FedEx's Fred Smith to Keynote JOC Group Inc.'s TPM 2014 Conference

NEWARK, N.J. — JOC Group Inc. today announced that FedEx Corp. Founder, Chairman and CEO Frederick W. Smith will deliver the TPM 2014 opening keynote address. Timed in early March, at the start of the service contract negotiating cycle for the eastbound trans-Pacific container trade, TPM is a substantial three-day conference and networking opportunity focused on all major aspects of container shipping and international logistics.

Fred Smith founded FedEx in 1971 and, as one of America's most respected business leaders, guided the company into a $44 billion global transportation, business services and logistics company handling more than 10 million shipments each business day. Its units include the rapidly growing FedEx Trade Networks global forwarding business, whose services include international air and ocean forwarding, customs brokerage, warehousing and distribution, and trade facilitation.

The annual Long Beach, Calif. event, which is in its 14th year, brings together roughly 2,000 attendees for robust networking and discussion of the most pressing issues facing shippers and other players in the trans-Pacific and global container shipping and logistics arena. Speeches and panels from March 2-5, 2014 will examine the upcoming ILWU longshore negotiations; ocean carrier alliances including the P3; economic and supply/demand forecasts; North American vessel deployments; as well as discussions on Asia sourcing shifts, service contracting, transloading, recruiting marine terminal issues, and other key trends in international logistics. The event will also feature a number of case studies.

"The 2014 TPM program was developed by The Journal of Commerce editorial team with extensive input from shippers and others in the market. The objective for TPM is to provide shippers with actionable insight and guidance into the challenges they will face in managing container-based supply chains in the coming year," said Peter Tirschwell, Exec. Vice President/Chief Content Officer, JOC Group Inc.

Registration for this event is now open. To register, visit: http://www.joc.com/events/tpm-conference-2014

With 2013 attendance breaking records for the event, TPM as an in-depth conference focused exclusively on container shipping-based logistics, is now the largest event of its kind in the world. It is complemented by two sister events TPM Asia in Shenzhen, China, now in its 7th year, and the Inland Distribution Conference in Kansas City (Sept. 18-19, 2013).

For more information, follow TPM on Twitter @joc_events. To register or view the complete TPM 2014 agenda, visit www.joc.com/events/tpm-conference-2014

For information on sponsorship opportunities, visit joc.com/events/tpm-conference-2014/sponsors or call Tony Stein at 678-456-8530.