Regional News : Gulf Coast

The Express Delivery and Logistics Association said Thursday it has signed a cooperative agreement with the National Industrial Transportation League to host a dedicated air cargo pavilion at TransComp, NIT League’s annual fall conference and exhibition. XLA calls itself the voice of the expedited air delivery, international postal and logistics industry. "All transport modes are crit...

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on Thursday approved legislation requiring the U.S. government to spend all tax dollars it collects for dredging, rather than using nearly half of it to try to balance the budget. Section 2007 of H.R. 5892, the 2010 Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), mandates that all tax revenue annually deposited in the Harbor Maintenance Trust ...

Barge operator and builder American Commercial Lines Inc. said it had a second quarter net loss from continuing operations of $1.4 million compared to a $2.9 million loss from continuing operations in the same 2009 period. The company said revenue fell because of less work for its shipyard. Revenue for the quarter ending June 30 decreased 24.8 percent to $164.3 million. Transportation...

Industry groups praised the U.S. Senate for its passage Wednesday of the U.S. Manufacturing Enhancement Act of 2010, also known as the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill (H.R. 4380), clearing the way for President Obama to sign it into law. “We are extremely pleased that the bill passed through both houses of Congress to help provide relief to U.S. companies that import foreign products not otherw...

The American Soybean Association released a list of key steps for how the Obama administration might meet its goal to double U.S. exports in five years. "Soybeans and soybean products are the most important U.S. export commodity, with export sales exceeding $21 billion last year," said ASA President Rob Joslin, a soybean farmer from Sidney, Ohio, in a statement. "This represented over 50 ...

C.H. Robinson Worldwide Inc. said it had second quarter net profit of $97.2 million, 5.4 percent more than in the same 2009 period. The Minneapolis-based non-asset-based third-party logistics company said revenue for the period ending June 30 was $2.45 billion, up 27 percent from the same 2009 period. Transportation net revenue was $310 million, up 1.2 percent. ...

International Shipholding Corp. said it had second quarter net profit of $9.6 million compared to $10.7 million in the same 2009 period. The Mobile, Ala.-based company, which has a diverse fleet of ships, had revenue of $85.1 million for the quarter ending June 30, compared to $99.8 million in the second quarter of 2009. The company said it expanded its owned fleet and placed two addi...

Cargo transport on passenger airlines will not turn to gridlock after Aug. 1 when the Transportation Security Administration’s requirement to physically screen all shipments at the individual package level goes into full effect, industry and government officials say. Lawmakers who pushed the rule change and many shippers are concerned the new mandate could overwhelm airlines because many ...

World trade by all modes of transportation -- sea, air and land -- are forecast to grow 8.1 percent in 2010 and 6.9 percent in 2011, following a 7.2 percent decline in 2009, according to the latest forecast from IHS Global Insight's World Trade Service. Containerized trade volumes at the global level are forecast to reach nearly 10 percent, with a slightly stronger recovery -- 10.6 percen...

Export promotion has become a full-time preoccupation of federal agencies under President Obama’s export initiative instead of the part-time focus it garnered in the past, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said. Exports during the first quarter of the year rose 17 percent from the same period last year, helped in part by Commerce Department efforts to facilitate credit, connect U.S. companies...

Jeff Hakala and James Parker have been named vice president of Ceres Gulf Texas and Ceres Gulf New Orleans, respectively, the terminal operating company said Wednesday. The appointments are effective Aug. 1. Hakala has been with Ceres since 2004, and previously held positions with Atlantic & Gulf Stevedores, Fairway Terminal Corp. and P&O Ports. He will oversee all of Ceres' container...

Sea Star Line said last week it has entered into a settlement agreement in class action antitrust litigation pending in Puerto Rico. The U.S. mainland/Puerto Rico carrier said several class action lawsuits were filed against Sea Star Line and other carriers on behalf of direct purchasers of domestic ocean transportation services in the Puerto Rico trade lane. Those lawsuits were combine...

Norfolk Southern Corp. said Tuesday it had second quarter net profit of $392 million, 59 percent more than the $247 million earned in the second quarter of 2009. Operating revenue was $2.4 billion, up 31 percent from the second quarter of 2009, primarily as a result of a 22 percent increase in traffic volume. General merchandise revenue rose 31 percent to $1.3 billion in the quarter...

The American Trucking Associations' advance seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index decreased 1.4 percent in June, and a revised May index shows an 0.1 percent decline from April. They were the first back-to-back contractions since March and April 2009. ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello said the sequential decreases reflect a slowing economy. Growth in truck tonnage is likel...

Sher Sher & Blackwell, a Washington-based international transportation and government affairs law firm, is merging with Cozen O’Connor on Sept. 1. Sher & Blackwell partners Mark Atwood, Marc Fink, Jeffrey Lawrence, Anne Mickey, Stanley Sher and David Smith, along with nine other lawyers and government relations professionals, will join Cozen O’Connor in its Washington D.C., office. One o...

