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   Acting Commerce Secretary Rebecca Blank last week wrapped up a seven-day trip to Latin America to help drum up business for U.S. companies engaged in infrastructure planning and construction with a speech at the American Chamber of Commerce Panama where she highlighted the importance of trade relations with the Central American nation.    Twenty companies specializing in project management, transportation, energy and water resource infrastructure accompanied Blank on her ...

Va. Gov. McDonnell signs landmark transportation bill.    Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell last week signed the breakthrough transportation funding bill passed by the General Assembly in March.    The "Virginia's Road to the Future" bill, the first comprehensive transportation funding plan in 27 years, provides an additional $3.5 billion in funding by 2018 for new road and bridge construction, mass transit, rail and other needs, along with several reforms to improve project development. &...

Gov. Scott    The budget signed Monday by Florida Gov. Rick Scott includes a record $278 million for development of the the state's 15 seaports.    Port directors applauded Scott for making ports and trade a priority of his economic agenda. Florida is providing $112 million toward the $181 million cost of dredging the Port of Miami's main channel from 42 to 50 feet, including $77 million for the federal share of the project at Scott's direction. The governor has also committed t...

  Air freight rates out of Asia are slowly inching back up to February’s yearly high of $3.32 per kilogram, ending April at $3.21 per kilogram, a rise of $0.06 over March’s figure, according to the Drewry East-West Air Freight Price Index .    The index measures the average per-kilogram price paid by forwarders to airlines on 21 major East-West routes. Each result factors in the base rate plus any security and fuel surcharges.    February’s high-water mark came in $0.32 per kilo...

Ports, terminals prepare for challenges from bigger ships, expanding alliances. By Chris Dupin    Ports and terminals in the United States and worldwide will have to accommodate growing numbers of larger containerships in the years ahead.    Later this year, Maersk is expected to put the first of 18,000-TEU “Triple E” ships into service in the Asia-Europe trade, and West Coast ports have already been visited by giant vessels such as the MSC Beatrice and MSC Fabiola , with capacities ...

   Despite the sustained introduction of larger vessels, carriers have been managing to reduce the direct capacity of liner services available to shippers during the period between Oct. 1, 2012, and Jan. 1, 2013, according to the latest BlueWater Reporting World Liner Supply Report which can be downloaded here .    Cuts in the larger trades from Asia to Europe and to North America have been the most severe, while capacity from Asia and North America to both the east and west coasts o...

   A strike by clerical workers in the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach at 10 of the ports' 14 container terminals entered its seventh on Monday.    Expressions of frustration by government and business leaders continue and ship congestion in the harbor could increase dramatically in the days ahead.    Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa called for round-the-clock negotiations with a mediator between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 63 Office Cleri...

American Shipper through its AS Daily and Website offers you the latest and essential news on the ILA contract negotiations. The current master contract for the U.S. East and Gulf coast dockworkers' union is set to expire Sept. 30. If you are not automatically redirected, please click here .

   The Federal Maritime Commission will release a much anticipated report on "U.S. Inland Containerized Cargo Moving through Canadian and Mexican Seaports" to members of Congress who requested it today and to the general public on Friday.    The report was reported by several publications to have been approved earlier this week by the five FMC commissioners in a 3-2 vote.    Press reports on the content of the report have been starkly different.    A story by the ...

   U.S. Customs officers stationed at the UPS hub in Louisville, Ky., continue to intercept an increasing number of imported "bath salts" designer drugs, the agency said.    Field personnel are working closely with chemists at Customs and Border Protection labs to test samples and detect emerging trends related to the synthetic drugs.    Bath salts can contain the controlled substances MDPV, mephedrone and methylone, or a synthetic derivative of the psych...

   As more companies begin to push the cloud and other software-as-a-service platforms to their customers, it becomes difficult to stay away from the hype about what the cloud could mean and see what the offer truly is.    While touted as the next revolution in computing, there are four key concepts present in both the marketing and IT pitches that companies need to be aware of. Hype often leads to false expectations, so be cautious when thinking the cloud may be for you.    ...

