JoC Week articles from November 2007

JoC Week archives from November 2007

THE WEEK.(briefs)
November 26, 2007... US Weighs National Port Strategy: Maritime Administrator Sean Connaughton said the federal government may develop a new national port strategy. Speaking at the annual meeting of the American Institute of Marine Underwriters in New York,...

Frozen north.
November 26, 2007... BYLINE: BY R.G. EDMONSON No one is pouring tons of Jell-O pudding into the Great Lakes, and the rivers are not flowing gravy, but Canadian officials worry that the border is getting thicker. Thickening is the term the Canadians created...

GTX lives.(symposium on Global Trade Exchange)
November 26, 2007... BYLINE: BY R.G. EDMONSON Imagine a cloud. Surrounding the cloud are sources of information, financial data, purchase order data, shipping data, customs transaction data - all with arrows pointing into the cloud. What's inside the cloud...

Safety first.
November 26, 2007... BYLINE: BY ALAN M. FIELD Since Sept. 11, Customs and Border Protection has established security programs such as the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism, which promises benefits to companies that meet standards for protecting...

Prince Rupert East?
November 26, 2007... BYLINE: BY JOSEPH BONNEY When James Wooder lists the attributes of a proposed container terminal at Sydney, Nova Scotia, he nearly runs runs out of fingers to count them on: A location six miles off the Great Circle Route, with deep...

Changes in attitudes.
November 26, 2007... BYLINE: BY BILL MONGELLUZZO Despite dire warnings of a terminal capacity crunch and unbearable congestion at container ports, marine terminal operators on all coasts have unused capacity and are actively seeking customers for it. ...

Spend thrift.(procurement software used by transportation services)
November 26, 2007... BYLINE: BY BILL DIBENEDETTO Consider the paper clip, the pencil or the yellow legal pad arrayed on your desk. Now consider how those items and a multitude of other business and administrative objects and equipment got there. For...

Double trouble.
November 26, 2007... BYLINE: BY BILL DIBENEDETTO The flight path for air cargo remains smooth, with solid volume growth and rising demand for larger and more fuel-efficient freighters, especially to serve Asian markets. But there is some danger in the...

Building bridges.(Vinar Systems Ltd.)(Webb-India Pvt. Ltd.)
November 26, 2007... BYLINE: BY DAVID BIEDERMAN Jervis B. Webb International Co. began doing business in India in 1993. Looking to capture a share of India's fast-growing industrial building components market, the Farmington, Mich.-based manufacturer formed...

Rough road ahead.(trucking rates could rise next year)
November 26, 2007... BYLINE: BY JOHN GALLAGHER Trucking rates could rise next year - not because of stronger demand but because bankruptcies and mergers will tighten capacity and provide surviving carriers with added pricing power. In recent months,...

With Kate Vitasek, Supply Chain Visions.(Interview)
November 26, 2007... BYLINE: BY BILL DIBENEDETTO Kate Vitasek is the founder and managing partner of Supply Chain Visions, a Kirkland, Wash., consulting firm that specializes in supply-chain strategy and education. She is a faculty member at the University...

A hidden cost for American crews.
November 26, 2007... BYLINE: BY CAPT. WARREN LEBACK Buried in the costs of operating vessels employing U.S. citizen crews are protection-and-indemnity insurance premiums. These premiums, coupled with injury and illness claims and our litigious environment,...

A new worry for the trade community.(Column)
November 26, 2007... BYLINE: BY PETER TIRSCHWELL In my apparently na've, New Yorker's conception of Washington, D.C., when the champion of a fledgling, not universally supported federal program leaves office, the idea follows the same path out the door. I am...

Anyone's guess.(Transportation Worker Identification Credential program)(Column)
November 26, 2007... BYLINE: BY JOSEPH BONNEY Enrollment in the Transportation Worker Identification Credential program is just getting under way, and already there's a surprise. It was predicted that 750,000 workers would need TWIC cards for access to...

RADAR SCREEN.(launching of Automated Commercial Environment)
November 26, 2007... Easy does it on introduction of ACE The universe may have started with a big bang, but Customs and Border Protection will not launch ACE that way. Starting in January 2009, the Automated Commercial Environment will begin providing...

THE WEEK.
November 19, 2007... NWA Extends Winter Capacity Cuts: The New World Alliance will withdraw more capacity than in previous years as part of its winter capacity plans for the trans-Pacific. The alliance - comprising APL Ltd., Hyundai Merchant Marine and MOL - said...

Cream of the crop.
November 19, 2007... BYLINE: BY BILL MONGELLUZZO Combine tight bulk carrier capacity, soaring charter rates, an oversupply of export containers, a weak dollar and an ethanol-fueled boom in corn production, and what do you get? Answer: an increase in...

Hang together or hang separately.
November 19, 2007... BYLINE: BY JOSEPH BONNEY If you're looking for a national transportation policy to emerge during 2008, forget it. It's not going to happen during an election year. The issue is too complex for a campaign sound bite. Tom Finkbiner and...

