American Shipper articles from August 1993

American Shipper archives from August 1993

Air Express close Votainer purchase: deal combines large air forwarder with major NVOCC specializing in ocean shipments.
August 1, 1993... Air Express International has completed its $15 million purchase of Votainer, the non-vessel-operating common carrier unit of Royal Van Ommeren NV. The deal is notable because it combines a major air freight forwarder with a leading...

Free-for-all in South America trades: economic liberalization boosts cargo volume, attracts new competitors. Shippers report lower rates, better service.
August 1, 1993... Even longtime participants are astounded at how South America's economic revolution has transformed the U.S./South American trades. And now that Brazil has slashed its tariffs for the third time in three years, signs point to further...

Move to multilateral air deals: four veteran negotiators describe bilateral system as outmoded.
August 1, 1993... The blue ribbon panel seeking solutions to the financial crisis in the U.S. airline industry was told June 30 that the current system of individual aviation agreements with other nations should be scrapped in favor of a multinational...

Convictions in textile-imports case: customs says Q-TIP investigation continues into fraudulent imports of textiles from China.
August 1, 1993... Prosecutors have won their first convictions in Operation Q-TIP, the U.S. government's two-year investigation of fraudulent imports of textiles from China. Chinatex America Inc., and Gu Shi Qiang, head of the company's knitwear division,...

FMC cannot jump through the EC hoop: Brussels came looking for help in its attack on TAA, but was turned aside.
August 1, 1993... Members of the Trans-Atlantic Agreement have trouble satisfying the differing regulations of the European Commission and the Federal Maritime Commission. When EC staffers traveled to Washington recently to talk to the FMC, the discussion...

Puerto Rico seeks offers for Navieras: a tough sell because of $324 million debt.
August 1, 1993... Puerto Rico's government shipping line and its chief banker have been contacting people and companies they hope might want to buy debt-ridden Navieras de Puerto Rico. Letters soliciting acquisition proposals from a list of possible...

Flagging out: Sea-Land and APL get Washington's attention, but will it be enough to revive maritime reform legislation?.
August 1, 1993... Almost half the ships operated by the three largest American-flag liner companies already sail under foreign flags. The federal government seemed unconcerned. So on June 29, Sea-Land Service announced plans to transfer 13 of its...

Amoss steps aside as Lykes CEO: Tom Rankin, head of Lykes family holdings, is CEO. Amoss named executive committee chairman.
August 1, 1993... As a top executive at Lykes Lines, W.J. Amoss Jr. has spent much of the last two decades working to modernize the Lykes fleet and to reform U.S. maritime subsidies. In his new role as chairman of the company's executive committee, he...

How do you reach Wuhan?. (rail services and container hub will be imporved at Wuhan)
August 1, 1993... Your cargo will probably be transshipped over Kobe or Hong Kong. Once it crosses the border into China, truck is the best way to reach China's heartland. But improved rail service and container hub at Wuhan will come in a few years. As...

Chinese (N)VOCCs: creative Chinese capitalists cause a few raised eyebrows at the FMC.
August 1, 1993... An ancient Chinese ideogram recognizes the similarity in meaning between "danger" and "opportunity" by employing the same symbol to embrace both concepts. New developments in the China trade show some of the so-called Communists on the...

U.S. airlines hit wall in Chain: Evergreen Airlines asks DOT to force China to grant access. Most air cargo still moves via Hong Kong.
August 1, 1993... U.S. airlines trying to crack the China-U.S. air cargo market are finding it is dominated by Chinese carriers Most shipments are trucked in and out via Hong Kong, where they connect with ships or planes. Shippers often find the lower cost...

McGlobal: McDonald's begins to think globally about its distribution to overseas restaurants.
August 1, 1993... An icon of Americana, the Golden Arches have served as the first fast food outposts for burger-hungry foreign markets from Japan to the former Soviet Union, and a signpost for other fast food restaurants with international intentions. ...

Profit in third-party logistics: Exel Logistics is star performer for NFC plc.
August 1, 1993... Exel Logistics is not a household name. The company specializes in unglamorous but necessary support activities for better-known companies such as Chrysler, Clorox and Procter & Gamble. But that third-party logistics work has made Exel a...

KLM/Northwest air cargo venture: see Asian cargo as prime market; also one of the toughest.
August 1, 1993... Executives at Northwest Airlines, fighting for fiscal health, are hoping that a cooperative venture between the carrier's cargo division and Royal Dutch Airlines KLM will pull in much-needed revenues. The two airlines are betting that a...

Air cargo thefts anger shippers: security failures can lead to loss of accounts. JFK and Miami get poor marks.
August 1, 1993... Airline cargo departments eager to retain business in today's ultra-competitive marketplace would do well to start by guarding against pilferage of international shipments. Previously, many airlines got away with a lax attitude towards...

