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UPS employee is first to tally 50 years of safe driving – DC Velocity

UPS employee is first to tally 50 years of safe driving – DC Velocity.

Zepol Corporation Releases “U.S. Import Compliance Guidebook” | Global Trade & Compliance

MINNEAPOLIS, MN, September 1st, 2011 — Zepol Corporation, the leading trade intelligence company, today announced the release of their U.S. Import Compliance Guidebook. The report contains detailed information about U.S. trade compliance statistics, audit triggers, potential penalties, and more. Click this link to download the free guidebook or visit www.zepol.com.

3 Key Insights Found in the Report:
- U.S. Customs and Border Protection completed 379 import audits in 2010 and collected nearly $23 million in revenue.
- Failing to exercise reasonable care could result in a fine of 20% of the appraised value of the imported merchandise or two times the loss of revenue, whichever is less.
- Import-related records must be kept for a minimum of five years.

“This report is a must-read for any U.S. importer or service provider that assists importers,” stated Paul Rasmussen, CEO & President of Zepol Corporation. “With severe penalties for noncompliance, this report details steps on how to avoid potential disasters in the future.”

This report was created in connection to Zepol’s product ComplianceMonitor™, a tool designed to track and alert users on critical U.S. import compliance changes such as duty and tariff rates, U.S. Customs rulings, anti-dumping actions, and more. The guidebook will assist trade professionals in ensuring their companies do not overlook vital steps in the compliance process.

About Zepol Corporation:

Zepol Corporation is a Minnesota-based company working to provide the most complete and up-to-date U.S. trade data through our subscription tools. TradeIQ™ is a U.S. Customs import Bill of Lading database utilized to find information about competitors, suppliers, prospects, and the products that they use, market, or transport. TradeView™ provides U.S. Census data to visualize the U.S. import and export market. ComplianceMonitor™ is a comprehensive tool that proactively alerts users of essential U.S. import trade compliance information

via www.3plnews.com

Shippers warned to brace for LTL rate hikes – DC Velocity

Several of the nation's top less-than-truckload (LTL) carriers, fresh from announcing rate increases of nearly 7 percent on their non-contract traffic, are prepared to impose another round of rate hikes in February 2012, according to a top executive at a firm that advises shippers on spend management issues.

John Haber, executive vice president of transportation for Atlanta-based NPI, said he's been told by reliable sources at several LTL carriers to expect another round of general rate increases in February. That would be about six months after the most recent cycle of increases, most of which went into effect at the beginning of August. The one exception is FedEx Freight, the LTL unit of FedEx Corp. and the nation's largest LTL carrier, which today announced a 6.75-percent rate increase, effective Sept. 6.

Haber, whose firm represents about 300 shippers of varying sizes, said he's been told that the 2012 increases would likely fall in the 5- to 6-percent range, less than the 6.9-percent rate increases announced by UPS Freight, ABF Freight System Inc., YRC Worldwide Inc., and Con-way Freight or the 6.75-percent increase from FedEx Freight.

YRC CEO James L. Welch, in an Aug. 5 interview, declined comment on any future rate increases. Representatives for UPS Freight and ABF denied that such a rate increase was in the offing. A spokesman for Con-way declined comment.

From late 2006 through 2009, LTL carriers were buffeted by a freight recession exacerbated by a broad economic downturn that followed the financial crisis that began in September 2008. During that time, the industry was also embroiled in a persistent rate war that compressed carriers' profit margins. Many speculate that the rate-cutting strategy was a concerted effort to drive financially ailing YRC, then the market leader, out of business.

YRC has survived, however, and since the start of 2010, the carriers have reversed course, raising rates and culling marginally priced freight in an effort to boost revenue per pound—or yields—and improve profitability. Since January 2010, for example, UPS Freight, the LTL unit of UPS Inc., has imposed three general rate increases. UPS Freight was the first carrier to announce a rate hike this time around.

Haber said LTL shippers can look for alternative solutions, but with the major carriers falling in lockstep—or poised to—they may have little room to maneuver. He said experienced shippers with significant volumes might be able to bargain the carriers down to a 3- to 5-percent increase, but likely no lower.

Haber said he understands the carriers' need to generate adequate returns to offset higher labor and operating costs, satisfy shareholders, and reinvest in the business. However, he added that the amount and the frequency of the increases have been "excessive."

Haber said FedEx Freight has been the most active in walking away from low-margin business after two years of aggressive rate-cutting designed to capture market share. The unit last month reported that it turned an operating profit in its fiscal fourth quarter, its first quarter in the black after six consecutive quarters of operating losses. In the quarter, FedEx Freight's yields rose 13 percent year over year, while tonnage fell by 8 percent during that span.

