Pacific Shipper articles from March 2008

Pacific Shipper archives from March 2008

Keeping it clean.
March 3, 2008... President Reagan will go down in the history books as a pretty enthusiastic deregulator. But in 1983, when he was poised to finish deregulating the trucking industry, he abruptly changed course, dropped a legislative proposal, and the topic was...

Appeals court nixes CARB vessel rules.
March 3, 2008... The federal government, not a California state agency, holds authority to regulate emission levels of vessels, a federal appeals court ruled last Wednesday. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth District, which is located in San...

Long Beach wants LA to drop employee-driver mandate.
March 3, 2008... The split between Los Angeles and Long Beach over a strategy to reduce pollution from harbor trucks widened last week as Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster urged his larger neighbor to adopt a clean-trucks program without a controversial labor...

BNSF seeks green growth.
March 3, 2008... BNSF Railway is attempting to achieve the perfect balance between quality-of-life issues and quality job creation as it expands its operations across the country, Matthew Rose, president and chief executive, said last week. Rose met with...

South Korea losing US market share.
March 3, 2008... South Korea's share of the U.S. import market has been declining since 2004, according to a new report by the Institute for International Trade, a think-tank operated by the Korea International Trade Association. Seoul's share of U.S....

ASEAN pact could compete with China.
March 3, 2008...   Workers at a Ford plant in China are still part of the world's largest manufacturing economy, but some factories are moving to Vietnam. China has become a manufacturing superpower because it offers economies of scale, not...

ATA claims Supreme Court precedent in opposing clean-trucks plan.
March 3, 2008... BYLINE: BILL MONGELLUZZO The American Trucking Associations says a recent Supreme Court decision in Maine will help turn an expected ATA challenge of Los Angeles harbor trucking rules into a "slam-dunk" case. Steve Diamond, a law...

Teamsters union endorses Obama.
March 3, 2008...   Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has won an endorsement from the Teamsters. After months of deliberations, polling and surveys, the 1.4 million-member Teamsters union has come to a decision about which candidate...

Baosteel, China Shipping to form joint dry bulk line.
March 3, 2008... China's Baosteel Group and China Shipping announced they will form a dry bulk shipping line to import iron ore for Baosteel, the country's largest steelmaker. The two companies signed a framework agreement late last month to establish the...

Wallenius Wilhelmsen partners order eight car carriers.
March 3, 2008... Wilh. Wilhelmsen and Wallenius Lines, joint operators of roll-on, roll-off specialist Wallenius Wilhelmsen, said they have placed orders for eight large car and truck carriers with two South Korean shipyards. The partners in the...

EU wants strategic link with China.
March 3, 2008... European Union Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson called for the 27-member EU to establish a "strategic" trading relationship with China before differences over trade deteriorate into major conflicts. "The EU wants to build an engagement...

Rail traffic surges; intermodal down.
March 3, 2008... Intermodal rail traffic fell 1.5 percent, including a 2.7 percent drop in trailers and a 1.1 percent decline for containers in the week ending Feb. 16 compared to the same week last year, according to the Association of American Railroads. ...

Bill shifts water discharge oversight to Coast Guard.
March 3, 2008... A Senate bill would give the Coast Guard responsibility for regulating water discharges from vessels, effectively removing the maritime industry from terms of the Clean Water Act. The "Vessel Discharge Evaluation and Review Act" calls on...

Report hits delays on US-Canada border.
March 3, 2008... The chambers of commerce in the United States and Canada have urged their governments to reduce "inordinate delays" at border crossings to help speed up passage of $1.5 billion in daily cross-border trade. In a joint 28-page report, the...

Olympic effort.
March 3, 2008... BYLINE: JOHN D. BOYD   In an effort to reduce air pollution for the Olympic Games, Chinese officials plan to close factories this summer. North American railroads looking for something to jump-start stagnant business might...

All-water opportunities.
March 3, 2008... BYLINE: DAVID BIEDERMAN Long-term growth in global trade continues to spur industrial development in East Coast port cities. Importers and developers are vying for prime sites in land-constrained port markets, as scarcity and high costs...

Auction set for Summit assets.
March 3, 2008... BYLINE: BILL DIBENEDETTO The U.S. Bankruptcy Court has approved procedures for the sale of the assets of Summit Global Logistics to TriDec Acquisition Co. The court set a March 11 deadline for submission of bids, and scheduled an...

