Pacific Shipper articles from June 2008

Pacific Shipper archives from June 2008

Passing on Stampede Pass.
June 2, 2008... Enlarging BNSF Railway's Stampede Pass rail tunnel through western Washington's Cascade Mountains to accommodate double-stack trains has been the centerpiece of freight mobility planning for many years. Port and transportation interests...

Environmental review begins in Tacoma.
June 2, 2008... The Port of Tacoma has concluded that an array of pending terminal development and infrastructure projects are "reasonably likely" to have adverse environmental impact. The port recently began to discuss the potential environmental impact...

DHL shrinks network in deal with UPS.
June 2, 2008... Deutsche Post World Net last week unveiled a 10-year cooperation agreement with UPS as the centerpiece of a $2 billion restructuring of its money-losing DHL Express delivery operation in the United States. The mail and logistics...

WTSA steps up efforts to get floating fuel surcharges.
June 2, 2008... Member lines of the Westbound Transpacific Stabilization Agreement said they are stepping up efforts to win floating fuel surcharges in new service contracts amid the rapid rise in fuel prices, low surcharge levels to date and mounting...

GAO report says C-TPAT needs improvement.
June 2, 2008... Customs and Border Protection has taken steps to improve the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism, but a Government Accountability Office report identifies weaknesses in validation and record management that the agency should improve....

Outside the wall.
June 2, 2008... BYLINE: William Hoffman China's neighbors can see their opportunity as clearly as astronauts can see the Great Wall from space. As the Middle Kingdom progresses on its long journey from world's factory floor to value-added manufacturer...

Keeping the advantage.
June 2, 2008... BYLINE: Richard Knee   If you haven't booked the sailings for your time-sensitive Chinese imports, think about using airfreight because moving merchandise out of China is becoming ever-slower as the summer Olympic Games, set for...

Earthquake produces no massive tremor in trade.
June 2, 2008... BYLINE: WILLIAM ARMBRUSTER     The destruction caused by the devastating earthquake on May 12 that killed tens of thousands of people in Sichuan province is expected to have little impact on trade. Sichuan, located in...

China may double GDP.
June 2, 2008... China may be able to reach its target of doubling its gross domestic product per capita by 2010, compared to the 2000 level, according to a World Trade Organization report. "With continuing strong growth in the latter half of 2007, China's...

TSA: Shippers accept floating bunker charges.
June 2, 2008... Member lines in the Transpacific Stabilization Agreement have been largely successful in obtaining floating bunker charges in new service contracts, according to a statement released on May 22. "Well over 90 percent of signed contracts for...

Japan shrinks US trade gap.
June 2, 2008... Japan's merchandise trade surplus with the United States shrank for the eighth consecutive month in April on a year-on-year basis because of a continued decline in exports amid a slowdown in the U.S. economy, according to preliminary figures...

UPS moves intra-Asia hub.
June 2, 2008... Express carrier UPS is moving its intra-Asia air hub from the Philippines to Shenzhen, China, to cut transit times across Asia. The company also added five weekly flights in and out of Nagoya, Japan, to improve service to Japan's Chubu...

Carriers to launch loops from Asia to South America.
June 2, 2008... Four carriers -- "K" Line, CMA CGM, China Shipping Container Line and Maruba -- are teaming up to launch a new service on June 20 between Asia and the east coast of South America. The service will consist of two complementary strings (SEAS...

ProLogis leases China DC.
June 2, 2008... Distribution facility developer ProLogis has leased 194,000 square feet of distribution space in China to third-party logistics provider Guangzhou Hutchison Logistics Co. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. Hutchison...

More trains to serve Nehru port.
June 2, 2008... Indian Railways plans to increase the number of freight trains serving the Port of Jawaharlal Nehru to 21 per day from an average 18 at present, to cope with projected growth in volumes moving through the country's main container gateway. ...

Security screenings to increase air cargo costs.
June 2, 2008... BYLINE: MICHAEL FABEY Government memo to freight forwarders bemoaning the extra costs they'll have to eat to meet new mandates for screening air cargo: Get over it. "It's not my job to keep all freight forwarders in business," said...

Oakland hires Dunnigan for marketing position.
June 2, 2008... The Oakland Board of Port Commissioners appointed Lawrence Dunnigan as its new business development and international marketing manager. Dunnigan was previously the Northern California district sales manager for China Ocean Shipping Co. (Cosco)...

