Commentary

The global air cargo industry is facing an undeniably challenging year ahead. Volumes increased slowly but steadily over the course of 2013, and some markets picked up faster than others. Current indicators suggest we will continue to see a small upturn — welcome news for an industry that plays a key role in world trade.

It is no overstatement to say that the economic wellbeing of Long Beach, Southern California and our state is dramatically impacted by the volume of international trade flowing through the Port of Long Beach.

More than a decade since the September 11 attacks and six years after the financial crisis, people are coming to the realization that the U.S. and the global economy are resilient. Security is institutionalized and risk management is de rigeur. Now everyone is looking for one thing: how to get growth. For government and business, growth will solve a lot of lingering problems by reducing deficits and generating revenue.

As social and business media lit up with outrage over consumers not receiving promised shipment deliveries by the end of the day of Christmas eve, it was clear this was a previously unseen scenario, linked to a surge in last minute orders.

Global commerce is increasing at a dizzying pace, and we’re in the midst of the “give it to me now” era, so you’d think air cargo would be booming. Instead, it’s struggling. How the maritime industry has left air cargo lost in space.

What will 2014 deliver to the docks of trucking companies and shippers moving freight over the highways?

With so much money needed, why haven’t public-private partnerships succeeded in becoming funding sources for infrastructure expansion in the U.S. port industry?

A grocery retail chain suspects a transloading occurred, and questions if he can be paid full value of a shipment load after declaring it a total loss. Though the shipment appears to be intact, the seal number doesn’t match that on the bill of lading.

“Those who don’t learn from the past are doomed to repeat it.” Winston Churchill wasn’t talking about the freight transportation industry when he paraphrased the famous quote originally penned by author George Santayana. But he could have been.

An insurer agrees to pay a claim for a load of goods damaged in an accident, but demands to keep the products for salvage. Does it have a case?