The U.S. Federal Maritime Commission has received 20 license applications and changes for review. The FMC has received non-vessel-operating common carrier license applications from CJC Logistics, Wayne, N.J. (Oliver Rosca, president); Mega Shipping, El Monte, Calif. (Yuwei Chen, chief executive officer); Oliveira Marine Shipping, New Bedford, Mass. (Arnaldo S. Oliveira, president); and ...

The Manatee County Port Authority has awarded a contract to dredge Berth 12, a key step in the port’s effort to attract containerized cargo and the final piece of an 11-year, $200 million port expansion project at Port Manatee. Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Co. has been awarded the contract to dredge the berth to 41 feet and extend it from 1,000 feet to nearly 1,600 feet. Great Lakes’ $...

Neutral air freight consolidator Air Menzies International has launched an online express product that it said provides freight agents and courier companies with fast quotes and competitive rates. Click2Ship allows freight agents and courier companies to compare services from large integrators, such as FedEx, DHL and UPS, and obtain instant, all-inclusive quotes. Also included in Click2...

What's true for rail is true for the road, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit has determined. Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court, in a 6-3 decision, reversed the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals and found in the case of Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd. (“K” Line), et al. v. Regal-Beloit Corp., that a dispute over an intermodal shipment damaged in a railroad derailment. The shipment origi...

Kansas City Southern said Monday it was dropping embargoes it had imposed earlier this month after Hurricane Alex had damaged parts of its Mexico railroad. KCS said it had completed repairs to the Anahuac Bridge in Mexico and reopened service to the Nuevo Laredo gateway over the weekend. After running about 29 northbound and southbound trains across the Anahuac Bridge without incident...

Kansas City Southern said it had second quarter net profit of $37.4 million compared to $7.1 million in the same 2009 period. Second quarter revenue was $461.6 million, a 35 percent increase compared to the corresponding 2009 period. The company said revenue growth was strong across the board when compared to second quarter 2009, which was the weakest revenue quarter during the recent...

The American Apparel & Footwear Association on Monday offered a 10-point plan to help achieve President Barack Obama's commitment to double U.S. exports by 2015, the so-called National Export Initiative. The association submitted comments in response to a call from the U.S. Department of Commerce to make NEI a reality. "Opening new markets to the free flow of goods and improving cur...

Intelligent Global Pooling Systems, an all-plastic pallet pool operator, is nearing completion of a new research and development center in Bentonville, Ark. In addition, the company has completed construction of its new Global Customer Support and Logistics Center in Orlando, Fla., consolidating all of its customer service and logistics personnel at the new facility. “Our business has...

National Retail Systems said last week it has joined CargoNet, a clearinghouse for cargo theft reports and recovery efforts launched this year by Verisk Analytics’ subsidiary Insurance Services Office. NRS joins 10 insurance companies as charter members of the national information-sharing network. Last month, third-party logistics provider OHL joined CargoNet as a regular member. LG Ele...

Dennis McDonough, vice president of client solutions at Santa Fe Springs, Calif.-based Weber Distribution, has been elected president of the Distribution Management Association. DMA encourages growth of its members by facilitating opportunities to exchange ideas, discuss industry related problems, and keep abreast of government legislation. McDonough joined Weber last year with more t...

Legislation aimed at stifling the import of certain minerals from war-torn Congo has electronic shippers looking more closely at their products’ components. The Conflict Minerals Trade Act (H.R. 4128) was signed into law by President Obama last week as a provision to wider financial regulation legislation. The bill was introduced by Reps. Jim McDermott, D-Wash., and Frank Wolf, R-Va., ...

The U.S. Export-Import Bank has entered into a memorandum of understanding with Turkey’s Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources to cooperate on financing U.S. exports to the Turkish market. Under the MOU, Ex-Im Bank and the ministry agreed to share information on trade and business opportunities to facilitate sales of U.S. goods and services offering environmental benefits to Turkey'...

The U.S. Export-Import Bank has opened in Iraq to help finance short- and medium-term sales of U.S. exports to Iraqi buyers in the public and private sectors. "Iraq's economy is growing, offering specific opportunities for U.S. exporters in a variety of industries,” said Bijan R. Kian, a bank board member, in a statement. “Ex-Im Bank can help by reducing the repayment risk, especially ...

The World Shipping Council on Thursday conducted an information session for U.S.-based shipper and forwarder trade associations regarding the European Union’s new customs cargo security filing requirements. The EU rules are to enter into force Jan. 1 and will require the documentation of containerized cargo shipments arriving in European ports to be electronically filed with European cust...

Swift Corp., one of the nation’s largest trucking companies, said it is seeking to raise up to $700 million through an initial public stock offering. Subsidiary Swift Holdings Corp. filed plans for the IPO Thursday with the Securities and Exchange Commission and the two companies would be folded together after the deal. Founded in 1966 by Chief Executive Officer Jerry Moyes, the compa...

