Commentary | Journal of Commerce

How a customer’s lack of detail puts him in hot seat

Colin Barrett, president, Barrett Transportation Consultants |

<p>One of the basic exceptions to the rule of absolute carrier liability for freight in a carrier’s custody is when loss or damage results from some fault of the shipper beyond the carrier’s control, and it fairly clearly seems to be the case here.</p> <p> </p>

Transport, Trade, and Regulation News

Trans-Pacific contract bidding advice in a sea of unknowns

Chas Deller, shipping commentator |

<p>This coming season is unlike any other, in as much as never before have we seen so many alliance changes, such high levels of ocean carrier financial uncertainty, and —so many unanswered questions about how the new US president will affect trade.</p>

Container lines

Shippers cautiously optimistic on growth for 2017

<p class="p1">The election of Donald Trump may have rattled global markets, at least temporarily, but shippers at the JOC Inland Distribution Conference the day after the election were cautiously optimistic. They were certainly cheered by the president-elect’s promise of $1 trillion in infrastructure spending. </p>

Shipping industry to end 2016 significantly transformed

<p>Recent industry comments suggest carriers are being cautious in ordering new capacity — new ship orders are down substantially versus 2015 — and also will be cautious on capacity as alliances roll out their service networks. This is leading a number of observers to suggest that the container market gradually may be returning to equilibrium.</p>

Container lines

Close look at carload data shows signs of rail recovery

Lawrence J. Gross, president, Gross Transportation Consulting |

<p>Anyone paying attention to rail carload data would conclude from the year-over-year losses that it’s a difficult market, but hidden in the figures is a story of improvement.</p>

North-American rail

Too soon to tell impact of President Trump on US trade

Susan Kohn Ross, international trade attorney, Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp |

<p dir="ltr">Without meaning to make light of the outcome of the presidential election, we all need to take a breath and pause. </p>

Transport, Trade, and Regulation NewsContainer lines

Lab tasked with exploring innovation in retail environment

Jerry Peck, GTM Systems Integration and Trade and Customs Specialist, Hitachi Consulting |

<p class="NoParagraphStyle">It will be interesting to see what concepts come out of the McMillon Family Retail Innovation and Technology Lab, as well as what impact this growing segment of technology — combined with its influence on the shopping behavior of millennials — could have on future logistics and distribution models.</p> <p class="NoParagraphStyle"> </p>

Logistics Technology News

Early ILWU-PMA talks offer means to fix productivity problems

Gary Ferrulli, President-North America, Unicon Lgistics |

<p class="NoParagraphStyle">Contract extension talks between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and the Pacific Maritime Association must address productivity issues in a serious way so US West Coast ports get somewhere remotely close to the efficiency at other major ports in the world. </p>

Longshore labor

Prepaying freight nullifies execution of Section 7 of B/L

Colin Barrett, President, Barrett Transportation Consultants |

<p>Section 7 of a bill of lading protects the shipper. A shipper’s execution of it is basically meaningless on a prepaid shipment.</p>

Trucking NewsTransport, Trade, and Regulation News

Compliance programs that work are key to shippers’ financial success

Susan Kohn Ross, international trade attorney, Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp |

<p>   </p> <p style="text-align: left;" align="center">An educated guess on value of imported produce, without reconciliation later being filed to reflect actual sales values, could land fruit and vegetable importers in Customs’ hot seat. </p>

Transport, Trade, and Regulation News

How can truckers secure good flatbed loads?

