Florida Shipper articles from January 2008

Florida Shipper archives from January 2008

Pressure rises in hazmat transportation.
January 7, 2008... BYLINE: David Biederman Jim Latta sat at his desk and added up the costs of renewing his Class A commercial driver's license and hazardous materials endorsement. There was a $58 federal fee, a $24 Federal Bureau of Investigation fee and a...

Loose ends.
January 7, 2008... The term "House Ethics Committee" is probably a contradiction, but just in case, I got a copy of its 92-page report completed by more than a dozen taxpayer-paid staff attorneys and a half-dozen Congress people. I wondered, Did they ask Mark...

Five questions with Walter Bastian.(Interview)(Reprint)
January 7, 2008... BYLINE: Jenalia Moreno The Bush administration has circled the globe, trying to seal trade pacts with other nations. Some of those deals have been successful, such as the Central American Free Trade Agreement that was ratified this year by...

Jeb's last jab ends Fort Pierce port plan.
January 7, 2008... A plan to expand cargo operations at the Port of Fort Pierce was rejected by Gov. Jeb Bush and the Cabinet at their last meeting when they denied an application to moor barges over state-owned submerged land. Landowner Lloyd Bell of Destin...

DHS may reduce 22 ID programs.
January 7, 2008... The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said recently it hopes to reduce the 22 different credentialing programs it manages to screen people entering the country and working in the transportation sector to make sure they do not pose a...

Customs readies tariff schedule.
January 7, 2008... Importers should learn the deadline for making changes in their data systems to reflect changes in the U.S. Harmonized Tariff Schedule. Just before Christmas, President Bush announced the changes, followed a few days later by a Federal Register...

Turnover accelerates among truckers.
January 7, 2008... The driver turnover rate among truckload carriers increased during the third quarter of 2006, following improvements during the first and second quarters of the year, the American Trucking Associations said. Large truckload carrier...

New president praises, challenges Caribbean Shipping Association.
January 7, 2008... The recently elected president of the Caribbean Shipping Association, Fernando Rivera, offered strong praise for the members of the CSA at a recent gathering in Miami. But he also said there is still more to be done. "I don't think we can...

Florida-Bahamas commission proposed.
January 7, 2008... The U.S. Ambassador to the Bahamas, John Rood, has been asked by Florida's outgoing governor to form a commission that will oversee joint Florida-Bahamas programs, from education and environmental issues to trade and health. Rood told...

US, Panama reach trade pact.
January 7, 2008... The U.S. and Panama announced the completion of negotiations on a free-trade agreement with a formal understanding that it is subject to further discussions regarding labor. The agreement will eliminate tariffs and other barriers to trade of...

China to lead air cargo by 2025.
January 7, 2008... China will become the world's largest air-cargo market by 2025, according to a forecast by Airbus. The European jet maker said international freight traffic from China has grown an average 9.6 percent per year over the past decade, and that...

Importers' insight.
January 7, 2008... Fitch's outlook for U.S. consumer sectors Heading into 2007, the consumer is facing a slowing economy, potentially less job growth and flat-to-declining home prices. However, interest rates appear to have stabilized at a modest level, the...

Container shipping profits dive.(Financial report)
January 7, 2008... Third-quarter earnings reports are rolling in from global container carriers and the picture isn't pretty. The numbers from stalwarts such as Hapag-Lloyd, Hyundai Merchant Marine and the three main Japanese carriers underscore the heavy toll...

Clouds now on both sides.
January 7, 2008... For a second consecutive year, the U.S. dodged the damage of a severe hurricane hit. The good part is that it allowed those who had the means to make progress on repairs still needed after Hurricane Katrina, now two years in the past. But...

Choppy seas.
January 7, 2008... BYLINE: Peter T. Leach Forecast for global trade The maritime industry is headed for choppy seas this year, according to a fresh analysis of leading economic indicators. Conventional wisdom says global economic expansion will...

OMB completes 10+2 review.
January 7, 2008... The White House Office of Management and Budget has completed its review of Customs and Border Protection's security filing rule, known as 10+2, clearing the way for Customs to publish it for public comment. There is no indication when the...

