JoC Week articles from July 2007

JoC Week archives from July 2007

THE WEEK.
July 2, 2007... White Returning To Baltimore: Two years after his controversial ousting as executive director of the Maryland Port Administration, Jim White is returning. White, a well-regarded maritime executive, served as executive director for six years...

Crunch time.(cargo vessels, capacity shortage)
July 2, 2007... BYLINE: BY BILL MONGELLUZZO If you're an importer or non-vessel-operating common carrier and you haven't secured vessel space for this year's peak season, beware. What you see now in Asia-to-U.S. capacity is all that will be there during...

A for effort, B for progress.(economic progress of India)
July 2, 2007... BYLINE: BY PETER T. LEACH While its poor infrastructure remains an obstacle to its emergence as one of the world's major trading nations, India is starting to make headway in building container terminals and expanding its road and rail...

Plugged in.(APL Ltd.)
July 2, 2007... BYLINE: BY STEPHANIE NALL APL Ltd. has developed an "elegant and simple" way for vessels to plug into shore-side power and turn off engines while in port for less than one-sixth the capital cost of a similar system being developed in...

Numbers game.(freight transportation industry)
July 2, 2007... BYLINE: BY TED PRINCE The freight transportation industry has always revolved around numbers. With the increased focus of the financial community, the numbers game has become a never-ending source of interest. Recently, it has been the...

Shakeup at Maersk.(A.P. Moller-Maersk Line)(Company overview)
July 2, 2007... BYLINE: BY PETER T. LEACH As the shock waves from A.P. Moller-Maersk's management shakeup begin to subside, Maerskologists are poring over the seismic reports. Do the changes signal a disagreement over future strategy for Maersk Line,...

A developing situation.(football stadium at Tenth Avenue Marine Terminal)
July 2, 2007... BYLINE: BY BILL MONGELLUZZO Cargo volumes at the Port of San Diego have tripled in recent years, thanks to a surge in niche cargoes such as automobiles, winter fruits, cement and fertilizer. So the local maritime industry was shocked when...

Warehouse arsenal.(ProLogis)
July 2, 2007... BYLINE: BY BILL DIBENEDETTO ProLogis is taking the ubiquitous real-estate mantra - location, location, location - to a new level. The company already has distribution centers near virtually every major port and intermodal center worldwide,...

ProLogis posts profit.(Financial report)(Brief article)
July 2, 2007... BYLINE: BY BILL DIBENEDETTO ProLogis, a publicly held U.S. real estate investment trust, is coming off a strong first quarter that featured the acquisition of Parkridge Holdings Ltd., a European developer, for $1.3 billion. The deal was...

An idea that won't go away.(Department of Homeland Security's Michael Jackson on supply chain security )
July 2, 2007... BYLINE: BY R.G. EDMONSON In November 2005, Deputy Homeland Security Secretary Michael Jackson laid out his vision of supply-chain security of the future. He told a Customs Trade Symposium audience that an advanced computer system would...

Less than meets the eye.(Chinese export tax credit curb)
July 2, 2007... BYLINE: BY ALAN M. FIELD Is China really making a more serious effort to curb its exports to the U.S.? This much is clear: China's government tried to create that impression with an announcement last month. China's Finance Ministry...

With Mario Mancuso, Bureau of Industry and Security.(Interview)
July 2, 2007... BYLINE: BY R.G. EDMONSON Mario Mancuso, the undersecretary in charge of the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security, has had to hit the ground running. He was in office barely a couple of weeks when BIS published a new rule...

Give freight a vote.(Department of Transportation)
July 2, 2007... BYLINE: BY W. GORDON FINK Recent Journal of Commerce articles addressing our nation's intermodal infrastructure needs are part of the important effort to educate our industry, elected officials and the public about current and future...

Portland's untapped potential.
July 2, 2007... BYLINE: BY PETER TIRSCHWELL At the Port of Portland, Ore., the numbers don't make sense. In a West Coast port range so starved for capacity that terminals costing hundreds of millions of dollars are being built or planned from British...