In April, Alan B. Graf Jr., FedEx's CFO, told an investor conference the company "shot ourselves in the foot" with its LTL discounting strategy. "We got too aggressive on yields and tried to make it up in productivity. The reality was that we could not," he said.

In a statement accompanying ABF's generally solid second-quarter results, Judy R. McReynolds, president and CEO of parent Arkansas Best Corp., cautioned that the "progress made so far does not produce sufficient returns for our shareholders nor does it allow us to adequately recapitalize our business." The path to profita

via www.dcvelocity.com

Capacity crunch looms over feeder operations - IFW - ifw-net.com

UK and other European shortsea container feeder operations could soon be hit by a “capacity crunch” as fleet development fails to keep pace with changes on the deepsea shipping scene.

A senior executive at Hamburg-based Team Lines, which has a fleet of about 18 vessels connecting around 30 European ports from the Baltic to the Mediterranean, said he was concerned that deepsea vessels were getting larger while there was limited development in the size and number of feeder ships.

This would put extra pressure on the vessels that were already in operation, Christian Mordhorst, Team Lines’ Chief Commercial Officer, explained.

He added that Team Lines was already discussing the issue with its clients.

He said: “We probably all need to take a bit of a longer-term view on things, because with all the big new deepsea vessels being delivered over the next couple of years, everyone will be looking to increase their market share.

“But there won’t be additional feeder vessels available for either the deepsea lines or us to greatly expand capacity."

Mordhorst added that in the past, shortsea capacity had been boosted by vessels being “cascaded down” from deepsea trades into feeder operations as they were replaced by newer, larger vessels.

But the ships of 3,000-4,000teu capacity now employed on deepsea routes were too large to be redeployed in the European shortsea feeder sector because the ports they service cannot handle them.

Also, a debate continues across the shortsea shipping industry regarding the merits of deploying larger vessels in order to obtain economies of scale versus operating smaller ships and higher-frequency sailings.

Harry Kleipas, MD of Feederlink, which operates four vessels of 400-550teu capacity, said the size of feeder vessels was, in principle, dictated by what the ports can handle.

He said: “The second thing – and this comes down to the choice of individual operators – is that the larger your feeder vessels, the shorter your sailing frequency, because the ships spend more time in port. We have opted for frequency.”

However, Søren Heegaard, UK country manager for Unifeeder, which operates more than 40 vessels of 700-1,500teu and is just taking on its largest ever vessel, of 1,800teu, argued that with a big enough fleet and network it was possible to operate both larger ships and high-frequency sailings.

via www.ifw-net.com

Container shipping will stay volatile for four more years - IFW - ifw-net.com

The high volatility experienced in the container shipping market over the past few years will continue for another four years, according to one analyst.

Analyst SeaIntel said changing market conditions and economic developments had caused the balance between the supply of ships and demand for space on those vessels to become increasingly unstable since 2009.

And until these factors subside, which SeaIntel does not expect to happen for three or four years, the highly volatile conditions experienced in 2009, 2010 and 2011 are predicted to continue.

The analyst blamed several changes in the market for the volatility. Firstly, carriers were still coming to terms with changing trade distances.

In the past 30 years, global demand for container shipping had grown by 8-9% a year, but vessel supply had grown by around 11%, SeaIntel said.

However, this had not resulted in oversupply of capacity, because the excess vessels were absorbed by lengthening sea journeys as production moved further away from final destination.

But production is now largely as far from final destination as it can get in the US and Europe.

A second factor for the volatility is the slowdown of growth on the head-haul direction of trade routes.

SeaIntel said shipping lines could previously rely on faster growth on the head-haul direction to mop up extra capacity. However, with production in the US and Europe now largely outsourced to Asia, growth on the head-haul route had slowed and could no longer be relied on to relieve overcapacity.

Other trends identified by SeaIntel that were increasing volatility were: sudden cascading of vessels onto smaller trade lanes, resulting in battles for market share; carriers increasingly turning to vessel lay-ups to restore freight rates; sudden inventory corrections; and the possibility of slow-steaming coming to an end.

SeaIntel concluded: “If capacity is ordered based on the same ordering patterns as in the past 30 years, it is highly likely that too much capacity will be ordered, laying the foundation for a sharp downturn in the market.

“We are also facing a market wherein outsourcing of production from particularly US and North Europe is reaching saturation levels.

“On top of that, the containerisation process of moving from bulk to container is also reaching saturation levels. This implies that the long-term average container growth of 8-9% annually will likely have to be reduced.

“The nature of the inventory correction has the opposite effect. This will result in a sudden capacity shortage, pushing prices upwards sharply.

“If this happens while vessels are in lay-up, we see a high likelihood of a replay of the 2010 scenario, with a rapidly increasing market followed by a significant decline.”

via www.ifw-net.com

Teamsters launch organizing effort at FedEx Freight – DC Velocity

The Teamsters union has begun a campaign to organize workers at FedEx Freight, the less-than-truckload division of transport giant FedEx Corp., a move that will pit the venerable union against FedEx Chairman and CEO Frederick W. Smith, one of the most formidable anti-union executives in America.

