Monthly Archives for April 2018

Modest progress notched, Russia customs service reforms continue Customs reform is needed because Russia’s cargo traffic is growing substantially, which places more demands on the Russian State Customs Services’s (RSCS) resources. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com. Russian shippers and foreign companies operating in the country will be able to deliver their cargo substantially faster, as a result […]

XPO’s digital marketplace helps shippers trouble-shoot supply chain The digital platform will give customers of XPO’s non-asset brokerage and asset-based transportation services visibility into where their shipments are, their estimated time of arrival, and other business intelligence. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com. While digital brokerages look to disrupt large US freight brokers, one of the largest freight […]

Digital forwarders, legacy forwarders engage in serve and volley “Disruption” is a term that gets thrown around a lot. But while disruption may have come to taxis, it hasn’t come to international shipping, at least not yet. Incumbent players one day might be disrupted by an Amazon or Home Depot taking control of their logistics, or from an autonomous […]

Europe’s automotive logistics sector eyes strong 2018 Europe’s automotive logistics sector is poised to register another year of growth in 2018, if political issues do not interfere. (Above: A Hoegh Autoliners roll-on, roll-off ship at the Port of Amsterdam.) Photo credit: Shutterstock.com. London — Europe’s automotive logistics sector is on a roll with volumes rising […]

Traditional forwarders challenged not disrupted Legacy forwarders are gaining mastery over the vast amounts of data running through their systems, and the vast trove soon to become available through sensors on trucks, ships, containers, chassis, and other hardware. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com. “Disruption” is a term that gets thrown around a lot. But while disruption may […]

Yilport’s plan for Gulfport Amid high marine terminal competition, Robert Yuksel Yildirim sees opportunities in Gulfport, Mississippi, and other less flashy markets to propel the Turkish company he runs to the top 10 among global terminal operators and counter carrier pressure by partnering with other operators that lack container line backing. Promising to invest hundreds… […]

Traditional forwarders shrug off threatened digital disruption Digitalizing the forwarding business will improve efficiency and automate repetitive functions, but transporting containerized cargo across continents will always require a human touch, key industry decision makers argue. Above: A container ship at the Port of Felixstowe. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com. Amid talk of how so-called new digital forwarders […]

Tariffs threaten nearly 7 percent of China-US container trade Above: A major entry point for China’s imports to the US — the Port of Los Angeles. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com. The $50 billion in US tariffs on imports from China and Chinese retaliation threaten roughly  887,000 TEU, or 6.6 percent of the total US container trade […]

US-China trade tariff drama undermining air cargo confidence Air freight is loaded into a Cargolux B747 freighter. Photo credit: Cargolux The high stakes trade tariff poker playing out between the US and China is clouding the air freight outlook for 2018 despite a solid start to the year for both volume and cargo yield. By […]

Yilport eyes Gulfport as entrance to North America terminal market Yilport, which signed a memorandum of understanding with the Mississippi State Port Authority in February, is promising to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in the state’s Port of Gulfport (above), which it says has the potential to feed volume, particularly refrigerated goods, between Gulfport […]