Archive for the ‘Momentum Freight News’ Category
Friday, April 2nd, 2010
The Somali pirates had a win and a loss in their ongoing pillaging of the bank accounts of freight carriers in the region.
The loss came at the hands of the Danish Navy’s Absalom, who sunk a pirate “mothership” on Sunday. The Absalom had run off a pirate crew from a vessel they had started to seize last month as well, so our Danish friends had a good month, making them the unlikely baddest dudes in the Horn of Africa; you don’t usually associate the Danes as a naval powerhouse. The ship named after King David’s rebel son is going against type and getting out the Suezmax-sized can of whuppin’ on these modern-day rebels,
However, the pirates won a victory in court in Britain, where their High Court of Justice ruled that paying ransom to captors is not against public policy. In the absence of a naval task force right on top of a captive ship, ransom is often the safest avenue to save the lives of the captured crew. While paying ransom will encourage more piracy in the future, the court reasoned that not paying ransoms will likely result in dead crews, sunken ships and cargoes on the black market for the ships currently under pirate custody.
That puts the task force that the Absalom is currently heading up in a tough spot; the pirates have been given access to British cash if they grab a UK-owned vessel. It will make protecting container shipping going through the Suez Canal and on past Somalia a bit more difficult.
Sources: http://www.cargobusinessnews.com/news/wednesday/news5.html
http://seafarerblog.com/2010/02/27/payment…lic-policy.html
Tags: container shipping, freight, freight carriers, freight forwarders, freight moving, freight shipping, freight transport, heavy haul, moving freight, shipping freight, trucking companies, trucking services, Trucking transport
Posted in Auto Industry News, Freight Industry News, Momentum Freight, Momentum Freight News, Shipping News, freight shipping | No Comments »
Thursday, April 1st, 2010
The European rail freight carrier industry has had as tough a two year period as the worldwide freight carrier industry, but over in the United Kingdom Hams Hall just had its most important year in the history of the firm. In fact, their business just had the best year in the history of the company and they’re looking toward growing their business even more in 2010 and beyond. Hams Hall is operated by Associated British Ports (ABP), a firm that has apparently done pretty well compared to other rail freight carriers in Europe during the downturn in freight business.
During the last year Hams Hall has been adding new freight trains, with 15 new freight trains making the journey to destination every week. Hams Hall isn’t the only rail freight carrier that has been adding lines as Norfolk Line just began a bi-weekly service to Novara, using the Channel Tunnel and in September the first temperature-controlled rail freight train made the journey, something that hasn’t been seen for a few years.
This is a great sign for the European rail freight carrier industry, being able to grow business and infrastructure during times of financial instability and improve services for customers says a lot for the strength of the industry. There are even people who think that the adding of these freight lines removes a significant amount of carbon emissions from the air of Europe, but this of course has to be determined. The United Kingom appears committed to rail freight as the way they want to go with freight transport and with the moves the European freight industry has seen recently, they appear to be serious.
http://www.logisticsmanager.com/Articles/1…ight+boost.html
http://en.shippingchina.com/sailingnews/in…l/id/15656.html
http://www.ifw-net.com/freightpubs/ifw/ind…tid=20017753074
Tags: freight, freight carrier, freight carriers, freight forwarders, freight moving, freight shipping, freight transport, heavy haul, moving freight, shipping freight, trucking companies, trucking services, Trucking transport
Posted in Auto Industry News, Freight Industry News, Momentum Freight, Momentum Freight News, Shipping News, freight shipping | 1 Comment »
Thursday, April 1st, 2010
2010 is here and there are changes occurring in the trailer trucking services coming in and out of Japanese hi-tech manufacturer Fujifilm’s warehouses in Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Fujifilm just awarded an outsourcing contract to trucking logistics provider Kuehne + Negal (KN) to take care of the warehouse management, customs brokerage and small but important items like making sure labelling is correct and such things. Current plans call for the inventories in Fujifilm’s warehouses in Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia to be brought together in KN’s warehouse facilities in Chorzow. There’s hasn’t been any annoucement about possible job losses due to the outsourcing of services to KN, so hopefully everybody will still have a job when the dust clears.