Robotics slows to catch on at ports: automated guided vehicles are common in warehousing, manufacturing, but not in ports.
August 1, 1993... Container ports could be the next frontier for robot vehicles, but it may be a difficult sell, says one manufacturer of the equipment. Automated guided vehicles (AGVs) are being used at Europe Container Terminals in Rotterdam and are...

Making NAFTA transportation work: Delaney says U.S., Canadian businesses should work with Mexico to develop logistics management.
August 1, 1993... Robert Delaney, executive vice president of St. Louis-based Cass Logistics, says U.S. and Canadian businesses have saved billions by paring their logistics costs. He believes the next big opportunity lies in Mexico. By continuing to trim...

NIT league to co-sponsor transport conference: executive VP Edward Emmett to boost shippers' presence.
August 1, 1993... Edward Emmett has attended two of the three Transporte Internacional conferences staged by the Kingsley Group and has been favorably impressed. But Emmett, who is executive vice president of the National Industrial Transportation League,...

Fivefold increase in domestic boxes: delcine in piggyback trailers has slowed.
August 1, 1993... The U.S. domestic container fleet has increased nearly fivefold in the last five years, according to an industry survey conducted by XTRA Corp. XTRA's semiannual survey of 35 rail intermodal operators indicates the number of domestic...

CN, CSXI launch interline service: extends CN's through-rate service into the Southeast and CSXI's into eastern and western Canada.
August 1, 1993... CN North America and CSX Intermodal have joined forces in an interline service linking Canada with the U.S. Southeast and Midwest. The service connects 12 points on CN's network with all terminals on CSXI's eastern network and the Florida...

From Mexico to Long Beach by ship: Marmex starts weekly, one-vessel alternative to trucking.
August 1, 1993... A Panamanian firm has launched a weekly service carrying goods by ocean between northcentral Mexico and Long Beach. The carrier, Marmex Line, can match overland transit speed -- about 2 1/2 days -- at about three quarters of the cost of...

Standards set for RoadRailer in mixed trains: Schneider, SP confirm rail-highway trailer can operate in mixed trains.
August 1, 1993... Computer and live tests show RoadRailer, the hybrid rail-highway trailer, can operate behind conventional intermodal trains in many cases, the manufacturer says. "This marks a major advance for the RoadRailer system," said Lawrence J....

An army battalion in 296 boxes: equipment for entire battalion moved in APL containers. It's the first time it's been done, but it won't be the last.
August 1, 1993... As military operations go, Exercise Team Spirit 93 was fairly routine -- a semiannual practice deployment of U.S. troops to Korea. But to military logisticians it marked the first time the equipment of an entire battalion had been moved...

Nucor builds Trinidad plant: steel manufacturer will produce iron carbide for use at Indiana, Arkansas minimills.
August 1, 1993... Nucor Corp. has started work in Trinidad on the world's first plant to commercially produce iron carbide from iron ore for use in the production of flat-rolled steel. The Charlotte-based steel manufacturer projects that the $60 million...

$270-million APL terminal.
August 1, 1993... American President Lines plans to shift its terminal operations at Los Angeles in January 1997 to a new, four-berth facility with on-dock rails capable of accommodating two full stacktrains simultaneously, the company and the port authority...

The second reshuffling. (liner shipping has a long way to go)
August 1, 1993... Does a chart of the world's major container services, prepared by NYK, tell us anything about the next reshuffling of partnership? Hiroshi |Harry' Takahashi thinks so, and said so in Hamburg. |If you carefully examine this table, perhaps you...

Consortia: What's the best way?. (have carriers been too quick to reject joint marketing consortia?)
August 1, 1993... How close should a partnership be? Is simple space sharing the salvation everyone says it is, or just a passing phase? Were carriers too quick to reject joint marketing consortia? Airlines are up to something most ocean carriers swear...

Showdown over inland pricing: future of global conference system at stake. (includes related articles)
August 1, 1993... The outcome of an early July oral hearing on the Far Eastern Freight Conference's multimodal rate-setting practices could change conferences forever. The Commission of the European Communities caught carriers and shippers by surprise...

Van Miert has 'serious doubts' about EATA: Europe/Asia carriers put on notice that four criteria for approval established by Treaty of Rome were not proven.
August 1, 1993... Karel Van Miert, the European Community's Commissioner for Competition, has serious doubts that the Europe Asia Trades Agreement is within the bounds of EC competition law. He expressed his opinion in a letter to EATA members dated June...

Kuehne & Nagel made record profits in 1992: Swiss-based forwarder considers Europe 'core business' even though Asia turned in strongest performance.
August 1, 1993... Few companies have the worldwide reach of Kuehne & Nagel, the Switzerland-based forwarding and transportation group with 400 offices spread over 60 countries on five continents. But while Kuehne & Nagel's forwarding and transportation...