Pacific Shipper articles from October 2008

Pacific Shipper archives from October 2008

Controlling issues.
October 6, 2008... A few months ago, it was possible that only the wonkiest of political wonks liked to debate "earmarks" or even knew what they were. Today, you can turn on any late night comedy show from Saturday Night Live to Letterman and enjoy humor...

Activity slows as clean-trucks plan starts.
October 6, 2008...     Truck traffic in Los Angeles-Long Beach was down considerably last Wednesday as the ports launched their clean-trucks programs to reduce pollution in the harbor area. On a positive note, marine terminal operators...

Four plead guilty in Puerto Rico antitrust case.
October 6, 2008... Four former executives of Horizon Lines and Sea Star Line have agreed to plead guilty and serve jail sentences for participating in what the Justice Department said was "a wide-ranging conspiracy to rig bids, fix prices and allocate market...

Schwarzenegger again rejects Lowenthal bill.
October 6, 2008... For the third consecutive year, Calif. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has refused to sign legislation that would have levied a $30-per-TEU fee on cargo moving through the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach and $12.50 per TEU through the Port of...

Bumpy global highways.(Company overview)
October 6, 2008... BYLINE: JOHN GALLAGHER The financial crisis that's putting a new squeeze on freight transportation is also shining harsh light on overseas investment by U.S.-based trucking companies, pushing companies to take a new look at how and where...

Matson's reach.
October 6, 2008... BYLINE: WILLIAM HOFFMAN Matson Global Distribution Services' acquisition of West Coast asset-light warehousing, distribution and packaging company Pacific American Services may signal the emergence of a new global logistics services...

Richardson bill proposes national container fee.
October 6, 2008... Cargo interests would pay a national fee of $25 per TEU on containerized imports under legislation introduced by Rep. Laura Richardson, D-Calif. Revenue from the fee would be used to develop freight transportation infrastructure, improve...

NYK plans to close unit in Panama.
October 6, 2008... NYK Line, Japan's largest shipping line in terms of group sales, has decided to dissolve one of its wholly owned vessel-owning subsidiaries in Panama. At a recent board meeting, NYK Line decided to dissolve Platana Shipholding S.A., which...

Port of Virginia signs on with China marketing representative.
October 6, 2008... The Virginia Port Authority is broadening its marketing in China with the signing of a one-year contract with Shanghai Ruinian Investment Management Co., which will represent the VPA in northern China, particularly in the Shanghai area. ...

Widdows to lead WSC.
October 6, 2008... The World Shipping Council announced that Ron Widdows, group president and chief executive of Neptune Orient Lines, was elected chairman. Widdows succeeds Adolf Adrion, chief executive of Hapag-Lloyd, who has served as chairman of the...

WTO chief warns of impact of financial meltdown.
October 6, 2008... Pascal Lamy, director-general of the World Trade Organization, warned last Wednesday that the crisis in global financial markets poses a risk to international trade. He added, however, that continued growth in emerging countries may help soften...

NYK's Keller pushes productivity.
October 6, 2008... Increasing productivity across all segments of the supply chain is an absolute necessity, Peter Keller, president of NYK Line (North America), told attendees last week at the Third Annual Canada Maritime Conference, produced by Canadian...

Food safety scares lead to new FDA labeling rules.
October 6, 2008... BYLINE: ALAN M. FIELD Whenever the U.S. Food and Drug Administration refuses to admit food into the U.S. because of safety or quality concerns, that food must be exported from the U.S. or destroyed on the spot. For decades, however, some...

Clouds over Hawaii.
October 6, 2008... BYLINE: Richard Knee Wall Street's woes are apparently having a ripple effect on Hawaii, creating uncertainty in the maritime sector and the economy in general. Gov. Linda Lingle announced an $842 million harbors upgrade plan last...

Ready, set, clean.
October 6, 2008... BYLINE: BILL MONGELLUZZO   Truckers inspect new clean trucks at the Port of Long Beach. Amid confusion and legal uncertainty, the nation's first port-regulated trucking program was launched on Oct. 1. Five hundred motor...

Trains get longer.
October 6, 2008... BYLINE: BILL MONGELLUZZO   BNSF is increasing the length of its trains, especially in Southern California. In this era of large container ships and high-volume intermodal rail corridors, it makes sense that railroads would...

