Pacific Shipper articles from May 2007

Pacific Shipper archives from May 2007

Less Is More.
May 4, 2007... World Trade Week is now celebrated all over the country, but it was created in Southern California in 1926 to recognize the importance of trade coming through San Pedro Bay. On May 1, hundreds of people gathered in downtown Los Angeles for...

West Coast Port Truck Protests Fizzle.
May 4, 2007... BYLINE: By Bill Mongelluzzo Proposed job actions by truck drivers who support immigrant rights issues had minimal impact on cargo operations at West Coast ports on May 1. Most ports reported business as usual, although truck traffic in...

Chiquita to Sell, Lease Back Ships.
May 4, 2007... Chiquita Brands International has agreed to sell its 12 refrigerated cargo vessels, known as the Great White Fleet, for $227 million. The ships will be chartered back from an alliance formed by Eastwind Maritime Inc. of New York and...

Oakland Port Traffic Normal after Bridge Collapse.
May 4, 2007... BYLINE: By Rick Knee Truck and rail traffic around the Port of Oakland last week remained mostly unaffected by damage to a pair of major highway links in San Francisco Bay, but congestion and delays could become a factor unless the...

Up, Norfolk Southern Plan Transcontinental Service.
May 4, 2007... Union Pacific Railroad and Norfolk Southern Railway will launch an expedited service for domestic intermodal freight on May 21 that will reduce transit time from Los Angeles to Atlanta by one day. The new service will reroute domestic...

Contrasting Goals.
May 4, 2007... BYLINE: By Bill Mongelluzzo and Stephanie Nall Ports in British Columbia, in Mexico and on the East Coast are all eyeing the huge market share of Asian import cargo held by the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Despite the best...

Warehousing the Environment.
May 4, 2007... BYLINE: By Bill Mongelluzzo When Tejon Ranch Co. applied for permission to expand its warehouse and distribution complex north of Los Angeles to 20 million square feet, a key consideration was air pollution. The industrial real estate...

Frozen Food Express Posts Loss.
May 4, 2007... BYLINE: By Thomas L. Gallagher Frozen Food Express Industries, the country''s largest publicly owned, temperature-controlled carrier of perishable goods, had a net loss of $233,000 in the first quarter of 2007, compared with a profit of...

''Clean Technology'' Preserves Food.
May 4, 2007... BYLINE: By Thomas L. Gallagher Technology firm Novazone has launched a method to reduce decay, to control against over-ripening and to enhance food safety of fruits and vegetables in transit. At the International Refrigerated Transportation...

Merger Creates Largest Us Onion Grower.
May 4, 2007... American Onion Inc. and Rivergate Farms LLC recently merged to create River Points Farm, the largest grower and processor of yellow, red and sweet onions in the United States. The merger of the Hermiston, Ore., companies was created with a...

It''s a Texas Two-Step for Logistics Hubs.
May 4, 2007... BYLINE: By William Hoffman Is Dallas-Fort Worth really big enough for two major multimodal transportation centers? The inauguration of the 6,000-acre Dallas Logistics Hub east of the city places the North American logistics spotlight...

Global Lightning Rod.
May 4, 2007... BYLINE: By Alan M. Field It usurps power from the U.S. government. It destroys the global environment. It tramples on the rights of workers. It kills innocent people worldwide. It is unfair to small countries -- and, somehow, also to the...

Wto Could Prevent Trade War with China.
May 4, 2007... For all the criticism heaped upon the World Trade Organization, the much-maligned agency offers a good vehicle for resolving trade disputes with China, according to John Frisbie, president of the U.S.-China Business Council. "If it''s...

Pre-Clearance Plan Scrapped after Us-Canada Talks End.
May 4, 2007... BYLINE: By Courtney Tower Truckers who haul the vast majority of goods between the U.S. and Canada expressed disappointment after two years'' of talks to move some U.S. Customs pre-clearance operations from Buffalo, N.Y., to Fort Erie,...

House Panel Grills Dhs over Security Program Delays.
May 4, 2007... The House Committee of Homeland Security ''s subcommittee on border, maritime and global counterterrorism was not ready to give Department of Homeland Security witnesses an easy ride through a progress report on the Security and Accountability...

Tsa Declines to Identify Twic Ports.
May 4, 2007... Members of the House of Representatives expressed concern late last month that the Transportation Security Administration will miss a July 1 deadline to deploy the Transportation Worker Identification Credential at the nation''s top 10 ports....

Us, Eu Sign Air Accord.
May 4, 2007... On April 30, the U.S. and the EU signed a landmark "open-skies" aviation accord in Washington that will open up cargo and passenger service on the trans-Atlantic. The signing by President Bush and German Chancellor and current EU President...