Kuehne + Negal also just resigned with Concha Y Toro, the top wine maker and exporter in Latin America, to continue taking care of making sure their products reach destinations around the world for a further three years. KN has handled Concha Y Toro wine imports for the last ten years. Plans call for Concha Y Toro’s wine to be stored at KN Drinks Logistics’ Hams Hall facility in the United Kingdom before being loaded onto trailer trucking units and delivered to customers around Europe.
This should allow Fujifilm to improve the logistics of their operations since everything will be handled by a freight logistics firm known for outstanding services. Possible financial benefits will of course have to wait until we see how the deal works out for Fujifilm, but they should be able to save a few dollars with this move.
http://www.kn-portal.com/about/media/news/…film_in_poland/
http://www.kn-portal.com/
http://www.ifw-net.com/freightpubs/ifw/ind…tid=20017753082
Tags: trailer trucking, trucking logistics
Posted in Auto Industry News, Freight Industry News, Momentum Freight, Momentum Freight News, Shipping News, freight shipping | No Comments »
Tuesday, March 30th, 2010
After a terrible 2009 we’re finally into 2010 and with freight volumes going up slightly in the first part of 2010, along with freight rates, things are starting to look a little better for freight carriers using container shipping services from the United States to Asia.
This is great news for an industry that has had to deal with one problem after another, but it’s only a small improvement and we need to control our responses to the upturn in business. The improvement in the numbers could just be a temporary thing and we need to keep our responses to the improvement in the numbers well measured.
Just as we’re starting to get a little excited about the improvement in the freight carrier business news comes in that the Westbound Transpacific Stabilisation Agreement (WTSA) has decided that freight rates still need to be increased in order to help freight carriers deal with the problems they’re experiencing. The Transpacific Stabilisation Agreement members include APL, Cosco, Evergreen, Hanjin, Hapag-Lloyd, Hyundai Merchant Marine, K Line, NYK, OOCL and Yangming.
According to the WTSA freight carriers continue to head into the red as we head further into 2010, despite the increase in freight volumes and the present freight rates, and a further rate increase is necessary to help companies try to stay afloat.
This decision by the WTSA isn’t surprising since companies are continuing to loose money with the present rates that are being charged and a firm won’t be in business long if it keeps losing money. Companies need to make a profit and the price of freight services will have to be set at a level that allows firms to make a profit.
http://www.ifw-net.com/freightpubs/ifw/ind…tid=20017752615
Tags: freight, freight carrier, freight carriers, freight forwarders, freight moving, freight rates, freight shipping, freight transport, heavy haul, moving freight, shipping freight, trucking companies, trucking services, Trucking transport
Posted in Auto Industry News, Freight Industry News, Momentum Freight, Momentum Freight News, Shipping News, freight shipping | No Comments »
Tuesday, March 30th, 2010
The last twenty months has been chaos for a Canadian transport trucking industry that has had to deal with unstable freight rates for trucking transport, but there are reports by Canadian agencies tasked with watching over the freight industry in Canada think that things could be starting to return to normal and freight rates could start being a little more stable as we head further into 2010. The latest figures indicate according to some freight industry experts that the Canadian freight trucking industry has made it through the worst part of the recession. Hopes are that the recession is over and the improvement in the numbers isn’t just a temporary event and that we’ll get to win back some of the losses that we all have seen during the past twenty months of financial instability.
This is great news for the Canadian trucking industry and the freight industry as a whole if the experts are right and the recession is starting to lessen and we can expect the numbers to begin to get better. Stable prices for transporting truck freight is going to give customers and freight carriers more confidence that things are finally beginning to turn around in the freight industry and business around the world as a whole. This could mean firms are going to be willing to spend a little more to build business, which is going to make business even better.
If the price of trucking transport continues to be chaotic though, things are going to get even tougher for some firms in the Canadian trucking industry that are already close to the financial edge. The longer we spend in recession, the more trucking firms are going to head into the red on the accounting sheet and the more losses we are going to see.
http://www.ctl.ca/issues/story.aspx?aid=1000360715
Tags: freight, freight carriers, freight forwarders, freight moving, freight rates, freight shipping, freight transport, heavy haul, moving freight, shipping freight, Transport trucking, trucking companies, trucking services, Trucking transport
Posted in Auto Industry News, Freight Industry News, Momentum Freight, Momentum Freight News, Shipping News, freight shipping | No Comments »
Monday, March 29th, 2010
Everyday trucking loads are taken through the Eurotunnel on shuttles designed to take trucking transportsacross the English Channel. The Eurotunnel is one of the most amazing feats of human engineering on the planet and history, but since it has begun operation the Eurotunnel has had a few rough years during the past decade. This of course is due to the recession that has been strangling business opportunities in the trailer trucking industry and the fact that major users of their trucking transport service decided not to resign after using the service for a few years. This was obviously a bit of a surprise to the officials that operate the Eurotunnel and they appear to have been caught off guard a bit by the sudden departure of customers they were obviously counting on.