UP outlook brightens.
October 6, 2008... The sudden drop in diesel prices , along with "strong operating efficiency," means that Union Pacific Railroad will deliver stronger earnings than it expected in the third quarter. The company said the advantage from the fuel cost shift and...

Intermodal pioneer Phillip C. Yeager dies.
October 6, 2008... BYLINE: Joseph Bonney   Phillip C. Yeager Most men with families to support wouldn't have the confidence to resign from a job a year short of a pension, in order to bet their future on an unproven idea. Then again, most men...

The producers.
October 13, 2008... The hits on improving port and terminal productivity just keep on coming. The refrains are oft-repeated but no less sobering, especially when repeated in a roomful of people largely responsible for making sure their operations are, well, more...

Crushing pollution.
October 13, 2008...   Port officials plan to scrap thousands of older, polluting trucks. As part of its drive to get the oldest, most polluting port drayage trucks off the streets, the Port of Los Angeles has placed a $5,000 "bounty" on trucks...

Maersk cuts fuel fee in South America service.
October 13, 2008... Maersk Line announced plans to lower bunker surcharges imposed earlier on cargo moving on its services between the United States and Canada and the west coast of South America. Effective Nov. 1, the surcharges will be $310 per TEU and $620...

Container import slump forecast to continue.
October 13, 2008... The slump in containerized imports is expected to continue for at least the next six months, according to the October Port Tracker published by the National Retail Federation and the economic forecasting firm Global Insight. Port Tracker...

Coast Guard loses Jones Act case.
October 13, 2008... A federal court in Virginia has handed the Shipbuilders Council of America its second victory this year in cases it brought against the Coast Guard for allowing major work on Jones Act ships to be done at foreign shipyards. Matthew Paxton,...

Spinning the green wheel.
October 13, 2008... BYLINE: STEPHANIE NALL More than 10,000 Long Beach area residents attended a street carnival earlier this month. Like any good carnival, there was lots of good food, bands, rides and games of chance. Children lined up to spin wheels in...

Congress approves fuel surcharge pass-along.
October 13, 2008... BYLINE: ARI NATTER Legislation that, for the first time, would require fuel surcharges to be passed through to owner-operators and other drivers who purchase fuel has won final approval in Congress. The scope of the legislation is...

European move threatens use of vessel- sharing agreements.
October 13, 2008... BYLINE: Peter T. Leach   New European regulations would make it more difficult for carriers to operate efficiently through slot charters. Just when they thought their disagreements with the European Union over antitrust...

Ocean lines to trim capacity.
October 13, 2008... The slump in imports from Asia that took place this year is likely to be repeated in 2009, and round-trip freight rates in the eastbound Pacific are non-compensatory, so carriers have no incentive to increase capacity next year, said Rick Wen,...

Japan signs two trade pacts.
October 13, 2008... Japan has reached broad agreements in separate free-trade agreement negotiations with Vietnam and Switzerland, the Japanese government announced. The deal between Japan and Vietnam, which could be signed by the end of this year, will...

Container traffic rises at Nagoya.
October 13, 2008... The Port of Nagoya in central Japan handled 1.44 million TEUs during the first half of this year, up 2.4 percent from a year earlier, according to figures released by the Nagoya municipal government. The port handled 111.6 million metric...

Tokyo box volume jumps.
October 13, 2008... The Port of Tokyo handled 315,234 TEUs in foreign trade in May, the first increase in two months, and up 0.9 percent from the same a month of 2007, according to preliminary figures released by the Tokyo metropolitan government. ...

Osaka volume slips.
October 13, 2008... The Port of Osaka in western Japan handled 941,135 TEUs in foreign trade during the first half of this year, down 2 percent from a year earlier, according to figures released by the Osaka municipal government. The port handled a total of...

Wan Hai, 'K' Line enter China-Middle East VSA.
October 13, 2008... Wan Hai Lines and Pacific International Lines, which operate the China Middle East Service, have agreed to combine that service with "K" Line's China Gulf Straits service and pool their vessels in a new vessel-sharing agreement from North China...

Panama Canal seeks bids for expansion.
October 13, 2008... The Panama Canal Authority has released a request for proposals soliciting bids for the third of four dry excavation projects, marking the next phase in the waterway's multibillion-dollar expansion project. The project will help to create...

Nippon Express expands in Vietnam.
October 13, 2008... Nippon Express Co., Japan's largest forwarder, announced that its Nippon Express (Vietnam) Co. subsidiary has set up a new office in Da Nang, Vietnam's third-largest city after Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi. The office was necessary to meet an...