Alaska Air to Add Jets, Cargo Capacity.
May 4, 2007... Alaska Airlines last month announced plans to convert a fifth Boeing 737-400 to carry freight and passengers simultaneously on the plane''s main deck. The conversion is part of the Seattle-based carrier''s $100 million initiative to...

Aig Buys Amports.
May 4, 2007... AIG Global Investment Group last month announced that it had purchased Amports Inc., a provider of automotive processing services at U.S. ports. The agreement calls for the subsidiary of U.S. insurer AIG to acquire Amports through Highstar...

Japan, Asean Expected to Reach Trade Pact.
May 4, 2007... BYLINE: By Hisane Maski Japan and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations are expected to reach a basic agreement on the liberalization of trade in goods, a key pillar of a bilateral free-trade agreement under negotiation. The basic...

Tsa Says Ships Nearly Full on Trans-Pacific Routes.
May 4, 2007... The vessels operated by the 12 members of the Transpacific Stabilization Agreement were more than 90 percent full on most sailings after cargo demand rebounded from the two-week lull that followed the Lunar New Year holidays in Asia, the group...

Dot: Imports Make Up Two-Thirds of Us Box Trade.
May 4, 2007... The gap between U.S. containerized imports and exports continues to widen, with imports comprising two-thirds of the total foreign trade volume, compared with slightly more than 50 percent in 1995. Imports greatly exceed exports in value as...

Us, Japan Mull Mutual Recognition of Cargo Security Checks.
May 4, 2007... Japan and the U.S. have agreed to consider mutual recognition of export cargo inspections to simplify customs clearance procedures. By simplifying inspections for companies with good compliance records, the two governments aim to reduce the...

Matson''s Ocean Unit Sees Narrow Profit Increase.
May 4, 2007... Operating profit for Matson''s ocean transportation division increased 3 percent in the first quarter to $18.8 million from $18.3 million in the same period a year ago, its parent company, Alexander & Baldwin, said on April 30. Excluding a...

Apm to Acquire Stake in Colombo Facility.
May 4, 2007... APM Terminals, the terminal-operating arm of A.P. Moller-Maersk, will take a larger investment stake in the South Asia Gateway Terminals at Sri Lanka''s Port of Colombo. "DP World is going to pull out of SAGT and sell its stake to A.P....

Fefc Members to Increase Fuel Fees.
May 4, 2007... The Far Eastern Freight Confer-ence plans to raise its bunker adjustment factor in June. The group of eight carriers said the fuel surcharge for full-containerload shipments to and from the U.K., North West Continent, Mediterranean and...

''K'' Line to Cut Emissions from Car Carriers.
May 4, 2007... Japanese liner operator "K" Line said it''s starting a project to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by its car carriers in Ise-Mikawa Bay in central Japan. The company said that while it has made a practice of operating its car carriers at...

Evergreen Line, Cosco Plan Straits-Red Sea Shuttle.
May 4, 2007... Evergreen Line and Cosco Container Lines announced the start of a Straits-Red Sea shuttle service from Singapore to the Middle East as an extension of existing joint Far East-Red Sea Service. Each company will deploy two vessels of...

Indian Government Sets Discounts for Import Boxes.
May 4, 2007... Container Corp. of India, the state-owned intermodal logistics provider, said it will introduce a discount plan for movement of import boxes from the country''s gateway ports to various hinterland destinations. The plan, which took effect...

Mexican Trucking Program on Hold.
May 4, 2007... BYLINE: By William B. Cassidy Pressured by legislators and lawsuits, the Department of Transportation put plans for crossborder trucking on hold last week while publishing details of its plans for the first time. Transportation Secretary...

Ssa Marine, Puyallup Tribe Plan Tacoma Container Terminal.
May 4, 2007... BYLINE: By Bill DiBenedetto Seattle''s SSA Marine and the Puyallup Tribe of Indians have joined forces to build a 180-acre container terminal on SSA and tribal-owned land at the Port of Tacoma. They announced the plan on April 30. The...

Nyk Sets $22 Million for Cold-Ironing.
May 4, 2007... Nippon Yusen Kaisha plans to equip many of its new container ships and convert some of its existing fleet to use shoreside electric power while at berth -- "cold ironing" in industry jargon -- while they are in ports that require it, the...

Vancouver Toughens Truck Licensing.
May 4, 2007... BYLINE: By Courtney Tower Canada''s biggest container hub, the Port of Vancouver, British Columbia, last Monday announced tougher container truck safety and environmental standards to be introduced in July. The announcement comes after...

