Florida Shipper articles from January 2009

Florida Shipper archives from January 2009

Condemnation.
January 5, 2009... When I was finishing college, I had the honor to serve as staff director for the Rules Committee in the Florida House of Representatives. One of my jobs was preliminary negotiation to resolve differences among the speaker's allies. One such...

Green savings.
January 5, 2009... BYLINE: DAVID BIEDERMAN Companies help the environment by helping the bottom line The SmartWay Transport Partnership, a federal program that helps transport operators save millions of gallons of fuel and millions of dollars, is...

Sustaining sustainability.
January 5, 2009... BYLINE: WILLIAM HOFFMAN Wal-Mart keeps green initiatives under way, seeks to eliminate product returns by 2012 Wal-Mart is sustaining its sometimes-costly pursuit of sustainability despite slower than expected sales and the threat of a...

Value-added taxes.
January 5, 2009... BYLINE: WILLIAM ARMBRUSTER Business coalition says VATs should be top priority for U.S. trade negotiators Value-added taxes are little known in the United States, but the VAT policies of foreign governments should be the top priority...

China increases export rebates.
January 5, 2009... China levies value-added taxes on most products, but refunds varying amounts of that tax on goods that are exported. The government usually adjusts the size of export tax rebates for different types of goods when it is trying to encourage or...

Security rules keep seafarers from shore leave.
January 5, 2009... BYLINE: PETER T. LEACH Adolf Adrion, chairman and chief executive of Hapag-Lloyd, recalls his days as an able seaman with nostalgia. In those days, young men went to sea to see the world, as well as to earn a living. Times have changed....

Trucking execs can fight recession.
January 5, 2009... BYLINE: JOE WHITE Cost control has always been a critical success factor in trucking, but in today's environment, without capital to invest in new technology, trucking chief executives need to look inward at their operations and use...

Inland waterways face critical investment shortfall.
January 5, 2009... The lack of funding for maintenance dredging has reached crisis proportions. "Without dredging, many port facilities and navigation channels would be rendered unsafe and non-navigable to users in less than a year," the American Association...

Maersk to exit Charleston.
January 5, 2009... Maersk Line said it will transfer its Charleston calls to other ports during the next two years because International Longshoremen's Association locals at the port refused to allow the carrier's terminal work to be transferred to non-union...

Oberstar proposes $30 million for short-sea.
January 5, 2009... The chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee wants to give short-sea shipping a $30 million jolt as part of the comprehensive economic stimulus package that Congress will consider when it convenes in January. Rep....

Air crews vote in Teamsters.
January 5, 2009... About 900 crew members at Atlas Air and Polar Air Cargo Worldwide voted to join the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. They had previously been represented by the Air Line Pilots Association. The Teamsters Airline Division currently...

APL moves to Port of Miami.
January 5, 2009... Container carrier APL announced on Dec. 19 that its leading Central America service will switch calls to the Port of Miami Terminal Operating Co. terminal from Port Everglades this month. The Central America Express (CAX) and its companion...

Cargo down at Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale ports.
January 5, 2009... Port Everglades and the Port of Palm Beach told local papers that they will see a decline in throughput when all the 2008 numbers are counted. Total domestic and international freight dropped 8 percent at Port Everglades to 24 million...

More resort layoffs.
January 5, 2009... Sandals Resorts International is laying off 650 Caribbean hotel workers in response to a decline in tourist bookings, the company announced. The cuts in the Bahamas, Jamaica and St. Lucia represent 7 percent of the Jamaica-based resort chain's...

Cruise line loses Freeport berth.
January 5, 2009... The Imperial Majesty Regal Empress Cruise line has decided to stop calling at Grand Bahama because the Grand Bahama Port Authority has decided to deny the cruise line berthing access on its scheduled day for travel to Freeport. According...

IACA: Security should not hinder trade.
January 5, 2009... Air cargo security should work under coordinated controls across the globe, an industry group urged, to avoid a morass of regulations that would bog the flow of trade. "Global aviation security must be threat-based, risk-managed,...