Metro Ports announces organization changes.
June 2, 2008...     Robert Waterman Frank Divona Metro Ports, the new brand of Metropolitan Stevedore Co., Southeast Crescent Shipping Co., Cape Fear Bulk LLC and Southeast Maritime Services LLC, which holds the Savannah...

Marine Exchange donates funds to Seafarers Center.
June 2, 2008...   Marine Exchange Executive Director Capt. Dick McKenna (right) presents a check to ISC Manager Pat Petite (left) and Assistant Manager Merry Jo Dickey (center). The Marine Exchange of Southern California recently donated to the...

CARB awards $221 million in transport cleanup funds.
June 2, 2008... The California Air Resources Board has agreed to dole out $221 million to entities around the state for pollution cleanup efforts. The majority of the money will be spent on new, cleaner-running trucks for locations around the state. The...

Horizon cancels fuel fee hike.
June 2, 2008... Horizon Lines has decided to cancel its planned fuel surcharge increase in the Hawaii and Guam trades. The carrier said in a service bulletin that it will maintain its surcharge of 33.75 percent. On May 12, it raised the surcharge for Hawaii...

Six more TWIC centers open.
June 2, 2008... Two Pacific Coast locations are among the six new enrollment centers for the Transportation Worker Identification Credential that will open by mid-June. According to the Transportation Security Administration, centers at Paulsboro, N.J.;...

California industrial space expands.
June 2, 2008...   A 296,490-square-foot building is the fourth completed industrial building at Southern California Logistics Center in Victorville. A trio of warehouse and distribution center facilities have been completed, adding to...

Shippers protest on Coos Bay.
June 2, 2008... BYLINE: JOHN D. BOYD RailAmerica is officially seeking to abandon a short line in Oregon that it closed last year for fear of tunnel collapse, and trying to head off potential sanctions from the Surface Transportation Board. Shippers...

BNSF: No double-stack plans for key PNW tunnel.
June 2, 2008... BNSF Railway has no immediate plans to enlarge its Stampede Pass tunnel through Washington's Cascade Mountains for double-stack trains. "It's on our radar screen but we'll being doing other capacity things before we crown out the tunnel," said...

Finding a way out.
June 9, 2008... After weeks of agreements, pledges and protests, South Korea has again delayed allowing U.S. beef to enter the country. There was great excitement when the Asian nation first said it would allow imports of U.S. beef. Officials there initially...

Oakland port to cut jobs.
June 9, 2008... Facing a difficult second half of the year with projected expenses expected to outpace revenue, the Port of Oakland is eliminating 60 to 70 jobs. The Northern California port authority, which runs the seaport as well as Oakland...

Long Beach approves terms for clean-trucks program.
June 9, 2008... The Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners last week voted to approve the terms for truckers to join its clean-trucks plan. Sign-ups for trucking companies are expected to begin in July. The concessions program is expected to reduce...

NRDC sues EPA over port truck emissions.
June 9, 2008... The Natural Resources Defense Council, the environmental group that successfully forced Southern California ports to dramatically change the way they do business, has filed a lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency. The NRDC's...

Basham: Scan-all is no cure-all.(Conference notes)
June 9, 2008... Customs and Border Protection continues to test 100 percent scanning of U.S.-bound containers at three overseas ports, but the scan-all should not be considered a cure-all, Commissioner Ralph Basham said last week. Basham, keynote speaker...

US hits EU poultry terms.
June 9, 2008... Just when poultry producers in the United States thought they were going to get a reprieve from the European Union's ban on imports of their chicken and turkey meat, the European Commission has issued a draft proposal of conditions to lift the...

United Nations calls for world action on food crisis.
June 9, 2008... U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon last week called for nations to seize "a historic opportunity" to revitalize agriculture in order to tackle the growing food crisis. Ban told a summit in Rome called by the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture...

Searching for a container.
June 9, 2008... BYLINE: STEPHANIE NALL For exporters of U.S. farm products, the focus of selling goods to foreign consumers has turned from exotic details such as learning foreign cultures and regulations to a childish scavenger hunt for a container and...

Export surge not temporary.
June 9, 2008... BYLINE: Peter Friedmann   Peter Friedman Editor's note: This column was written in response to articles detailing the lack of containers and vessel capacity for exports, especially of food products. Some ocean carriers charge...

