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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.

CEVA Logistics’ decision to revamp its organizational structure has paid off, with earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization rising 22.2 percent for all of 2015 at the world’s sixth-largest third-party logistics provider.

Intermodal service may have improved last year, but for some shippers, those improvements aren’t enough. “We’ve got a lot of issues in the Chicago area,” said Claudia Andersen, import/export manager of enterprise logistics at 1-800Flowers.com.

TRAC Intermodal, the largest provider of chassis in the U.S., has acquired Interstar Fleet Services, a provider of emergency road service repair service.

The British Columbia government appointed Duncan MacPhail container trucking commissioner at Port Metro Vancouver, replacing Andy Smith who left the post following criticism of potential conflicts of interest arising from his leadership of an association representing terminal operators.

For the first time since the grueling contract negotiations of 2014-15, the presidents of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and the Pacific Maritime Association said they are willing to raise with their memberships the possibility of extending the existing agreement beyond the July 1, 2019, expiration date in the interests of labor peace.

Increasing deployment of mega-ships to Chinese ports, together with consolidation of services, may leave shippers with less choice for their China-related transportation needs, delegates learned at TPM 2016.

Indian Railways is looking to expand its freight reach as sluggish global demand and infrastructure challenges weigh heavily on the public enterprise’s growth plans.

The outlook for container shipping lines is not good, according to several speakers at the JOC’s 16th Annual TPM Conference.

Historically low fuel prices have carriers contemplating historic trade routes around South Africa’s Cape of Good Hope, a move that could save millions by avoiding the tolls of the Suez Canal, according to shipping analyst SeaIntel. The catch is that shippers would have to be okay with seeing their sailing transits extended by a week.

New sources of efficiency and productivity are needed to spur greater economic growth and higher volumes of international trade, Frank Appel, CEO of Deutsche Post DHL Group, said here Monday at JOC’s 16th Annual TPM Conference.

Container and bulk ships transiting the Suez Canal fell in both number and tonnage terms in January, continuing a trend of declining traffic that gained momentum in the second half of last year.

Container lines should work with customers to attack supply chain inefficiency instead of fixating on ever-larger container ships, Hapag-Lloyd CEO Rolf Habben Jansen said at the JOC’s 16th Annual TPM Conference.

Orbcomm, which tracks shipper and carrier assets, is pivoting to remote asset management via a new security solution that provides visibility and control over assets anywhere in the supply chain.