Justice drops NAFTA records case against Ford.
January 7, 2008... In a case that has broad implications for U.S. importers of goods from Canada and Mexico, the Department of Justice has told Ford Motor Co. that it will walk away from its earlier attempts to penalize the automaker for its failure to keep...

Los Angeles, Long Beach OK truck fees.
January 7, 2008... The Los Angeles Harbor Commission and the Port of Long Beach have approved a $35-per-TEU fee that its backers say will help to fund replacement of tens of thousands of old, polluting trucks with new trucks that meet the rigid emission standards...

Cone Denim Nicaragua building denim plant.
January 7, 2008... Cone Denim Nicaragua, an affiliate of International Textile Group Inc., has signed a $37 million, seven-year amortizing-term loan with the Inter-American Investment Corp. and four co-financing banks conducting business in Nicaragua. The banks...

St. Kitts-Nevis port face labor strife.
January 7, 2008... A promised Christmas bonus that was delayed and problems with fulfilling a stevedore contract have caused the Longshoremen and Forklift workers of the St. Kitts and Nevis Port Authority to strike recently and threaten further action, according...

Point Lisas Port defines improvement plan.
January 7, 2008... Point Lisas Port in Trinidad plans to increase container handling capacity this year, Roger Traboulay, president of Point Lisas Industrial Port Development Corp., said recently at the port users meeting before their annual Christmas Party. ...

Report: Iran discussing port in Nicaragua.
January 7, 2008... The Iranian government has posted 40 staff members at its new embassy in Managua, Nicaragua. A local report says the unusually large deployment is part of plans for a deep-water port at Monkey Point on the Caribbean Sea. According to the...

The EU alternative.
January 7, 2008... BYLINE: Jonathan Bensky European Union offers great opportunities, challenges The European Union is the largest economy in the world with a gross domestic product of about 13 trillion euros ($18 trillion), compared with about $11.5...

EU repeal of antitrust immunity will take effect in October.
January 7, 2008... BYLINE: Peter T. Leach The clock is ticking down on the antitrust immunity that the liner shipping industry has enjoyed for 150 years on trade lanes to and from Europe. Momentum also is building for additional changes that could affect the...

European Union turned 50 in '07.
January 7, 2008... The European Union has 27 members, encompassing nearly all European nations. Its roots date back to May 9, 1950, when French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman announced his proposal for an integrated Europe. The aim, in the aftermath of World War...

Port Manatee ready for containers.
January 7, 2008... Port Manatee entered the containerization era on Dec. 19 when its new $3.9 million Gottwald mobile harbor container crane made its first pick from a Fresh Del Monte Produce ship. The crane weighs more than 460 tons and can lift 100 tons. ...

Two Florida ports begin TWIC sign-up.
January 7, 2008... The Transportation Security Administration has announced the start of enrollment for the Transportation Worker Identification Credential at six new ports. Enrollment for the biometric ID card began in Jacksonville on Dec. 28 and at Port...

Port of call: Port Canaveral.
January 7, 2008... Miami-based Norwegian Cruise Lines has scheduled its 3,000-passenger Norwegian Gem cruise ship to call at Port Canaveral, a significant boost to local tourism. According to the cruise line, passengers are expected to take...

Port of Palm Beach expansion.
January 7, 2008... Plans for the planned expansion for the Port of Palm Beach will be discussed on Jan. 9 among those with environmental concerns and the Army Corps of Engineers. The Corps is conducting a $2 million study to determine the feasibility,...

Joe McClash re-elected at Port Manatee.
January 7, 2008... Members ratified and confirmed the election of Joe McClash on Dec. 18 as the 2008 chairman of the Manatee County Port Authority. A 17-year member of the MCPA, McClash previously served as chairman in 2007 and 2003. He served as first vice...

European Commission probes possible airfreight cartel.
January 7, 2008... The European Commission announced it has questioned a number of companies in connection with possible antitrust violations by the airfreight industry. "The European Commission can confirm that a statement of objections has been sent to a...

