Transport, Trade and Regulation News

U.S. trade with other countries increased broadly in November as imports outpaced exports, widening the trade deficit by $3.2 billion.

Intent on reducing carbon emissions and meeting a 2020 deadline for generating 15 percent of its energy needs through renewable sources, the British government last week parceled out the right to deve

Railroads and shippers are in a growing dustup over coal dust that could change the way key rail cargo is handled.

For an inland waterways industry struggling under the weight of crumbling infrastructure, it’s no longer about just wanting to raise its public profile in Washington.

The Department of Transportation ended 2009 with $7.955 billion in money already disbursed from last February’s stimulus program, up about $1.4 billion from the end of November.

U.S. rail and water transport jobs edged up slightly in December, but the larger trucking and air sectors continued to cut back.

Money from the 2009 economic stimulus will become highways, bridges, airports and mass transit systems in 2010, and that’s welcome news to members of the American Road & Transportation Builders Associ

Rail freight shippers in the United States have plenty of reason to see 2010 as a time when government actions could fundamentally reshape their industry.

To judge from the number of carriers and logistics providers that unveiled temperature-controlled products in 2009, the industry sector was a bastion of stability in a crumbling world.

The worst of the recession may be over for U.S. apparel importers and retailers, but the industry may have suffered some permanent damage. U.S.

Although the surge in fourth-quarter imports offered some hope U.S.

This year promises to be the second-best year ever for agricultural exports, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

When the worst recession in a generation spread throughout the global trade community, it became harder for shippers to ignore potential benefits of the latest Web-based electronic technologies for ma

Although the worst seems to be over in the construction equipment and steel sectors, levels of production and trade remain low, and no one expects the recovery to be rapid.

The global economic downturn is creating significant challenges for anyone managing the movement of goods, but experts say it also is creating new opportunities for third-party logistics providers.

If this were a movie, we’d call it “What Shippers Want.” As the first decade of the new millennium wound down, The Journal of Commerce hosted its 2nd Annual Shippers Roundtable to ta

A big concern for the trade community this year can be summed up in three letters: A-C-E.

The air freight industry faces an August deadline to meet U.S. government mandates to have 100 percent of the cargo on passenger aircraft screened.

The Federal Maritime Commission’s newest member, Michael A. Khouri, was sworn in on Jan. 7, the commission announced.

Discount retailer Half Price Books selected software from Manhattan Associates to manage its distribution process.

Exel will provide dedicated delivery services to dealers from Chrysler’s Mopar parts distribution center in St.

Private equity firm Calera Capital took over majority ownership of Rock-it Cargo, one of the largest specialty forwarders focused on the entertainment and arts field.

Demand for petroleum and coal products led the growth of new orders, shipments and inventories of manufactured goods in November.

An attorney with experience in criminal prosecution as well as administrative law became an administrative law judge for the Federal Maritime Commission this week, the agency announced.

Sweden’s Björk.Eklund Group acquired a majority of the companies comprising Norway’s largest independent logistics network, Norwegian Transport Network Group.

DB Schenker, the German global freight forwarder, won a $500 million contract to provide worldwide and national transport for Australia's giant Gorgon gas project.

The three-member Surface Transportation Board now has Francis P. Mulvey serving as its vice chairman, under an annual rotation. He replaces Charles D. Nottingham in that role.

Wal-Mart Stores plans to squeeze billions of dollars out of its supply chain this year by purchasing more goods direct from manufacturers, cutting out third-party suppliers.

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A closely watched measure of U.S. domestic shipping grew on a year-over-year basis for the first time in two years in December, inching upward 1.9 percent.

States won a limited reprieve in December in their struggle to preserve the amount of federal funds they can authorize for transportation projects, and they could add $12 billion if the Senate acts qu

Privately owned logistics company Syncreon purchased Illinois-based NAL Worldwide Holdings for an estimated $35 million.

U.S. manufacturers carried their expansion into a fifth consecutive month in December, according to a monthly survey by the Institute for Supply Management.

Two reports on Chinese manufacturing showed production at the country’s factories surged in December, pointing to a full recovery in 2010.

Weak economy and all, FedEx celebrated a record day in its express division on Dec.

If drayage operators had any question that polluting trucks have no future in California, clean-trucks plans implemented at the port and state levels at the start of the new year should dispel a

As a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, Stephen E. Flynn was an outspoken critic of U.S. supply chain security policy.

It took all of 2009 to get a landmark rail regulatory overhaul bill through the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee.

Ongoing battles over proposed cap-and-trade legislation and efforts by ports to gain more control over harbor trucking will carry over into 2010.

The U.S. Commerce Department is sending grant money to port and rail projects in states around the Gulf of Mexico to help the region’s recovery efforts from two hurricanes in 2008.