George Jurica Magoci, founder, Fueloyal |

<p dir="ltr">There are many things needed to be successful in the trucking business, and finding good flatbed loads is one.</p> <p style="text-align: left;"> </p>

Breakbulk NewsTrucking News

Japan’s measured approach to liner consolidation easier on shippers

Chris Brooks, Journal of Commerce Executive Editor |

<p class="NoParagraphStyle">For shippers, adjusting to the new wave of ocean carrier consolidation comes in degrees, all related to the level of disruption it causes. </p>

Container lines

Setting the stage for a new future in ocean shipping

<p class="NoParagraphStyle">Global container shipping will never be the same after this year. The industry many of us have spent a career toiling away within, is gone. Or at least aspects of it are — the names, the companies, the cultures, but, of course, not the tonnage.</p>

Container lines

Onus on shippers to ask for overpayment refunds

Colin Barrett, president, Barret Transportation Consultants |

<p>There’s no legal obligation — under either common law or commerce law — on anyone to draw a payer’s attention to an overpayment. So long as the carrier is refunding them on demand, it’s well within the law.</p>

Transport, Trade, and Regulation News

Amid low global growth, shipping companies need new approach

Kwabena Apau-Kese, shipping commentator |

<p> Shipping companies ought to venture into unchartered waters and make the market happen.</p>

Container lines

Reducing canceled freight booking avenue for liner, shipper cooperation

<p class="NoParagraphStyle">What do shippers and container lines really want, true collaboration that helps to solve problems, or to pay lip service that sounds good but has no bite?</p>

Container lines

Solutions to problem of no-show containers elusive

Peter Tirschwell |

<p>No one disputes no-show containers are a major industry challenge. The question is, how can it get resolved?</p>

Container lines

What ‘zombie’ carriers and steel mills have in common

<p class="NoParagraphStyle">The shipping and steel industries never quite seem able to match supply and demand well enough to ensure steady profitability. </p>

Identifying food shipment suppliers just part of the job

Colin Barrett, president, Barrett Transportation Consultants |

<p>The government of the destination country may get pretty inquisitive about exactly where the fruit you’re shipping was grown, and who did the growing, and may even require — as does the United States — that the origin be reflected at any time that the fruit is offered for sale within its borders. </p>

Transport, Trade, and Regulation News

US West Coast contract extension discussions historic opportunity

Jonathan Gold, vice president, supply chain and customs policy, National Retail Federation |

<p>An early contract extension at West Coast ports would present an opportunity to restore shipper trust and regain cargo they have diverted to the East and Gulf coasts.</p>

North American portsLongshore labor

Presidential campaign needs straight-talking on trade

Susan Kohn Ross, international trade attorney |

<p>Both presidential candidates have excoriated international trade almost to the point of saying it is the source of everything wrong in this country.</p>

Container lines

DOT sends mixed signals on safety technology

Lawrence J. Gross, president, Gross Transportation Consulting |

<p>It seems there are two federal transportation departments, the one regulating new highway technology and the one regulating railroads, and they don’t seem to be on the same page.</p>

Rail NewsTrucking NewsTransport, Trade, and Regulation News

Alliances pressed for failsafe plans after Hanjin collapse

Mark Szakonyi, JOC.com Executive Editor |

<p class="NoParagraphStyle">Shippers want assurance from ocean carrier alliances that there are emergency plans in place if one of their container lines can’t deliver its own cargo and that of its member partners.</p>

Transport, Trade, and Regulation NewsContainer lines

Five ways retailers can improve e-commerce home delivery

Chris Jones, executive vice president, marketing and services, Descartes |

<p>Technology will influence the 2016 retail holiday season in more ways than ever before, and with heightened consumer demand starting to put pressure upon home delivery operations, retail success is increasingly dependent upon advanced home delivery solutions.</p>

Burden of proof lies with carrier in this damage dispute

Colin Barrett, president, Barrett Transportation Consultants |

<p>After a fully crated shipment was delivered with no visible damage, a customer submits a claim for one piece of the shipment. The carrier agrees to pay one-third of the claim, saying the shipper, receiver, and carrier all had hands on the product. Is there recourse for the customer? </p>

Transport, Trade, and Regulation News

Shippers beware: Transportation reliability comes with a price

Lawrence J. Gross, president, Gross Transportation Consulting |

<p class="NoParagraphStyle">The Hanjin Shipping situation again illustrates the fragility of today’s supply chains. Shippers would be mistaken if they think they only need to be on guard for such issues on the seas.</p>

From Hanjin to the day-to-day, cooperation is key to port success

Chris Lytle, executive director, Port of Oakland |

<p>The Port of Oakland looked to an old recipe for success in the unprecedented crisis caused by the failure of Hanjin Shipping: teamwork.</p>