Changes at Maersk.(Maersk Inc. appoints Nils Smedegaard Andersen)
July 2, 2007... BYLINE: BY JOSEPH BONNEY Any time a big company replaces its chief executive, it's news. When two potential future CEOs also leave, it's a bigger story. When the changes occur at the world's largest container shipping company, it sets the...

RADAR SCREEN.
July 2, 2007... Here's a chance to weigh in on Customs' 10+2 proposal Customs and Border Protection's new security-driven "10+2" program for advance collection of import data is a hot topic in the import trade. Customs plans to demand advance filing of 10...

Hard driving.
July 9, 2007... BYLINE: BY JOSEPH BONNEY HELP WANTED: Truck driver to haul containers to/from piers. Must have commercial license and pass drug screen. Other requirements include reliability, stamina, mechanical aptitude, good judgment, hand-eye...

Driving for dollars.(Clean Air Action Plan, trucking industry)
July 9, 2007... BYLINE: BY BILL MONGELLUZZO The controversial Clean Air Action Plan proposed by the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach may render moot a question that has vexed the trucking industry since it was deregulated more than 25 years ago: Are...

See you in court.(clean air plan, truckers non-compliance)
July 9, 2007... BYLINE: BY BILL MONGELLUZZO For lawyers, the two-month delay in the final draft of a clean-air plan for trucks at ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach means one thing: They have more time to prepare for the inevitable litigation. ...

Still on course.(A.P. Moller-Maersk Line)
July 9, 2007... BYLINE: BY GARY FERRULLI The announcement from Copenhagen late last month that A.P. Moller-Maersk was restructuring its top management attracted a lot of attention for a multitude of reasons. Speculation is rampant about how it happened,...

Black magic.
July 9, 2007... BYLINE: BY PETER T. LEACH When carriers and shippers negotiate shipping contracts, they bring briefcases full of estimates of vessel capacity and demand. Carriers wield forecasts that capacity will be tight and the demand for it high, and...

WSC takes a stand on emissions.(World Shipping Council)
July 9, 2007... BYLINE: BY R.G. EDMONSON Chris Koch is a proud man. As head of the World Shipping Council, Koch says the industry "has reached the point where we're tired of being considered the bad guys in the port communities" when it comes to the...

One-way street?
July 9, 2007... BYLINE: BY ALAN M. FIELD When the bilateral free-trade agreement between Australia and the U.S. took effect on Jan. 1, 2005, global companies predicted that both countries would benefit. More than just an agreement governing trade in...

Slow growth Down Under.
July 9, 2007... BYLINE: BY BILL MONGELLUZZO The outlook this year in the U.S. trade with Australia and New Zealand is steady as it goes, but that's not necessarily a good thing for ocean carriers. Both the northbound and southbound trades were weak in...

It's not just about fines anymore.
July 9, 2007... BYLINE: BY R.G. EDMONSON James Bartlett was an officer in the Navy's Judge Advocate General office in 1991 when the Tailhook scandal broke out. Female officers brought sexual harassment charges against the Navy after an incident in Las...

Phasing in ACE.(automated commercial environment)
July 9, 2007... BYLINE: BY ALAN M. FIELD Companies that deal with Customs and Border Protection are looking forward to the rollout of the agency's long-awaited computer system, the Automated Commercial Environment. But they have a message for Customs:...

Weak signal for RFID.(radio frequency identification)
July 9, 2007... BYLINE: BY WILLIAM HOFFMAN There's a chicken-and-egg problem for radio-frequency identification technology: Is the logistics industry slow to adopt it because there aren't enough skilled professionals to install and maintain RFID systems?...

With Patrick J. Sweeney II, ODIN technologies Inc.(Interview)
July 9, 2007... BYLINE: BY ALAN M. FIELD Patrick Sweeney is chief executive and co-founder of ODIN technologies. Based in Dulles, Va., ODIN is a major provider of services for RFID deployment initiatives, including related research and software. Its...