Recommendations for intermodal improvements:.(Brief article)
November 19, 2007... 1. Reinforce the importance of intermodal connectors. Because they're not the specific domain of any transportation mode, they tend to be ignored in transportation planning and funding. 2. Expand the definition of intermodal connectors....

Burden of proof.
November 19, 2007... BYLINE: BY ALAN M. FIELD Importers from Canada and Mexico, beware. U.S. Customs and Border Protection may soon hold you responsible for keeping the records that prove your shipments were made in Mexico or Canada and qualify for...

Fruit friends.
November 19, 2007... BYLINE: BY R.G. EDMONSON When Bill Thomas was growing up in Philadelphia, grapes were something you saw in stores one season a year. While grapes today are a year-round staple in produce aisles, it's up to the U.S. Department of...

High risk, little reward.
November 19, 2007... BYLINE: BY ALAN M. FIELD Potholes are everywhere, and you never can tell if the next bridge has been blown up. There are dangerous roadblocks to pass through. Local chieftains must be appeased with favors. And the crime rate is through...

Tail wind.
November 19, 2007... BYLINE: BY IAN PUTZGER Air-cargo operators responded to weakness in trans-Pacific and domestic markets this year by shifting wide-body aircraft to the trans-Atlantic. Now they're looking even farther east as the United Arab Emirates and...

What a hoot!(PierPass)
November 19, 2007... BYLINE: BY BILL MONGELLUZZO Container ports and terminal operators will resist for as long as possible the costly and divisive exercise needed to establish a program of extended gate hours, but busy ports on both coasts will eventually...

Hard bargain.
November 19, 2007... BYLINE: BY PETER T. LEACH There is only one place in New York harbor where any of the existing six container terminals has room for expansion on a contiguous piece of property. That's on 38 acres of land next to the New York Container...

End of one era, start of another?
November 19, 2007... BYLINE: BY GARY FERRULLI I read recently of the last LASH vessel being removed from service, and the writer had several quotes from well-known industry people on the operating characteristics of the vessels. Most were of a nostalgic...

With Christopher Koch, World Shipping Council.
November 19, 2007... BYLINE: BY PETER T. LEACH Chris Koch is president and chief executive of the World Shipping Council, a Washington-based association whose 28 member carriers represent more than 90 percent of the global liner vessel capacity. Because most...

Bodies of evidence?
November 19, 2007... BYLINE: BY JAMES GIERMANSKI Up until 40 years ago or so, federal law enforcement could not obtain a warrant for "evidence" of a crime. Officers could only obtain a warrant for "fruits, "instrumentalities" and "contraband." In addition,...

How China challenges the US.
November 19, 2007... BYLINE: BY PETER TIRSCHWELL When I am in the U.S., which is most of the time, I am reminded almost daily in some way of the country's long list of problems - soaring health-care costs, the looming bankruptcy of Social Security, the...

Worth a look.
November 19, 2007... BYLINE: BY JOSEPH BONNEY Listening to a recent panel discussion at an industry conference, I had a sudden realization: If I hear one more PowerPoint talk about how cargo volume will triple in the next 20 years and gridlock appears...

RADAR SCREEN.
November 19, 2007... Celebration of WRDA may be premature Trade groups gushed praise on Congress after members voted on Nov. 6 to override President Bush's veto of the Water Resources Development Act of 2007. Now that the shouting is over, don't expect a...

A reach too far.(Case overview)
November 12, 2007... BYLINE: BY JOSEPH BONNEY Lawyers for the International Longshoremen's Association had argued all along that the Justice Department's civil racketeering lawsuit against the ILA was a case of government overreaching. On Nov. 1, U.S....

A deal is a . . .
November 12, 2007... BYLINE: BY JOSEPH BONNEY Development of a marine terminal at a prime waterfront site in Bayonne, N.J., has followed a twisting path. Now that path appears to be leading toward a courtroom. On Sept. 20, the Bayonne Local Redevelopment...

Planning ahead in Pacific Northwest.
November 12, 2007... BYLINE: BY BILL DIBENEDETTO It's budget season for the Pacific Northwest's two major container ports, and Tacoma and Seattle are bracing for at least one more year of sluggish traffic before volumes begin to recover. The ports also...

A rebuilding year.
November 12, 2007... BYLINE: BY BILL MONGELLUZZO The U.S. Class 1 railroads in 2007 will likely finish the year with a decrease in intermodal traffic compared to 2006. That's the bad news. The good news is that rail carriers remain optimistic and see a...

Profit motive.(Central Oregon & Pacific Railroad )
November 12, 2007... BYLINE: BY ARI NATTER When an Oregon short-line railroad suddenly shut down and sent shippers scrambling, some members of Congress became suspicious of the reasons behind the closure. Central Oregon & Pacific Railroad was in the...

Wait till next year.
November 12, 2007... BYLINE: BY BILL MONGELLUZZO If conditions in the major east-west trade lanes in 2008 mirror what took place this year, container lines should be able to force through some rate increases in the U.S. import trade from Asia. That's not...