Richmond Cold Storage picks new warehouse system.
March 3, 2008... Richmond Cold Storage has chosen HighJump Software's warehouse management system to support nationwide distribution at 12 distribution centers. The facilities are located in Virginia, North Carolina and Alabama, and will be linked using a...

US agencies form military logistics partnership.
March 3, 2008... The United States Transportation Command, Defense Logistics Agency and General Services Administration have established a formal partnership designed to improve supply-chain management for the armed forces. Leaders from the three agencies...

US slowdown hits Japan's trade.
March 3, 2008... Japan's merchandise trade surplus with the United States shrank for the fifth consecutive month in January compared to the same month a year ago because of the continued decline in exports, according to preliminary figures released by Japan's...

DP World may add fees at India's Cochin.
March 3, 2008... India Gateway Terminal, the private terminal operator at the Port of Cochin, is asking shipping lines and agents to speed evacuation of import containers to reduce congestion at the terminal. Terminal operator DP World said it is opening a...

'K' Line opens Philippine maritime academy.
March 3, 2008... K Line has opened a $13 million "K" Line Maritime Training Academy in the Philippines that it established to train Filipinos to meet the international demand for seafarers. During opening ceremonies in Pasay City late last month, "K" Line...

US remains top export market for Thailand's goods.
March 3, 2008... Thailand's economy grew at its fastest pace in seven quarters, as exports of rice, automobiles and computer chips increased. The United States remains its largest export market. The second-largest economy in Southeast Asia expanded by 5.7...

Growing intra-Asia trade keeps Singapore top box port.
March 3, 2008... BYLINE: BILL DIBENEDETTO   Much of the booming intra-Asia trade uses Singapore as a hub. Singapore maintained its position as the world's top container port last year, and its intra-Asia trade is expected to provide continued...

Final piling driven for new Blair Waterway wharf.
March 3, 2008... A Port of Tacoma contractor last week drove the last of 795 concrete pilings into the Blair Waterway to support a new wharf at what eventually will be a third new container terminal on the waterway. The $46 million wharf is part of a facility...

DC construction begins in High Desert.
March 3, 2008...    Despite double-digit declines in the sale of residential property throughout Southern California, industrial properties for warehouses and distribution centers continue to surge. Stirling Capital Investments said it...

Transportation executives named to California trade panel.
March 3, 2008... California officials have formed a Goods Movement and International Trade Advisory Committee to give recommendations to the state's Commission for Economic Development on trade and goods movement issues. Lt. Gov. John Garamendi appointed...

Truckers hit Canada carbon tax.
March 3, 2008... Truckers operating in western Canada and in the cross-border trade oppose a proposed carbon tax that would be imposed on July 1. The British Columbia provincial government in its 2008 budget announced the tax on diesel and other fossil fuels to...

Port of Los Angeles OKs community projects.
March 3, 2008... The Los Angeles Harbor Commission has approved $3.6 million for two community projects in Wilmington, Calif. -- a historical maritime transportation exhibit at the Banning Museum and an aquatics center at the Wilmington YMCA that will include a...

Container traffic trends down at Pacific Northwest ports.
March 3, 2008... BYLINE: BILL DIBENEDETTO   Vancouver's two years of monthly container business growth ended in January. The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority reported that container volume at the Port of Vancouver, British Columbia, declined...

Tacoma to issue new revenue bonds.
March 3, 2008... The Port of Tacoma will issue new subordinate revenue bonds of up to $120 million that remarket older revenue bonds at a better interest rate and higher credit rating. The action, approved by the Tacoma Port Commission, re-funds bonds...

Logger replaces Nicolaus at Orion Marine.
March 3, 2008...   Kathleen Nicolaus Orion Marine has hired Christiane Logger as special projects manager specializing in breakbulk and roll-on, roll-off shipments to the Middle East, the former Soviet Union and Africa. Logger previously...

Port of Los Angeles hires Pan, Hicks.
March 3, 2008...   Karl Pan Karl Pan, an experienced domestic and international finance expert and a former chief financial officer for Los Angeles World Airports, has been appointed chief financial officer for the Port of Los Angeles. Ralph...

Do the right thing.
March 10, 2008... BYLINE: Bill DiBenedetto It's funny how anniversaries tend to occur each year. Readers might remember that each year at about this time I take a moment to consider developments surrounding the worst oil spill in U.S. history. The...