'Jacta alea est!'.
January 12, 2009... When the European Union was getting its sea legs, the unions convinced the member states to agree to ultimately limit the official workweek to 48 hours. Each member nation was permitted to opt out based on the relative strength of the...

The chamber's agenda: U.S. Chamber of Commerce offers 14-point proposal on trade.
January 12, 2009... BYLINE: WILLIAM ARMBRUSTER As President-elect Barack Obama and his advisers worked on their strategy for the new administration, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce issued its agenda on international business issues just before the holidays. ...

Chamber report emphasizes worker assistance.
January 12, 2009... As part of its effort to find common ground with the Obama administration and Congress, the Chamber of Commerce's trade agenda puts a high priority on trade adjustment assistance. It ranked sixth place on the report's 14-point list. "Trade...

10+2: An unexpected bond.
January 12, 2009... BYLINE: RICK BRIDGES The interim Importer Security Filing, better known as the 10+2 rule, has raised many concerns, but one that has received little attention is the requirement that the filings must be secured by a bond. This bond, just...

Port of Miami solicits stevedoring application.
January 12, 2009... Port of Miami Director Bill Johnson is asking for stevedoring permit applications for the eight permits he expects to issue for this year The permit application and instructions to applicants are now available and can be obtained on the...

BBI sells Euro ports stake.
January 12, 2009... Babcock & Brown Infrastructure Group, the Australian investment house that recently dropped its backing for the Port of Miami tunnel, recently sold its 30 percent stake in its European ports business to two outside investors for around $170...

PierPASS dropped as cargo sags.
January 12, 2009... Marine terminal operators at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach recently announced that they will suspend Saturday off-peak shifts as a result of declining cargo volume. The new weekly schedule comes into effect on Jan. 17. The last...

Supply chains cashing out.
January 12, 2009... BYLINE: WILLIAM HOFFMAN Logistics is by definition a challenging profession, and after a year of roller-coaster fuel prices and deepening recession, the coming year looks to be downright daunting. "2008 will be a year to remember,"...

Japan tests logistics tags on containers.
January 12, 2009... BYLINE: HISANE MASAKI Japan has launched a two-month field trial of electronic tags designed to "visualize" international logistics, with a view to proposing international standards for them, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry...

Seafarers' House honors 2008 Business Leaders.
January 12, 2009... BYLINE: LESLIE WARWICK At an annual event hosted by Holland America Lines to benefit Seafarers' House at Port Everglades, members of the South Florida business community took time to recognize the leadership and good works of three local...

Weakened link.
January 12, 2009... BYLINE: PETER T. LEACH Just when supply-chain managers were hoping that the trillions of dollars being injected into the global banking system would loosen the strings choking trade finance, another danger has risen. International...

Global airfreight declines.
January 12, 2009... International cargo traffic dropped 13.5 percent in November, according to the International Air Transport Association, the largest monthly decline since 2001 in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks. Airlines did not anticipate the huge...

Caribbean port to get help from Singapore.
January 12, 2009... When Costa Rican President Oscar Arias visited Singapore at the end of last year, he received a promise of assistance to help his country develop its seaports. Francisco Jimenez, executive chairman of the Board of Port Administration and...

DHL Express reports 22 percent Caribbean growth.
January 12, 2009... DHL Express has calculated a 22 percent revenue growth in its fastest growing product, Import Express Worldwide - a door-to-door import solution designed to expedite imports to the Caribbean. The growth has been primarily driven by the...

Schwab hails completion of CAFTA set.
January 12, 2009... U. S. Trade Representative Susan C. Schwab made a statement on Dec. 23, 2008, hailing the Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement for Costa Rica. "With the President's issuance of a proclamation to implement...

Bahamas' Ginn property spared from bankruptcy.
January 12, 2009... Several Ginn Co. affiliates filed for bankruptcy at the end of the year, according to The Palm Beach Post, but the one in the Bahamas was spared.  Some of the developments, including one in the Bahamas and another in North Carolina,...

