Commentary

Anyone wondering where questions surrounding U.S.

Q: I read your column in the Feb.

When Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced the TIGER grant awardees on Feb. 17, those who have long wished for a national freight transportation policy might have had reason for optimism.

The international financial crisis put a damper on the global trade of wood chips used for pulp manufacturing in 2009.

Among the many issues to consider during the planning and transportation of project cargo, insurance is sometimes a last-minute consideration.

“Got a bran’ new suit Got a bran’ new tie Got a bran’ new twinkle in my eye Do you know the reason why?…”

Schneider National is looking for fuel savings close to the road — from its wheels.

Q: About a year ago I submitted the following question to a well-known lawyer specializing in freight claims: For what period of time must we, as a 3PL handling loss/damage claims on behalf of our cli

The peak shipping season that seemed so chaotic and confused last fall is making more sense as companies view 2009 from a greater distance, and the greater perspective on one of the most difficult yea

While I haven’t seen the results from surveys taken at this month’s Trans-Pacific Maritime Conference, I think it’s safe to say most of the 1,400-some attendees not only enjoyed the

The first five months of the year "are by far the worst of the year" for ocean carriers' customer service, says Claudio Bozzo, president of Mediterranean Shipping Co.

Volatile markets across the transportation world over the past year have raised the heat on shipper-carrier relationships, so for some perspective it may be helpful to slip back to a more peaceful per

It is not often you get to see a real knock-down-drag-out fight between two business models in the same industry, but we are about to witness one in the rail intermodal business in the western United

The American Bar Association’s 5th Annual Homeland Security Conference in Washington earlier this month was notable for several reasons.

Since trucking industry deregulation in 1980, more than 30 unionized, non-union, national and regional less-than-truckload carriers have left the market.

I have become fascinated in recent weeks with the ubiquitous mobile handheld devices and how they may affect the economy, including shipping.

Q: We’re a third party (broker/3PL) and have a customer who is the receiver of goods from a high-end shipper.

There's no shortage of opinion about truck driver shortages. Some say they exist, some say they don't. Some say they're all about pay, while others cite demographics.

Perceptions, I learned long ago, are stronger than reality.

Q: One of my drivers live-loaded an intermodal marketing company’s box on an intermodal shipment.

The rate spikes and capacity squeeze gripping the trans-Pacific container market since the New Year was one aftershock of the global financial crisis.

A new forecast for U.S.

Maersk Line CEO Eivind Kolding told a JOC Trans-Pacific Maritime conference audience that he wasn't enthusiastic about container derivatives market that Clarkson Securities is trying to develop.

Supply chain education lost one of its giants and the world lost a good man with the death last week of Dr. John T. Mentzer at age 58.

Tired of being a punching bag, container ship lines seem to be starting 2010 with a new attitude and a new message. The message: We ain't stupid.

Watching the shipping industry wander around in search of meaning — solutions seem a bit ambitious at this point — to the collapse of order and normality in trans-Pacific trade, it seems t

Q: We’re a 3PL — a broker, if you will. We received a number of loads from one of our shippers, and gave them to one of our regular carriers.

Just when you thought there were no new supply chain innovations to be had, Toyota unveils yet another pioneering industrial strategy: just-in-time reverse logistics.

President Obama and the chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee may be in the same political party, but Tuesday brought another reminder that they are not on the same page wh

In light of the Port of Virginia’s growth and strategic advantages, and contrary to Ted Prince’s conclusions reached in his recent column (“Reality Check,” Feb.

One of the hottest topics in business these days, right behind whether there is a true economic recovery under way, is whether the $787 million federal stimulus package Congress approved a year ago ac

Q: We are renegotiating some terms with a less-than-truckload carrier and wonder how we can protect ourselves in the event the carrier files for bankruptcy.

Last month marked the beginning of my 40th year in the international transportation and trade industry.

Slow steaming by container ships seems to be here to stay.

Given the dynamics in the trans-Pacific shipping market so far this year, with capacity so surprisingly tight and many shippers scrambling to find space at almost any cost, it seems certain that chang

No economic policy could better serve Americans than genuine free trade, but open trade policies are failing Americans.

Q: In the Jan. 11 issue, you state, “If you have been doing (IRS Form) 1099s for your carriers up to now, you can legally quit.”

When you’re driving for 40 miles during a blizzard in a small rental car on a major interstate, trying for most of the time to stay in the fast-disappearing tire tracks of a tractor-trailer chug

Stories abound about individuals having their identities stolen, and such thievery is becoming more common in shipping, too.

It was a nice gesture by Virginia International Terminals to halt work at