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Plans to raise the minimum insurance coverage U.S. trucking companies must maintain to operate could affect hundreds of thousands of trucking companies, large and small, and their shipper customers.

The Alabama State Port Authority has contracted with a construction firm to build the first phase of intermodal rail facility aimed at making the port of Mobile more attractive to shippers.

The ports of Seattle and Tacoma are scrambling to improve their intermodal access to the hinterland to protect the discretionary cargo they have, and, perhaps, even regain business lost to Southern California and Canadian ports.

Shipowners are committed to meeting new requirements for low-sulfur fuels but want uniform regulation and believe alternative fuels should be explored, an International Chamber of Shipping official said.

The International Longshoremen’s Association has appointed a trustee to temporarily oversee its largest Baltimore local, a move that could help resolve a local contract dispute that led to a three-day strike in October 2013.

DB Schenker, the logistics unit of Germany’s state-owned railroad company Deutsche Bahn, is seeking $2.6 billion in damages from 13 airlines that operated a global air cargo cartel.

Hanjin Shipping has opened third-party representative offices at nine hinterland locations in India to cater to the fast rising export demand from the subcontinent region.

Nippon Express Co., Japan’s largest international freight forwarder, said on Monday that it has acquired a controlling stake in Nittsu NEC Logistics Ltd., its joint venture with electronics maker NEC Corp.

Concern that an equipment upgrade program announced by India’s largest container handler, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, is not proceeding on schedule has prompted local ship agents to seek another intervention with the port administration.

The U.S. West Coast port congestion drove shippers to air freight at the worst possible time with rates for air cargo at the seasonal highpoint of what is turning out to be the most robust peak season in years.

A crushing defeat of Taiwan's ruling China-friendly Kuomintang (KMT) party at local elections late last week wasn’t enough to derail closer cross-strait trade links as Ningbo Port Group signed a cooperation agreement with the port-controlling Taiwan International Ports Corporation (TIPC).

The single biggest cost of shipping lines and air cargo carriers continues to tumble, giving the freight transport industry a welcome end-of-year bonus to add to the best peak season in years, with some savings transferred to customers through reduced fuel surcharges.

Manufacturing of labor intensive products has been migrating away from China in the past few years, much of it to neighbouring Vietnam, but that process appears to be speeding up, according to the latest reading of the HSBC purchasing manager’s index.

The launching of China-Europe rail services on the southern route via Kazakhstan has been hogging the headlines recently, but moves are underway to further develop the northern link through Russia.

China is speeding up its process of ditching a two-year ban on Brazilian red meat with a resumption of imports expected before Christmas, said Brazil’s agriculture minister, Neri Geller. And Saudi Arabia is expected to resume imports of Brazilian beef by the end of this year.

For the fourth straight week, JOC.com readers were voracious for LA-LB congestion coverage, but as port woes continue, delays on the West Coast are beginning to trickle down the supply chain. Nine of JOC's top 10 stories for the week concerned port congestion, with the exception one story on the Nicaragua canal.

Multiple container lines have planned general rate increases in numerous trade lanes in November, December and January, although any gains achieved could be temporary as overcapacity and sluggish global demand continue.

The European Union has agreed a regulation compelling all ships sailing in its waters to monitor their carbon emissions, and it immediately drew criticism from shipowner bodies for complicating, and possibly jeopardizing, ongoing efforts to reach a global accord.

The port of Piraeus has approved a long delayed-agreement with Cosco Pacific under which the Hong Kong-based company will invest a further 230 million euros ($285 million) in container facilities at Greece’s largest port.

There is optimism that the congestion choking the port of Manila since February may finally be addressed after Philippine government officials and the shipping industry came together in the capital to tackle the crippling problems.

The World Trade Organization’s trade measures approved this week in a historic agreement could cut the cost of trade by up to 15 percent, boost the global flow of goods, accelerate economic growth and add up to 20 million new jobs, most of them in developing nations.

United Arab Shipping Co. today named the industry’s first-ever LNG-ready ultra-large container vessel at Ulsan in Korea, with Sajir becoming the first of 17 vessels ordered by the carrier.

Shipping lines on the trans-Pacific saw all gains made by the Nov. 15 general rates increases fall away as the spot rate plunged $253 per 40-foot container in the past week, according to the latest reading of the Shanghai Containerised Freight Index (SCFI) released today.

There will be no speedy solution to the congestion that is creating bottlenecks at ports around the world as terminals battle to cope with growing trade and surges in container volume.

Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL) became the latest carrier to postpone a port congestion surcharge for cargo entering North America via West Coast gateways, reversing a decision to impose the levy announced just days ago.

Seven container ships, two more than the previous day but fewer than earlier in the week, were at anchor on Thursday morning awaiting berths at the congested ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, according to the Marine Exchange of Southern California.

The port of Rotterdam will triple the discount on tariffs for deep-sea containers that are transshipped to other ports in Europe over the next three years in a move likely to trigger a response from its main rival Hamburg.

The international air freight demand of Asia-Pacific airlines, measured in freight ton kilometres (FTK), grew by a firm 6.4 percent in October, on the back of buoyant demand for electronic goods from manufacturing hubs in North Asia.

A train pulling 82 wagons loaded with containers is somewhere between the Chinese manufacturing hub of Yiwu and the Spanish city of Madrid, 6,200 miles down the track.

A yard expansion project by International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI) in Manila has been completed and will help the port address the growing volumes and congestion that has choked the port since February.

The revenue container shipping lines are achieving per TEU has been falling steadily over the past three years as freight rates continue to weaken under the burden of excess capacity.

The Port of Seattle Commission on Tuesday approved its 2015 budget that calls for $373.8 million in capital expenditures for the seaport and for Sea-Tac International Airport.

The National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America on Wednesday charged that ocean carriers may be violating the U.S. Shipping Act with their congestion surcharges at West Coast ports.

For the second time in two weeks, three carriers are reversing their decision to implement port congestion surcharges, though the reason wasn’t immediately clear.

A weekly index of intermodal spot pricing showed post-peak season weakness and was weighed down by rate erosion on freight moving out of Chicago, where intermodal prices have been consistently strong this year. However pricing support out of the West Coast pointed to the effects of congestion at the Los Angeles-Long Beach ports.

An Israel Corp. shareholder vote on the spinoff of Zim Integrated Shipping Services and several other businesses into a new company, Kenon Holdings Ltd., has been scheduled for a Dec. 31 vote.

Matson Navigation Co. will raise its rates for its Guam Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands and Micronesia services by $225 for both westbound and eastbound containers, effective Jan. 25, 2015.

Spot market dry van truck rates in the U.S. rose in the week that ended Nov. 22 and are more than 9 percent higher than in the same week a year ago, DAT Solutions said.

U.S. shippers, especially retailers, are increasingly nervous and frustrated by supply chain delays and higher transport costs linked to West Coast port congestion, and worried about how that congestion will affect the movement of goods to inland distribution points.