Supply chain

The Senate could vote on the Water Resources Development Act as soon as April, after the Environment and Public Works Committee unanimously approved the bill today.

FedEx today reported net income in the third quarter of fiscal year 2013, ending Feb. 28, 2013, was $361 million, dropping 31 percent from $521 million in the same quarter in the previous year.

Echo Global Logistics has acquired Open Mile, a Boston-based non-asset transportation service provider that combines high tech automation with freight management services.

UPS said today that it has become the first global express delivery company to be wholly owned in Vietnam, following its acquisition of the 49 percent interest of VN Post Express in the two companies’ express delivery joint venture.

Geodis Wilson has appointed Ivy Boyer as its chief marketing officer.

The federal sequestration could cut Customs and Border Protection’s manpower to the equivalent of about 5,000 agents over the the coming months, a former chief of the staff of the agency said Monday.

On the vast plains of Brazil’s Matto Grosso, farmers of wheat and soy are enjoying productivity rates that exceed those of their counterparts in the United States. But freight costs in west-central Brazil are also 50 percent higher than on the Great Plains of North America, dramatically undermining Brazil’s productivity advantage.

The American Society of Civil Engineers today released its 2013 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure, which found that the U.S.’s cumulative GPA for infrastructure rose slightly to a D+ from a D in 2009.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has applauded a new framework developed by the U.S. and Russia to promote bilateral trade and investment.

The Indian Supreme Court on Monday ruled that the Italian ambassador to India cannot claim “diplomatic immunity” in a legal dispute over Rome’s refusal to return two ship guards charged with the killing of Indian fishermen.

An organization representing makers of rechargeable batteries is urging the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration to bring U.S. regulations on air transport of lithium batteries in alignment with international standards for such shipments.

Lars Kloch has taken on a larger role at SBS Worldwide.

The Federal Maritime Commission has asked Consolidated Chassis Management to provide more information on its request to permit lessors, truckers and other equipment contributors to serve on the boards of CCM and its regional pools.

Trucking and shipping interests and consumer advocates alike urged the U.S. Court of Appeals to overturn the latest truck driver hours of service rule Friday, repeatedly calling the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and its latest truck driver work rules “irrational,” a charge the FMCSA tried to refute.

The Dutch parliament has called for work to stop on an international scheme to weigh each packed container before it is loaded on board a ship.

Norbert Dentressangle reported that its freight forwarding division in Chile, which launched 18 months ago, handled 1,500 metric tons of blueberries and cherries from Chile to the U.S., China and Europe in December 2012...

Japan has announced it will seek to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the BBC reports.

Rep. Ed Whitfield, R-Ky., along with co-sponsor Rep. Daniel Lipinski, D-Ill., today introduced H.R. 1149, the “Waterways Are Vital for the Economy, Energy, Efficiency and Environment Act of 2013,” to modernize the lock and dam infrastructure on the inland waterways system.

Vic Toews, Canada’s minister of public safety, and Janet Napolitano, U.S. secretary of homeland security, have signed a memorandum of understanding that paves the way for a U.S. Customs and Border Protection truck cargo pre-inspection pilot project in Canada.

Henkel Consumer Goods has selected Saddle Creek Logistics Services as its lead logistics provider.

Chief negotiators at the end of the 16th round of Trans-Pacific Partnership talks reported they had achieved their goal to put the negotiations on an accelerated track...

The attempt to privatize the Port of Wilmington, Del., has foundered on the rocks of local port business and labor opposition.

The Italian foreign ministry on Tuesday said it will not send back two ship guards charged with the killing of Indian fishermen off the Kerala coast in February 2012, dealing a severe blow to the trial process initiated by the Indian Supreme Court.

DB Schenker Logistics has opened a new cross-docking terminal in Pruszcz Gdański in the greater Gdańsk area in Poland.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is seeking proposals on whether the U.S. and Colombia should accelerate the elimination of customs duties set out in their respective tariff schedules...

The U.S. Trade Representative has modified the designation of Al Minya, Alexandria, Beni Suief, Central Delta, Greater Cairo and Suez Canal zones in Egypt under the U.S.-Israel Free Trade Area Implementation Act to allow all facilities in...

Globe Express Services has appointed Oliver Huber as president of its North America business, effective March 18.

The real value of highway construction in January rose 4.3 percent compared with the same month in 2012, according to the latest analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data by the American Road & Transportation Builders Association.

Stirling Capital Investments has secured two new leases at the Southern California Logistics Centre, a 2,500-acre industrial and commercial complex in Victorville, Calif.

The origins of the looming deadline to implement a railroad crash-avoidance technology mandate and a shipper petition to require mandatory reciprocal switching are completely different.

Truckload pricing in February increased 4.3 percent from the same month in 2012, but declined 0.1 percent from January, according to the Cass Truckload Linehaul Index.

Regional parcel carrier OnTrac has added Idaho to its service area.

MIQ Logistics has opened a new facility in Laredo, Texas.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is proposing to amend the Country of Origin Labeling regulations to require more detailed information about the country of origin information on meat labels...

The need for a new Customs commissioner will become agonizingly clear when the fallout from federal sequestration delays clearance of U.S. imports as early as this month.

India’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry reported the trade deficit from April 2012 to February 2013 was $182.1 billion, expanding from the deficit of $169.8 billion in the same period in the previous fiscal year.

Eagle Distributing of Shreveport has signed a lease agreement with Ryder System for 23 compressed natural gas tractors.

A bill that seeks to raise the de minimis value, the level at which shipments entering the U.S. are free from tariffs, taxes or formal customs procedures, has been introduced in Congress.