Commentary

Because I write only once a month, I have the benefit of time to prepare and review my writing, and I can contemplate issues as opposed to having a deadline a day or less away.

Is Canada using unfair advantage to lure U.S.-bound containers through its ports?

Extinguishing Mexican Cargo Crime

After meeting with shippers and freight carriers across continents and across modes over the first part of 2011, it seems clearer than ever these two sides of the shipping equation share one very clea

After I tweeted a link to the AP article below on South China losing its position as a low-cost manufacturing region, I received the following comments.

On March 1, U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk delivered President Obama’s 2011 Trade Policy Agenda and 2010 Annual Report to Congress.

In an increasingly adversarial political environment, it’s refreshing to see AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka and U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Thomas J.

Imagine for a moment you’re an importer of consumer goods looking for the fastest possible transit time from China to your distribution center in Chicago.

Q: I just finished reading something about the Japanese government setting up a 50-mile hazard zone around the nuclear power plant that had all those problems after the earthquake, and it got me think

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that an expert in U.S.

Over the past several years, I have written numerous times about the transparency — or opacity, depending on your point of view — of our industry and our work.

Considering West Coast longshore-management relations appear to be operating in a sea of tranquility, judging from their recent Journal of Commerce Trans-Pacific Maritime panel, what, if any, supply c

The horrific earthquake that almost completely shut down Japan. The less powerful but still destructive earthquake in New Zealand a few weeks earlier. Turmoil in the Middle East.

Anyone who has young children, or a deep interest in U.S. transportation policy, can find some interesting wisdom in the Raggedy Ann books.

It’s official, YRC Worldwide is no longer the largest U.S. less-than-truckload operator. FedEx Freight claimed the top spot in 2010, with $4.4 billion in LTL revenue.

Q: In your Feb. 28 article, “Carmack’s Broken Model,” you discussed whether there should be a uniform North American Free Trade Agreement standard for carrier liability.

When you pump gasoline (or diesel) into your vehicle these days -- whether personal car or commercial truck -- do you comfort yourself by saying it's still not as bad as the worst days of 2008? No?

In an era of spiraling national debt and budget austerity, is it really necessary that both the Savannah, Ga., and Charleston, S.C., ports deepen their channels to accommodate bigger ships?

Classification Controversy

We have all seen vivid demonstrations of supply-demand economics in our daily lives recently. The most graphic example is in the price of oil and its impact on gasoline and other oil-based fuels.

Among the thousands of bills piled up before Congress this year, you'll find the BABE RUTH Act.

Q: We have the book “Freight Claims in Plain English” (Huntington, N.Y.: Transportation & Logistics Council, 4th ed., 2009; by William J. Augello and George Carl Pezold, Brent Wm.

It’s a cruel truth that private and government disaster relief organizations have gotten far more experience at their work in recent years than any of us could possibly imagine.

The Transported Assets Protection Association's two-day meeting in San Diego this month looking at U.S.-Mexico cross-border security couldn't have been more timely.

Collaboration and the supply chain are two concepts that should appear together only if companies are prepared to fundamentally change their way of thinking.

Q: One of our clients had the following feedback from a carrier when he submitted his Over, Short or Damage claim.

Ocean vessel capacity was the most pressing concern for shippers at last year’s Journal of Commerce Trans-Pacific Maritime Conference.

I don’t know if there’s ever been a subject that so dominates discussion in the freight transportation industry with so little to show for it.

Trade diplomats are trying for what may be one last time to conclude the long-deadlocked Doha Development Round of global trade negotiations among the 153 countries in the World Trade Organization.

The 2010 financial results are in for global ocean carriers, and as anyone who tracks these things knows, there were no big surprises, but there were big profits, at least relative to the industry.

There is no mention in the Old Testament story of Samson and Delilah of whether Samson owned a chain or carried one with him. Samson’s weakness was his hair — or, rather, the lack of it.

Last week’s Academy Awards broadcast offered a striking example of communication in the world looking back and looking forward.

Q: My company, a third-party broker, was given a load by one of our good customers. We contracted with a licensed motor carrier to pick up and deliver the load for us for $2,550.

Two months into the first quarter, one of the watchwords for the economy during the past year is living on in 2011. Anywhere you go and in seemingly everything you read, the word is uncertainty.

In each of the past two years, The Journal of Commerce TPM event has convened in early March in an atmosphere of unmitigated crisis.

Will Congress determine how long truckers are allowed to work each day, or will that decision rest with the Department of Transportation?

“Semper Paratus” – Always Ready – is the U.S. Coast Guard’s proud motto.

It should be clear by now that the Obama administration and those planning its transportation policies have a thing for railroads -- both passenger and freight.

Demand Periodic Reviews of Fuel Surcharges

As we move into the third month of 2011, we’re already seeing signs that this will be a transformational year.