

Injecting Competition in Line Sales.
September 10, 2007... BYLINE: Frank N. Wilner Seeking, protecting and perpetuating market dominance is what companies do to boost earning power.   It is thus understandable that Norfolk Southern seeks to prolong its market dominance by transferring 384...

Coal Dust.
September 10, 2007... BYLINE: Paul Page Canadian Pacific Railway's proposed purchase of the Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern railroad still faces some serious regulatory hurdles, but the $1.48 billion deal has already succeeded on one front. It's added some...

Redrawing Rail Competition.
September 10, 2007... BYLINE: John D. Boyd and John Gallagher The railroad industry's effective moratorium on big mergers is emphatically over and now shippers, rail executives and financial backers are wondering whether a new era of consolidation is around the...

Crossing the Border.
September 10, 2007... BYLINE: Ari Natter With a U.S. Court of Appeals decision setting the stage to open the border to Mexican trucks, opposition to the Department of Transportation's controversial crossborder trucking program is reaching a fever pitch. ...

Let's Borrow a Deal.
September 10, 2007... BYLINE: William Hoffman Dealmakers in the logistics markets say lots of people are talking about this summer's sudden credit crunch, but mergers specialists say the impact on the logistics market so far has been more speculative than real....

Rate Case Rejected.
September 10, 2007... BYLINE: William B. Cassidy Carriers and their customers may strive for long-term relationships, but usually not in a   court or hearing room.   A federal appeals court weighed into a nine-year battle between an ocean...

GAO Eyes Rail Bridges, Tunnels.
September 10, 2007... BYLINE: John D. Boyd The government's watchdog agency looked at rail bridge and tunnel safety - and the nation's approach to funding such infrastructure - and found plenty of blame to go around. Click to Enlarge The Governmental...

Parcels Losing Weight.
September 10, 2007... BYLINE: Michael Fabey It's nearly two-thirds into 2007 and shippers are still trying to get a handle on how to handle dimensional rate pricing for parcel shipments.  UPS announced the plan late last year and rolled it out in...