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The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is proposing a new rule that requires truck drivers to spend more time behind the wheel before they can take their skills tests for licensing and creates another hurdle for drivers who have lost their license for malfeasance to have it reinstated.

The spot rate for shipping a 40-foot container from Shanghai to the U.S. West Coast plunged below $1,000 this week to $884 in a normal seasonal move associated with the Chinese New Year celebrations in Asia. However, the drop was compounded by the overcapacity problem in the trans-Pacific.

A group of U.S. agricultural exporters has endorsed a Coast Guard’s admiral’s view that compliance with international container-weighing rules should be handled as a “business practice” instead of through regulatory enforcement.

Ocean container spot freight rates on the Asia-North Europe trade closed in on its all-time low, declining almost 10 percent this week on the world’s largest shipping route.

Mundra, a privately-operated, minor cargo complex with modern infrastructure and ample hinterland connectivity, is emerging as an attractive port call for major container lines operating to and from India.

Two more rail services carrying cargo overland from Chinese cities to Iran and Russia were launched in February.

CMA CGM this week released two trade announcements upgrading its coverage on trades to and from India.

Volatile rates and uncertain services mean shippers and forwarders entering into contracts with carriers are having to ensure an enormous amount of flexibility is built into their negotiations.

FedEx, the largest less-than-truckload carrier in North America and the second-largest trucking operator in the U.S., has joined the league of logistics industry groups, including rival UPS, opposed to a proposed Canadian Pacific-Norfolk Southern railway merger.

Thursday’s announcement by CMA CGM that beginning in May the carrier’s Pearl River Express service will operate each week with mega-ships carrying up to 18,000 twenty-foot-equivalent units sent West Coast ports into a frenzy of preparatory efforts.

The largest global container line group is asking the head of the U.S. Coast Guard to clarify its position on the SOLAS container weight mandate after a rear admiral said the rule was a commercial, not a regulatory, matter, an interpretation the World Shipping Council says flies in the face of the rule set to take effect in just 120 days.

Canadian Pacific Railway has officially requested U.S. rail regulators speed along an official review vetting the viability of its proposed merger with Norfolk Southern Railway in time for an NS shareholder meeting this spring.

Drayage operators say container lines’ continuing influence over chassis lowers efficiency at ports and is an obstacle to the creation of truck appointment systems at marine terminals.

The head of the International Maritime Organization has urged all players in the global supply chain to communicate with each other to ensure a successful implementation of the container weight verification regulation that comes into force July 1.

Amid the massive protests of long-haul truckers and transport companies, the Russian government has made the unprecedented decision to freeze for several months the planned increase of a controversial highway tariff opponents say could shrink Russia’s domestic transportation market by 30 percent.

CMA CGM plans to upgrade a trans-Pacific service to the West Coast by deploying six ships with capacities of 18,000 twenty-foot-equivalent units, starting late May, a bet that container terminals can handle the largest mega-ships to call the U.S. and that volume will steadily grow.

The rise in refrigerated cargo shipments is good news for major container ports, including the Port of Charleston. In an interview with Cool Cargoes Editor Lara L. Sowinski, Jim Newsome, president and CEO of South Carolina Ports Authority, shares his perspective on what it takes to accommodate reefer cargo and how the SCPA is positioning itself to capitalize on the future growth of this specialized cargo.

Hapag-Lloyd plans to more aggressively seek shipments too large or heavy to fit into standard containers, and has established teams in Asia and the Americas to focus on oversize cargo.

The Port of New York and New Jersey’s full containerized imports rose 5 percent in January despite a blizzard, a wildcat strike, and tough comparisons with January 2015, when volume spiked amid West Coast port delays.

Despite slowing global trade and off-and-on labor disruptions as well as other infrastructure woes, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, India’s biggest public container handler, will most likely surpass its annual 2014-15 record throughput of 4.47 million 20-foot-equivalent units in the current fiscal year, which ends March 31, an analysis of the newest port figures collected by JOC.com show.