The operators of the Eurotunnel did recover beautifully and despite falling volumes of freight for their trucking transport service they have been busy at work finding customers that are different than the customers they were after before. This time they are diversifying their business by trying to attract medium and smaller companies to their services, rather than the larger firms that they were servicing before. This strategy appears to be working as they have reported better numbers in the fourth quarter of 2009. They also looking forward to growing their business even further in 2010 with medium and small trucking firms, which should give them a better financial base upon which to conduct their business operations.
Apparently, the Eurotunnel has found new customers to keep the truck shuttles moving at a constant rate through the tunnel and pay the bills that keep adding up if you don’t pay them. Things are looking a lot better for the Eurotunnel, now that they have a few new customers, and they expect the numbers to keep going up as we head further into 2010.
http://www.ifw-net.com/freightpubs/ifw/ind…tid=20017751651
Tags: freight, freight forwarders, freight moving, freight shipping, freight transport, heavy haul, moving freight, shipping freight, trailer trucking, trucking companies, trucking loads, trucking services, Trucking transport, trucking transports
Posted in Auto Industry News, Freight Industry News, Momentum Freight, Momentum Freight News, Shipping News, freight shipping | No Comments »
Monday, March 29th, 2010
There are specialized trailer trucking units of many kinds taking freight of specific kinds to destinations around many counties of the world. One of the most unique are trucking transports that are used to take trucking loads of flower and plants from the Netherlands to wholesalers and retailers around continental Europe. The flowers and plants are actually carried in roll cages and the newest trailers have been designed to allow for maximum use of the storage ability of trailers. The latest refrigerated trucking units being used include a split-door system that allows separate loads to be carried at different temperatures within the trailer. A neat innovation that must allow trucking firms that use these new units to provide services to a variety of customers with different requirements.
Hannon Transport recently recieved an order for ten of the latest refrigerated trucking trailers being made by Schmitz Cargobull that will be operating out of Hannon Transport’s business in the Netherlands. The new refrigerated trailers will be put to work taking flowers and plants from some of the world’s largest flower auctions to buyers that hail from all parts of Europe.
Hannon Transport currently operates around 90 trucking units in their fleet, but they have been adding to their fleet lately and appear to be thinking about making moves to improve business in 2010. Hannon Transport is a trucking transport firm that should be watched in the years ahead. They appear to have big plans for their particular business profile and could be making a few moves in the trucking transport industry in the years ahead that will be unique and particularly interesting.
http://www.mhwmagazine.co.uk/LatestNews/Sc…sport-6008.html
http://www.hannontransport.com/company.htm
http://www.ifw-net.com/freightpubs/ifw/ind…tid=20017751618
Tags: freight, freight forwarders, freight moving, freight shipping, freight transport, heavy haul, moving freight, shipping freight, trailer trucking, trucking companies, trucking loads, trucking services, Trucking transport, trucking transports
Posted in Auto Industry News, Freight Industry News, Momentum Freight, Momentum Freight News, Shipping News, freight shipping | No Comments »
Thursday, March 25th, 2010
The Baltic Dry Index is a commonly-used measure of bulk shipping rates; if the London Metals Exchange gets its wish, it will be trading BDI futures in the near future, giving freight carriers and their customers a more transparent way to hedge their shipping costs. However, the parent company of the BDI, the Baltic Exchange, has a profitable business arranging ad-hoc forward contracts between shipping firms and clients and is rather cool to the idea.
Forward contacts are a bit like futures in that they are locking in a price for a transaction in the future, except that they’re generally custom-made between parties (banks often offer foreign currency forward contracts to customers) and don’t have the transparency of an exchange-traded futures contract. Direct participants can use the Baltic Exchange’s forward contracts, but other parties that have a stake in freight rates might be interested in the LME’s futures contract.
For now, the Baltic Exchange is happy to be doing their freight forward contracts and making a nice profit being the middle-man for the deals; the proposed partnership with the LME has been turned down to date.
