Commentary

Over the past several years, I have written numerous times about the transparency — or opacity, depending on your point of view — of our industry and our work.

Considering West Coast longshore-management relations appear to be operating in a sea of tranquility, judging from their recent Journal of Commerce Trans-Pacific Maritime panel, what, if any, supply c

The horrific earthquake that almost completely shut down Japan. The less powerful but still destructive earthquake in New Zealand a few weeks earlier. Turmoil in the Middle East.

Anyone who has young children, or a deep interest in U.S. transportation policy, can find some interesting wisdom in the Raggedy Ann books.

It’s official, YRC Worldwide is no longer the largest U.S. less-than-truckload operator. FedEx Freight claimed the top spot in 2010, with $4.4 billion in LTL revenue.

Q: In your Feb. 28 article, “Carmack’s Broken Model,” you discussed whether there should be a uniform North American Free Trade Agreement standard for carrier liability.

When you pump gasoline (or diesel) into your vehicle these days -- whether personal car or commercial truck -- do you comfort yourself by saying it's still not as bad as the worst days of 2008? No?

In an era of spiraling national debt and budget austerity, is it really necessary that both the Savannah, Ga., and Charleston, S.C., ports deepen their channels to accommodate bigger ships?

Classification Controversy

We have all seen vivid demonstrations of supply-demand economics in our daily lives recently. The most graphic example is in the price of oil and its impact on gasoline and other oil-based fuels.

Among the thousands of bills piled up before Congress this year, you'll find the BABE RUTH Act.

Q: We have the book “Freight Claims in Plain English” (Huntington, N.Y.: Transportation & Logistics Council, 4th ed., 2009; by William J. Augello and George Carl Pezold, Brent Wm.

It’s a cruel truth that private and government disaster relief organizations have gotten far more experience at their work in recent years than any of us could possibly imagine.

The Transported Assets Protection Association's two-day meeting in San Diego this month looking at U.S.-Mexico cross-border security couldn't have been more timely.

Collaboration and the supply chain are two concepts that should appear together only if companies are prepared to fundamentally change their way of thinking.

Q: One of our clients had the following feedback from a carrier when he submitted his Over, Short or Damage claim.

Ocean vessel capacity was the most pressing concern for shippers at last year’s Journal of Commerce Trans-Pacific Maritime Conference.

I don’t know if there’s ever been a subject that so dominates discussion in the freight transportation industry with so little to show for it.

Trade diplomats are trying for what may be one last time to conclude the long-deadlocked Doha Development Round of global trade negotiations among the 153 countries in the World Trade Organization.

The 2010 financial results are in for global ocean carriers, and as anyone who tracks these things knows, there were no big surprises, but there were big profits, at least relative to the industry.

There is no mention in the Old Testament story of Samson and Delilah of whether Samson owned a chain or carried one with him. Samson’s weakness was his hair — or, rather, the lack of it.

Last week’s Academy Awards broadcast offered a striking example of communication in the world looking back and looking forward.

Q: My company, a third-party broker, was given a load by one of our good customers. We contracted with a licensed motor carrier to pick up and deliver the load for us for $2,550.

Two months into the first quarter, one of the watchwords for the economy during the past year is living on in 2011. Anywhere you go and in seemingly everything you read, the word is uncertainty.

In each of the past two years, The Journal of Commerce TPM event has convened in early March in an atmosphere of unmitigated crisis.

Will Congress determine how long truckers are allowed to work each day, or will that decision rest with the Department of Transportation?

“Semper Paratus” – Always Ready – is the U.S. Coast Guard’s proud motto.

It should be clear by now that the Obama administration and those planning its transportation policies have a thing for railroads -- both passenger and freight.

Demand Periodic Reviews of Fuel Surcharges

As we move into the third month of 2011, we’re already seeing signs that this will be a transformational year.

It’s fair to say at this point that South Carolina’s objections to the Georgia Ports Authority’s plan to deepen the Savannah River to 48 feet have become a full-blown political contr

Anyone hoping this would be a year of clarity in shipping demand must be sorely disappointed by initial reports from the retail world.

Q: Isn’t it time to scrap the antediluvian Carmack regime of motor and rail carrier liability for cargo and replace it with a North American Free Trade Agreement scheme that more closely follows

Trucking interests are issuing dire warnings about the proposed changes to truck driver hours-of-service rules they say would cut driver and truck productivity, jack up transportation costs and potent

Karen Rae had to catch a train, so the Federal Railroad Administration's deputy administrator departed early from a high-powered Jan.

It’s impossible to pick up a technology publication these days without reading why cloud computing is the next great thing that will make our lives better.

The release of the president’s fiscal 2012 budget on Valentine’s Day and its historically low funding level for the U.S.

STB Hearings: Going Through the Motions?

Although I, along with many fellow Americans, occasionally question the effectiveness of the Transportation Security Administration, there are voices out there that go far beyond that.

Q: I just read your Jan.