Metro Vancouver aids waterfront property deal.
October 13, 2008... Canada's Port Metro Vancouver will contribute C$2 million (US$1.8 million) to the Corporation of Delta for the acquisition of the Seven Seas Fishing Co. site in Ladner, British Columbia. The purchase will help Delta secure public waterfront...

Encompass launches operations.
October 13, 2008... Encompass Global Logistics recently announced its launch of operations and opening of offices in Dallas, New York, Los Angeles and Hong Kong. Supported by an established network with a global presence and strong operating capability,...

Ryder System acquires Canadian logistics firms.
October 13, 2008... Ryder System will acquire virtually all of the assets of Transpacific Container Terminal Ltd. and CRSA Logistics. Terms of the deal, which is expected to close in November, were not disclosed. Included in the transaction are CRSA's operations...

UP gains larger footprint at Port of Tacoma.
October 13, 2008... Union Pacific Railroad has agreed to lease 10 acres at the Port of Tacoma's underutilized South Intermodal Yard, which will allow it to shift domestic containers from its crowded Seattle UP Argo Yard. Michael Reilly, Tacoma's director...

Vancouver, Wash., to get second mobile crane.
October 13, 2008... Larry Paulson, executive director of the Port of Vancouver, Wash., has signed a contract with Austrian crane manufacturer Liebherr to purchase a second mobile harbor crane. It will be the port's second Liebherr mobile harbor crane and will...

ILWU members ratify pact.
October 13, 2008... BYLINE: BILL MONGELLUZZO   ILWU members will receive a 16 percent pay raise over the next six years. The membership of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union has ratified a new six-year contract that calls for a...

More is better.
October 13, 2008... BYLINE: Richard Knee For fresh-produce shippers like Sun World International, continuous communication among supply-chain and sales personnel and customer contacts is essential for keeping inventories at optimum levels. "The fresh...

Real estate boom over?
October 13, 2008... BYLINE: WILLIAM HOFFMAN The doors are slamming on the decade-long boom in commercial real estate, including warehouses and distribution centers. The weakening economy, falling imports, rising materials costs and the spreading credit crisis...

Saga Pioneer makes first call at San Francisco.
October 13, 2008...   (Left to right) Capt. StanleyKhoo, Saga Forest Carriers: Craig Kappe, Metro Ports;Leonard Brooks, Metro Ports; Dave Butz, Metro Ports; Capt. Kamalaksha V. Kamath, Saga Forest Carriers; Leif Gistrand, Metro Ports; Jim Callahan,...

O'Hollaren ends AAPA term.
October 13, 2008...   Kenneth O'Hollaren and his wife, Denise, ride the Alaska Railroad during the AAPA's recent convention in Anchorage. Kenneth O'Hollaren, executive director of the Port of Longview, has finished his one-year term as president of...

San Diego names maritime director.
October 13, 2008... Leonard Fabor has been selected by the Port of San Diego to be its director of maritime operations and properties. Fabor will direct the assessment of the port's maritime facilities and physical infrastructure maintenance, as well as...

Go shopping.
October 20, 2008... With credit tighter than a tick and general belt-tightening seemingly the order of the day until a better day happens to come along, a rallying cry to go shopping might seem out of place and somewhat reckless. For most of us, it would be...

Stimulus bill gains momentum.
October 20, 2008... Infrastructure funding will remain a priority in a revived economic recovery package, top Democratic lawmakers in the House said last week following a meeting with some of the nation's leading economists and financial experts. "In terms of...

Transport warned on government intervention.
October 20, 2008... Transportation interests should be wary of legislation that invites government involvement in their industry, a logistics executive said last Tuesday. Jim Butts, executive vice president of C.H. Robinson Worldwide, told the Los Angeles...

ATA launches appeal of ruling on clean-air plan.
October 20, 2008... The nation's largest trucking group told a federal appeals court earlier this month that a key part of the clean-air plan at Southern California ports should be thrown out because it violates federal law by imposing economic regulation on...

Global crisis could boost Doha talks.
October 20, 2008... British Prime Minister Gordon Brown last Wednesday called on leaders to use the global economic crisis as an opportunity to reform the world's financial system, and to conclude long-stalled trade negotiations. Brown said a global economic...

