Supply chain

The U.S. cold storage industry has grown at an average annual rate of 9.3 percent the past seven years, and further growth is anticipated as this niche industry mirrors the country’s economic expansion, according to a report published by Cushman & Wakefield.

Automating labor intensive processes in China is gaining ground as manufacturers try to mitigate the rising costs of wages, with chocolate maker Mars the latest company to embrace a semi-automated solution.

The International Air Cargo Association (Tiaca) has welcomed the World Customs Organization’s adoption of advance cargo information data that is aimed at improving the industry’s risk profile by adding an additional layer of security.

Chinese online giant Alibaba Group will invest more than $200 million in its partnership with Singapore Post in a series of initiatives aimed at expanding its e-commerce logistics platform across Asia-Pacific.

Brazilian fresh beef exporters will begin shipping to the United States for the first time in 15 years in September, paving the way for forecasted volume of up to 9,000 twenty-foot-equivalent units annually.

A Tokyo-based research firm has downgraded its outlook for Japanese container trade in fiscal 2015, which started on April 1, citing a significantly slower pace of growth in imports than previously anticipated.

A U.S. Department of Transportation study couldn’t conclude whether heavier trucks impact highway safety, but it did find they would not significantly impact intermodal conversions.

Puerto Rico’s fiscal crisis has rekindled criticism of the Jones Act, the cabotage law requiring the use of U.S.-flag vessels for shipments between the commonwealth and the U.S. mainland.

A software company that provides information on truck stops, weigh stations and other on-the-road services to U.S. truckers is now offering a free beta test of its freight marketplace platform to the public.

Gary Wilcock, managing director of Kerry Logistics Europe, passed away on June 21 after a short battle with cancer. He was 54.

Agility Logistics has appointed a new CEO for its South Asia operations as the company seeks to capitalize on the intra-Asia’s growing trade.

Persistent weakness in the eurozone economy will cause imports and exports through North Europe ports to decline this year, a new report predicts.

Deutsche Post DHL’s plans to set up new parcels companies to compete with lower cost rivals is “non-negotiable” the chief executive of the mail and logistics giant said on the eve of talks tomorrow with unions aimed at ending a three month long strike by postal workers.

The demand for logistics services and infrastructure will be fuelled by China’s increasing trade appetite and the continuing growth of e-commerce markets within the country, according to Barclays Research.

Some U.S. shippers are urging U.S. Customs and Border Protection to push back its Nov. 1 deadline for its new "single window" program, saying they're running out of time and more internal agency checks are needed.

A Southern California company’s emissions treatment system for ocean-going vessels has been approved by the California Air Resources Board, giving operators of container vessels a second option for complying with the state’s strict emissions requirements for vessels at berth.

U.S. exports are predicted to fall for a second straight year.

The U.S. Department of Transportation is under renewed pressure to overhaul its key truck safety initiative after a 2014 study only recently made public found the program’s safety metrics don’t always align with the real risk of accidents on the road.

The value of the goods shipped between the U.S. and Canada dropped 12.5 percent in April, thanks to low oil prices, a strong U.S. dollar and a shrinking Canadian economy.

U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez said Monday that bills before Congress seeking to avoid lengthy negotiations marked by slowdowns and employer retaliation that recently plagued West Coast ports aren’t the answer.

Sen. Deb Fischer of Nebraska wants a study on whether 18- to 20-year-olds should be allowed to drive heavy trucks across state lines, a step trucking concerns short of qualified drivers increasingly support. Current federal rules restrict interstate CDLs to drivers at least 21 years of age.

The European Union stepped up pressure on the Greek government to levy a higher tonnage tax and end tax breaks for the powerful shipping industry amid growing fears the country is heading for default and an exit from the eurozone.

FedEx has formally asked European Union competition regulators to approve its 4.4 billion euro bid ($4.9 billion) for TNT Express two years after they rejected a planned 5.2 billion euro takeover by its U.S. rival United Parcel Service.

Cosco, the largest shipping group in China, is back in the corruption spotlight with the National Audit Office issuing a report that accuses the carrier of serious financial irregularities.

Northern Nevada tops the list for shippers in advanced manufacturing interested in returning to or expanding existing facilities in the U.S., according to recent study from a national site-selection firm. And while the cost of logistics didn’t figure quantitatively into the firm’s ultimate rankings, total landed costs did.

The purchase of ReTrans, an intermodal and truck freight brokerage with more than $500 million in annual revenue, extends the reach of Kuehne + Nagel, the second-largest global 3PL, far beyond U.S. ports and into the nation's industrial heartland.

A bill that would require U.S. ports to provide monthly productivity reports to the federal government cleared a legislative hurdle Thursday. After a failed attempt to abort key provisions in the bill, though, it’s clear lawmakers are divided on the legislation, an effort to avoid a repeat of the crippling congestion that plagued West Coast ports earlier this year.

China’s three largest cargo airlines will join forces to form the largest air freight carrier in Asia, according to a senior official at the Civil Aviation Administration of China, mainland state media reported.

China’s rapidly developing logistics property business continues to attract investment from outside the industry with a Hong Kong-based real estate private equity firm the latest to jump into the booming warehousing market.

SkyBitz joins competitors such as Orbcomm, Omnitracs and PeopleNet that are acquiring smaller businesses to expand their telematics offerings.

The U.S. Federal Maritime Commission is moving to force ocean carriers to provide data and information for monitoring a FMC-authorized agreement formed to attack West Coast port congestion.

The U.S. Senate Wednesday voted to renew trade promotion authority for the first time in nearly eight years, setting the stage for the a Pacific Rim partnership that some have heralded as the largest trade pact in history.

Shreyas Shipping and Logistics on Wednesday said it signed an agreement to buy the Hub Gallardo, a container ship with a capacity of approximately 700 20-foot-equivalent units, the Indian short-sea ship operator’s second acquisition this month.

The AFL-CIO says legislation to require government collection of port performance data before and during longshore bargaining would politicize federal data collection and allow statistics to be used to undermine unions’ negotiating positions.

Chief executives of companies that operate in the highly competitive trucking and logistics space admit they have a real challenge on their hands as they work to provide good service, seek new business and turn a profit as operating costs, including truck driver wages, go up.

The Preventing Labor Union Slowdown Act that was filed at the weekend by Sen. James Risch, R-Idaho, was the third bill in the past two months that focuses on U.S. ports, but for retailers who depend upon a smooth flow of commerce, the attitude toward port legislation is, bring it on.

With longshore unions on both coasts moving aggressively to enforce chassis inspection requirements, the American Trucking Associations wants the Federal Maritime Commission and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to immediately put an end to inspections it says are creating costly delays for drayage truck drivers.

A bipartisan committee in the U.S. Senate has unveiled a new six-year surface transportation reauthorization bill that includes more than a quarter-trillion dollars in infrastructure investment and designated funding for freight corridors.

The damage inflicted by months of West Coast port congestion and supply chain delays lingers even now, more than a month after management and labor ratified a new longshore contract on May 22. Trans-Pacific volumes at West Coast ports have returned to normal levels, but the ports and carriers that call them lost market share in the first five months of 2015. The only winners were non-vessel-operating common carriers and East Coast ports.