Changing direction.
June 9, 2008... BYLINE: IAN PUTZGER Delta Cargo is building a $1.4 million perishables facility at its hub at Atlanta's Hartsfield Jackson International Airport Delta. The development reflects the airline's renewed focus on cargo after years of neglect...

Making molehills out of mountains: Empty containers in short supply.
June 9, 2008... BYLINE: WILLIAM ARMBRUSTER Exports are booming and exporters in the Midwest are facing a critical shortage of containers -- but try telling that to people driving along the highways outside many marine terminals. You'll get a puzzled look....

The end of paper filing.
June 9, 2008... BYLINE: R.G. Edmonson Scofflaws in Miami, your days of obfuscation are over: Jerry Greenwell is on your trail. Greenwell, trade ombudsman for the Census Bureau's Foreign Trade Division, is armed with the newly published Foreign Trade...

Saving fuel, the SmartWay.
June 9, 2008... BYLINE: WILLIAM HOFFMAN SmartWay is from the government, and it really is here to help you. In particular, SmartWay wants to help businesses cut their fuel consumption and carbon output -- all while saving money. Shippers and carriers...

Report: C-TPAT inadequate.(Report)
June 9, 2008... BYLINE: ARI NATTER The Customer-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism program isn't tough enough on shippers, the Government Accountability Office said in a new report. That has drawn the ire of some  powerful Congressional...

Congress weighs measures to restrict vessel pollution.
June 9, 2008... BYLINE: BILL MONGELLUZZO Vessel operators in the coming years will have to burn low-sulfur, high-cost fuel in ships that call at U.S. ports. While this requirement is inescapable, shipowners are still waiting for direction as to how clean...

DP World hopes to develop terminals in US.
June 9, 2008... BYLINE: WILLIAM ARMBRUSTER DP World, the Dubai-based marine terminal operator that became the center of a political firestorm two years ago because of its deal to acquire P&O Ports, still hopes to get into the terminal-operating business...

China buys more from US, but trade gap widens.
June 9, 2008... BYLINE: ALAN M. FIELD Think of it as another battle in the long war between spin doctors of trade. On one side, the supporters of stronger trade relations with China cite a recent report that U.S. exports to China grew 301 percent in...

What's not to like about Chile?
June 9, 2008... BYLINE: Richard Knee That reefer box carrying your fresh Chilean produce may well be employing atmosphere-control technology developed in Australia and market-launched in Chile by Mitsubishi, the Japanese industrial giant. Drawn to...

FMC still questioning clean-trucks plan.
June 9, 2008... BYLINE: BILL MONGELLUZZO The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach continue to meet with the Federal Maritime Commission to allay the commission's concerns about their clean-trucks program, but it's obvious that the ports question the FMC's...

Tacoma box volume up 4.6 percent in April.
June 9, 2008... Port of Tacoma container volume grew in April, for the first time this year, increasing 4.6 percent to 159,071 TEUs. The growth was driven mainly by a 27 percent burst in export containers for the month. In previous months, the port...

Georgia Ports Authority, Suez Canal sign partnership agreement.
June 9, 2008... The Georgia Ports Authority and the Suez Canal Authority have signed an agreement to jointly promote the all-water shipping route between Asia and the Indian subcontinent and the North American East Coast and the Port of Savannah via the Suez...

UPS Freight extends delivery guarantee to Canada.
June 9, 2008... UPS Freight has expanded its delivery reliability guarantee to shipments moving in both directions across the Canada-United States border. The unit of Atlanta-based UPS introduced its on-time performance guarantee in the United States in...

Anchorage given highest credit ratings.
June 9, 2008... Two national financial rating agencies have given the Port of Anchorage, Alaska, their highest ratings, actions that will facilitate financing of the port's ongoing $700 million expansion project. Standard & Poor's and Fitch Ratings...

Recycler gets OK to upgrade facility in Redwood City.
June 9, 2008... Sims Metal's $5 million plan to upgrade its scrap metal recycling operation at the Port of Redwood City, Calif., was unanimously approved late last month by the port commission. Since 1975, Sims has leased approximately 13 acres adjacent to...

Vancouver, Wash., port board approves mobile crane purchase.
June 9, 2008... Members of the Board of Commissioners of the Port of Vancouver recently approved the purchase of a second mobile harbor crane. The commission's vote authorizes Executive Director Larry Paulson to work with the port's marine and operations...