North American ports

How to become America’s next great exporting city

Ric Hubler, director of global business development, Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce |

<p>For cities looking to tap into the $1.95 trillion US export market, there are a few key characteristics that will provide a solid foundation for building an exporting industry.</p>

Logistics Technology News

Look to Hybrid Airship for remote delivery

Jerry Peck, GTM systems integration and trade and customs specialist, Hitachi Consulting |

<p>The hybrid airship is an aircraft that is nearly the length of a football field and requires no supporting infrastructure is capable of delivering up to 500 tons of supplies and equipment to the most austere locations imaginable and at a price point roughly equivalent to that of a truck on a dirt road. </p>

Southern US ports step up to meet reefer demands

KC Conway, senior vice president, SunTrust Bank |

<p>The new healthy eating trend and Panama Canal expansion, coupled with technological port advancements and a modernized supply chain network, created the perfect storm that helped carve out an opportunity for refrigerated cargo growth in the South.</p>

North American portsCool Cargo News

Logistics sector struggles to pad profit with price increases

Brad Soper, partner, and Sven Wengler, director, Simon-Kucher & Partners |

<p>The logistics industry is one of the worst performing when it comes to implementing annual price increases with their customers.</p>

Container linesTrucking NewsRail NewsLogistics Technology News

Issue of no-show containers highlights industry’s inefficiencies

<p class="BasicParagraph">    There are no negative consequences to the shipper for its container missing a ship. For the ocean carrier, the costs are huge.</p>

Container lines

Hapag-Lloyd CEO extends projection timetable for recovery

Chris Brooks, Journal of Commerce Executive Editor |

<p>    </p> <p class="BasicParagraph">Speaking at the JOC Container Trade Europe Conference in Hamburg, Rolf Habben Jansen, CEO of Hapag-Lloyd, set back his forecast for a “degree of recovery” in the container shipping industry another 12 to 24 months.</p>

Container lines

Avoiding another Hanjin won’t be easy

Peter Tirschwell |

<p>The failure of Hanjin Shipping has raised profound questions regarding the risks of ocean container transportation in corporate boardrooms throughout the world.</p>

Container lines

Railroads weigh insourcing terminal operations

Theodore Prince, chief operating officer, Tiger Cool Express |

<p>The growth of intermodal has been dramatic over the past 20 years, and the attractiveness of insourcing is undeniable. </p>

Motor carrier has every right to ‘collect’ after delivery

Colin Barrett, president, Barrett Transportation Consultants |

<p>A bill of lading is a legally binding contract, and the consignee becomes party to it, and bound by its terms, by taking delivery of the shipment. A carrier has every reason to look to the consignee for its money.</p> <p> </p>

Trucking NewsTransport, Trade, and Regulation News

Hanjin shows liner practices are unsustainable

Gary Ferrulli, president-North America, Unicon Logistics |

<p>Container lines seem to not have learned the most important lesson from the collapse of Hanjin Shipping and all indications suggest they will squander this opportunity to align supply and demand.</p>

Container lines

Diesel savings to be had via smarter idling

Pramod J. Mallapragada, chief technology officer, Propel IT |

<p>It is a known fact that a significant portion of fuel spent by trucking companies is due to idling, but that cost can be seriously reduced if idling allotments are based on ambient weather temperatures.</p>

Logistics Technology NewsTruckload

There’s a lesson to be learned from Hanjin collapse

Peter Tirschwell |

<p class="NoParagraphStyle">Data point to NVOs as a group being clearly more nervous about Hanjin than BCOs were in the months leading up to the collapse of Hanjin Shipping. This would make sense because being close to the market is a full-time job for NVOs. It’s what they do for a living. </p>

Container lines

How the path to recovery may start with failure

Chris Brooks, Journal of Commerce Executive Editor |

<p>For ocean carriers, Hanjin’s demise might just be the event that tilts the playing field back in their favor for the first time since 2010. </p>

Container lines

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