Why not charge for services rendered?(Column)
July 9, 2007... BYLINE: BY DAVID ATKINS I rise in support of our industry, which is so vital to the world economy, and also to plead the case for a cooperative fee schedule. We all go to accountants and lawyers and other professionals and expect to pay...

Good move on the environment.
July 9, 2007... BYLINE: BY PETER TIRSCHWELL Container lines often take criticism for things that go wrong, so it's only fair to give them credit when they do something right. Often when it comes to the carriers, we hear about inconsistent customer...

No one stands alone.
July 9, 2007... BYLINE: BY JOSEPH BONNEY When professors Thomas Speh and Arnold Matz examined the import-warehouse industry in a recent report for ProLogis, they were struck by the ripple effect of surges or delays in cargo flows, and how warehouses are...

RADAR SCREEN.
July 9, 2007... Weaker dollar boosts exports; Savannah benefits Container volumes through the Port of Savannah hit a new record in May, largely because of a huge increase in containerized exports to destinations in Europe, the Mediterranean and Asia....

THE WEEK.
July 9, 2007... CKYH Plans New Service: The CKYH alliance this month will start a new service linking the Mediterranean, Asia and the U.S. The service will combine the existing CMX (China Mediterranean Express) service with the PAS (Pacific Southwest) service....

Change at the ILA.(John Bowers will retire from International Longshoremen's Association)(Richard Hughes Jr. will replace him)
July 16, 2007... BYLINE: BY JOSEPH BONNEY This isn't the exit that John Bowers had hoped for. At 84, the president of the International Longshoremen's Association has been ready to retire for several years. First, though, he wanted to clear the ILA of a...

'Don't bring sunscreen'.(International Longshoremen's Association convention on direct election of delegates)(Brief article)
July 16, 2007... BYLINE: BY JOSEPH BONNEY At the last International Longshoremen's Association convention in 2003, ILA dissidents offered a fistful of proposals calling for direct election of delegates, increased emphasis on organizing, and expanded...

Wild about Chery.(Chery Automobile Company Ltd. was signed up by DaimlerChrysler AG for developing energy efficient cars)
July 16, 2007... BYLINE: BY PETER T. LEACH U.S. automobile sales may have hit the skids, but the shipping lines that carry cars internationally are scrambling to keep up with demand. That's because high gasoline prices have boosted demand for smaller,...

Wheels in motion.(ports freight transport statistics)
July 16, 2007... BYLINE: BY BILL DIBENEDETTO If you're used to seeing giant cranes splayed against the sky at the typical container or general cargo terminal, the Totem Ocean Trailer Express facility in Tacoma might be something of a shock. For one thing,...

Peak blues.
July 16, 2007... BYLINE: BY IAN PUTZGER At the end of last October, at a time when airfreight exports from Asia are traditionally at their zenith, Air Canada did something that would have been unthinkable in previous years. The airline returned one leased...

Reboot for PC supply chains.(computer industry)
July 16, 2007... BYLINE: BY WILLIAM HOFFMAN The shift of consumer preferences toward notebook computers and away from desktop will have significant consequences for the industry's supply chains - and not just in terms of more compact shipments. IDC, a...

After the storm.(United Arab Emirates and United States trade relations)
July 16, 2007... BYLINE: BY ALAN M. FIELD DECKEHAD: Despite the DP World incident, importers in the United Arab Emirates still 'love everything American' Shortly after last year's uproar over a United Arab Emirates company buying a global terminal...

SSA Marine joins the list.(The Goldman Sachs Group Inc. acquiring stake in Carrix Inc.)
July 16, 2007... BYLINE: BY BILL MONGELLUZZO Financial institutions have again demonstrated their appetite for marine terminal properties. The latest example came this month when Goldman Sachs Infrastructure Partners purchased a 49 percent stake in Carrix...

Sand castles.(Dubai Internet City, Dubai International Financial Center, Convention complex and Dubai Logistics City)(Brief article)
July 16, 2007... By luring foreign companies with the promise of tax-exempt status and total ownership of their local subsidiaries, Dubai is rapidly becoming the leader in a variety of business sectors in the Middle East. These projects will offer opportunities...

