Commentary

The knowledge of local needs and practices make foreign distribution partners a valuable asset to gaining marketing share for companies operating internationally.

Railroads have effectively dealt with the changes roiling our international trade patterns.

Unless a shipper’s bill of lading form provides for claimants to recover “administrative expenses” incurred in connection with filing claims, the claimant has no right to add a thin dime to its actual damages.

Struggling with soft demand and growing competition from container, bulk and roll-on, roll-off carriers, the operators of multipurpose carriers with something special to sell will be the ones likely to survive.

Any further improvements to the U.S. container security regime need to embrace the principle of risk-assessment versus blanket physical inspection. All the latter will do is drive up cost, create supply chain delays and uncertainty and undermine competitiveness.

U.S. marine terminals’ last-minute rallying around existing container weighing services, global operators’ weighing services for those exporting outside the U.S. and a regulatory grace period made the rollout of International Maritime Organization's SOLAS akin to the much-feared but innocuous Y2K.

The Food Safety Modernization Act of 2011 regulations were published on April 6, and they have serious implications for brokers and freight forwarders.

An overcharge claim properly demands a refund of excessive money inadvertently paid out, not money that merely might have been paid had the shipper actually relied on the carrier’s erroneous invoice.

To judge an entire economy from just economic numbers hides many emotions and resentment. Brexit held up a mirror to the U.K. The referendum was only partly about the U.K. wanting to sever its ties with the EU.

After securing some of the lowest trans-Pacific contract rates in years, U.S. importers are feeling tinges of anxiety, and with good reason.

As you read this in early July, some reality will have set in if the proposed solutions to the SOLAS container weight mandate we’ve been hearing about are workable.

Outdated and unfair regulations leave shippers with no choice but to pay the excessive rates of their sole railroad.

Ed Emmett has been fascinated by how transportation and public policy affect each other and influence the way people live and work.

Digitalization offers logistics companies the possibility to generate better margins in their troubled industry through intelligent, automated pricing.

Using a 12-month rolling average, which will eliminate the seasonality problem, may best determine port market share.

A shipment from China is cleared, but U.S. Customs later discovers it contained a commodity subject to a 382 percent anti-dumping duty. Is a forwarder guilty of breach of contract?

“Contracts” in the container shipping industry essentially are loose handshake agreements put to paper, where there are no penalties for non-performance.

There’s nothing to preclude parties from agreeing to modify the effective date of a transportation contract. Such agreement would be an amendment to the contract itself. As long as there was no conflict between the parties, such an amendment could even be an oral one.

For freight forwarders to register steady and positive growth they must set themselves apart from the competition by creating additional value for customers wherever possible.

Ports are well-positioned to handle the container volumes coming their way over the next decade and beyond. The same can’t be said for the congested roads, rails and other surface connectors in and around ports, where capacity will need to grow 10 percent by 2030 in North America and a staggering 68 percent in Asia, according to the International Transport Forum.

Uber’s business approach to connecting drivers with passengers for ride sharing has been part of the freight industry since the 1980s with the presence of brokers such as C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Landstar, Echo, XPO Logistics, TQL, Coyote and more than 1,000 smaller companies.

A recent call with a private equity investor, someone looking to better understand container shipping, was revealing. As the conversation ensued, it was apparent he was having trouble understanding how pricing is set in the industry.

The evidence is overwhelming that the younger the driver, the greater the risk of road accidents and fatalities.

Assuming a shipment shortage problem lies with a vendor and not a carrier won’t get you anywhere without proof and a paper trail.

Mexico has been a key intermodal frontier in recent years, with rails investing in infrastructure and introducing new services.

Born out of the challenge to reduce the carbon footprint associated with today’s mainstream delivery services, with particular focus on the final mile of delivery, Starship drones are already making deliveries in 15 cities in the U.S., United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium and Estonia.

The SOLAS verified gross mass requirement is not a panacea, but it is a definite safety improvement over the status quo.

A new era in the ocean shipping industry is beginning, based on the activity of 2016. It’s a natural time for industry leaders to pause and take stock. It’s at a time such as this when new thinking could emerge.

Shippers should plan to deal with 12 or fewer carriers in the not-too-distant future. They should develop true relationships to meet their company’s service needs and not expect rates to remain where they are.

Although growing volumes challenge ports and terminal operators, only shippers are asked to pay for programs like extended gate hours despite the fact that the growing volumes that make such programs necessary result in increased revenue for terminal operators.

A shipper should be sure to engage brokers (or carriers who have a broker sideline) with a solid financial position and some standing in the industry. Avoiding brokers who leave their carriers unpaid will ensure the shipper won’t have unpaid carriers to worry about.

The economic success of nations is significantly reliant on the development of infrastructure like roads, rails and ports; corporations hoarding trillions of dollars in off-shore accounts threaten the economic preeminence of the U.S.

The reaction of shippers to West Coast longshore labor disruption is evolving in such a way that West Coast ports have reason for concern.

Entering a factoring arrangement with a carrier without terms clearly set in writing may initially seem to work when accomplished through informal deals between principals, but sooner or later problems arise.

Containerization, “the box that changed the world,” was the catalyst that allowed global trade to grow to where it is today. From 1986 through 2006, global trade quadrupled. It doubled again from 2000 to 2006. The link between the growth of containerization and that of global trade is no coincidence.

Although the U.S. Federal Maritime Commission has no direct role in SOLAS compliance, the agency is monitoring the issue because of its potential impact on shipping productivity. “There’s a solution here,” William Doyle, FMC commissioner, said recently, “and we’ve got to find a solution.”

Many corporate trade compliance departments receive inadequate recognition and support in spite of the highly complex and risk-filled duties they perform.

Sometimes it can feel as if freight transportation is about to get “disrupted” by brilliant software engineers flush with millions of dollars in startup funding from Silicon Valley. Not only do we learn about new logistics-focused venture funds backed by people whose prior startups are the epitome of success, but we also see disruption in action every day.

Port cartage is the weakest link in the international supply chain, and the final miles from port to customer may soon become the longest and hardest of them all.

Motor carriers are legally prohibited from “double-brokering” loads to other carriers unless they have broker authority from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, and represent themselves to the shipper as acting in a broker capacity.