North American ports

Employee truck drivers represented by the Teamsters union announced a contract agreement this week with the Toll Group in Southern California that increases their pay $6 an hour and includes benefits provisions such as paid overtime, sick leave, paid holidays and more affordable health insurance.

The Port of Seattle Commission has elected Commissioner Tom Albro to be president, following a brief interim period.

The Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority in Ohio, the grantee of Foreign Trade Zone 8 since 1971, has been approved by the U.S. Department of Commerce Foreign-Trade Zone Board for the reorganization and expansion of its FTZ.

The Tampa Port Authority has announced that Geneva-based Mediterranean Shipping Company will start offering its global container service at the Port of Tampa.

Washington’s Port of Bellingham board of commissioners has elected Jim Jorgensen to be president of the board for 2013.

Terminal operators in Los Angeles-Long Beach hope to improve truck turn times by distributing to harbor trucking companies a fact sheet...

Maersk Line postponed the effective date of its proposed congestion surcharge at West Coast ports until Feb. 14.

Federal, state and local officials recently celebrated the start of construction on a $1 billion, four-year project to replace the Gerald Desmond Bridge at the Port of Long Beach in California.

Port Everglades has promoted David Anderton, seaport planning expert, to the newly created position of assistant director of strategic planning and development, according to Steven Cernak, the Florida port’s chief executive and port director.

From labor battles to natural disasters, 2012 was filled with risk for shippers and the companies moving and managing their cargo. Here are the stories that defined the year.

Nautilus International Holding has rebranded its cargo and cruise subsidiary companies Suderman Contracting Stevedores and Suderman Terminals as Metro Ports, Metro Cruise Services and Metro Shore Services, effective Jan. 1...

UPDATED, 7 p.m. EDT, Friday The union and waterfront employers agreed to extend the ILA master contract through Feb. 6, preventing a threatened strike at ports from Maine to Texas.

The Port of Baltimore’s Seagirt and Dundalk public marine terminals will be open Saturday for the delivery and receipt of cargo if no agreement is reached...

Hapag-Lloyd is advising customers to avoid delivering reefer exports to inland locations...

Dockworkers at Charleston refused to unload a ship for about two hours...

Laden container volume at the Port of Oakland fell 4.6 percent in November year-over-year and 8.2 percent from October, to 190,556 20-foot-equivalent units.

Produce importer Sol Shipping Services has entered a five-year agreement to operate a five-acre marine terminal at Port Everglades in Florida.

Eight container ports in the Americas handled 8.7 percent of the total TEU throughput...

The South Carolina Ports Authority reported that the Port of Charleston handled 125,780 20-foot-equivalent units in November, up nearly 12 percent year-over-year.

Moody’s Investors Service has affirmed an "A1" rating for the South Carolina Ports Authority’s outstanding debt.

The Port of Los Angeles reported total cargo volume in November was 582,982 20-foot-equivalent units, dropping 16 percent from 694,109 TEUs in November 2011.

The Georgia Ports Authority today unveiled its first four electrified rubber-tire gantry cranes, which reduce fuel consumption by an estimated 95 percent.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal has appointed Michael W. Kearney to the Port of New Orleans board of commissioners.

The Port of New Orleans board of commissioners has elected Joe Toomy to be chairman, succeeding Valerie Cahill, whose five-year term as chair expired.

The Port of Milwaukee, the grantee of Foreign-Trade Zone 41, has been approved by the U.S. Department of Commerce Foreign-Trade Zone Board to serve a wider area of southeastern Wisconsin...

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey will host an information session for port partners who suffered business losses from Hurricane Sandy to meet with representatives from the Small Business Administration and Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The Port of Seattle Commission has elected Commissioner Tom Albro to serve as president until the commission holds its annual election of officers on Jan. 8, 2013, in accordance with the commission’s bylaws.

The Jacksonville Port Authority board of directors has approved a grant partnership with the state of Florida to allow the port to voluntarily reduce diesel emissions further at the Talleyrand and Blount Island terminals.

The Port of Virginia handled 198,720 20-foot-equivalent units in November, a 21.2 percent increase from November 2011, the Virginia Port Authority reported.

James Kwon has agreed to retire as maritime director at the Port of Oakland, effective Dec. 28, following the release of a business expenditures audit that showed improper spending by port executives.

A new Los Angeles ordinance amending the city’s building code will streamline the permitting process for future Port of Los Angeles construction projects.

The Texas Emission Reduction Program recently awarded $500,000 to truck manufacturer Vision Industries Corporation, nonprofit Environmental Defense Fund, Air Projects and project partners...