The 10+2 Importer Security Filing: Ready? Set? Load!
January 12, 2009... BYLINE: Lenny Feldman, Esq. Customs and Border Protection's new cargo security requirements for sea carriers and importers will become effective on Jan. 26, 2009,. Although the interim rule provides for a flexible, one-year phase-in period...

Good buy, yellow brick road.
January 19, 2009... Seven years ago, Texas Gov. Rick Perry announced a plan for the most inspired infrastructure project in contemporary American history. He imagined a $184 billion Trans-Texas Corridor. The Trans-Texas Corridor concept was so revolutionary...

The store is open.(Company overview)
January 19, 2009... BYLINE: JOHN PRICE Best practices for exporting to Latin America From 2006 to 2008, foreign suppliers began to gain market share in many product categories in Latin America as local currencies appreciated and both household and...

Business continuity planning critical for Central America region.
January 19, 2009... BYLINE: ANTON EDMUNDS AND ANA VEGA Recent events have highlighted the reality that the Caribbean Basin is particularly vulnerable to major climate and geological disasters. Unexpected weather patterns and the highly erratic hurricane season...

Tourism's decline will slow economic growth.
January 19, 2009... Central America and the Caribbean will be the subregions most affected by the stagnation in tourism caused by the financial crisis, according to the report "Preliminary Overview of the Economies of Latin America and the Caribbean 2008." The...

Farm groups lobby for food origin labeling.
January 19, 2009... BYLINE: ALAN M. FIELD Shortly before Thanksgiving, the Food and Drug Administration opened an office in China, the FDA's first office outside the United States. Last month, another field office was opened in Costa Rica. The openings...

Latin airline cargo down, passengers up.
January 19, 2009... The Latin American Air Transport Association announced that its member airlines carried 9.7 million passengers in November, up 1.2 percent from last year. Freight ton kilometers decreased 18.6 percent in November and 12.2 percent...

UPS adds service in 16 countries.
January 19, 2009... UPS recently began offering domestic express pickup and delivery services inside 16 additional countries across Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America. The nations involved in the expansion are Algeria, Argentina, Chile, Cyprus,...

California stevedore sues for work at Port Everglades.
January 19, 2009... Metro Cruise Services, a California stevedore company specializing in cruise lines, has filed suit against Broward County, Fla., in federal court, asserting the right to provide stevedoring services at the Broward County Port Everglades...

Pyle offers Caribbean NVO.
January 19, 2009... Trucker A. Duie Pyle announced that it is offering a new non-vessel operating service to the Caribbean. The service area includes Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, St. Thomas and St. Croix. A. Duie Pyle has an office in Guaynabo, Puerto...

Continued decline in cargo predicted for Puerto Rico.
January 19, 2009... Things are looking bleak in Puerto Rico shipping, according to a report by Lawson Thurston on the Caribbean Business Web site. In 2008, cargo volume dropped nearly 2 percent on top of an 18 percent plunge in the prior four years, the report...

Uproar over plan to shut LA-Long Beach Saturday gates.
January 19, 2009... Cargo interests were up in arms over a recent move by terminal operators in Los Angeles-Long Beach to eliminate Saturday gate hours that have reduced congestion and pollution at the port complex but increased terminal costs because of stevedore...

Port Tracker: US container volume worst since 2004.
January 19, 2009... U.S. container ports closed out their worst year since 2004 with an estimated 6.4 percent drop in imports in December compared to the previous-year period. That marked the 17th straight month that container volume declined year-over-year,...

FTA between Panama and Honduras takes effect.
January 19, 2009... The free trade agreement between Panama and Honduras took effect on Jan. 9. The agreement has an impact on 80 percent of the goods traded between the countries, the Panamanian Ministry of Commerce and Industry said. The deal means...