Coast Guard Declines Use of Vessel-Tracking Data.
May 4, 2007... BYLINE: By R.G. Edmonson The maritime exchanges of North America are ready to offer the Coast Guard information to track any vessel in the world free of charge, but the Coast Guard has declined the offer, according to Manny Aschemeyer,...

Cooling It.
May 11, 2007... BYLINE: Bill DiBenedetto One of things I like best about this magazine -- personal biases and job descriptions aside -- is the Cool Cargoes niche it has carved out. I appreciate the double meaning of "cool cargoes." The evolving world of...

Customs Expands Mandatory Truck E-Manifest Filing.
May 11, 2007... Customs and Border Protection announced that mandatory use of the electronic truck manifest system will begin on Aug. 6 at all ports in Idaho and Montana. Currently, filing of e-manifests via the Automated Commercial Environment is...

Up Ends Mexico Port Partnership.
May 11, 2007... Union Pacific Railroad has pulled out of its partnership arrangement with Hutchison Port Holdings, casting doubt on the future of the proposed multibillion-dollar Punta Colonet container port project in northern Mexico. The ports unit of...

PierPass Truck Trips Add Up.
May 11, 2007... Terminal operators in the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach last year processed approximately 13,000 truck moves during each shift of the PierPass extended gates program. The traffic moving during the night shifts on weekdays and the...

Oakland Highway Link Reopens.
May 11, 2007... The ramp linking the two freeways hugging the San Francisco Bay''s eastern shore was reopened on May 7 and a contract to repair the overpass tying the San Francisco Bay Bridge to a highway into the San Joaquin Valley was signed, the director of...

Canada Tightens Ship Anti-Pollution Rules.
May 11, 2007... Canada last week announced tighter anti-pollution regulations for ships plying its waters. Ottawa will now require all ships to meet stricter standards for disposal of oil waste and bilge water, and will prohibit any dumping of sewage. ...

Correction.(Correction notice)
May 11, 2007... Due to a production error, the headline was missing from the feature story on Page 8 of the May 7 Pacific Shipper. The story should have included the headline: Contrasting goals: Clearing the air will transform the labor landscape

Toying with the Inland Supply Chain.
May 11, 2007... BYLINE: By Bill Mongelluzzo Maersk Line earned $1.3 billion in 2005 and lost $568 million last year. The world''s largest container carrier is determined to return to profitability, and is implementing radical cost-cutting measures that...

Bnsf Proposes Clean Truck Fleet, Wins Court Case over Regulations.
May 11, 2007... BYLINE: By Stephanie Nall and Bill Mongelluzzo A state agency in California doesn''t have the authority to regulate emissions from rail locomotives, a federal judge ruled this month. "Rules at issue in this case are exactly the type of...

Ilwu Opens Door to Early Contract Talks.
May 11, 2007... BYLINE: By Bill Mongelluzzo Trans-Pacific shippers are already thinking ahead to July 2008, when the International Longshore and Warehouse Union contract expires. If contract negotiations produce a port shutdown like the one that occurred...

Chassis Pools Gain Favor on East Coast, But Face West Coast Resistance.
May 11, 2007... BYLINE: By Peter T. Leach Chassis pools are on a roll. After years when Maher Terminals in the Port of New York and New Jersey and the Port of Virginia were virtually alone in operating chassis pools, ocean carriers have warmed to the...

Hanjin Expanding Fleet of Container Ships.
May 11, 2007... Hanjin Shipping has ordered five new 8,600-TEU container ships and two new Capesize bulk vessels from Hyundai Heavy Industries, and plans to order two Panamax ships from a Japanese builder later this month. The value of the orders was not...

Cma Cgm to Start Asia-North Africa Service.
May 11, 2007... French container carrier CMA CGM will launch a dedicated service between Asia and North Africa via its Malta hub in June. The new North Africa Express service will operate with seven ships of 3,000 TEUs each calling at Shanghai, Ningbo,...

Intermodal Rail Shipments Declined in April.
May 11, 2007... Carload and intermodal freight on U.S. railroads suffered in week 17 and the month of April from weaknesses in containers, coal, grain and metals. For the week that ended on April 28, the Association of American Railroads reported 334,701...

Little Threat of Congestion Seen Despite Anticipated Import Records.
May 11, 2007... Traffic at U.S. ports that handle major retail import shipments should hit a record high in July, and then break that record in August, but the danger of congestion remains low, the National Retail Federation and consultant Global Insight said...

Lawmakers Introduce Rail Competition Bill.
May 11, 2007... One day after introducing a wide-ranging rail safety bill, Rep. James L. Oberstar, D-Minn., on May 3 joined Rep. Richard Baker, R-La., and 10 other House members to offer the Railroad Competition and Service Improvement Act of 2007. The...

