JoC Week articles from December 2007

JoC Week archives from December 2007

'A global pandemic'.
December 24, 2007... BYLINE: BY R.G. EDMONSON David Faulconer used to tell audiences that there was only one commodity in the world that hadn't been counterfeited: water. He can't use the example any more. A couple of years ago, a counterfeiting ring in...

A taxing question.
December 24, 2007... BYLINE: BY PETER T. LEACH Like the Grinch who stole Christmas, Congress is talking about repealing a tax break used by container lines that ply the U.S. mainland-Puerto Rico trade. Although the route is covered by the Jones Act as a...

For sale?
December 24, 2007... BYLINE: BY PETER T. LEACH Trailer Bridge is in play. The tug-barge operator, which has operated between the U.S. mainland and Puerto Rico since 1991, has apparently put itself up for sale in the wake of the decision by the family of...

Ryder on the storm.
December 24, 2007... BYLINE: BY BILL DIBENEDETTO Ryder System wants to build on the growth of its supply-chain business segment, especially internationally, by pursuing small acquisitions and combining its domestic and international supply-chain units into a...

CEVA aims high.(Company overview)
December 24, 2007... BYLINE: BY BILL DIBENEDETTO CEVA Logistics has ambitions to crack the upper echelon of the world's third-party logistics providers. The company hopes to parlay its August acquisition of EGL Worldwide into revenue growth of more than 60...

High tech meets Lawrence of Arabia.
December 24, 2007... BYLINE: BY ALAN M. FIELD Jordan's only seaport was choking with traffic. Every day, more than 2,000 trucks entered the Port of Aqaba at five points, moving to about 300 destinations at terminals and warehouses. Long lines of trucks were...

With Jose F. Nava, DHL Exel Supply Chain Latin America.(Interview)
December 24, 2007... BYLINE: BY BILL DIBENEDETTO Jose F. Nava became president of DHL Exel Supply Chain Latin America, based in Plantation, Fla., last March. Previously, he was vice president for Exel PLC in Mexico. Deutsche Post World Net acquired Exel in...

The importance of value.
December 24, 2007... BYLINE: BY PETER SPILLER "Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out and proclaiming, 'Wow, what a...

The show must go on.
December 24, 2007... BYLINE: BY PETER TIRSCHWELL How do those of us whose livelihoods are fundamentally tied to international trade come to terms with the debate on trade in the presidential campaign? Should we be worried about the left-leaning tone of...

In Peace and War.
December 24, 2007... BYLINE: BY JOSEPH BONNEY Many people assume that because the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point was founded in 1942, it was a wartime idea. Not so. The academy was conceived years before World War II. In the wake of the 1934...

THE WEEK.(impact of reduction in imports on container ports)(product safety agreement between USA and China)(Beteiligungen (Hong Kong) Co. acquiring Exel-Sinotrans Freight Forwarding Co)
December 17, 2007... Peak Season Falls Flat At West Coast Ports: The peak shipping season at West Coast ports ended with a whimper in October as imports were flat compared to the same month in 2006. In what should have been one of the busiest months of the year...

With Michael R. Mitchell, Consolidated Chassis Management.(Interview)
December 17, 2007... BYLINE: BY PETER T. LEACH As director of chassis pool development, Mike Mitchell is responsible for the strategic planning, new business development, customer liaison and administrative oversight of Consolidated Chassis Management, the...

Supply-chain paranoia.(impact of supply chain management on customer relations and safety of goods)
December 17, 2007... BYLINE: BY PHILIP SPAYD If it is true, as former Intel CEO Andy Grove has said, that "only the paranoid survive," there are many issues to be worried about in supply-chain management as 2007 draws to a close. On the one hand, there...

East vs. west.(impact of intermodal transportation on shipping industry)
December 17, 2007... BYLINE: BY PETER TIRSCHWELL It has been a tectonic shift in the intermodal landscape that has produced many tremors and one bona-fide earthquake. The decision by western railroads beginning two years ago to renew their long-term...

Questions on the waterfront.
December 17, 2007... BYLINE: BY JOSEPH BONNEY The investigators have be-come the investigated. State authorities in New York and New Jersey are looking into the operations of the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor. The inquiry began after New York...

RADAR SCREEN.
December 17, 2007... Proposal floated for merger of ports in SC, Ga. Bill Stern, chairman of the South Carolina State Ports Authority, has publicly suggested the eventual merger of his state's port agency and the Georgia Ports Authority into a bi-state...

Change in course.(reorganization and restructuring of Maersk Line)
December 17, 2007... BYLINE: BY PETER T. LEACH The other shoe is about to drop in Copenhagen. Early in the new year, Eivind Kolding, chief executive of A.P. Moller-Maersk's container business since the company restructured its top management last June, will...