The announcement came July 1 at the union's annual convention in Las Vegas, and was made by Ken Hall, head of the Teamsters' small-parcel division. According to a transcript of Hall's comments, the organizing effort will begin in the West, and the union has three full-time organizers working to solicit interest among FedEx Freight employees. FedEx Freight, the nation's biggest less-than-truckload (LTL) carrier, employs about 30,000 people. It is unclear how many workers would be eligible to be organized.

Teamster spokesman Galen Munroe confirmed today that the union has allocated resources to the effort. A resolution posted July 1 on the Teamster web site states that it "will assist our FedEx Freight brothers and sisters in organizing and achieving their goal of a union contract."

At the convention in Las Vegas, Teamster Vice President Randy Cammack, who is involved in the organizing effort, had harsh words for Smith, saying he runs the "Wal-Mart of the trucking business," and that he's already started a "serious anti-union campaign" to discredit the Teamsters. A FedEx spokesperson did not return an e-mail requesting comment.

The organizing move comes at a critical juncture for both FedEx Freight and the Teamsters. On Jan. 31, FedEx Freight merged its national and regional units into a single operation in what has been its biggest system revamp to date. Late last month, it reported its first profitable quarter after six consecutive quarters of operating losses.

The Teamsters, meanwhile, last week completed the nominating process to determine the union's next general president. General President James P. Hoffa, vying for a third-term, captured 84 percent of the 1,800 delegate votes. His opponents, Alexandra (Sandy) Pope and Fred Gegare, each captured 9 percent of the vote.

The Hoffa campaign said the results give their candidate positive momentum heading into the campaign. His opponents argue that the outcome of the balloting at the convention often has no bearing on the actual election. Ballots will be distributed in October and counted in November.

In trying to organize workers at FedEx Freight, the union will try to go where no union has gone before. For decades, different labor groups have tried to organize ground workers at FedEx, with no success. Efforts to organize workers at FedEx Ground, the company's ground parcel unit, have been thwarted in part by various court rulings upholding the company's argument that drivers at the unit should be classified as independent contractors and not company employees. Such distinctions make it virtually impossible for any union to gain traction at FedEx Ground.

Currently, only pilots at FedEx's FedEx Express unit are union members. Those workers represent a very small fraction of the company's overall labor force.

FedEx's Smith has long believed that third-party bargaining units like the Teamsters are irrelevant at an organization where wages and benefits are considered fair, and where employees have adequate mechanisms at their disposal to address grievances.

Several months ago, Smith won a major battle on Capitol Hill when Congress agreed to drop a provision in the House of Repres

via www.dcvelocity.com

Landmark US-Mexico trucking agreement resolves 15-year conflict - CSMonitor.com

The United States and Mexico on Wednesday signed an agreement aimed at resolving a cross-border trucking dispute. The longstanding disagreement had come to symbolize growing resistance, especially in the US Congress, to free-trade provisions with America’s southern neighbor.

The accord, signed in Mexico City by US and Mexican transportation officials, would end a 15-year-old controversy that on the US side featured fears of unsafe Mexican trucks barreling along US highways, driven by unprofessional Mexican truckers.

On the Mexican side, outrage over the American disregard for a NAFTA provision led to retaliatory tariffs on US goods ranging from pork to consumer care products – which cost the US as much as $2 billion in exports.

The accord was greeted warmly by US trade, farm, and business organizations – but condemned by US trucking organizations, a sign the agreement could face trouble in Congress.

IN PHOTOS: US-Mexico State Dinner

Under the agreement, the US will reinstate a pilot program for Mexican truck certification that was introduced under the Bush administration – and defunded by an angry Congress in 2009. Mexico, in turn, will immediately drop half of the tariffs on about 100 US products, with the rest to be removed when Mexican trucks actually start rolling across the border.

“The agreements signed today are a win for roadway safety and they are a win for trade,” said US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood after signing the documents.

The accord requires all Mexican trucks operating in the US to comply with

 

via www.csmonitor.com

DOT freight index hits 3-year high - Today's Trucking, the truck news site.

WASHINGTON -- The amount of freight carried by the for-hire transportation industry increased 1.9 percent in March from February to reach the highest level since July 2008, according to the DOT's Bureau of Transportation Statistics' Freight Transportation Services Index.

The March increase followed a decline in February.

BTS reported that shipments measured by the Freight TSI rose 15.1 percent over the last 23 months, starting in May 2009, after declining 15.7 percent in the previous 16 months beginning in January 2008.

The Freight TSI measures the month-to-month changes in freight shipments in ton-miles.

