Supply chain

Eden Prairie, Minn.-based third-party logistics provider C.H. Robinson reported income in the fourth quarter of 2012 was $256.39 million, jumping 134 percent from $109.21 million in the fourth quarter of 2011.

South Korea saw exports surge by 11.8 percent year-on-year in January following a 5.7 contraction in December, but seasonal factors distorted what was really a disappointing month, according to one analyst.

UPS has deployed 100 fully electric commercial vehicles that will be delivering packages in California.

Supply chain company CEVA Logistics has appointed Jaap Bruining as its new head of operations for China. He will be located in Shanghai.

Crowley Maritime and Customized Brokers, the company’s Miami-based customs brokerage company, have opened a new cold storage warehouse facility in Miami.

Shipping and logistics provider GAC has started construction on its new office and warehouse in Houston’s Central Green Business Park, which is within a designated foreign trade zone.

The U.S. Department of Commerce and the Mexican tomato industry have initialed a proposed agreement suspending the anti-dumping duty investigation of fresh tomatoes from Mexico, which is now open for comment.

Carload shippers who have access to only one rail line are waging a multiprong campaign this year to increase railroad competition, as one of their fiercest champions, Sen. John Rockefeller, winds up his last term.

The inland Port of West Sacramento, Calif., has released a request for interest to identify potential business partners to lease or operate the port’s cargo facilities and to lease, purchase or develop port-owned real estate.

Mexico City-based mining corporation Grupo Mexico reported net income in the fourth quarter of 2012 was $724.8 million, jumping 22.6 percent from $591.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2011.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection processed nearly 25 million cargo containers through the nation’s ports of entry in fiscal year 2012, up about 4 percent year-over-year.

International trade and cooperation has become a key driver of small business success, according to a macro-economic study by IHS and DHL Express.

The European Union has allocated funding from the TEN-T Programme, under the 2011 TEN-T Annual Call, for two rail infrastructure projects in Italy and Austria.

The European Union has allocated funding from the TEN-T Programme, under the 2011 TEN-T Annual Call, for two maritime infrastructure projects in Europe.

Chicago is becoming a virtual hub for fast-growing third-party logistics companies and freight brokers that own no assets but see Chicago as perhaps the biggest asset of all.

Non-vessel-operating common carriers are finding growth opportunities in the fast-growing regional trades, in the intra-Asian and intra-Latin American markets and in the domestic Chinese market.

Stirling Capital Investments has completed construction of a 76,800-square-foot facility expansion at the Southern California Logistics Centre, a 2,500-acre industrial and commercial complex in Victorville, Calif.

Outgoing Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood’s imprint on U.S. transportation goes far beyond cutting down on driving while texting and heralding high-speed rail.

Gov. Rick Scott’s Florida Families First Budget for fiscal year 2014 fully funds the Florida Department of Transportation’s Work Program $8.3 billion investments in port, highway, bridge and other transportation infrastructure improvements.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has proposed 2013 percentage standards for four fuel categories that are part of the agency’s Renewable Fuel Standard program.

William P. Doyle, who was nominated by President Obama to be a Federal Maritime Commissioner, was recently ceremonially sworn in at the Federal Maritime Commission, following his official swear-in on Jan. 10.

Con-way Multimodal, a freight brokerage division of Con-way’s operating unit Menlo Worldwide Logistics, has named Corey Bingham as director of business development.

Teams of special agents and officers from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and other agencies have seized more than $13.6 million in fake NFL merchandise.

There is a seismic shift under way in global trade patterns as developing nations in Asia, Europe, Africa and the Americas account for an increasing amount of fast-growing global trade.

Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., on Thursday said she wants a more “equitable” use of Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund dollars within a long-delayed bill key to authorizing port and inland waterway project.

Unlike in the U.S., foreign container lines can’t reposition empty containers at Canadian ports, and the result is additional rail and truck costs that often are passed to shippers.

The U.S. housing recovery bodes well for containerized imports of furniture and other home goods this year.

Trucking company Ryder System today reported its profit in the fourth quarter of 2012 was $53.8 million, rising 12 percent from $48.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2011.

UPS reported a net loss of $1.7 billion in the fourth quarter of 2012, falling $2.5 billion from a profit of $725 million in the fourth quarter of 2011.

The European Union closed an antitrust investigation into a German container feeder ship cooperative after its members agreed to abandon a compensation system for laying-up vessels and an information exchange scheme.

Container Corporation of India reported its net profit in the third fiscal quarter, which ended Dec. 31, 2012, was $43.8 million, down 2 percent from $44.6 million in the same quarter in 2011.

The U.S. Senate today approved the Sandy Recovery Improvement Act of 2013, HR 219, which will fast-track aid to communities recovering from Hurricane Sandy and reduce recovery costs.