Growth market.(Israel)
July 16, 2007... BYLINE: BY ROSE HOROWITZ When Skil-Care Corp. was seeking to expand its sales overseas, Israel looked like a viable market. "The market for our products is only in countries that provide a very high-level standard of care for the elderly...

Getting a handle on trade.(Trade Collaborator 14.0 from Management Dynamics Inc.)
July 16, 2007... BYLINE: BY ALAN M. FIELD Corporate supply chains are getting more complex, which means more difficulty complying with trade laws and rules. Global companies now must generate accurate documents not only about their U.S. imports and exports...

Government: problem or panacea?(presidential elections and transportation industry)
July 16, 2007... BYLINE: BY TED PRINCE As the presidential race gets under way, candidates from both parties are being asked to articulate their policies and positions on a range of issues, and to tell the American people what role government should play....

With John C. Martin, Martin Associates.(Interview)
July 16, 2007... BYLINE: BY PETER T. LEACH John Martin is founder and president of Martin Associates, a Lancaster, Pa.-based consulting firm that provides economic, market and planning studies to most U.S. seaports, as well as to terminal operators, ocean...

Why China won't revalue.(yuan)
July 16, 2007... BYLINE: BY PETER MORICI An undervalued yuan offers Beijing great advantages but imposes significant costs on the U.S. economy. That is not likely to change any time soon because those costs are not apparent to many Americans feasting on...

Why we need a national policy.(for transportation)
July 16, 2007... BYLINE: BY LAWRENCE H KAUFMAN The Department of Transportation was created 40 years ago with a mandate to develop a comprehensive national transportation policy. The first few DOT secretaries attempted to do what they had been assigned....

The less things change ...(International Longshoremen's Association appoint Richard Hughes Jr. )
July 16, 2007... BYLINE: BY JOSEPH BONNEY During the last 80 years, there have been 14 U.S. presidents, seven popes, eight chief justices of the United States and 22 managers of the New York Yankees - and that's counting Billy Martin just once. Over...

RADAR SCREEN.
July 16, 2007... Maher Terminals led, but others didn't follow You know what they say about pioneers - they're the ones that get the arrows in their chests. In April 2006, Maher Terminals began keeping truck gates open on Saturdays at its big terminal at...

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.(Letter to the editor)
July 16, 2007... Cosco isn't leaving Port of Seattle I would like to clarify some remarks about intermodal cargo at the Port of Seattle that were referenced in The Journal of Commerce ("Running in Place," June 4). First, Cosco is not abandoning the...

THE WEEK.
July 16, 2007... Japan Eyes US, EU Trade Pacts: Will Japan be the next big economy to join the U.S. in a free-trade agreement? It will be if Japan has its way. A new government report urges the world's second-largest economy to lay plans for free-trade pacts...

Cocktail for growth.
July 23, 2007... BYLINE: BY PETER T. LEACH For more than a year, there have been predictions that the dollar's decline against most major foreign currencies would boost U.S. exports. Now the forecast is coming to fruition in a robust way. Exports are...

Horse race.(top 50 container fleet operators)
July 23, 2007... BYLINE: BY PETER T. LEACH The latest figures from AXSLiner on the Top 50 Container Fleet Operators reveal some interesting changes. Maersk Line, the world's largest shipping line, remains atop the world list in nominal TEU fleet capacity,...

TWIC: Easier legislated than done.(transportation worker identification credential program)
July 23, 2007... BYLINE: BY R.G. EDMONSON As far as Rep. Frank LoBiondo is concerned, this belongs in Ripley's. "It's really hard to believe," the New Jersey Republican said. "We passed a bill, had it signed into law, and they ignore it. They're really...

Why not Portland?(Zim Integrated Shipping Services suspends service to Portland)
July 23, 2007... BYLINE: BY BILL MONGELLUZZO The announcement that Zim Integrated Shipping Services will suspend its Portland service in September stirred up unpleasant memories for the Oregon port, which is trying to establish itself as a load center in...