Weyerhaeuser considers sale of Westwood Shipping.
June 9, 2008... BYLINE: Stephanie Nall   The Westwood Victoria was named for the capital of British Columbia -- one of Westwood Shipping's main service areas. In 1892 -- a full eight years before he would form the company that still bears...

Manufacturers group names Boerstling transport director.
June 9, 2008... The National Association of Manufacturers has appointed Robyn Boerstling to the newly created position of director of transportation and infrastructure policy. Boerstling previously worked at the Department of Transportation, where she was...

AOTOS to honor Capo, Garvey.
June 9, 2008... The United Seamen's Service recently announced the recipients of its 2008 Admiral of the Ocean Sea Awards, which will be presented at its annual dinner-dance in New York on Nov. 7. This year's awards will be presented to James A. Capo,...

Foreign Trade Association hires Duntley.
June 9, 2008... The Foreign Trade Association of Southern California announced that effective July 16, Marian Duntley, who retires from Toyota Motor Sales on June 30, will join the FTA as its executive vice president. This newly created position will give...

Piracy or terrorism.
June 16, 2008... A recent report from the Rand Corp. drew a sharp distinction between piracy and terrorism at sea that's maybe technically correct, but can also get lost in translation and the subtleties involved. Some might submit that piracy is a form of...

China to restrict transport of hazmats for two months.
June 16, 2008... China's civil aviation authority will restrict transportation of dangerous goods in the country from July 1 through Sept. 30. The Civil Aviation Authority of China will forbid transportation of all dangerous goods except medical items for...

Long Beach budget crosses $1 billion mark.
June 16, 2008... The Port of Long Beach is poised to spend more than $1 billion in the next fiscal year as costs associated with its Clean Air Action Plan continue to rise. The Long Beach Harbor Commission's Finance and Support Services Committee approved...

US trade report buoys manufacturers.
June 16, 2008... Manufacturers found reason for optimism in last Tuesday's trade report from the U.S. Department of Commerce. Despite an 8 percent increase in the goods and services deficit, exports continued to climb in April. And although imports climbed...

EU says scan-all mandate will slow trade.
June 16, 2008... The European Union said it hopes a new U.S. president will relax legislation requiring foreign ports to scan every ocean container being shipped to the United States beginning July 1, 2012. The call for a softer interpretation of the U.S....

Industry wants leadership on national freight policy.
June 16, 2008... Representatives of the freight transportation industry told a Senate subcommittee that participation and leadership by the federal government is needed in crafting freight transportation and infrastructure policy. The hearing before the...

Taking a peek at the peak.
June 16, 2008... BYLINE: JOHN D. BOYD For the firms that book shippers' intermodal freight onto trains or the highways, the 2008 market is still riddled with uncertainties after five months and as it enters what operators hope will be a busier season. ...

BNSF's Rose says fuel costs have changed transport.
June 16, 2008... BYLINE: el costs have changed transport This year's soaring commodity prices will leave a permanent mark on future freight transportation, says BNSF Railway's Matthew K. Rose. The chairman, president and chief executive of the nation's...

Clean port policies lead to 'green' industry clusters.
June 16, 2008... BYLINE: BILL MONGELLUZZO For companies with "green" supply-chain technology, this is a great time. Public and private institutions have hundreds of millions of dollars available in grants, loans and other forms of assistance to move new...

Panama Canal backlog eases as normal bookings resume.
June 16, 2008... The Panama Canal Authority announced that the backlog of vessels waiting to transit the waterway has eased to the point where it is able to return to 17 per day the number of booking slots for "supers," or ships with a beam of 91 feet. The...

More Nehru trains urged.
June 16, 2008... Terminal operator DP World has asked India's state-run intermodal logistics provider, Container Corp., to provide at least 16 trains a day to reduce congestion at its box terminal at the Port of Jawaharlal Nehru. The move comes after the...

Colombo terminal project revived.
June 16, 2008... Sri Lanka has revived the bidding process for the planned $500 million container transshipment terminal at Colombo by reappointing committees to oversee the project. The government-appointed project committee will prepare a new proposal...

Hong Kong port box volume grows.
June 16, 2008... The Port of Hong Kong handled 5.8 million TEUs in the first quarter of 2008, an increase of 7 percent over the same period a year ago, according to the latest statistics released by the Census and Statistics Department of the Hong Kong Special...