New Hazmat Rules Issued.
May 11, 2007... The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, part of the Department of Transportation, has issued rules aimed at better compliance and safety in multimodal and international transportation of hazardous materials. The new...

Commerce Urges Funding for Navigation Mapping.
May 11, 2007... U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez said earlier this month that the Bush administration is proposing congressional reauthorization of the Hydrographic Services Improvement Act, which promotes U.S. maritime commerce with improved...

Panama Canal Authority Places New Tugboats into Service.
May 11, 2007... The Panama Canal Authority has placed into service what it says are "the most powerful tugs in its history." The new tugs will replace aging boats in the canal''s current fleet. According to a canal authority release, the tugs feature...

Us-Asia Lines Raise Panama Canal Charges.
May 11, 2007... Shipping lines that carry U.S. exports to Asia intend to increase their Panama Canal surcharge to $212 per container from $115, effective June 1. This reflects toll hikes by waterway management over the past two years. The fee is per container,...

Trans-Pacific Lines Plan Hefty Fuel, Inland Charges.
May 11, 2007... Two discussion agreements representing ocean carriers in the trans-Pacific trades are separately planning hefty increases in bunker and inland fuel surcharges as of June 1. The Transpacific Stabilization Agreement, composed of carriers in...

China Rejects Proposals to Raise Terminal-Handling Charges.
May 11, 2007... Shipper groups in Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Macau said they are "elated" by China''s rejection of applications by four ocean carrier discussion agreements to raise terminal-handling charges in South China. The proposed increases would have...

Hanjin Offers Asia-Us Slots.
May 11, 2007... Hanjin Shipping will start a new service from North China to Los Angeles as well as upgrade its Asia-Pacific Northwest Service linking Hong Kong and the Pacific Northwest by offering slots through the CKYH alliance later this month. The...

Vietnam Crane Order for Kalmar.
May 11, 2007... Kalmar Industries said it has been awarded a contract by Saigon Newport Co. of Vietnam for 10 rubber-tire gantry cranes for delivery in May 2008. The Finnish manufacturer said the cranes will help the Tan Cang-Cat Lai container terminal...

Cochin Port Hiking Charges.
May 11, 2007... India''s Tariff Authority for Major Ports has approved a proposal from the southern port of Cochin to increase handling rates for containerized cargo. The authority ratified an overall 40 percent increase in Cochin''s general cargo...

India Trade Deficit Soars.
May 11, 2007... India''s trade deficit soared to $56.7 billion in fiscal 2006-07, which ended on March 31, amid fears that a strong rupee would hit the country''s exports further in coming months. The deficit stood at $3.8 billion in March, but was down...

Us Begins Scanning for Radiation in Pakistan.
May 11, 2007... Customs and Border Protection said the Secure Freight Initiative has begun transmitting data from a new radiation scanning system from Port Qasim, Pakistan. The anti-terror program is designed to provide detection of nuclear and...

Mango Shipment Heralds Us-India Trade Agreement.
May 11, 2007... An import shipment of fresh mangoes earlier this month signaled a warming of trade relations between the United States and India and a new method of ensuring that pests do not enter the country in food shipments. The shipment marks the...

Industry, Usda Work on Food Defense.
May 11, 2007... Representatives of U.S. Department of Agriculture''s Office of Food Defense and Emergency Response and the International Foodservice Distributors Association met earlier this month in Phoenix to discuss plans for developing a "Food Defense...

Industry Groups Establish Global Cold Chain Alliance.
May 11, 2007... The International Association of Refrigerated Warehouses, World Food Logistics Organization, International Refrigerated Transportation Association and International Association for Cold Storage Construction have formed the Global Cold Chain...

Fixes Needed for Russia Customs, Infrastructure Problems.
May 11, 2007... BYLINE: By Rustam Yuldashev Customs enforcement and the transportation infrastructure in Russia are subjects that need the attention of U.S. companies wanting to sell goods in Russia. There exists a persistent opinion that when...

Fesco Denies Bid on Containerships.
May 11, 2007... BYLINE: By Bill DiBenedetto Russia''s Fesco Transport Group reacted strongly this month when news leaked out that it wanted to acquire Containerships Group and its Moby Dick terminal in St. Petersburg. Fesco took major umbrage at...

Russia Plays Catch-Up.
May 11, 2007... BYLINE: By Richard Knee Moving goods in either direction between the U.S. and Russia is no picnic, but growing business-sector influence and the likelihood that Russia will soon join the World Trade Organization bode well, sources in the...

