Cool Cargo News

Zim Integrated Shipping Services is expanding its refrigerated container fleet by 1,900 forty-foot containers to meet growing demand for equipment that can provide shippers real-time updates of temperature and gas levels within the equipment.

The top 100 cold chain logistics players in China account for just 0.4 percent of the market, with the highly fragmented nature of the supply chain struggling to keep up with rapidly rising demand.

Plummeting fuel surcharges took a bite out of the refrigerated transporter's total revenue, but strong dedicated and brokerage business helped build underlying profits, shore up weaker truckload unit in the third quarter.

The transition from cold warehouse or cold carrier to third-party logistics services provider is fairly mature. But that’s not to suggest it’s stopped. A thriving industry continues to evolve, and that’s very much the case with the cold chain sector.

Diogo Lobo, vice president of international logistics at Lineage Logistics, recently shared his perspective on where the company and cold chain logistics industry is heading.

In the hyper-competitive world of refrigerated transportation, ocean carriers are always on the lookout for new solutions to control the atmosphere inside their containers while satisfying their drive for energy efficiency and improved environmental sustainability.

Major container carriers such as Maersk Line, Mediterranean Shipping Co., United Arab Shipping Co., Hamburg Sud and Hapag-Lloyd are among those making significant investments in their reefer business to help offset slower growth in other business areas.

Pharmaceutical companies have increased their oceangoing share of shipments. Ocean carriers and cold chain service providers are happy for the business, but the moves have also creased concerns over insurance and liability.

Growth in consumption of fruits, vegetables, meat and fish in emerging and newly industrialized countries should accelerate in the coming years, creating tailwinds for reefer container and specialized reefer operators.

Nearly a year after labor stoppages at U.S. West Coast ports burned scores of perishables shippers, the industry’s largest advocacy group refuses to relent in its push for greater transparency in how ports are operated and negotiations with unions are conducted.

Shipping Australia Limited is betting the Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade deal will be a boon for the Australian reefer trade, which the country hopes will offset the trade losses sustained after the commodity bust.

Florida’s Port Tampa Bay joins the ranks of other U.S. Southeast ports that will soon be able to handle direct imports of select cold-treated produce from South America, bringing new business to the Sunshine State and cutting logistics costs for produce shippers.

Australia is trying to boost its containerized food exports after a world commodity glut halted a boom in shipments of the nation’s top three export commodities, iron ore, coal, and liquefied natural gas.

Perishables and pharmaceuticals — among the most lucrative segments of the air cargo because of the time-sensitive nature of their delivery — are at the forefront of air carrier plans to bolster revenue.

United Arab Shipping Co. has ordered another 3,500 reefer containers, after ordering 2,000 units from Japan’s Daikin Industries in January.

Canadian National Railway plans to invest C$20 million to expand its cold supply chain capacity to help producers and distributors of chilled and frozen foods increase business in North American and overseas markets.

E-commerce could be improving food safety in China. Cainiao, the logistics affiliate of online retailer Alibaba, plans to build fresh-food distribution centers in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. The three DCs will support cold-chain delivery of fresh food purchased on Taobao Marketplace and Tmall.com within 24 hours, with options for delivery on specific dates and times, as well as night delivery.

The world’s largest container carrier — and reefer carrier — Maersk Line is well-versed in the details of shipping temperature-controlled cargoes. William “Bill” Duggan, vice president of North American refrigerated services, recently shared his thoughts on key challenges and opportunities confronting the global reefer market.

Cargo thieves in the U.S. target food shipments above all other cargoes. Although some shipments aren’t particularly high-value, others such as temperature-controlled pharmaceuticals, seafood, beef and alcohol can be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. And reselling these commodities on the gray market puts consumers at risk.

Tasked with regulating products originating in more than 150 countries, the Food and Drug Administration is becoming more global in its approach rather than U.S.-centric and is boosting its foreign presence.

Refrigerated trucking company Marten Transport increased its profit while adding trucks in the second quarter, as dedicated revenue rose more than 60 percent.

The heat is on for the cold supply chain industry as it prepares for the roll-out of new, more stringent federal regulations this fall. Now an Israeli company may have a solution to at least one of the challenges the industry will face when the Food and Drug Administration hands down its new regulations.

The global healthcare transportation industry urgently needs a new generation of cold chains to cope with rapidly rising demand for pharmaceuticals, especially from emerging markets, and ever stricter compliance from regulators, according to a new study by DHL.

The former president of Con-way Freight will lead one of the largest temperature-controlled logistics companies as demand for cold-chain services grows.

Canadian National Railway is buying more refrigerated intermodal equipment as the prospect of tighter regulation of food supply chains poses a challenge for shippers.

After a double-digit gain in refrigerated container volume in the first quarter, the Port of Philadelphia is set to gain even more reefer traffic as a result of two new services to Latin America and possibly grab more U.S. East Coast market share.

China's largest fresh produce e-tailer, FruitDay, signed off on a $70 million tie-up with direct online sales giant JD.com in the single biggest e-commerce fresh produce deal made in the country so far.

It’s no secret that specialized carriers are losing refrigerated cargo market share to containerized carriers, but details about why it’s happening, how much cargo is really shifting and who ultimately will control which pieces of the market are less apparent.

The Port of Savannah is ramping up its refrigerated cargo capacity after substantial year-over-year growth in reefer cargo at the Georgia port.

German freight forwarder Thermotraffic is expanding its network of temperature-controlled branches throughout Europe, with the latest addition at Frankfurt Airport’s Perishable Center Frankfurt.

An expansion project at the U.K.’s Port of Tilbury will add significant cold storage capacity when completed this year and rank as one of the largest reefer facilities in Europe.

A study commissioned by the British Frozen Food Federation suggests frozen foods can help reduce waste and even greenhouse gas emissions.

India produces about 30 percent of the world’s bananas, but poor post-harvest facilities and cold chain infrastructure means less than 1 percent make it to foreign markets. However, one fresh produce company, Pick N Serve Foods, is finding huge potential in exports, particularly to markets in Oman, Dubai, Qatar and Kuwait.

The global cold chain is in the midst of rapid expansion. Stakeholders view refrigerated cargo as a growing and profitable segment of their business and sizable investments are occurring on multiple fronts to build and strengthen the integrated global cold chain.

Samskip and VGB — the Dutch Association of Wholesalers in Floricultural Products — tested a refrigerated rail shipment of plants from the Netherlands to Sweden using a new flora container developed by Rotterdam-based UNIT45.

The Tampa Port Authority has approved a $20.8 million spending plan to build a new refrigerated warehouse in an attempt to win back perishable food shippers to Port Tampa Bay.

A new ship design could be just what the refrigerated shipping industry — and banana shippers, in particular — needs to remain in control of their supply chain.

The next frontier in refrigerated cargo visibility is here, and it doesn’t involve just tracking a container. No, the latest technology, made possible by machine-to-machine communication and the Internet of Things, not only allows for that, but also for controlling a container remotely to protect its contents throughout the journey, and for an interactive environment in which assets communicate with each other and exchange data.

Rail logistics provider Tiger Cool Express is making strides with equipment purchases and a growing customer base. Its success is all the more impressive given that service from Class I freight railroads experienced a difficult 2014 and continues to struggle. Cool Cargoes spoke with CEO Tom Finkbiner to get his take on where the intermodal rail industry is failing and how and where it can make improvements to better support time- and temperature-sensitive shipments such as fresh produce.

Former executives at a defunct refrigerated rail service have filed a multimillion-dollar federal lawsuit against BNSF Railway, alleging the railroad’s failing service reliability and shirking of professional commitments drove the company out of business.