Seoul-US beef deal sparks political turmoil in Korea.
June 16, 2008... In a move that could alter prospects for the proposed free-trade agreement with the United States, all of the senior aides to South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak have resigned in order to shoulder the blame for the mounting crisis over U.S....

China, Taiwan to discuss air cargo.
June 16, 2008... Officials from China and Taiwan have agreed to meet and discuss several issues, including a proposal to allow Taiwanese airlines to carry cargo along with passengers. The talks will be the first in a decade between the two countries....

Hyundai revamps service to Australia, India.
June 16, 2008... Hyundai Merchant Marine announced a restructuring of its container services covering Australia, India and the Red Sea. The carrier has split its Asia-Australia service into two loops, the Far East-Australia (FAL) and Far East-Australia 2...

Banana split.
June 16, 2008... BYLINE: ALAN M. FIELD Few fruits are more familiar - yet more mysterious - than the lowly banana. Bananas are the world's fourth-most-important staple crop, produced in more than 85 countries. Millions of small-scale farmers in Africa,...

TSA officials lag on developing TWIC readers.
June 16, 2008... BYLINE: R.G. Edmonson   Members of Congress are frustrated because of the TSA's slow pace in implementing TWIC. Sometime between now and the end of the year, maybe, a few ports may or may not begin testing the technology that...

Piracy, terrorism on the rise.
June 16, 2008... BYLINE: Bill DiBenedetto Piracy and terrorism on the high seas are on the rise, according a Rand Corp. report released this month. Over the 2000-to-2006 period, piracy, which is defined as boarding a ship to commit theft or another...

Liberty Ships celebrated.
June 16, 2008... Decades after its service in World War II, volunteers work to maintain the merchant vessel S.S. Jeremiah O'Brien. Sixty-four years ago, the ship was one of the heroes fighting at Normandy. On June 17, it will literally get to toot its own horn...

All-water is still in growth mode.
June 16, 2008... BYLINE: Richard Knee All-water routing to or from the East Coast no longer has to sell itself to U.S. companies doing business with the Far East, at least for now. To some shippers, in fact, moving cargo via the Panama or Suez canals...

Port of LA goes on a road show for truckers.
June 16, 2008... BYLINE: BILL MONGELLUZZO   Port officials are trying to entice large trucking companies to enter the port drayage business with eco-friendly equipment. With little to show for its offers of subsidies and other financial...

Long Beach to launch clean-trucks plan in July.
June 16, 2008... The Port of Long Beach in early July will launch its motor carrier concession program, which is the key element of the clean-trucks strategy that will reduce diesel pollution from trucks by 80 percent over the next five years. In addition...

Seattle port may expand T-30 box terminal project.
June 16, 2008... The Port of Seattle is planning to add another 16 acres to its Terminal 30 container terminal project, which would enlarge the facility to nearly 90 acres for China Shipping, which will move there next year. Charlie Sheldon, director of the...

West Coast loses market share.
June 16, 2008... BYLINE: BILL MONGELLUZZO The news just gets worse for West Coast ports. While they continue to hold a dominant share of the crucial import trade from Northeast Asia, ports from Southern California to the Pacific Northwest extended their...

Ports America wins PMA safety awards.
June 16, 2008... At the recent Pacific Maritime Association's 59th Annual Safety Awards banquets held at various locations on the West Coast, Ports America was honored with several awards for its achievements in workplace safety, including the 1st Place Coast...

CMA CGM (America) announces appointments.
June 16, 2008... Lynn Carden Fitzgerald was named corporate controller for CMA CGM (America) LLC. She will be in charge of general accounting, tax, accounts payable, financial systems, cash management and facilities management. In addition, Diane Mendez...

Risser joins JTS Logistics.
June 16, 2008... Johanson Transportation Service (JTS), a third-party supply-chain solutions provider, has hired Matthew Risser as logistics coordinator in the JTS Perishables division. Risser will oversee dispatch, shipment tracing, appointment setting, order...

CMA CGM, New World Alliance expand all-water service.
June 16, 2008... Last Tuesday, CMA CGM announced that it is reconfiguring the rotation of its existing SAX all-water service from Asia to the U.S. East Coast  to include calls at Balboa, Panama, on both the eastbound and westbound voyages and at...

The slowdown of 2008.
June 23, 2008... Much has been written about our slowing economy, but what people really mean is that the economy has been getting weaker. Lately, however, there have been signs that the weaker economy is literally slowing the economy - high fuel prices have...