American Shipper articles from August 1996

American Shipper archives from August 1996

Lykes 'fireman' stays busy. (Lykes Line reorganization expert Joe B. Freeman)
August 1, 1996... Carrier negotiates breathing room with creditors. Freeman says reorganization likely by early next year. Joe B. Freeman, the turnaround specialist hired to to lead Lykes Lines out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization, compares his initial...

UP-SP rail merger is approved. (Union Pacific and Souther Pacific railroads)
August 1, 1996... Surface Transportation Board imposes conditions, but gives unanimous approval to deal. Saying any reduced competition "will be heavily outweighed" by lower costs and public benefits, the Surface Transportation Board unanimously approved the...

Court: NVOs can arrest cargo. (non-vessel-operating common carriers)
August 1, 1996... Judges rule NVOCCs have same rights as vessel owners when freight bill isn't paid. Non-vessel-operating common carriers have the right to arrest cargo when the freight bill goes unpaid, a federal appeals court has ruled. The opinion,...

EC strategy: political Utopia. (EC paper 'Towards a New Maritime Strategy')
August 1, 1996... In its recent maritime strategy paper, the European Commission's policy creativity went overboard. The European Commission's recent paper "Towards a New Maritime Strategy" demonstrates the frequent inability of authorities to support and...

WTO shipping talks end without agreement. (World Trade Organization)
August 1, 1996... U.S. refused to offer to liberalize its shipping rules until other countries agreed to open their markets. World Trade Organization talks on liberalization of shipping have ended without an agreement, and international negotiators have...

Details of EC accusations against TACA. (Trans-Atlantic Conference Agreement)
August 1, 1996... Confidential EC statement cites rate hikes, lack of IAs, dealings with NVOs as evidence of TACA abuses of market power. In its latest statement of objections against the Trans-Atlantic Conference Agreement, the European Commission says TACA's...

Made in Macau - or China. (Customs labeling policies for imported clothing)
August 1, 1996... Customs says Chinese-made goods are secretly routed through Macau, Hong Kong. Importers claim agency's current effort is election-year politics. U.S. Customs is stepping up efforts to halt the inflow of Chinese-made clothing that is...

Young China hands. (logistics expediter China Link)
August 1, 1996... Walking the streets of Shanghai pays off for logistics expediter China has become the itch that won't go away for U.S. manufacturers. It offers the largest consumer market in the world and, contrarily, the hardest to crack. The logistics...

Danzas refines 'core carriers' policy. (Swiss forwarding company)
August 1, 1996... Big forwarder tries to make operations more efficient by focusing on handful of carriers, hubs. Asia is key target. The giant Swiss forwarder Danzas has caught the headlines lately because of its poor financial results and the departure of...

Tradeoffs at Mead. (Mead Corp.'s logistics program)
August 1, 1996... Breakbulk or container? Longshore or plant labor? Through a logistics program called the Coated Board System, Mead Corp. has improved European supply chain by reducing transit times and tightening the gaps at handoff points. The program...

Double agent. (new company of former ABC Containerline agents)
August 1, 1996... ABC Containerline's former agents are the latest liner agents to become NVOs. Some agents believe they can choose between selling service in the name of the carrier and selling to shippers independently, as NVOs. Liner agents had much to...

'Virtual integration' for CanMar, Cast. (space sharing between Canada Maritime and Cast)
August 1, 1996... Canadian Pacific subsidiaries share space in transatlantic, but say they'll still operate as discrete companies. Canada Maritime and Cast have begun exchanging space on their north Europe/Canada services. But the longtime rivals, now fellow...

SafBank: happy in its niche. (shipping company; includes related article on the relocation of SafBank headquarters)
August 1, 1996... SafBanks's core market is the small U.S./southern Africa liner trade, but that keeps it busy and happy. Thanks to Nelson Mandela, South Africa is, once again, a politically correct country with which to do business. By returning to the...

Bomb-proof air-cargo containers.
August 1, 1996... FAA ready to begin testing designs. But air-cargo industry wants to make sure they meet commercial needs. The Federal Aviation Administration says it's ready to start testing new designs of air-cargo containers built to withstand terrorist...

Back to basics for United Air. (United Airlines)
August 1, 1996... Adds freighter capacity, invests in automation, training, upgrading facilities. Sees air cargo as growing profit center. When Jim Hartigan asked shippers and forwarders what they wanted from United Airlines, they listed automation, capacity...

Alaska Airlines expands cargo services.
August 1, 1996... Seattle-based niche carrier looks 'south of the border' for more cargo business. While many large airlines greedily hunt for new international markets, Alaska Airlines sticks at improving what it knows best - the Pacific Northwest market....

Cultural change at Canadian Airlines.
August 1, 1996... Struggling amalgam of five carriers works to unify network, develop alliances, improve technology. When Barry Rempel became Canadian Airlines' vice president of air cargo in 1995, he had a fast start. Tough decisions had to be made, such...

OOCL's view of European intermodalism. (Orient Overseas Container Line's Chmn. and managing director Jim Poon)
August 1, 1996... Asian carrier's top executive in Europe says the continent still lags behind North American model. To hear an objective assessment of the challenges facing intermodalism in Europe, don't ask a European. Jim Poon, chairman and managing...

Liverpool port sues ILA for damages. (case between Mersey Docks and Harbour Co. and the International Longshoremen's Association)
August 1, 1996... Claims union threats forced ACL to leave British port, which has been embroiled in labor dispute. Civil Case CV 96-3084 could factually bear the title of a well-known sailors' chantey, "The Leaving of Liverpool." Instead, it's called...

Creating a hub in Panama. (Manzanillo International Terminal)
August 1, 1996... Stevedoring Services of America and Motores Internacionales set out to build a relay terminal available to all carriers. On the world map, Panama, with its canal linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, looks like the most logical point for...