Lower export hurdles.
October 20, 2008... BYLINE: Richard Knee Refrigerated containers - much coveted but hard to find earlier this year - are becoming more abundant for U.S. exporters of perishable and frozen foods. But even with the actual shipments easier to pull off,...

The China effect:.
October 20, 2008... BYLINE: ALAN M. FIELD Desk lamps, dress shirts and jeans for less than $20. DVD players for less than $50. Brand-name toys at prices even the most cash-strapped Americans can afford. Are the Chinese-made products that flood U.S. retail...

US, Vietnam reach open-skies agreement.
October 20, 2008... The United States and Vietnam have agreed to an open-skies pact that removes restrictions on air cargo routes between the two countries. A U.S. delegation initialed the agreement earlier this month, the U.S. embassy said. According to the...

Cost of terminal project rises at India's Chennai port.
October 20, 2008... India's Port of Chennai said the estimated cost for its proposed deep-water container terminal project has increased from the original 31 billion rupees (US$635 million) to about $756 million. The escalation primarily follows changes in tender...

Panama Canal secures $400 million loan.
October 20, 2008... The Inter-American Development Bank has approved a loan of up to $400 million for the expansion of the Panama Canal. The Panama Canal Authority plans to raise about $2.3 billion in loans to finance the expansion program, which has an...

Evergreen Group opens building in Shanghai.
October 20, 2008...   Evergreen's Shanghai building strengthens its cross-straits business. Evergreen Group Chairman Yung-fa Chang hosted public officials, business heads, cultural leaders and celebrities at the grand opening of the new Shanghai...

Container volume grows at Indian ports.
October 20, 2008... Throughput at major ports in India grew by about 7 percent in the first half of the fiscal year, which ended on Sept. 30, according to preliminary data released by the Indian Ports Association.   The country's 12 major ports, six...

Tougher credit terms seen likely for maritime operations.
October 20, 2008... Ocean Intelligence, a maritime credit risk assessment group, says the worldwide credit crunch likely will make operational credit terms tougher and force shipping companies to be more open in their business and financial conduct. The...

IMO adopts emission standards.
October 20, 2008... The International Maritime Organization has adopted changes to Annex VI of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships that will tighten restrictions on vessel air emissions in ports and areas close to shore. ...

Most TWIC cards activated, TSA says.
October 20, 2008... More than three out of four workers at the Port of Boston and surrounding areas had activated their Transportation Worker Identification Credentials by the Oct. 15 enforcement deadline. According to data from the Transportation Security...

Hometown investors buy Hapag-Lloyd from TUI.
October 20, 2008... BYLINE: Bruce Barnard   TUI put Hapag-Lloyd on the auction block months ago. After a year of twists and turns, the Hapag-Lloyd saga ended in anti-climax. On Oct. 12,  TUI AG issued a short press release announcing...

'Common sense' will govern enforcement of Lacey Act.
October 20, 2008... BYLINE: R.G. EDMONSON Federal officials from five agencies last Tuesday told a meeting of importers that they would take a common sense approach to implementing new provisions of the Lacey Act aimed at stopping the illegal harvesting and...

KCS's century-long cross-border vision.
October 20, 2008... BYLINE: JOHN D. BOYD   The carrier's Mexican operations are expanding. Kansas City Southern's cross-border ambitions are much older than the new Mexican port of L[sz]zaro C[sz]rdenas. When the new port opened last year,...

Intermodal lifts rail volume.
October 20, 2008... An unusual surge in intermodal containers offset falling grain volume to boost overall rail traffic by 0.8 percent in the week ending Oct. 4, according to the Association of American Railroads. The AAR estimated total volume at 35.7 billion...

Will the maqs be back?
October 20, 2008... BYLINE: BILL DIBENEDETTO High fuel prices, turmoil in financial markets and shorter, leaner supply chains could give Mexico's up-and-down maquiladora export manufacturers a major boost. While it's too premature - and probably wrong -...

Marad sets short-sea pilot.
October 20, 2008... BYLINE: R.G. Edmonson For David Host, it's all about the details. There's a chassis pool to set up, contracts for maintenance and repair, and insurance. The Port of Richmond, Va., has to get electronic data-collection equipment that's...

Coast Guard douses APL ship fire.
October 20, 2008...   Firefighters spray water into four smoldering containers at the Port of Seattle. A fire onboard the APL Peru at the Port of Seattle was extinguished earlier this month with no structural damage to the vessel, but an unknown...

