Commentary

A broker is hired for a two-stop load. Its carrier delivers to the wrong consignee, who accepts the freight. A second carrier is tasked with taking the load to the right consignee. It arrives damaged. Who is liable?

To drive profitability, the logistics industry must be smarter, not bigger.

Last year proved another challenging one for truckload and LTL volumes.

The sound and fury about the North American Free Trade Agreement and how it is destroying the United States is not new.

XPO Logistics CEO Bradley S. Jacobs not only embraces a challenge, but relishes it.

It is clear that logisticians are increasingly hungry for granular, real-time information about their cargo, and that technology is nearing the point where it can accommodate that need on a potentially widespread scale.

Are your owner-operators truly classified as independent contractors or actually misclassified employees, deserving of employee status, which includes wages and benefits?

Is the consignee of a prepaid shipment liable for the freight charges on a shipment when the carrier that actually hauled it is unable to collect its settlement from the carrier that basically brokered the shipment to it?

The future of freight is transparent and online, and the journey has started.

To keep warehouse workers safe and to avoid lawsuits, employers should understand and appreciate existing regulations, as well as those that will become enforceable within the next few years.

Pulling out of NAFTA could hurt many of the 14 million US workers whose jobs depend on trade with Canada and Mexico.

The Trump administration's protectionist approach to trade could have wide-ranging implications for not just Canada’s trade relationship with the United States, but Canada’s trade with other countries.

In the first few weeks of the new Trump administration, all international traders want to talk about, and with good reason, is where the new US president really stands on trade.

Shipper concerns over fewer choices and options because of the significant changes that occurred to ocean carriers during 2016 is just one issue that will be echoed throughout the 17th Annual TPM Conference, opening Feb. 26 in Long Beach.

There is still debate headed into the 17th Annual TPM Conference this year as to the strength of the trans-Pacific market. But what seems undeniable is a growing sense that the container market has begun to recover. The new era ushered in last year could be one of higher prices.

The peak season e-commerce volumes of one year have become the “new normal” for the subsequent year.

Canada's port productivity metrics provide a potential guide to the United States.

A carrier is always liable for loss or damage to goods in its custody, and there are many ways for a shipper to satisfy his evidentiary burden of showing that pilferage happened while the carrier had the goods.

Bradley Jacobs stands out among the more recent leaders and entrepreneurs for doing something many freight transportation executives and observers viewed as unrealistic.

Four weeks into the Trump administration, it appears the trade rhetoric of the campaign may well find expression in actual policy.

It will be interesting to see whether a Trump-like social media missive from Florida Gov. Rick Scott will have any impact on federal funding for his state's ports.

Concern is growing that major US gateways won’t be able to handle the overnight changes that will occur at marine terminals when new ocean carrier alliances take effect on April 1. A new bout of congestion is potentially just weeks away.

Consider the implications for a US-based business if legal documents, business communication, and advertising had to be translated into Swedish in Minnesota, Spanish in Arizona, and Dutch in Pennsylvania.

A shipper needs to allow a motor carrier 120 days, by US law, to dispose of a damage claim.

With nearly a fifth of the world’s population but only 13.5 percent of its Internet users, India remains an interesting case for e-commerce companies looking to tap into the rapidly developing market.

US importers setting up meetings around the 17th Annual TPM Conference are getting hit with a barrage of mixed signals, complicating their appraisal of just how much power they’ll have in trans-Pacific service contract negotiations.

The spot rate is a psychological element for container carriers and shippers engaged in the early stages of trans-Pacific service contract negotiations.

Amid problems of port congestion and inefficiency at US ports, and the structural difficulties of changing well-established practices in the face of shipping overcapacity, are bright rays of light that indicate progress is possible even under adverse conditions.

Reforms to the PierPass program at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are being considered as complaints need to be addressed. But whatever happens, the core achievement of PierPass can’t be undone. It’s too late for that.

Two announcements already this year have the container industry abuzz, and one could be a game-changer. OOCL may be for sale, with pundits citing Cosco, Evergreen, China Merchants, and CMA CGM as possible buyers. But China’s announcement that it will invest $26 billion in Cosco over the next five years is the true game-changer.

Intact shrink-wrap serves as evidence that a shipment itself is intact, but that’s only one piece of evidence, and is by itself only suggestive.

Growth in demand for multipurpose shipping is expected to be modest during the next few years, but increased scrapping and reduced shipyard orders are holding capacity expansion in check.

A US report on the cyberattacks related to the 2016 presidential election offers timely tips and recommendations for companies seeking to keep their information systems secure.

I see a continuing pattern of slow growth in global trade and more deliveries of container ships ordered two to four years ago, creating a mathematical overcapacity situation, which could mean the rollercoaster ride in rates of the past several years will continue, as will the industry’s financial losses.

A controversial program Mexico installed on Jan. 1 that raises fuel prices by up to 20 percent soon will trickle down to trucking operators and ultimately to the automotive, white goods, and other manufacturers and suppliers surging into Mexico.

With president-elect Donald Trump just days away from taking office, the stakes could not be higher for international commerce.

Shippers and service providers had their share of shocks to the system last year, and 2017 may emerge as another year of challenges for the supply chain industry.

The so-called capacity crunch — with its promise of tighter trucking capacity, higher shipping rates, and an era of prosperity for intermodal rail — has dominated discussions for the past two years.

Never before has the container shipping industry witnessed a series of mergers, acquisitions, failures, and restructurings at the pace and scale it’s seen over the last year. Has the industry transformed in a way that will accrue to the benefit of the customer?

Customs and Border Protection's deputy commissioner, Kevin McAleenan, reinforced trade facilitation and security as the agency's twin missions at a trade symposium this month.