NYK closing Panama units.
March 10, 2008... Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK Line), Japan's largest ocean carrier by revenue, is dissolving five of its wholly owned subsidiaries in Panama. At a board meeting on Feb. 28, the company decided to dissolve Trinita Shipping S.A., Verdy...

East Coast ports gain cost advantages.
March 10, 2008... BYLINE: By Peter T. Leach The historic dominance of West Coast ports in the U.S. trade with Asia is being threatened by East and Gulf Coast ports, which continue to gain containerized cargo from Asia because of their relative cost...

OOIL reports profit growth.(Financial report)
March 10, 2008... Orient Overseas (International) Ltd. last week reported a profit of US$2.55 billion for 2007, up from $580.6 million in 2006. That total included a gain of $1.99 billion from the sale of its terminals division. Absent the gain, profit...

China targets inflation.
March 10, 2008... BYLINE: Alan Field Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said China is aiming to keep inflation under control as well as to avoid economic overheating in 2008. Wen told China's annual session of Parliament that while the government wants steady...

Timber! Chilean pine fills mills in British Columbia.
March 10, 2008... BYLINE: Bill DiBenedetto North America's struggling forest products industry is beset by troubles: Red ink is flowing, tree beetles are decimating British Columbia forests, the loonie's rise against the dollar is driving Canadian exporters...

Canada's Domtar scratches sale.
March 10, 2008...   The strong Canadian dollar has hurt Domtar and other Canadian forest-product companies. Canada's Domtar Inc. is looking for a new buyer after it terminated a deal to sell its forest products operations to Conifex Inc....

Maersk chief: Trans-Pacific carriers need to price profitably.
March 10, 2008... BYLINE: Joseph Bonney The chief executive of A.P. Moller-Maersk last week said that container carriers need to price profitably, attack infrastructure problems, improve business processes and find ways to operate in a more environmentally...

Containers grow scarce as exports rise.
March 10, 2008... BYLINE: Bill Mongelluzzo Richard McDuffie, senior vice president of global logistics at Dunavant Enterprises Inc., is having so much trouble getting empty containers in west Texas and the South that he is moving his company's cotton in...

Uncertain times in the trans-Pacific.
March 10, 2008... BYLINE: Peter T. Leach There are only two certainties this year in the trans-Pacific trades: U.S. import growth will be sluggish at best, and U.S. exports will continue to increase. Nearly everything else involves questions: Will...

Long Beach mayor says it's time to clean the air.
March 10, 2008... BYLINE: Joseph Bonney Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster wants to move forward quickly without delays on a port clean-air plan that would accompany a proposal to require harbor container haulers to hire employees instead of owner-operators. ...

Truck shortage looms in Los Angeles.
March 10, 2008... BYLINE: Bill Mongelluzzo The transportation community in Southern California could face a severe shortage of harbor trucking capacity this fall because of conflicting clean-air plans and the federal Transportation Worker Identification...

Crowley expands Alaska tug fleet.
March 10, 2008...   The ice-strenghtened Vigilant will be based in Alaska's Cook Inlet. Photo: Crowley Corp. Crowley Maritime Corp. has taken delivery of the Vigilant, a new Z-Drive tugboat that is being chartered from BayDelta Maritime Inc. for...

Canada's amended port funding law awaits vote.
March 10, 2008... Canadian marine ports, for years barred by law from receiving public funding, will get access to C$2.1 billion under legislation expected to be approved by Parliament. Canada's largest sea and Great Lakes ports, run by 19 government-owned...

Ports America opens intermodal hub in Mexico.
March 10, 2008... The Ports America Group announced the opening of the Puerta Mexico Intermodal Facility at the industrial zone of Toluca west of Mexico City. The new terminal, which was purchased by Marine Terminals Corp. before that company was merged into the...

Maersk, MSC, CMA CGM to launch vessel-sharing agreement.
March 10, 2008... BYLINE: Peter T. Leach The world's three largest container lines have entered into the biggest-ever vessel-sharing agreement in the trans-Pacific trade that will enable them to replace four of their own individual services. Maersk...

Hapag-Lloyd doubles profit; merger rumors swirl.(Financial report)
March 10, 2008... BYLINE: Bruce Barnard Hapag-Lloyd more than doubled earnings in 2007, but the world's fifth-largest ocean container carrier is facing renewed uncertainty over its future. Earnings before tax, interest and depreciation reached 197 million...