Clearing the air.(new laws and measures for reduction in greenhouse gases of container ports)
December 17, 2007... BYLINE: BY BILL MONGELLUZZO California port interests are heartened by series of developments in early December that could lower environmental barriers to development of transportation infrastructure. The first of those developments...

Cover the earth.(management of expansion of Dubai Ports World)
December 17, 2007... BYLINE: BY JOSEPH BONNEY Politics kept DP World out of the U.S. market, but shed no tears for the Dubai-based terminal operator. Coming off a $4.96 billion initial public offering, the company is busily planting its flag at other ports...

Beyond their control.(influence of events on shipping associations)
December 17, 2007... BYLINE: BY BILL MONGELLUZZO Shippers associations usually busy themselves with negotiating contracts and providing logistics services. But for many associations, the events that dominate their work in 2008 will be beyond their control....

Law and order.(influence of growth in international trade on services of attorneys)
December 17, 2007... BYLINE: BY DAVID BIEDERMAN Abundant global business opportunities and a fast-changing regulatory landscape are driving manufacturers, importers and exporters to seek out international trade and transportation attorneys - and not just...

Status quo on HOS.(new law on hours of service of truck drivers)
December 17, 2007... BYLINE: BY ARI NATTER Users and providers of trucking service don't have to reset their clocks. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said last week it is keeping truckers' 11-hour daily driving limit and other work rules that...

Who pays for infrastructure?(usage of new taxes from shipping industry on transportation infrastructure)
December 17, 2007... BYLINE: BY LAWRENCE H KAUFMAN Unless one believes in alchemy - the ability to turn dross into gold - it is obvious that needed transportation infrastructure will be created only when government figures out how to finance it. The real...

Cargo theft rising.
December 17, 2007... BYLINE: BY WILLIAM HOFFMAN The cargo thieves who broke into a Cranbury, N.J., warehouse were surprised to discover the freight they planned to steal had already been shipped. But rather than leave empty-handed, they broke through a wall...

THE WEEK.(restructuring of management of Maersk Line )(Tommy Thomsen Clipper Group L.P.)(CMA-CGM to acquire United States Lines)
December 10, 2007... Shakeup Looms At Maersk: The restructuring of A.P. Moller-Maersk's container operations that began last summer apparently isn't over. A.P. Moller-Maersk is poised to launch another restructuring that will involve a shakeup of senior...

That sinking feeling.(Forecasts and trends of Containerization imports)
December 10, 2007... BYLINE: BY PETER T. LEACH Conventional wisdom says that while the growth rate of U.S. containerized imports will continue to slow through at least the first half of next year, the global economic expansion will sop up much of the...

The 'Green Cowboy'.(S. David Freeman)
December 10, 2007... BYLINE: BY STEPHANIE NALL S. David Freeman is the former head of the Tennessee Valley Authority. He's worked at the Environmental Protection Agency, been the top guy at public utilities in Sacramento and Los Angeles and worked for energy...

There they go again.(growth and management of shipping and freight transportation industry)
December 10, 2007... BYLINE: BY GARY FERRULLI Many of us recall Ronald Reagan during a presidential debate saying, "There you go again." Those words resonate as I think about some of the recent statements from various people associated with international...

What's a 3PL?(customs-trade partnership against terrorism by shipping industry)
December 10, 2007... BYLINE: BY R.G. EDMONSON Customs and Border Protection would like to invite third-party logistics providers to join the ranks of the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism. More than 7,700 shippers, carriers and intermediaries have...

Score one for the WTO.(role of World Trade Organization in international trade)
December 10, 2007... BYLINE: BY ALAN M. FIELD Some critics have accused the World Trade Organization of being hostile to U.S. interests. But China's recent decision to lift illegal tax incentives for China-based exporters provides additional proof that the...

Lending crisis? What lending crisis?(subprime crises affecting the shipping industry)
December 10, 2007... BYLINE: BY BILL MONGELLUZZO Volatile credit markets and soaring foreclosure rates are hammering the residential real estate industry, but developers of warehouses and distribution centers are serenely aloof from the turmoil. ...

North and south.(licencing of port truck drivers)
December 10, 2007... BYLINE: BY COURTNEY TOWER When the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach were thinking of licensing harbor truckers as part of a program to reduce air pollution, they sent a delegation to Vancouver, British Columbia, to learn how a similar...

Keep on trucking.(forecast of American Trucking Associations about future of trucking in freight transportation industry)
December 10, 2007... BYLINE: BY JOHN GALLAGHER A study prepared for the American Trucking Associations says motor carriers will maintain or slightly expand their share of the domestic freight market over the next 12 years despite rising costs and a shortage...

