Commentary

Teamsters at ABF Freight System rejected a 15 percent wage cut in May, convinced the company could improve its bottom line without labor concessions.

In the near future, reasonably priced oil may be a thing of the past.

Nobody doubts the U.S. must get better at exporting. Although there is “generic” support for the concept in Congress and from the public, when it comes to specifics, the U.S. struggles.

I’ve read several articles on H.R. 6167, the House bill designed to re-regulate the ocean carrier industry.

You won’t be hearing many elegies from Memphis lamenting Rep. James L. Oberstar’s departure from Congress.

Spot container rates are trending downward. The post-holiday slack season is starting, and even rail intermodal traffic seems to be losing some of its steam.

Regulation Overload

In a meeting almost two years ago with several shipping security experts, including a couple of government officials and air cargo executives, several of them pointed to the gap between regulations in

Q: I’ve read your past articles on the practice of “off-bill discounting,” and I know you have addressed the requirement that carriers show a notation on the bill “that a reduc

For years, transportation industry leaders have questioned the degree to which government really understands freight. Recently, Sen.

Each segment of trucking has its own approach for capturing the shipment characteristics used to bill customers for the cost of its transportation service.

Shenzhen, China — Not many competitors in the rough transportation market would think of FedEx as a company that wants to “co-exist in a peaceful environment.” But that’s how t

Q: I have a potential shipper customer who called today with a question regarding shipping and the law.

Much has been written about how container lines survived the financial crisis by slashing capacity and jacking up rates to reverse a 2009 collapse in rates and volumes that pushed some carriers to the

While my personal preference in warm beverages is tea, rather than coffee, I am sorry to note that many of my fellow citizens have taken to calling their new political movement the “Tea Party.&r

Regulating Rail

The current economic upturn may be giving some shippers good reason to breathe a long-awaited sigh of relief, but it is also presents them with a variety of head-scratchers.

The Transportation Intermediaries Association and the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association are supporting legislation aimed at protecting brokers and carriers from fraud in the marketplace f

Some analysts are upgrading truckload stocks, and transport analysts warn that sometime next year there may be such a colossal squeeze on trucking capacity that some freight may not be able to move, p

Ebrahim Li didn’t hesitate when he ran into an American at this month’s transportation and logistics trade fair in Shenzhen, China.

Q: I enjoy your column and read with great interest your Q&A on the shipper who has an ocean carrier that is failing to meet weekly contractual minimum quantity commitment obligations but is selli

President Obama's goal to double U.S. exports in five years is getting a boost from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.

When a Vermillion Oil platform exploded in the Gulf of Mexico early last month, the event extended a raging debate over deep-water drilling that started last April with the BP Deepwater Horizon catast

There’s been a lot said in the trade community recently about the decision last month in U.S. v Pressman-Gutman, et al. (CIT 9-16-10) Slip Op. 10-105).

For any number of years, I’ve heard people in the maritime industry comment that if the U.S.

Q: I have a question regarding “blind” shipments and am not sure where to search for clarification.

One of the great hazards for business in the wake of the recession has been that efforts to stave off greater economic damage could reinvigorate those who are nostalgic for the era of highly regulated

The latest battle in the seemingly endless war between French port employers and dockworkers has taken an interesting twist.

Forget Gloria Steinem. Forget Betty Friedan.

The nation’s trade deficit hit its lowest point in two years this July, a hopeful sign of economic recovery as U.S. companies increase exports to overseas markets.

Having read through the Federal Maritime Commission’s proposed reforms to the Shipping Act (“FMC Gets Aggressive,” Sept.

Most supply chain managers aren’t terribly concerned with the price of cotton on a typical day at the office, but what’s going on in that business may provide some important guideposts to

Q: We’re a third-party provider, and have a copy of the second edition of your book, “Manager’s Guide to Freight Loss and Damage Claims.” In your book is a section on the value

When my JOC colleagues and I set out to plan the agenda for last month’s East Coast Maritime Conference in Jersey City, N.J., one of our goals was to put to rest the debate about what the impact

One of the last vestiges of the shipping industry in Lower Manhattan is following the liner shipping industry to New Jersey.

Of all transportation modes, air seems to be the most fascinating.

A Death Blow to Small Brokers

Q: In the maritime sector, much attention has been paid to the peak season, the shortage of space and the increase in ocean freight costs this year. What a crazy year!

The gap between the service shippers say they’re getting and what logistics providers think they’re providing remains startlingly large, but in an industry of troubled relationships, many

For example, whether or not you agree that legislative fixes are needed to restore rail price and service equilibrium in the U.S.