Efficient terminal design aids environment, APM says.
March 10, 2008... BYLINE: BILL MONGELLUZZO The APM Terminals container facility that opened last fall in Portsmouth, Va., was designed on the premise that an operationally efficient facility actually enhances the environmental qualities of a marine...

Steel imports up 33 percent.
March 10, 2008... The American Institute for International Steel reported that U.S. imports of steel increased in January by 33 percent over December, but remained lower by 10 percent in comparison to January 2007. The monthly survey found that total imports...

Crowley Maritime takes over Guatemala logistics services.
March 10, 2008... Crowley Maritime Corp. said its logistics unit began providing services on March 4 in Guatemala with Crowley staff. Logistics previously had been provided by third-party agent MAPA S.A. Customers will now have a single point of contact to...

Shrimpers criticize FDA inspections.
March 10, 2008... BYLINE: ALAN FIELD A segment of the U.S. shrimp industry called on the Food and Drug Administration to step up inspections of foreign food shipments, and said the government relies too heavily on importers to protect the food supply. ...

Food industry protests new security law.
March 10, 2008... The International Association of Refrigerated Warehouses, the American Farm Bureau and the American Frozen Food Institute are among nearly three dozen agriculture, food processing, energy, transportation and other industry associations...

West Coast labor talks to begin on March 17.
March 10, 2008... Labor negotiations between the union representing West Coast dockworkers and management are scheduled to begin on March 17, said Anthony Scioscia, senior vice president, labor relations, for Maersk Inc. Scioscia expressed optimism that the...

WTSA to boost fuel surcharges.
March 10, 2008... Shipping lines that carry exports from the United States to Asia announced proposed increases in bunker fuel surcharges to take effect on April 1. The Westbound Transpacific Stabilization Agreement, a discussion agreement representing 10 lines,...

California shippers face yet another container fee.
March 10, 2008... Shippers that move containers through California ports would incur yet another fee if a bill sponsored by state Sen. Alan Lowenthal is approved by the Legislature and signed into law. Lowenthal, D-Long Beach, removed from the California...

Gantry crane arrives at Port of Everett, Wash.
March 10, 2008... The Port of Everett's new rail-mounted gantry crane arrived by barge to the port's Mount Baker Terminal pier in south Everett in mid-February. The crane, which was constructed by Morris Material Handling, the manager of P&H cranes, for...

Seattle port creates capital development division.
March 10, 2008... The Port of Seattle has created a new unit that will consolidate its procurement and construction management. It's part of an ongoing reorganization at the port in the wake of a highly critical state auditor's report that alleged "serious...

Fuel fight.
March 10, 2008... BYLINE: Bill Mongelluzzo Now that Los Angeles and Long Beach are committed to replacing some 16,800 drayage trucks with new vehicles that meet the ports' strict air pollution standards, a spirited competition has emerged between the diesel...

South America's east-west divide.
March 10, 2008... BYLINE: Richard Knee and Peter T. Leach Like the three blind men trying to figure out what the elephant looked like, anyone who examines U.S. trade with South America sees a kaleidoscope of contrasting market conditions. Some say business...

Bill Hill joins Crowley in Anchorage.
March 10, 2008...   Bill Hill Bill Hill has joined Crowley Maritime Corp.'s energy and marine services group in Anchorage as director of business development. In this role, he will have responsibility for the sales and operation of the North Slope...

Famous Pacific names Ward executive director.
March 10, 2008... Non-vessel-operating common carrier and freight services supplier Famous Pacific Shipping Group appointed Oliver Ward to the newly created post of group executive director. Ward was named following an international executive search. One of...

Seattle port appoints two to ethics board.
March 10, 2008... The Port of Seattle Commission named Zulema Hinojos-Fall and Paul R. Meyer to the port's recently created ethics board, which oversees compliance with the commission's ethics policy. The new members will serve a term of three years on the...

Hostage situation.
March 17, 2008... BYLINE: Stephanie Nall James Hankla is used to politics and used to smoothing over jurisdictional differences. Hankla, a member of the Long Beach Harbor Commission, served as Long Beach city manager for 12 years, retiring in 1998 to head...

Cross-border truck program lacks data, GAO says.
March 17, 2008... No reliable statistical projections regarding the safety of the cross-border trucking program can be made because fewer carriers have participated in the project than expected, according to a report by the General Accountability Office. ...