Freight shipments reached a 33-month high in March despite a slight slowdown in the rate of growth in the beginning of 2011 compared to the end of 2010.

via www.todaystrucking.com

ISM - Media Release: ISM Joins New Supply Chain and Logistics Certification Network

(TEMPE, Ariz.) May 11, 2011 — Institute for Supply Management™ (ISM) is pleased to announce that it has joined the new Supply Chain and Logistics Certification Network as a Charter Member. This Network is a group of well-established U.S.-based, non-profit associations that provide industry-recognized, nationally portable certifications for the professional and frontline workforce and organizations involved in global supply chain and logistics — in factories, warehouses, distribution centers and transporters.

The other Charter Members are: APICS The Association for Operations Management; the American Society of Transportation and Logistics (AST&L); the Manufacturing Skill Standards Council (MSSC); the Warehousing Education and Research Council (WERC). Each association has a nationwide infrastructure in place for delivering courses and certification assessments.

Network members will work collaboratively to raise awareness within industry, education, and government of the world-class, complementary services of these associations that, collectively, help meet industry needs for highly skilled workers at all levels in supply chain logistics and for certified warehousing facilities. Together, the Network members offer a certification career pathway and "stackable" credentials helping individuals to achieve ever-higher levels of professionalism and responsibility.

The Network responds to the growing demand for industry-recognized, nationally portable certifications:

• Employers need a higher skilled workforce to accelerate their adoption of advanced technologies and processes to enhance their productivity and global competitiveness.
• In response, the workforce at every level — from front-line materials handling and distribution workers to advanced supply chain and logistics managers--need to continuously enhance their skills.
• Students and unemployed workers can improve employment prospects in this growing field by credentialing their knowledge and skills to meet national, industry-defined standards.

To learn more about the network please visit www.ism.ws.

via www.ism.ws

Three technologies that will change the logistics game – DC Velocity

What technologies will have the biggest impact on logistics and supply chain management in the coming year? A panel of information technology experts offered their thoughts on that question at eyefortransport's 13th annual Logistics CIO and Supply Chain Technology Forum in Chicago this past April. The experts agreed that three technologies in particular bear watching: mobile computing, analytics software, and social media.

Mobile computing devices, whether in the form of smart phones or tablet computers, could have a more far-reaching impact on logistics than anyone ever imagined, according to the panelists. The appeal of these devices lies largely in their flexibility. With a tablet or smart phone in hand, managers no longer need to return to their desks to obtain essential operating data; they can pull up the information wherever they are—whether in the warehouse or on the road. That's a powerful draw, noted Mark Ohlund, vice president of technology strategy for PLS Logistics Services. "We want [access to] information anytime we want it."

As for which of these devices—tablet or smart phone—is better suited to distribution operations, Ohlund said the jury's still out. But at the very least, he expects all trucking companies, even the smallest ones, to equip their drivers with smart phones—if not smart phones with global positioning systems (GPS)—in the future.

One panelist went so far as to suggest that the end of the personal computer era may be upon us. The computing power of cell phones will soon equal or exceed that of desktop computers, said Brent Baker, chief information officer of STI Delivers. Microsoft Windows 7 may be the last operating system IT managers have to roll out for corporate use, he said.

Another development that could change the logistics game is the emergence of analytics software, applications that sift through mountains of data to identify subtle patterns, anomalies, and associations that can provide new insight into operations. "As firms get better at collecting data, they use the data more for analysis," said Michael Watson, ILOG supply chain solutions leader at IBM. (ILOG is a software company owned by IBM.)

While there are many different types of analytics software, Watson said, two are particularly relevant to logistics operations: "prescriptive" and "predictive" analytics. Prescriptive analytics tell a manager what's going on in his supply chain now, Watson explained. The manager can then use that information to take any actions needed to keep the operation running smoothly.

Predictive analytics, on the other hand, help managers assess future risks—for example, a jump in oil prices—and weigh the pros and cons of alternative responses. "It will come up with a range of options," Watson said. "For example, you could see what your supply chain should look like with oil at $70 a barrel versus $150 a barrel."

As for social media, the panelists agreed that Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and the like are changing the way information is exchanged in the logistics community. They noted, for example, that it's becoming common for companies to use social media to find and recruit younger supply chain professionals—those under the age of 30.

They also acknowledged that a lot of companies are still feeling their way around the new social media landscape. Steve Olender, vice president of information technology at Comprehensive Logistics, said his employer initially blocked employees' access to Twitter and Facebook. But as social networking started to take hold in the business world, it reversed its position.

Although it now allows employees to visit these sites during office hours, the company isn't totally sold on the value of social media, Olender said. It's still debating whether access to networking sites is more likely to enhance efficiency or drag down productivity. To help sort things out, he said, the company is keeping a close eye on usag

via www.dcvelocity.com