It may be up to the financial regulators in Britain and the EU to determine whether a shotgun marriage between the Baltic Exchange and the LME is needed; regulators are a bit spooked by ad-hoc “over the counter” derivatives and may look to make the market a bit easier to regulate. Current customers may lose out on the customized nature of forward rates, so their will be parties with vested interests on both sides of the issue.
Source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405…ies_LEFTTopNews
Tags: freight, freight carriers, freight forwarders, freight moving, freight rates, freight shipping, freight transport, heavy haul, moving freight, shipping freight, trucking companies, trucking services, Trucking transport
Posted in Auto Industry News, Freight Industry News, Momentum Freight, Momentum Freight News, Shipping News, freight shipping | No Comments »
Thursday, March 25th, 2010
When I first heard of the Transpacific Stabilization Agreement, a group of 15 big container shipping companies who get together to talk about rate issues on shipping from Asia to North America, I thought that it should run afoul of anti-trust laws. However, the TSA has an anti-trust immunity to “meet and discuss issues relating to freight rates and surcharges.” Thus, these seaborne freight carriers can agree to impose “voluntary” surcharges and steer clear of the anti-trust authorities.
The Federal Maritime Commission has now expanded what the TSA can powwow about, including pollution and fuel consumption issues. The hot-button issue on the fuel front is slow-steaming, where ships go at about 18 knots rather than the normal 25, cutting fuel costs in half. Setting up these slow boats to (and from) China will require longer supply lines and increased transit times; it also will tend to lower freight rates, as customers will expect that some of that savings will be passed on to them.
Freight customers will need to budget more time to get goods to US markets; any changes in the speed of the supply chain will have a ripple effect on other freight carriers.
Domestic container trucks will be getting their goods a week or so later under slow steaming, so their schedules will have to be modified. There may well be a lull in the number of shipments as slow steaming starts to become the norm, as ships that would have been pulling into port in the old days are still out at sea.
Source: http://www.joc.com/maritime/fmc-clears-tra…alk-environment
Tags: container shipping, container trucks, freight, freight carriers, freight forwarders, freight moving, freight shipping, freight transport, heavy haul, moving freight, shipping freight, trucking companies, trucking services, Trucking transport
Posted in Auto Industry News, Freight Industry News, Momentum Freight, Momentum Freight News, Shipping News, freight shipping | No Comments »
Wednesday, March 24th, 2010
What do you do with container transport ships that aren’t designed for the way the business of ocean freight is conducted in the century of the environment? Ships made as early as 2006 were designed to run as fast as possible to destination across the world. The current slow-running strategies of shipping companies makes these types of ships too inefficient to use in the century of the environment because they just burn too much $700 a barrel diesel at slow speeds that they weren’t designed to run efficiently at. The design of the hull and all aerodynamic systems of these ships is designed for optimum use at around 30 knots, not at slower speeds, so they use more fuel at slower speeds than they would at the optimum speed they were designed for.
This is exactly the situation that Maersk found themselves in with six container transport vessels that were designed in 2006 and 2007 to operate at the speed of around 30 knots. They decided to lay up these ships in the Scottish Loch of Striven for awhile until they can decide what’s going to happen with these fast running container transport vessels.
Things haven’t gone as expected for Maersk as the residents that live around Loch Striven have noticed the large vessels sitting in their Lock and have decided they want something done about this. They have repeated sent letters of protest that apparently have been ignored, which hasn’t gotten the response Maersk was hoping for.
Recently, a filming company approached the owners of Maersk to see if they could use one of the vessels laid up in Loch Striven to film scenes for their up coming children’s feature film. Apparently, Maersk thought this was a good use for the ships and even one that could make them some money because they agreed to let them use one of the vessels to film.
The whole controversy appears to have cooled a bit, now that both sides are making a little money off of the whole affair. There’s still people that want the vessels to be removed to another location, but opposition to the presence of the container vessels has definitely lessened
http://www.ifw-net.com/freightpubs/ifw/ind…tid=20017749433
Tags: container transport, freight, freight forwarders, freight moving, freight shipping, freight transport, heavy haul, moving freight, shipping freight, trucking companies, trucking services, Trucking transport
Posted in Auto Industry News, Freight Industry News, Momentum Freight, Momentum Freight News, Shipping News, freight shipping | No Comments »