Perception and reality.(Port of Portland, Oregon)
July 23, 2007... BYLINE: BY BILL MONGELLUZZO Portland executives are tired of hearing about the port's geographical handicaps - that they're nine hours from open sea, that two pilots must be hired to guide ships up the Columbia River, and that the port's...

Testing ground.(Colombia's free trade agreement with the US)
July 23, 2007... BYLINE: BY ALAN M. FIELD In the struggle to contain the influence of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, no country plays a more important role than Colombia. A steadfast military ally of the U.S. and the largest recipient of U.S. foreign...

Regulatory roadblocks.(Caterpillar's initiative for remanufactured component regulations)
July 23, 2007... BYLINE: BY R.G. EDMONSON For Caterpillar, the issue is "remans." It's the shorthand Cat uses for remanufactured components. For example, the company refurbishes old diesel engines to new-engine specifications. They're given the same...

On the fast track.
July 23, 2007... BYLINE: BY BILL MONGELLUZZO The Alameda Corridor is handling more containers than ever, and if the trend continues, the agency that operates the intermodal rail route may be able to retire its huge debt five to 10 years early. That's good...

Can carriers solve their dilemma?
July 23, 2007... BYLINE: BY GARY FERRULLI Two senior shipping executives that I know and admire have been in the news recently, discussing essentially the same issue - the long-term viability of ocean carriers. Rudy Mack, who's retiring as chief executive...

With Christopher Lofgren, Schneider National Inc.(Interview)
July 23, 2007... BYLINE: BY BILL MONGELLUZZO Christopher B. Lofgren is president and chief executive of Schneider National. He joined the trucking and logistics company in 1994 as vice president of engineering and systems. Lofgren holds a doctorate in...

Distinguishing fact from fiction.(container security devices)
July 23, 2007... BYLINE: BY EARL AGRON When we watch a movie based on historical events, it can be hard to distinguish fact from fiction. This blurring of the lines between reality and fantasy also occurs in the container transportation industry. Consider...

Behind the acquisition frenzy.
July 23, 2007... BYLINE: BY PETER TIRSCHWELL As one marine terminal operator after another has been snapped up by in-vestment firms for extra-ordinary prices this year, many in the maritime industry have been taken aback by the arrival of unfamiliar...

The bright side of lower expectations.(RFID equipment)
July 23, 2007... BYLINE: BY ALAN M. FIELD Human beings are the only creatures who believe that they can predict the future. I say "believe," because even the sagest seers are almost always wrong. The futurology business has consistently failed to prepare...

RADAR SCREEN.
July 23, 2007... Can TWIC appeals be handled efficiently? Delays in the Transportation Worker Identification Credential program are one source of congressional angst, but another is how the Transportation Security Administration will manage applicants who...

THE WEEK.
July 23, 2007... Bowers Says Tiered Wages Should End: International Longshoremen's Association President John Bowers said tiered wages and caps on container-royalty bonuses should be eliminated when the ILA negotiates its next master contract in 2010. Speaking...

THE WEEK.
July 30, 2007... Bowers Passes The Torch: John Bowers managed to break the big news of the week before a water-main break disrupted the International Longshoremen's Association Convention in Hollywood, Fla. In his opening speech to delegates, Bowers delivered a...

A 100 percent mess.(influence of containers safety regulations on trade)
July 30, 2007... BYLINE: BY R.G. EDMONSON No one in the trade community was putting a happy spin on what Congress did last week. A conference committee to reconcile House and Senate versions of a bill to implement the unfinished business of the National...

Scan-all at a glance.(laws and regulations of container security)(Brief article)
July 30, 2007... Section 1701 of the Implementing the 9/11 Commission Recommendations Act of 2007 begins: "A container that was loaded on a vessel in a foreign port shall not enter the United States . . . unless the container was scanned by non-intrusive...

Poisoning the trade waters.(influence of food safety on health of people)
July 30, 2007... BYLINE: BY ALAN M. FIELD The whole world loves Chinese food, but a recent rash of scandals about adulterated, dangerous Chinese food products has everyone wondering whether food products produced in China are safe to eat. One Chinese...