Trucks mean business.
January 14, 2008... Each day in Florida, half a dozen badly planned and clogged roads are embolized when the drivers of giant commercial trucks are unable or unwilling to avoid a risky move and crash into someone or something. Productivity losses are in the...

How do you say ole?
January 14, 2008... Latin America is full of good cheer Exports from Latin American increased 11 percent in 2007, achieving a record $715 billion, according to preliminary data published by the Inter-American Development Bank. Meanwhile, in its second...

Grubb & Ellis predicts strong logistics business.
January 14, 2008... Grubb & Ellis Co., a leading real estate services and investment management firm, in its 2008 global real estate forecast suggests that U.S. economic growth will be sluggish this year, but should be enough to keep commercial real estate leasing...

US cadets to train on APL's global fleet.
January 14, 2008... Global container carrier APL announced on Jan. 2 that it has signed an agreement to train U.S. maritime academy cadets onboard its internationally flagged container ships. Under terms of a partnership with the U.S. Maritime Administration,...

Budget bill contains passport waiver.
January 14, 2008... Congress has passed a federal budget bill that includes a provision to push back by a year the passport requirements for Americans returning from travel to Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. If the bill is signed as submitted to President...

St. Maarten begins terminal expansion.
January 14, 2008... The first steel pile for a new mega-cruise ship pier was driven into Great Bay, St. Maarten, in December with Port Affairs Commissioner Theo Heyliger and Carnival Corp. Chairman Mickey Arison onhand. The new pier is slated for completion by...

Trinidad will not sign on to PetroCaribe.
January 14, 2008... The Trinidad and Tobago government recently stated that it still believes in a Free Trade Area of the Americas based in Trinidad and will not become a party to PetroCaribe. PetroCaribe is the oil initiative that Venezuela has established to...

Rate increase for ESPMC-WITASS.
January 14, 2008... The ESPMC-WITASS Conference began a rate increase on Jan. 15 for northbound services from the east coast of South America and the Caribbean to Europe. The lines added $75 per TEU for dry containerized cargo, and $150 per TEU for...

CAFTA: Why it is spinning its wheels.
January 14, 2008... BYLINE: Alan M. Field Ever since the North American Free Trade Agreement was launched in 1994, proponents of trade with Central America and the Caribbean have argued that a similar pact could yield all sorts of benefits for U.S. traders...

High marks for Central America's ports.
January 14, 2008... BYLINE: Richard Knee One of the big selling points for the Central America Free Trade Agreement is quick turnaround for manufactured products made with U.S. components or materials. But much of the advantage is being lost because of a...

Florida slides into ethanol.
January 14, 2008... Broward County's Port Everglades department recently accepted its first shipment of ethanol and, according to reports, three proposed ethanol plants and terminals could be under construction this year. The following are among the plants and...

Jacksonville dredging funded.
January 14, 2008... Congress has funded the Jacksonville Port Authority's $2.8 million, long-planned dredging project in the St. Johns River. The money was approved as part of a $555 billion spending bill sent to the White House for President Bush's signature....

Comment period begins on '10+2' filing.
January 14, 2008... U.S. Customs and Border Protection is seeking comments by March 3 on a proposed rule that would establish 12 additional data elements that Customs wants importers to submit and a long list of information to be submitted by ocean carriers before...

ABX completes acquisition.
January 14, 2008... On Dec. 31, ABX Air became a wholly owned subsidiary of ABX Holdings, and the new company closed its purchase of Cargo Holdings International. The principal air carrier in the U.S. for DHL, ABX paid $332 million in cash, common shares and...

The B&B generosity.
January 21, 2008... Florida's Department of Transportation and the Australian investment firm Babcock & Brown threatened to pull out of the agreement to build the proposed Port of Miami tunnels if no deal was concluded before the end of 2007 because costs were...

Balancing act.
January 21, 2008... BYLINE: Rick Eyerdam  Florida's ports temper their ambitions The managers of Florida's growing ports are standing shoulder to shoulder playing down expectations in this downturn of economic growth and emphasizing their ports'...