Union Pacific Corp. said it had record second quarter net profit of $711 million compared to $465 million in the same 2009 period when profit was boosted $72 million related to a Colorado land sale. Revenue was $4.2 billion in the quarter, 27 percent higher than the $3.3 billion in the second quarter of 2009. The company said second quarter business volumes, as measured by total reven...

Sen. Frank Lautenberg and two Democratic colleagues on Thursday introduced legislation to jump-start federal policymaking and investment in freight-related infrastructure rather than wait for uncertain progress towards a comprehensive surface transportation reauthorization bill. In an effort to draw more broad-based support, the bill links intermodal capacity investments on high-volume fr...

Major U.S. airlines reported higher revenues from air cargo this week. UAL, parent of United Airlines, said it had cargo revenue of $190 million in the second quarter, 57 percent more than in the same 2009 period, "as continued improvements in demand drove strength in both volume and yields across all regions, particularly transpacific markets." Continental Airlines said it had cargo ...

Hub Group Inc. said it had second quarter net profit of $9.6 million, 16 percent more than in the second quarter of 2009. Revenue was $458 million in the quarter ending June 30, up 26 percent from the second quarter of 2010. David P. Yeager, chairman and chief executive officer, said the company saw a "the return of a robust freight market," and benefited from custom retention and suc...

Kansas City Southern said its Mexican railroad, Kansas City Southern de Mexico, S.A. de C.V. (KCSM) estimates its Nuevo Laredo gateway and the main line to Saltillo, Mexico will reopen for service sometime this weekend, barring new complications. It said it expects to lift embargoes imposed on July 3, after repairs are made to a bridge damaged by Hurricane Alex, which made landfall in nor...

Cummings House Subcommittee on the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Chairman Elijah Cummings said Wednesday that not enough U.S. cargo is carried by U.S.-flag ships and the decline is “both a security risk and an economic risk.” “Since the 1980s, the U.S.-flagged fleet has been carrying what can only be described as an increasingly miniscule portion of our foreign trade, and this fa...

Crowley Maritime Corp.'s has ordered two additional high-bollard-pull Ocean Class tugboats from Bollinger Shipyards. The latest contract brings the number of new 10,880-horsepower tugs being constructed for Crowley to four, and adds to the more than $1 billion the company is investing in new tugs, high-capacity barges and articulated tug-barge tank vessels (ATBs). The new tugs, Ocean ...

GAC Shipping (USA) said Wednesday it has appointed Carlos Arrieta as president of its recently established GAC Energy and Marine Services subsidiary. The subsidiary, located in the new Central Green development near Houston International Airport, provides logistics services for the oil, gas, marine and mining sectors. It operates a logistics center with 65,000 square feet of covered wareh...

The U.S. Transportation Department on Tuesday granted antitrust immunity to American Airlines and four international partners in “oneworld” to form an integrated global alliance, but also imposed several conditions to protect consumers and preserve competition. Today’s action makes final the DOT’s tentative decision of Feb. 13. As a result of the DOT’s action, American and oneworld al...

Aircraft manufacturer Boeing is projecting the world’s freighter fleet will increase from 1,750 to 2,980 aircraft over the next 20 years, including 740 new-production freighters, according to a report by Air Cargo News. The rest of the increased fleet would be made of freighters converted from passenger planes. Of the newbuilds, 520 would be large aircraft (80 tons or more capacity), with...

Delta Airlines made a second quarter net profit of $549 million, excluding special items -- a $748 million turnaround from the same period in 2009. Special charges for Northwest merger expenses and aircraft retirements reduced the Atlanta-based carrier’s actual net income to $467 million. Delta said its best quarterly profit in a decade was due to a 19 percent increase, or $1.1 billio...

Sunny Delight Beverages Co. said it will begin shipping its products throughout the United States on plastic pallets produced by Intelligent Global Pooling Systems. “At Sunny Delight, we regard sustainability as a strategic imperative, and iGPS’ all-plastic pallets will further help us to meet our objective for continual sustainability improvements,” said Ellen Iobst, senior vice presiden...

Grubb & Ellis Co., a Santa Ana, Calif.-based real estate investment firm, on Tuesday said it is one of eight U.S. corporations, and the only commercial real estate services provider, to be selected by the U.S. Department of Energy to participate in the pilot program for the Global Superior Energy Performance Partnership. The partnership is designed to improve building efficiency through a...

The U.S. Grain Council has appointed Terry Vinduska, a corn farmer representing the Kansas Corn Commission, to chairman for the 2010-11 fiscal year. He replaces Rick Fruth, an Ohio farmer representing the Ohio Corn Marketing Program, who transitions to the organization’s past chairman position. USGC, based in Washington, promotes expanding international markets for U.S. barley, corn, ...

The U.S. Grain Council has appointed Terry Vinduska, a corn farmer representing the Kansas Corn Commission, to chairman for the 2010-11 fiscal year. He replaces Rick Fruth, an Ohio farmer representing the Ohio Corn Marketing Program, who transitions to the organization’s past chairman position. USGC, based in Washington, promotes expanding international markets for U.S. barley, corn, ...