Commentary

Q: We are a large importer of children’s wear into the United States.

When APL developed the stacktrain in the mid-1980s, it effectively launched the modern intermodal era by going beyond the basic concept of placing truck trailers on flatcars that dated back to the 195

In the final scene of the 1990 blockbuster film “The Hunt for Red October,” Sean Connery’s Marko Ramius considers what’s next for his country after defecting to the U.S.

When countries go to war over trade, there are rarely winners.

Food shippers who have been warned of a coming equipment shortage should be cheered by a new report that shows industry investment in refrigerated containers at an all-time high.

I ran across a curious anomaly last month while on vacation way Down East in Maine.

"Businesses create jobs to create wealth, not to consume wealth."

I ran across a curious anomaly last month while on vacation way Down East in Maine.

Container lines this year accomplished something few thought they could: They drove home a series of rate increases on the major east-west trades that returned the industry to profitability.

Where has 2012 gone?

Q: I’ve been following, or at least tried to follow, the arguments about the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s hours-of-service rules for truck drivers, but confess that I simp

The dog days of summer provided no respite from the pre-convention point-counterpoint between the Obama and Romney camps.

Anne Ferro, administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, in early August shared with the audience at the PeopleNet User Conference that fatalities in truck- and bus-related crashe

With a single sentence — “It looks like we’re going to have a strike” — International Longshoremen’s Association President Harold Daggett in late August elevated th

In one respect, the breakdown of International Longshoremen’s Association contract negotiations was a surprise. In another, it wasn’t.

West Coast port commissions vary in size, temperament, competency and reputation. Some port commissions are a creature of appointments by local mayors, others are elected to office.

What happened?

Q: Is it legal for one individual to operate as a “sales-operational” agent for more than one entity?

The 50 largest truckload carriers expanded their combined revenue by 13 percent in 2011 as higher fuel surcharges and rising yields led to top-line growth for most carriers.

“Summertime and the livin’ is easy” isn’t just a lyric from one of the most covered songs in the history of theater (“Summertime” by DuBose Howard, 1935, from &ldqu

Do you remember your first driver shortage?

When the Los Angeles County Bar’s Customs Law Committee met with the local U.S.

For only the second time in recent years, liner companies are managing vessel capacity in the major east-west trades effectively enough to lift freight rates and sustain them.

Q: I filed a claim on a shipment using a National Motor Freight Classification item that has a released-value rating.

A weekly publication covering the ocean trade this month published data showing combined U.S.

It’s been a noteworthy summer in this sense: Major, even historic, changes in the global transportation landscape are revealing themselves in emphatic ways.

Importers and exporters are perplexed by the seemingly endless contract negotiations between office clerical workers and waterfront employers in Southern California, and well they should be.

Q: I’ve been reading about something called freight derivatives lately, and I have no idea what the term means.

With a single brief announcement on July 3, Rolf-Dieter Heuer marked the end of years of trials and tribulations.

I actually laughed after reading that Sen. Lindsay Graham, R-S.C., viewed the recent release of an Army Corps of Engineers report on mega-ship preparedness at U.S.

My Canadian friend on the phone sounded mystified. He’d read the Federal Maritime Commission’s report on cross-border container shipments, and was asking: What does it mean?

One of the hallmarks of an importer’s relationship with Customs and Border Protection is reasonable care.

Q: I own a small motor carrier, and we’re doing very well, thanks.

If you think getting the toothpaste back in the tube is a problem, imagine trying to untangle and sort out the recent alphabet soup spill that occurred where the sea meets the land in the middle

How many longshoremen does it take to plug in a refrigerator?

Last week’s Journal of Commerce cover story (“Ocean Carriers’ New Pricing Power”) made an observation that hasn’t been lost on many this year: Despite weak fundamentals,

Let’s give credit where credit is due.

Q: We’re a medium-sized brokerage that tries hard to select carriers carefully.

On May 30, U.S. Customs and Border Protection published new guidelines concerning the treatment of post-entry valuation adjustments to related-party import transactions.

While watching the end of a ballgame one recent night, an announcer said, “If we just got the extra base hit in the eighth inning …” That’s not an uncommon thought in the spor