Where is the leadership vision for America's trade future?
January 19, 2009... BYLINE: NEAL ASBURY At a time when our country is fixated on a protracted political process passionately promising to cure all our ills, this would be an excellent time for our incoming president to put forward his vision to solve the most...

Tracking port trends.
January 19, 2009... BYLINE: PETER T. LEACH AND RICK EYERDAM Change is the only certainty What will the container shipping industry look like when it emerges from its current funk? When will global containerized trade resume its growth? Will the volume...

Committee on Florida ports.
January 26, 2009... The bad news is that container ports everywhere but Florida and the Gulf Coast are losing business as American consumerism goes bust. The good news is that container ports everywhere but Florida and the Gulf Coast are losing business as...

Florida ports begin 2009 with a bang.
January 26, 2009... BYLINE: RICK EYERDAM As the port tonnage annual numbers begin to accumulate, Florida's ports follow the national pattern of a reduction in containerized, bulk and breakbulk cargo. But the export numbers are excellent and Florida's...

Pushing on a rope.
January 26, 2009... BYLINE: RICK EYERDAM Florida ports seek respect through alliances Last month, Rick Ferrin, Port of Jacksonville, Fla.'s executive director, was invited to speak to the Duval County delegation to the Florida Legislature. He...

ICS Logistics buys Coastal Maritime Stevedoring.
January 26, 2009... ICS Logistics announced that it has executed a definitive agreement to purchase Coastal Maritime Stevedoring, a multiuser marine terminal operator and stevedore headquartered in Jacksonville, Fla. The company said Coastal and its affiliates...

Rail traffic caught in slide.
January 26, 2009... BYLINE: JOHN D. BOYD As 2009 gets under way, major railroads across North America see traffic still plunging, continuing the sharpest rail freight downturn in years. The new data is just for one week and comes as heavy winter storms...

Global recession puts the brakes on China's economic growth.
January 26, 2009... BYLINE: ALAN M. FIELD Plant shutdowns cause increase in civil unrest Less than a year ago, economists were buzzing about the theory of "decoupling," the idea that the rapidly emerging economies of Asia and Latin America were no longer...

NCBFAA hits carriers' proposal.
January 26, 2009... The National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America is warning that allowing ocean carriers in the Asia-U.S. West Coast trade to discuss capacity management collectively would result in anti-competitive activity that would be...

Calderon: No NAFTA talks.
January 26, 2009... Mexico President Felipe Calderon said that he had not discussed renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement with U.S. President Barack Obama. The Mexican government has expressed concern about Obama's campaign promises to renegotiate...

Outgoing Marad chief sees short-sea, other progress.
January 26, 2009... Maritime Administrator Sean T. Connaughton said that laying the foundation for a marine highway system, greater opportunities for American mariners and a reorganization of the agency to make it more effective are significant steps he's taken...

Anti-pirate innovations.
January 26, 2009... In the Caribbean where yachts are most often the targets of pirates, the deterrents of choice are large shiny firearms or an elephant gun to disable a powerboat at a safe distance. But off the coast of Africa, where the pirates now swarm huge...

IMF says Central America will miss recession.
January 26, 2009... The International Monetary Fund on Jan. 16 said it expects Central America to avoid a recession in 2009 despite its strong U.S. ties. Alfred Schipke, IMF representative for Central America and mission chief for El Salvador, told Reuters...

Central American states vow closer cooperation.
January 26, 2009... Members of the Central American Integration System pledged on Jan. 15 to accelerate regional integration to buffer member states from the global economic downturn. At the summit held in the Nicaraguan capital Managua, the country's...

Costa Rica: Earthquake more than minor.
January 26, 2009... According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs report on Jan. 14, the Costa Rica earthquake on Jan. 8 claimed the lives of 15 people, with 23 still missing and 3,700 homeless in shelters. The earthquake...

Jamaica trade minister calls for change.
January 26, 2009... Jamaica Deputy Prime Minister and Minster of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Kenneth Baugh has said that the time has come for a transformation of the Jamaican economy, moving from a period of jobless, marginal growth to targeted...