Harbor trucking appears to be evolving into a two-model system. The independent-contractor model is best suited for entrepreneurial drivers who are comfortable with a high-risk, high-reward environment, while other drivers prefer the security of an hourly wage and guaranteed benefits.

The frequent congestion and longshore labor flare-ups at the New York-New Jersey port are putting a renewed focus on Montreal as an alternative gateway for goods, particularly those from Europe destined for the U.S. interior.

The loss of a mega-ship could "rewrite the law of general average," costing more than $1 billion, former container ship captain and maritime risk expert Andrew Kinsey said at the 16th annual TPM Conference. Captain Michael Lloyd warned losses such as the sinking of the MOL Comfort could become more common.

Pursuit of supply chain visibility is a continuous process that is growing more difficult to do well in a world of increasingly complex and globalized supply chains.

The Mediterranean port of Marseille Fos is seeing stronger container growth compared to the industry average in Europe, a result the port attributes to shippers becoming more convinced that the port’s days of labor strife are in the past.

Gross profit at Kuenhe + Nagel slipped 0.6 percent to $6.25 billion year-over-year for 2015, as a strong Swiss franc, which is currently even with the U.S. dollar, and weak container traffic offset a rise in air cargo volume.

The National Industrial Transportation League has named Jennifer Hedrick as executive director, replacing president and CEO Bruce Carlton who is retiring, but will remain involved with the largest U.S. shipper group as a consultant.

A panel of ocean shipping experts at the 16th Annual TPM Conference gazed in their crystal balls and saw very different outcomes for shipping patterns after the Panama Canal opens its new larger locks to commercial traffic in June.

Russia’s ports of Vladivostok and St. Petersburg could see a 30 percent increase in container traffic this year, thanks to plans to construct special customs and logistics centers.

China Cosco Shipping and CMA CGM are hoping to form a new alliance with OOCL, Evergreen Line, and Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines, according to sources in the Chinese shipping industry. CMA CGM strongly denied it was seeking an alliance with the carriers.

Chinese industrial overcapacity and a global commodity collapse will contribute to economic growth being stuck in low gear this year at about 2.5 percent, IHS Chief Economist Nariman Behravesh told the 2016 TPM Conference in Long Beach on Monday. He warned trade won't recover this year, and when it does in the next two years, it will not recover to the rates seen in the 1990s and 2000s when the growth was double that.

United Arab Shipping Co. this week issued two trade notices enhancing its coverage on trades to and from India.

Mumbai-based J.M. Baxi has consolidated its cargo terminal business with a 30-year concession to upgrade, operate and maintain an existing container terminal at Kandla Port Trust, a major, state-owned port complex on India’s west coast.

Weak export growth is a serious impediment to economic growth and prosperity in the U.S. and is hampered more by inadequate infrastructure than by the strong U.S. dollar, delegates were told at the TPM 2016 conference here.

The impending redrawing of alliances perfectly illustrates the risk facing BCOs, which are already dusting off their risk management plans in preparation for another shake up they expect will hit their business from next year, a panel of top shippers told delegates at TPM 2016.

Why is venture capital flooding into the transportation and logistics industry faster than ever before? Because the industry needs it, former venture capitalists and now logistics industry insiders told the 2016 TPM Conference here on Tuesday.

Agricultural exporters are educating longshore workers and terminals operators at West Coast ports on the extent their showdown caused in 2015 and early 2016, a shipper group head said Tuesday here at JOC’s 16th annual TPM Conference.

Frank Appel, CEO of Deutsche Post DHL Group, gave the 16th annual TPM Conference keynote speech to more than 2,000 attendees and outlined how new sources of economic growth aside from the traditional means of population and productivity increases are needed, and how transportation and logistics firms can unleash their potential.

Transportation intermediaries are likely to play an important role in verifying container weights for international shippers and shipping lines, a UPS Supply Chain Solutions executive said at the 16th Annual TPM Conference here Tuesday.

The SOLAS guidelines on container weight verification that will be implemented from July 1 are not mandatory, U.S. Coast Guard Rear Adm. Paul Thomas told a packed TPM Conference here Tuesday.