'Dead in the water'.(influence of free trade agreement on trade and commerce)
July 30, 2007... BYLINE: BY ALAN M. FIELD When negotiators from the U.S. and South Korea announced in April that they had concluded a bilateral free-trade agreement, the trade community rejoiced. Negotiators and trade advocates confidently predicted the...

Navigating the customs maze.(influence of growth in trade on customs administration)
July 30, 2007... BYLINE: By DAVID BIEDERMAN Anritsu is a global provider of telecommunications testing, and business is good. But there's a downside: As shipments have increased, so has the work involved in making sure shipments comply with customs...

Left for dead, Hong Kong thrives.(growth and analysis of economic conditions)
July 30, 2007... BYLINE: BY WILLIAM ARMBRUSTER "The rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated." - Mark Twain Margaret Fong was in a mood for reflection last month at receptions in Washington, New York and San Francisco that marked the 10th...

Setting back the clock.(influence of case on laws and regulations on services of truck drivers)
July 30, 2007... BYLINE: BY WILLIAM CASSIDY Truck drivers came up an hour short last week when a federal court struck down rules governing the time they drive. In a new legal twist to federal regulators' attempts to write trucking hours-of-service...

Miniace, PMA settle lawsuit.(settlement of case between Joseph Miniace and Pacific Maritime Association )
July 30, 2007... BYLINE: BY BILL MONGELLUZZO A bitter, complicated legal dispute that followed the dismissal of Joseph Miniace as president of the Pacific Maritime Association has been quietly settled after three years of litigation in a federal court in...

Waterworld.(rankings of container ports)
July 30, 2007... BYLINE: BY PETER T. LEACH The Journal of Commerce's list of Top 50 Global Container Ports is an enigma of sorts. It's easy in this size-obsessed culture of ours to look at the biggest, the best . . . the now. But dig a little deeper, and...

Chemical dependency.(influence of growth in manufacturing costs on economic conditions)
July 30, 2007... BYLINE: BY BILL DIBENEDETTO With the U.S. economy already struggling under the weight of high energy costs, the trade deficit, the draining Iraq war and a downturn in the construction industry, we add another potential threat to the mix....

Washington merry-go-round.(influence of new safety regulations of containers)
July 30, 2007... BYLINE: BY JOSEPH BONNEY We've all heard what happens when you assume - you make an ASS out of U and ME. That saying should be engraved over the doors of the U.S. Capitol, if last week's action on container security scanning is an...

Dedication.(Company overview)
July 30, 2007... BYLINE: BY IAN PUTZGER An agreement that kicked in this month between German logistics giant Schenker and Emirates Airlines couldn't have come at a better time for airline executives. Schenker, one of the world's largest forwarders, signed...

Royal treatment.(distribution centers)
July 30, 2007... BYLINE: BY BILL MONGELLUZZO During the railroad boom of the 19th century, cattlemen and farmers on the Great Plains looked to Kansas City as their gateway to the eastern United States. Today, Kansas City is a hot spot of railroad activity...

With Bob Kothari, ICG Commerce.(Interview)
July 30, 2007... BYLINE: BY BILL DIBENEDETTO Bob Kothari is senior vice president of sales and business development for ICG Commerce, a Philadelphia-based business process outsourcing firm that specializes in procurement outsourcing. Kothari has been with...

United we stand?(antiterrorism measures for cargo industry)
July 30, 2007... BYLINE: BY DONALD A. PISANO The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks have necessitated tremendous efforts and attention toward cargo security. While previous efforts at just-in-time inventory management succeeded in squeezing out speed, efficiencies...

A new low.(bill ragarding 100 percent container scanning at ports)
July 30, 2007... BYLINE: BY PETER TIRSCHWELL Not that we needed further evidence in the current partisan political environment, but we are witnessing a complete breakdown in responsible policymaking in Washington. The 100 percent container-scanning bill...