Streamline congressional oversight of DHS, Chertoff says.
January 21, 2008... BYLINE: R.G. Edmonson Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff recently called for more streamlined congressional oversight of the department when a new administration takes over next year. Speaking to the Homeland Security...

Coast Guard invokes lemon law.
January 21, 2008... The Coast Guard has asked for a $96.1 million refund from Integrated Coast Guard Systems, which is a joint venture of Lockheed Martin Corp. and Northrop Grumman Corp. The joint venture was hired to "stretch" outdated cutters to 123 feet and...

Cumulation of origin begins.
January 21, 2008... Now that NAFTA is fully implemented and CAFTA is enjoying better definition, a cumulation of origin is scheduled to be implemented by the U.S., which should boost sales of Mexican denim fabrics to Central American countries under the CAFTA...

Needed: $500 million for Texas terminal.
January 21, 2008... The Port of Corpus Christi is looking for a group with very deep pockets to build, operate and maintain its long-planned 1,100-acre La Quinta Trade Gateway Terminal. The port is seeking companies interested in building, operating and...

World Bank to bankroll Costa Rica port.
January 21, 2008... The World Bank Board of Executive Directors approved a $72.5 million loan on Jan. 8 for Costa Rica to finance the revitalization of the city of Limon and to support the modernization of its port, according to a report in the Official Export...

Bahamas feels our pain.
January 21, 2008... Bahamas Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham assured his citizens that the Bahamas will endure a slowing economy and see job growth because of substantial foreign investments in the nation of islands. During his annual new year's report to the nation...

Roadrunner Dawes moves into Caribbean.
January 21, 2008... Trucking company and broker Roadrunner Dawes Freight Systems is starting service to and from Puerto Rico through a partnership with Multipoint, a Charlotte, N.C., freight forwarding company. RDFS can now serve all points within Puerto Rico...

Maersk to cut up to 3,000 jobs in reorganization.
January 21, 2008... BYLINE: Peter T. Leach Maersk Line will cut 8 to 12 percent of its global workforce, decentralize its management into smaller regional teams, and split its container operations into three divisions in an effort to improve profitability....

US ports and carriers end box slide.
January 21, 2008... Leading U.S. container ports in December handled more containers than they did in December 2006, ending a four-month slide in volume. Volume at the major U.S. gateways increased 3.3 percent from a year ago, according to the Port Tracker...

Crowley appoints Ara Atlantic-Gulf VP.
January 21, 2008... Crowley Maritime Corp. has promoted John Ara to vice president with responsibility for the company's Atlantic-Gulf Coast commercial and marine operations business. He will remain domiciled in Houston and will report directly to John...

Intermarine promotes Gomez-Ducharne.
January 21, 2008... Intermarine recently announced that April Gomez-Ducharne has been appointed customer service manager in Houston. Gomez-Ducharne oversees all customer service-related activities for Intermarine's North American services. She manages the...

Brand to lead Port Canaveral business development.
January 21, 2008... Lauren Kotas Brand, former director of trade and cargo development at Florida's Port Canaveral, has been named senior director of business development. Brand has worked at Port Canaveral since 1995, serving most recently as senior director...

Shah to head Delta Cargo.
January 21, 2008... Delta Air Lines named Neel Shah vice president of cargo, effective Jan. 14. He succeeds Ben Darnell, Delta's managing director for cargo, who is leaving the company after 22 years of service. Shah previously served as vice president of...

Cargo theft up.
January 21, 2008... BYLINE: William Hoffman  Supply chain's dark side grows The cargo thieves who broke into a Cranbury, N.J., warehouse were surprised to discover the freight they planned to steal had already been shipped. But rather than leave...

MIA Customs readies for Valentine's Day.
January 21, 2008... U.S. Customs and Border Protection's service port at the Miami International Airport will open a 24-hour hotline for the run-up to the perishables glut that precedes the Valentine's Day holiday. From Jan. 25 through Feb. 14, the A1...

A looming crisis.
January 28, 2008... Warren Buffett failed at textile manufacturing, by the way, but has done pretty well investing in established brands with strong management. Now that the recession has begun, everyone wants to learn from Buffett. Buffett divides the...

