Supply chain

Maersk Line and Mediterranean Shipping Co. appear to have the same confidence that Chinese regulators will approve their “2M” vessel-sharing agreement as they did before China’s rejection of the P3 Network, said U.S. Federal Maritime Commissioner Richard Lidinsky.

Blueberries, strawberries, cherries, avocados, durian — markets across Asia are filled with fruits regardless of the season, serving a fast-rising demand that is being driven by urbanization, increasing wealth and improving refrigeration technology.

The latest round of diesel emissions regulations is raising truck prices in Europe, adding as much as 15 to 20 percent to the ticket price of new straight trucks and tractors.

Weak logistics have stood in the way of Cambodia’s trade progress for years with its export costs at least 30 percent higher than those of Southeast Asian neighbours Thailand and Vietnam.

In a deal that could have implications for refrigerated shippers and warehouse operators across the U.S., Costco agreed to pay $335,000 in penalties and spend as much as $2 million over the next few years to cut greenhouse gas emissions from its warehouse stores.

A new five-year plan aimed at developing China’s shipping industry could help Chinese container lines and ports become more competitive.

Japan has committed to doubling its investment in India to about $34 billion over the next five years, and will also help fund infrastructure projects in India.

Strong U.S. imports are fueling growth of distribution centers near major U.S. port gateways, but there’s no sign that overcapacity is on the way, according to real estate management firm Jones Lang LaSalle.

The market for mobile transportation or telematics technology in the U.S. is evolving quickly as a U.S. mandate for electronic recordkeeping by truck drivers draws closer. One of the biggest telematics companies, Omnitracs, is acquiring rival XRS for $178 million.

Samskip Van Dieren Multimodal has launched rail shuttle services between Duisburg, Germany, and Bettembourg, Luxembourg, creating a new link between Scandinavia and France and Spain and expanding its intermodal service.

Hong Kong’s Centre for Food Safety (CFS) has banned the import of poultry meat and products into the territory from Salem County, New Jersey, following an outbreak of avian influenza in the U.S. state.

Sical Logistics Ltd., India’s leading multi-modal logistics provider, is selling its 40.92 percent stake in Ennore Automotive Logistics, an automobile port yard joint venture with Japanese shipping group Mitsui O.S.K. Lines.

The Indian federal government has approved a proposal to delegate more project approval authority to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways in a bid to minimize delays in awarding of concession contracts.

The 132 transportation and logistics companies that made the Inc. 500/5000 list of fastest-growing U.S. companies this year prove that size and speed aren’t always twinned.

Rising furniture imports fueled by higher home sales are generating demand for Zenith Global Logistics, a third-party logistics company specializing in home furnishings.

The U.S. Federal Maritime Commission Wednesday received the “2M” vessel sharing agreement proposal for the east-west trades, starting the clock on the agency’s review of the Maersk Line-Mediterranean Shipping Co. plan for the alliance created following the rejection of the P3 Network by China in June.

Haier Electronics spent $60 million in the first half developing its logistics business as the well-known Chinese brand embarks on a bold new strategy to tackle the increasingly outsourced logistics requirements of household electrical appliances and consumer electronics.

The value of total trade and exports moving through U.S. foreign-trade zones last year hit record highs, reflecting exporter and retailers’ increased of the hubs.

A U.S. appellate court panel ruled that as many as 2,300 FedEx Ground drivers in California and Oregon were employees, not independent contractors, when they worked for the package delivery company in the last decade.

Baltic Reefers will acquire NYKCool from NYK Reefers, the refrigerated shipping segment of Japanese shipping giant NYK Line on Sept. 1.

A U.S. agency is imposing big penalties on companies that allegedly fired truck drivers for raising safety complaints, and it’s not the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

A coalition of trucking groups is redoubling efforts to get controversial public safety scores taken off the Internet.

Carriers’ strategy to bundle logistics services with container shipping services appears to be “unraveling,” according to Alphaliner’s latest newsletter.

A proposed rule-making on truck driver coercion that would extend U.S. regulatory authority deeper into the international supply chain and hit offenders — including motor carriers, logistics operators and shippers — with penalties of up to $11,000 per incident, is being hotly debated.

The Port of Portland, Oregon, on Aug. 22 announced the cancellation of a contract covering two reefer jobs with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, citing dips in productivity at its Terminal 6 facility.

The Obama administration picked T.F. Scott Darling III, chief counsel of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, to be the agency’s interim administrator, starting next week.

The U.S. rail regulatory agency is asking the seven major U.S. and Canadian railroads, along with short lines, to explain how they will handle the expected surge of intermodal traffic, noting the situation has been “challenging.”

The acquisition of huge non-vessel-owning common carrier China Container Line (CCL) in the first half by Li & Fung reaped immediate rewards for the global sourcing giant, which saw its logistics sector operating profit leap by 31 percent in the first six months of the year.

A freight market that hasn’t “ramped down” this summer spells opportunity for Launch Logistics, the new third-party logistics subsidiary of shipping reseller Unishippers.

Air and sea freight volumes in European east-west trade lanes have seen consecutive gains in recent months, but growth is expected to subside over the next six months, according to a new survey from the investment firm Stifel Nicolaus.

Hackers may have stolen payment information from an undisclosed number of shipping customers of The UPS Store in a period stretching from January to August, UPS said Aug. 20.

Singamas chairman Teo Siong Seng does not believe the antidumping and countervailing duty investigation the company is facing in the U.S. will have a lasting effect on its business.

Venice, California-based Cargomatic is testing its “Uber”-like truck and shipment matching technology in the tri-state trucking market of New York, northern New Jersey and Connecticut.

Changing supply chains demand changing technology, and a more multimodal, integrated supply chain require a blend of asset- and non-asset-based transportation systems.

Distribution centers and manufacturing plants are increasingly springing up around U.S. intermodal terminals, as shippers aim to reduce drayage costs and overall tightening truck capacity fuels intermodal volume growth.

The U.S. government will study vehicle-to-vehicle communications technology that could form the backbone of future systems aimed at improving passenger car and truck safety.

Livingston International, a major North American customs broker and forwarder, has further expanded its presence at the New York-New Jersey and Los Angeles-Long Beach port complexes...

A statutory review of Canada Transportation Act dovetails with the country’s recent success in negotiating free trade agreements with the European Union and South Korea, Canadian Transport Minister Lisa Raitt told port officials.

Nine straight weeks of steady declines in pricing of low-sulfur bunker fuel have brought the price per metric ton down to the lowest levels in more than three years.