   The credit rating company Standard & Poor's said Thursday that it had downgraded the French container shipping line CMA CGM's long-term corporate credit rating to CCC+ from B-, saying its liquidity position deteriorated in the first quarter of 2012.     "We expect that it will remain under strain over the coming months in the absence of corrective actions," said S&P. "The rating remains on CreditWatch with negative implications reflecting the possibility of another do...

   The $225 million in air freight price-fixing fines handed out Wednesday by the European Commission to 14 air forwarders has dwarfed previous penalties or settlements for related cases in other jurisdictions.    The European Union antitrust division’s case for the penalties – including more than $140 million against Kuehne + Nagel, Panalpina, and UPS alone – amounted to “four distinct cartels aimed at fixing prices and other trading conditions for international air freight forw...

No. 10 Hecny Shipping By Eric Johnson    Welcome to the third installment of our yearlong countdown of the top 12 non-vessel-operating common carriers for U.S. inbound containerized cargo.    Using data provided to American Shipper by the trade intelligence firm Zepol Corp., we’ll take a closer look at each of these companies in terms of where their cargo originates, where in the United States it’s destined, which liner carriers they use, and how their volumes have trended quarter to ...

   The container carrier Maersk Line said Monday it had $483 million in operating losses in 2011 thanks to a huge downfall in container freight rates in the second half of the year.    The performance represents a huge downward turn from the record $2.8 billion the container line made in 2010. Maersk Line also made $438 million in the first half of 2011, underscoring the depth of the downturn in the second half of last year.    Maersk Line’s revenue climbed 4.5 percent...

By Eric Kulisch    Senate Budget Committee leaders expressed their concern during a hearing last week about the detention of Sam LaHood and 15 other young Americans by Egyptian authorities because of their work for non-governmental organizations dedicated to fostering and strengthening democratic institutions around the world.    The key witness was Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, Sam's father, who was there to testify about the Obama administration's fiscal year 2013 transportat...

     Maersk Line will reintroduce its CRX service linking Mexico and Central America with Northern Europe this week.    The line merged the CRX with its Ecubex service in mid-2011, but will now operate the CRX as a standalone “for the years to come,” it said in a statement.    The CRX will have a rotation of Bremerhaven, Veracruz, Altamira, Big Creek, Manzanillo (Panama), Puerto Moin, Cork, Tilbury, Rotterdam, and Bremerhaven. It will be operated with six 2,500-TEU ves...

   Our captains of industry are frustrated with the Obama administration’s efforts to rewrite the rules governing labor relations. They disagree not only with the substance of many of the proposals, but also in the blatant attempt to avoid normal procedures and transparent debate.    Business groups are rightly upset with several rulings by the National Labor Relations Board that together represent a backdoor attempt to implement "card check" legislation that would mandate unions...

   In March, Caterpillar began considering its “strategic options” for its third-party logistics operation, including a potential sale or structuring it as an independent business within Cat Logistics.    “The third-party logistics business has been a high performing operation within Caterpillar, serving more than 50 customers worldwide in a number of different industries,” said Steve Larson, vice president of Caterpillar and chairman and president of Cat Logistics, at the time of the...

   A shortage of drivers dented Celadon Group’s earnings potential in the third quarter and is the primary reason why it is hunting for other motor carriers to acquire, company executives said during a conference call with analysts Thursday.    The company’s biggest negative was a 6 percent reduction in seated trucks – available equipment with a driver behind the wheel – compared to 2010 “and that probably cost us 8 or 9 cents a share in earnings,” Chairman and Chief Executive Office...

   Suggestions that the Canadian government is improperly subsidizing expansion of western Canadian ports and related freight infrastructure are unfounded and will harm two-way trade if a U.S. investigation into the matter results in sanctions of some kind, Ed Fast, Canada’s minister of international trade, told reporters during a visit to Washington Monday.    Fast, who is also in charge of the nation’s Asia-Pacific Gateway initiative, stressed that America’s largest trading partner...