The Gulf's marine highway.
January 28, 2008... BYLINE: Janet Nodar  Coastal shipping set to expand in 2008 Short-sea shipping has a new name, and the Gulf of Mexico may see new players this year. Sean T. Connaughton, U.S. maritime administrator, has renamed the Maritime...

Dear US exporters: Beware.
January 28, 2008... BYLINE: Jennifer Diaz and Peter Quinter Without a doubt, U.S. exporters are under more scrutiny than ever before in their international business transactions, have more regulatory compliance requirements than ever before, and are...

Transportation plan receives bipartisan House support.
January 28, 2008... Funding for transportation infrastructure may find its way into an economic stimulus package being crafted on Capitol Hill, if House transportation leaders have their way. Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee...

Bush reinstates security funds.
January 28, 2008... Next month the White House will request $2.2 billion, not $1.4 billion, to help states and cities protect against terrorist attacks in 2009, an administration aide told Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., on Jan. 18. That would be 10 percent more than the...

Caribbean incumbent swept aside.
January 28, 2008... Barbados Prime Minister Owen Arthur, a key architect of the Caribbean Single Market Economy, suffered the same fate as four other Caribbean incumbents this election cycle and was defeated earlier this month in his efforts to secure a fourth...

Ports America Group formed.
January 28, 2008... AIG Highstar Capital, owner of Ports America Inc., MTC Holdings and Amports Inc., announced it will combine the management of Ports America and MTC into a single management team for the enterprise. Amports will operate as a division of the...

Gildan sock imports from Honduras face tariffs.
January 28, 2008... Canadian sock manufacturing giant Gildan Activewear Inc., a major client at the Port of Miami's Seaboard terminal and a major sock importer from Honduras, will be compelled to pay a tariff for a year on cotton socks imported from Honduras. ...

Taiwan offers financial aid to Panama.
January 28, 2008... The Taiwan state news service is reporting that the Chinese competitor donated $6 million to Panama to help finance construction projects as part of the island's efforts to cement ties with its remaining allies in Central America in the face of...

Antigua Port Authority renovations planned.
January 28, 2008... The Antigua Port Authority expects construction for the multimillion-dollar renovation of its facility to begin next month, according to information from Colin O'Neal, communications officer at the port. According to local reports, bids...

Justice Department files new racketeering lawsuit against ILA.
January 28, 2008... BYLINE: Joseph Bonney Old suit was dismissed in November because it lacked specifics If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. The U.S. attorney's office in Brooklyn, N.Y., appears to have taken that adage to heart in its...

Scanning of inbound containers begins at three foreign ports.
January 28, 2008... BYLINE: R.G. Edmonson Operation will expand to more ports this year The alarm sounded at Puerto Cortes, Honduras, indicating the container had something radioactive in it. The newly installed radiation monitor had identified small...

Decline seen for US imports.
January 28, 2008... BYLINE: Bill Mongelluzzo According to a maritime industry economist, the U.S. economy is most likely in a recession, which will result in declining imports in 2008. Bill Ralph, senior economist at R.K. Johns & Associates, said...

Economist: Growth ahead for southern US box ports.
January 28, 2008... BYLINE: Bill Mongelluzzo The U.S. container trade will return to more normal growth patterns over the next two years, with ports in the Southeast and Southwest benefiting most from the increased trade. The container trade is influenced...

Ryder details reorganization.
January 28, 2008... BYLINE: Bill DiBenedetto Ryder System wants to build on the growth of its supply-chain business segment, especially internationally, by pursuing small acquisitions and combining its domestic and international supply-chain units into a...

Commission calls for transport policy overhaul.
January 28, 2008... A blue-ribbon commission has recommended that the United States completely overhaul federal spending for surface transportation policy and a significant increase in revenue to pay for transportation infrastructure. The National Surface...

Colom takes over in Guatemala.
January 28, 2008... Guatemala has sworn in its new president, Alvaro Colom. Colom campaigned for the National Union for Hope party promising the country's voters that he would tackle the nation's severe problem with crime and pursue efforts to improve...