Putin Wants Port Upgrades.
May 11, 2007... BYLINE: By Peter T. Leach Russian President Vladimir Putin has called for urgent measures to improve Russia''s ports, saying that too much trade was being diverted through foreign facilities because of inadequate infrastructure. "Our...

Silk Road Trade Booms.
May 11, 2007... If you''re wondering where all the freight has gone this spring -- try Kazakhstan. Freight volumes are hitting new heights on one of the world''s oldest trade routes, the Great Silk Road linking China with the Near East, said Erlan Dikhanbayev,...

Agility Opens San Diego Facility.
May 11, 2007... Logistics provider Agility has opened an office in San Diego to manage its customers'' freight movements between Mexico and the U.S. The new facility is within a few miles of the U.S.-Mexico border and will manage customer freight needs in...

Vancouver, WASH., to Fight Illegal Spills.
May 11, 2007... The Port of Vancouver, Wash., in partnership with the city of Vancouver, has taken steps to stop illegal dumping of vehicle fluids along Port Way. To reduce the number of illegal dumpings on the shoulder of Port Way, the port and the city have...

Olympia Receives Windmill Shipment.
May 11, 2007... The Industrial Diamond arrived at the Port of Olympia''s Berth 3 late last month to discharge a cargo of windmill blades bound for Phase 3 of the Klondike Wind Farm in Sherman County, Ore. The vessel contained 120 windmill blades...

Weber Wins ''Slime'' Pact.
May 11, 2007... Accessories Marketing Inc. has hired Weber Distribution to handle nationwide distribution of its "Slime." The Slime brand product line, designed to prevent flat tires for the bicycle, automotive and motorcycle industries, is manufactured at...

West Coast Import Growth Slows.
May 11, 2007... Containerized imports at West Coast ports increased 5.5 percent in the first quarter, indicating the soft U.S. economy is being reflected in less-robust growth in shipments from overseas than in previous years. Total container volume at...

Horizon Lines to Buy Hawaii Stevedores.
May 11, 2007... Horizon Lines has signed a letter of intent to purchase Honolulu-based Hawaii Stevedores Inc. Financial terms were not disclosed. Hawaii Stevedores will operate as a Horizon subsidiary. Charlotte-based Horizon said it intends to maintain...

Iarw, Wflo Elect Officers.
May 11, 2007... New officers and directors of the International Association of Refrigerated Warehouses and the World Food Logistics Organization, an education and research foundation affiliated with IARW, were elected at the groups'' annual convention last...

Vancouver Elects Port Chairman.
May 11, 2007... The Vancouver (British Columbia) Port Authority''s board of directors elected Sarah Morgan-Silvester as chairman. Morgan-Silvester replaces George A. Adams, whose term of office expired on March 17. Morgan-Silvester joined the port...

Bliss, Pure Bliss.
May 17, 2007... In January, the Department of Homeland Security came out with a new way of distributing port security funds -- it decided to combine some individual ports into port areas. With that simple switch in procedure, the Port of Oakland went from...

House Bill Would Limit Mexican Truck Operations.
May 17, 2007... The U.S. House of Representative on May 16 passed by an overwhelming majority a bill that sets strict limits on access to U.S. roads by trucks based in Mexico. The Safe American Roads Act won approval in a 411-3 vote. The bill would alter...

Coalition Wages Protest Against Box Fee Proposal.
May 17, 2007... BYLINE: By Stephanie Nall A coalition of more than 200 associations and companies involved in trade, transportation and logistics sent a letter to California State Sen. Alan Lowenthal, D-Long Beach, opposing a measure that would impose a...

Shipper Alleges Price-Fixing in Rail Fuel Surcharges.
May 17, 2007... All five U.S.-based Class 1 freight railroads face price-fixing charges in a suit filed in U.S. District Court last week. Dust Pro, a Phoenix-based manufacturer and distributor of soil stabilizers, seeks class-action status and unspecified...

Track Workers Strike at Canadian Pacific.
May 17, 2007... Track repair and construction employees of Canadian Pacific Railway went on strike at 12:01 a.m. May 16, after contract talks failed to produce an agreement. William Brehl, president of maintenance of way employees in the Teamsters Canada...

Rail Labor Pact Reached.
May 17, 2007... The Rail Labor Bargaining Coalition reached a tentative agreement last week with the National Carriers Conference Committee for U.S. railroads and most of their union employees. The tentative agreement includes general wage increases...

Scanning the Security Options.
May 17, 2007... BYLINE: By Stephanie Nall Port officials from Puerto Rico to Nawiliwili, Hawaii, are looking forward to a shopping spree this summer as they spend $202 million in port security grants doled out earlier this month by the Department of...