ILWU plans May Day protest.
March 17, 2008... The International Longshore and Warehouse Union says its members will stop work on May 1 during the day shift. During this year's May Day commemorations, the ILWU says it will have its members stop work to protest U.S. military involvement...

EPA unveils green port strategy.
March 17, 2008...  The Environmental Protection Agency has announced a plan to work with seaports and other interested parties to reduce pollution. The "Vision, Mission and Strategy for Sustainable Ports" comprises an action plan of more than 70 steps...

Trade deficit widens.
March 17, 2008... The U.S. trade deficit in January grew to $58.2 billion, up 0.6 percent from $57.9 billion in December. Exports increased 1.6 percent to $148.2 billion, while imports gained 1.3 percent to $206.4 billion, the Commerce Department announced....

NAFTA surface trade hits record.
March 17, 2008... Trade using surface transportation between the United States and its North American Free Trade Agreement partners Canada and Mexico grew 4.9 percent in 2007, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics of the U.S. Department of...

UPS targets growth in international markets.(Conference notes)
March 17, 2008... The world's largest express carrier, UPS, will look to international markets for growth as the U.S. economy continues to weaken, Chairman and Chief Executive Scott Davis told an investors conference in New York last week. The company is...

Report says global warming threatens transportation.
March 17, 2008... A blue-ribbon committee is warning the transportation community that it must begin to factor global warming into its plans or face the consequences of the destruction of infrastructure by heat, rain, hurricanes and rising sea levels. The...

Diesel price skyrockets.
March 17, 2008... The national average retail price for a gallon of diesel fuel during the week that ended on March 9 was an all-time record of $3.819, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The price is 16.1 cents higher than the previous week...

Clinton, Obama compete for title of free-trade opponent.
March 17, 2008... BYLINE: Alan M. Field Remember when Democrats and Republicans agreed that free trade was a good thing? When the North American Free Trade Agreement was widely applauded as a boon for both companies and consumers? When President Bill...

Manufacturers blame trade policy for job losses.
March 17, 2008... BYLINE: ALAN M. FIELD The American Manufacturing Trade Coalition blamed the Bush administration's trade policy for the loss of 63,000 jobs in February, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said earlier this month. Since the beginning of...

NAFTA trade tops $900 billion.
March 17, 2008... U.S. trade with Canada and Mexico breezed past the $900 billion mark last year, reaching $909.4 billion in total, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That represented a 5.1 percent increase over $865.2 billion in 2006. The biggest growth...

Export prices jump for Washington state apples.
March 17, 2008... BYLINE: Bill DiBenedetto Pricing for Washington state apples is driving a 20 percent increase in the value of the state's export crop, according to the Washington Apple Commission. The Wenatchee, Wash., organization said that while...

Joint venture to build cool warehouses in India.
March 17, 2008... India's Apollo Logisolutions Ltd. and Spire Group Ltd. of Canada reached a joint-venture agreement to construct and operate temperature-controlled warehouses in India.The new venture, Apollo Everest Kool Solutions, plans to spend $250 million...

FFE posts fourth-quarter loss.(Financial report)
March 17, 2008... Slow freight demand and excess capacity turned into a net loss for reefer carrier Frozen Food Express. In the fourth quarter, FFE lost $3.5 million after taxes, compared with profit of $4.3 million during the same period a year earlier. ...

Fighting for funds.
March 17, 2008... BYLINE: ARI NATTER After declaring the economic stimulus package signed by President Bush "a woefully inadequate plan" designed around grabbing headlines and not economics, then New York Demo-cratic Gov. Eliot Spitzer turned to Mary E....

Import safety inspections begin at Long Beach.
March 17, 2008... The Consumer Product Safety Commission and Customs and Border Protection announced that the first unit of a new division of inspectors to verify the safety of imported goods has been deployed at the Port of Long Beach. Additional...

US seeks more control over in-bond trade.
March 17, 2008... Customs and Border Protection has left the popular in-bond program virtually untouched for the past three decades, but that will change soon. Customs is planning a series of updates that will close security gaps for shipments that move...

Customs seizes apparel imports.
March 17, 2008... The Department of Homeland Security said it has seized more than $67 million worth of clothing that was illegally imported as part of what is believed to be the largest commercial fraud scheme ever uncovered on the West Coast. The agency...