UPS speeds western routings.
October 20, 2008... UPS Freight is completing a companywide rollout of faster transit times with improved delivery speeds on more than 1,900 lanes in eight western states. The latest upgrades cut at least a day off shipments originating from service centers...

Seattle, Tacoma ports map cooperation.
October 20, 2008... The port commissions for Seattle and Tacoma met recently in a joint session for the second time this year, an effort to forge better cooperation on infrastructure, regional promotion and environmental issues. Joint planning and cooperation...

FedEx Express in Mexico begins operations.
October 20, 2008... FedEx has launched operations for FedEx Express Nacional, a domestic overnight service in Mexico, and opened the Toluca Hub Multiplex, its new center of operations for domestic shipments. The service covers all 32 Mexican states with the...

Horizon reduces Pacific fuel surcharges.
October 20, 2008... Horizon Lines has reduced its fuel adjustment surcharge by 4.5 percentage points on its services to Hawaii, Guam and Micronesia. It is cutting the surcharge on the Hawaii trade from 37.5 percent to 33 percent. In the Guam and Micronesia...

Guilty pleas show probe is serious business.
October 20, 2008... BYLINE: Joseph Bonney   Joe Bonney When federal agents show up at companies with search warrants and subpoenas, you know it's serious. How serious? An indication came this month when five former officials of Horizon Lines and...

Vancouver, Wash., hires Marler.
October 20, 2008...   Julianna Marler Julianna Marler has joined the Port of Vancouver, Wash., as senior manager of contracts. Her responsibilities include reviewing and approving contracts, interpreting and assuring contract compliance to state...

Pacer promotes Kane, Doherty.
October 20, 2008... Brian Kane, senior vice president for corporate finance at Pacer International, has been promoted to chief financial officer. He succeeds Larry Yarberry, who will continue to serve in a senior executive capacity through the end of the year. ...

OOCL names Tung as new COO.
October 20, 2008... Orient Overseas Container Line has appointed Andy Tung as group chief operating officer, effective Jan. 1. Tung is currently director of corporate planning and marketing, a position he has held since 2006. Prior to that, he was chief...

The limbo rock.
October 27, 2008... The 1960s song "The Limbo Rock," which inspired the dance of the same name, poses the question, "How low can you go?" As people watched the plunge in the stock markets this month, and the sinking balances in their 401(k) accounts, many have...

Legal moves continue on clean-trucks plan.
October 27, 2008... The Department of Justice has filed comments with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals arguing that some provisions of the Los Angeles-Long Beach clean-air trucking concession requirements are pre-empted by federal law. In an amicus...

APL cuts capacity in trans-Pacific trades.
October 27, 2008... APL is slashing vessel capacity on the major east-west shipping lanes and restructuring its network in response to what it called "increasingly challenging conditions in the major container trades." The subsidiary of Singapore-based...

CN reports growth in third-quarter profit.(Financial report)
October 27, 2008... Higher intermodal volumes and freight rates helped Canadian National Railway profit increase 14 percent in the third quarter compared to the same period last year. The railroad reported net income of C$552 million (US$455 million) for the...

People, jobs, money and the environment.
October 27, 2008... BYLINE: Stephanie Nall BNSF Railway officials have spent the last few years trying to make friends in Wilmington, a Los Angeles neighborhood where they would like to build the Southern California International Gateway, an intermodal yard...

Group warns of economic damage from new environmental rules.
October 27, 2008... Like other transportation companies in the state, BNSF Railway has spent millions to clean up its operations. Now one group is warning that a new California environmental initiative could cost not just more money, but jobs as well. The...

Port projects job gains.
October 27, 2008... The import business may be in the doldrums this year, but officials at the Port of Long Beach say it's important to remember that long-term demand will mean significant growth. The port is projecting significant growth in the next 15 years...

Weak dollar bolsters steel exports.
October 27, 2008... BYLINE: WILLIAM ARMBRUSTER The U.S. steel industry fared surprisingly well in the first half of the year, and exports were a big part of its success. Net shipments in the first seven months of the year totaled 64.2 million tons, which...

BNSF's Rose says massive infrastructure investment needed.
October 27, 2008... BYLINE: PETER LEACH The national transport system won't be adequate to handle U.S. freight or passenger needs by 2020 unless the country can invest $225 billion a year to expand the highway system to match the expanding population. ...