Commentary

Every 30 years or so, since the early 19th century, rail transportation sees evolutionary changes that come together to push the industry into a new era.

The clouds of volcanic ash that all but shut down European airspace were just the latest reminder of the unpredictability in supply chains.

OK, everyone, it’s time to calm down, take a few deep breaths, close your eyes for a moment and just chill.

Q: We are a manufacturer that ships mostly to grocery warehouses via truckload or less-than-truckload carriers.

In Kenya, exporters in the country's huge flower shipping industry are said to have burned 400 tons of flowers over the weekend because they could not get flights to Europe and the flowers were going

At a recent trade association luncheon, a senior Customs manager from the Port of Los Angeles-Long Beach provided some statistics and background about Customs operations.

The great global downturn of 2008-2009 may have been the steepest, most widespread economic decline the world has seen in 60 years, but don’t tell that to Seaspan’s Gerry Wang.

Q: The promotional practices of 3PLs — brokers, if you will — seem to me to be taking some strange and maybe illegal turns.

If I book A FLIGHT with an airline and then don’t show up, I forfeit the fare. If I book a flight and then have to change it later, I pay a fee.

When Maersk Line Chief Operating Officer Marcus Engelstoft opened a shipping conference in London by saying a look back to assess the industry’s economic pain over the past two years was “

Altogether, the threat of global warning, pollution and highway congestion seem to create a tailor-made situation for trucks to be diverted to barges on waterways.

There is a famous scene in the 1967 movie “Cool Hand Luke” in which Strother Martin as the sadistic prison camp warden tells Luke, played by Paul Newman, “What we’ve got

Q: I’ve read there’s a case before the Supreme Court on whether carrier liability for a railroad move under an international through bill of lading involving connecting maritime service sh

Benjamin Disraeli is supposed to have said there are three kinds of lies: “lies, damn lies and statistics.” Mark Twain is the one who says Disraeli said that, however, and some very solid

The nation's top transportation official is making a big push for marine highways, in speeches, in interviews and now online.

The U.S.

Different Companies, Separate Labor Laws

The drama surrounding health care reform seems to have raised the volume of political discourse in the U.S. while lowering civility.

When a Journal of Commerce reporter went to a Senate Finance Committee hearing last week on the pressing issue of what needs to be done to improve the United States’ exporting capabilities, he c

If an iPod can hold a bookcase full of CDs and a Kindle a small library of books, how long will it be before fewer trucks and containers are needed to move these and countless other products that are

Q: In the Jan. 11 and Feb.

Anyone wondering where questions surrounding U.S.

Q: I read your column in the Feb.

When Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced the TIGER grant awardees on Feb. 17, those who have long wished for a national freight transportation policy might have had reason for optimism.

The international financial crisis put a damper on the global trade of wood chips used for pulp manufacturing in 2009.

Among the many issues to consider during the planning and transportation of project cargo, insurance is sometimes a last-minute consideration.

“Got a bran’ new suit Got a bran’ new tie Got a bran’ new twinkle in my eye Do you know the reason why?…”

Schneider National is looking for fuel savings close to the road — from its wheels.

Q: About a year ago I submitted the following question to a well-known lawyer specializing in freight claims: For what period of time must we, as a 3PL handling loss/damage claims on behalf of our cli

The peak shipping season that seemed so chaotic and confused last fall is making more sense as companies view 2009 from a greater distance, and the greater perspective on one of the most difficult yea

While I haven’t seen the results from surveys taken at this month’s Trans-Pacific Maritime Conference, I think it’s safe to say most of the 1,400-some attendees not only enjoyed the

The first five months of the year "are by far the worst of the year" for ocean carriers' customer service, says Claudio Bozzo, president of Mediterranean Shipping Co.

Volatile markets across the transportation world over the past year have raised the heat on shipper-carrier relationships, so for some perspective it may be helpful to slip back to a more peaceful per

It is not often you get to see a real knock-down-drag-out fight between two business models in the same industry, but we are about to witness one in the rail intermodal business in the western United

The American Bar Association’s 5th Annual Homeland Security Conference in Washington earlier this month was notable for several reasons.

Since trucking industry deregulation in 1980, more than 30 unionized, non-union, national and regional less-than-truckload carriers have left the market.

I have become fascinated in recent weeks with the ubiquitous mobile handheld devices and how they may affect the economy, including shipping.

Q: We’re a third party (broker/3PL) and have a customer who is the receiver of goods from a high-end shipper.

There's no shortage of opinion about truck driver shortages. Some say they exist, some say they don't. Some say they're all about pay, while others cite demographics.

Perceptions, I learned long ago, are stronger than reality.