A bigger box.
November 12, 2007... BYLINE: BY BILL MONGELLUZZO Importers who consistently ship large volumes of freight to inland U.S. destinations may be able to reduce transloading costs with APL Ltd.'s new "ocean-capable" 53-foot containers in the trade from South...

Falling through the cracks.
November 12, 2007... BYLINE: BY R.G. EDMONSON The Regional Maritime Security Coalition for the Columbia River has fallen into a bureaucratic black hole. After spending more than $3 million of Transportation Security Administration money to build a high-tech...

Separation anxiety.
November 12, 2007... BYLINE: BY ALAN M. FIELD A decade ago, Canada was in debt - big time - and its economy was widely viewed as uncompetitive in global markets. By 2001, the Canadian dollar was trading as low as 61 U.S. cents. Conventional wisdom held that...

Running the runways.
November 12, 2007... BYLINE: BY PETER T. LEACH At 27, Zac Posen is a wunderkind in the New York fashion world. His elegant clothes shimmer on the runways during New York's Fashion Week and adorn the likes of Nicole Kidman, Bette Midler, Gwyneth Paltrow and...

THE WEEK.
November 5, 2007... TSA Announces More TWIC Ports: The Transportation Security Administration said it plans to extend enrollment in the Transportation Worker Identification Credential to 38 deep-water and inland ports by Dec. 31. Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss.,...

Tilt.
November 5, 2007... BYLINE: BY BILL MONGELLUZZO Frank Pisano is regulatory vice president and general manager of Trans Pacific Container Service Corp., and he's accustomed to the way things are done at Southern California ports. So when he went to...

Stalled out.
November 5, 2007... BYLINE: BY BILL MONGELLUZZO Political pressure, the prospect of extensive litigation and an urgent need for port expansion have combined to scuttle a plan to require harbor trucking companies at Los Angeles and Long Beach to use employee...

PMA to seek change in shifts.
November 5, 2007... BYLINE: BY BILL MONGELLUZZO Political pressure, the prospect of extensive litigation and an urgent need for port expansion have combined to scuttle a plan to require harbor trucking companies at Los Angeles and Long Beach to use employee...

Faster, better, cheaper - and safer.
November 5, 2007... BYLINE: BY ALAN F. FIELD According to a recent report by Aberdeen Group, a growing number of global companies are trying to squeeze more business value from their supply-chain technology. Automation is no longer just an operational tool...

Hidden headaches.(Management Dynamics)
November 5, 2007... BYLINE: BY ALAN M. FIELD Your subsidiary in Mexico needs to display a sample of your latest machinery at a trade show, so you ask the marketing department to ship one right away. Surprise! Your shipment is held up by Mexican customs...

Left behind.
November 5, 2007... BYLINE: BY WILLIAM ARMBRUSTER Suppose you're a U.S. company with an opportunity to break into the export market for the first time, or to expand your overseas sales if you're already exporting. It's all because the weak dollar has given...

End in sight for Cogsa talks.
November 5, 2007... BYLINE: BY R.G. EDMONSON It's been a long and often tedious five years of negotiation, but an international working group is close to finishing a new international agreement to govern liability for damage to ocean cargo. The agreement...

Silver Jubilee.
November 5, 2007... BYLINE: BY TED PRINCE This month, the intermodal industry celebrates a silver anniversary with its 25th Intermodal Expo. Although rapid rail intermodal growth has slowed, intermodal is the largest commodity moved by railroads. In the...

Twice burned.(Hub Group)(DNJ Transportation)
November 5, 2007... BYLINE: BY BILL DIBENEDETTO Hub Group is coming off a record third quarter for profit, has strong cash flow and working capital and no debt, and has backed away from two low-cost acquisitions this year. Last month, Hub terminated a...

With Javier Chamorro, ProNicaragua.(Investment Promotion Agency)(Interview)
November 5, 2007... BYLINE: BY ALAN M. FIELD Javier Chamorro is executive director of ProNicaragua, the Investment Promotion Agency of the government of Nicaragua, the official window of entry for foreign investors and the coordinator of official investment...

Caution about corruption.
November 5, 2007... BYLINE: BY MICHAEL H. LANE Of the many trade initiatives and outreach efforts to help developing countries, there is one in my experience that stands out as successful, and that is the African Growth and Opportunity Act. In countries...

Room to grow.
November 5, 2007... BYLINE: BY JOSEPH BONNEY Ditto truckers and air carriers. Bulk carriers are enjoying flush times driven by strong demand for commodities, but theirs is an up-or-down business that doesn't stay rosy forever. So if you're looking for...

RADAR SCREEN.(Puerto Rico Port Authority)(Port of Tacoma)
November 5, 2007... Carrier-controlled terminals gain traction in East Most of the new container terminals springing up along the East and Gulf coasts have something in common - they are carrier-controlled facilities whose primary users will be their parent...