With Lawrence Friedman, Barnes, Richardson & Colburn.(Interview)
December 10, 2007... BYLINE: BY ALAN M. FIELD Lawrence Friedman is a partner at the global law firm Barnes, Richardson & Colburn. He specializes in representing importers who face issues of compliance with U.S. Customs law, including the classification and...

Who pays?(impact of infrastructure development on transportation industry)
December 10, 2007... BYLINE: BY PETER FRIEDMANN Many believe the most pressing task facing U.S. transportation is to replace and expand our national infrastructure to handle burgeoning trade volumes. The question is: "Who will pay for it?" The political...

Washington coming to its senses.(interpretation of law for security of containers)
December 10, 2007... BYLINE: BY PETER TIRSCHWELL From the perspective of the trade community, it was a truly grotesque spectacle of policymaking when the Democratic-controlled Congress earlier this year rammed through the 100 percent foreign-port scanning...

All risks aren't equal.(management of budget allocation towards security of ports)(Editorial)
December 10, 2007... BYLINE: BY JOSEPH BONNEY Busy with other things on the first weekend after Thanksgiving, most Americans probably missed the story. But the politicians sure didn't. Their outcry was vehement and bipartisan. "Unconscionable," said Sen....

RADAR SCREEN.(management of security filing regulations)(conversion of cranes from diesel to electrical for environment manegement at Port of Long Beach)(management of linear cargo by National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia )
December 10, 2007... 10+2 may equal '08 for implementation It may take a year to fully implement the 10+2 or security filing regulation, Customs and Border Protection Commissioner W. Ralph Basham told an audience at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The data...

Is China losing its edge?
December 3, 2007... BYLINE: BY PETER T. LEACH When the global quotas on imports of textiles from China expired at the end of 2004, the textile industry braced for a massive shift in production to China. With its huge low-cost labor force, China appeared...

Spinning its wheels.
December 3, 2007... BYLINE: BY ALAN M. FIELD Ever since the North American Free Trade Agreement was launched in 1994, proponents of trade with Central America and the Caribbean have argued that a similar pact could yield all sorts of benefits for U.S....

Strength in numbers.
December 3, 2007... BYLINE: BY BILL MONGELLUZZO The Transpacific Stabilization Agreement scored a major coup in mid-November with the announcement that the traditionally independent China Shipping Container Lines will join the carrier discussion group in...

Flexible spending.(Federal Emergency Management Agency)
December 3, 2007... BYLINE: BY R.G. EDMONSON What a novel idea: A local port gets to decide how to spend federal grants for port security, rather than a Washington bureaucrat deciding for them. It's no fairy tale, and the government actually came up with...

Guilt by association?
December 3, 2007... BYLINE: BY ALAN M. FIELD U.S. multinationals long ago became accustomed to the embargo on exporting to Iran. In an effort to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons, many members of the trade community also have supported...

Opposite directions.
December 3, 2007... BYLINE: BY MICHAEL FABEY For U.S. shippers and forwarders, the airfreight business increasingly looks like two separate industries. International air cargo is taking wing as imports from Asia and trade with Europe grow. In contrast, the...

Spreading the wealth.
December 3, 2007... BYLINE: BY BILL DIBENEDETTO There's more to managing a supply chain than manufacturing, inventory and transportation integration. Financial strength throughout the chain is a critical element of the mix. While supply-chain management...

Up in the air.
December 3, 2007... BYLINE: BY TED PRINCE Many who work in the surface freight transportation industry spend a lot of time traveling, and it has been a terrible year for air travel. But we may be able to apply some of the lessons we learn from the current...

How to avoid a demurrage disaster.
December 3, 2007... BYLINE: BY ROBERT J. BECERRA A recent change to the terms and conditions typically offered by trade warehouses could put importers, exporters and shippers on the hook for thousands of dollars in additional fees. The change is de-signed to...

A new problem for exporters.
December 3, 2007... BYLINE: BY PETER TIRSCHWELL Just when U.S. exporters are better positioned then they have been in years because of the plummeting dollar, the system for getting containerized exports into foreign markets has all but broken down. And,...

Hamburg looks east.
December 3, 2007... BYLINE: BY JOSEPH BONNEY Juergen Sorgenfrei grew up 40 kilometers from the border between East and West Germany, and during his German military service, he was stationed near the Berlin Wall. Today, Sorgenfrei marvels at the changes...

RADAR SCREEN.
December 3, 2007... LA, Long Beach developing single security system The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are developing an integrated security system that will tie together their radar, sonar, TWIC, cameras and analytics networks. Cosmo Perrone, director...

THE WEEK.(Westbound Transpacific Stabilization Agreement )
December 3, 2007... McLean Family To Sell Trailer Bridge Stake: Trailer Bridge announced that the family of founder Malcom P. McLean intends to sell its stake in the Jones Act carrier. Trailer Bridge plans to work with the family to help it sell its 47.8 percent...