Posts Tagged ‘container transport’
Friday, February 12th, 2010
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the largest container transport hub on the east coast, is taking a more incentive-driven approach to cleaning the air around its seaports, creating a $28 million program to replace older trucks servicing the ports; the federal EPA is providing $7 million of the funding with the rest coming from the port authority itself. Other ports, especially those in California, have similar subsidies as well, but have also opted for more strenuous regulations that have forced older trucks to either stop serving the ports or to have them retrofitted to meet current emission standards.
To this point, the Port Authority has opted not to force trucks out of service or to ban owner-operator trucking, as the port of Los Angeles has done. That will allow a broader array of trucking companies to use the port, especially the Auto Marine terminal, where a number of smaller car haulers could use the port for used car exports.
The structure of the Port Authority, run by commissioners appointed by the governors of the two states, tends to create a management that is more focused on maintaining the operation of the ports, bridges and tunnels under its watch; that has produced a framework that is more user-friendly to the shippers, railroads and trucking firms that use the ports.
One interesting problem that the Port Authority is running into is the Bayonne Bridge, which is too low for many container ships to pass under to get to the main container facility. Replacing the bridge is one option, as is raising the roadway so that the bigger container ships can pass through.
Sources:http://www.joc.com/node/416319
http://www.seaportsinfo.com/panynj/
Tags: container transport, freight, freight forwarders, freight moving, freight shipping, freight transport, heavy haul, moving freight, owner operator trucking, 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, February 11th, 2010
Getting the goods and materials Europeans need to survive to destination using container transport is an expensive, and profitable business, if you can do the job in a timely and efficient manner. The French channel port of Dunkirk recently put a smile on the faces of officials at Eurotunnel as the firm announced that Eurotunnel would be the new operator for its company rail network for the next seven years, with an option for an extra four years should both parties agree.
The deal should put about $36 million American into the coffers of Eurotunnel, after unforseen costs, and expenses, but could be worth far more in terms of business connections and other considerations for Eurotunnel. The opportunity for other business deals and relationships might turn out to be far more valuable for Eurotunnel in the years ahead.
Eurotunnel should be able to just step into the role as they have years of experience operating similar lines and currently operate the terminal at Calais, a 30 km hop and skip away from the rail line of the port of Dunkirk.
The deal is partly being driven by the French governments desire to use rail as a sustainable form of freight transport and this can be seen in the growth of rail in and around the port of Dunkirk. Presently they’re constructing new rail infrastructure and preparing to use rail more and more as part of their plan to use intermodal transfer services to enhance rail freight transport in the port of Dunkirk beyond the 15 million tonnes it has been moving each year.
How will this affect the trucking transport industry of Europe? This is a good question that the European owner-operator trucking industry and road freight transport firms will be asking themselves. The French road trucking industry has been pretty quiet about the situation, so maybe they don’t think it will mean much to them.
Rail is normally better for moving freight long distances and in large amounts, while road freight transport generally deals with shorter routes and smaller loads and this hasn’t changed. There are goods that need to be transported by truck in Europe and while the need exists the trucks will continue to move along the roads.
http://www.portdedunkerque.fr/jahia/webdav…tunnel%20GB.pdf
Tags: container transport, freight, freight forwarders, freight moving, freight shipping, freight transport, heavy haul, moving freight, owner operator trucking, shipping freight, trucking companies, trucking services, Trucking transport
Posted in Auto Industry News, Freight Industry News, Momentum Freight, Momentum Freight News, Shipping News, Uncategorized, freight shipping | No Comments »
Tuesday, February 9th, 2010
With the port of Port-au-Prince badly damaged in the recent earthquake, container transport became problematic. However, one firm has taken a page out of the amphibious landings of the past and managed to get containers onto shore by transferring containers on to smaller-draft ships, who then took them directly to a beach; it reminds me a bit of the D-Day landing, where amphibious trucks delivered goods onto the beach from ships out in the harbor. That gives shippers a route to get containers into Haiti when the country needs the help the most.
Trucking logistics is still a major issue in Haiti, as many roads are still blocks and in ill repair after the earthquake. However, as recovery efforts turn to managing the lives of the survivors rather than trying to pull people out of the rubble, one of the priorities will be to fix main roads so that aid can flow in and start to rebuild other infrastructure damaged in the earthquake.
Since the majority of goods are shipped via containers these days, getting a methodology for landing containers is critical, and this ship-to-shore method opens up the port to container delivery. This could wind up becoming a useful technology to get container service into smaller ports that might not be able to accommodate larger container ships. Whether it is economical enough to use on a non-emergency basis is a key question, but it does give shippers a tool to get containers into an area where the shipping infrastructure is either damaged or non-existent.
Source:http://www.joc.com/node/416209
Tags: container transport, freight, freight forwarders, freight moving, freight shipping, freight transport, heavy haul, moving freight, shipping freight, trucking companies, trucking company, trucking loads, trucking logistics, trucking services, Trucking transport
Posted in Auto Industry News, Freight Industry News, Momentum Freight, Momentum Freight News, Shipping News, freight shipping | No Comments »
Monday, February 1st, 2010
China has long been a seagoing nation, as traders had been active developing markets in the Pacific and Indian Ocean areas for centuries. That tradition has continued into the present, as many of the large container transport lines are China-based.
That presence on the shipping lanes means that Chinese ships are now in the sights of Somali pirates along with the rest of the world’s fleet. In the past, the Chinese navy has been used to protect individual Chinese vessels, but China has now offered to become part of the Shared Awareness and Deconfliction group that has sent ships to the area to combat the pirates..
Geopolitical experts in the west have been nervous about China’s development of a “blue water” naval fleet that gives the Chinese navy the capability of going beyond its territorial waters; the fear was that China might use that against some of its neighbors like Japan and the Philippines down the line. This case shows that, as a maritime nation active in the world economy, China has a benign use for its blue-water fleet, protecting its merchant fleet as they ship freight around the world.
Given that 47 ships were hijacked in the waters off Somali last year, China is now becoming part of the mercantile nations of the world. A half-century after Mao would rail against capitalist running-dogs, China has joined the pack in protecting their blossoming merchant fleet; you could solve China’s energy problem by putting a transformer at Mao’s grave; the founder of the People’s Revolutionary Army is doing 10,000 revolutions per minute.
http://www.handyshippingguide.com/shipping…r-shipping_1223
Tags: cargo shipping, container shipping, container transport, freight shipping, ship freight
Posted in Freight Industry News, Momentum Freight, Momentum Freight News, Shipping News, freight shipping | No Comments »
Thursday, January 28th, 2010
The port of Dover has been in the news this winter as bad weather has played havoc with the English Channel tunnel, diverting freight carriers and cars alike to the traditional ferries that call Dover home. While most ports are privately owned in Britain, Dover is publically owned, working under a “trust port” charter issued by King James I in 1606; yes, that’s the King James Bible guy.
However, that 17th-century charter makes it harder to raise 21st-century capital, so the port is looking for permission to privatize, so they can sell stock and thus raise the funds needed to modernize the port. The Chunnel seemed to have made the port of Dover somewhat moot, but the problems of last month point out that Dover is far from being an antique.
Even in the Chunnel era, there is still a place for the RORO service out of Dover; the ferry is still economical and some types of trucking loads are ill-suited for sending through a long tunnel. Dover wants to build a second six-ship hub to handle cross-Channel traffic; that will help fend off the kind of backlogs that had Operation Stack kick in to park the trucks on the incoming highway.
The question that the Dover management might be wondering is how best to get that capital. An existing port management firm like Hutchison Whampoa or DP World might be interesting in buying the port, or Dover might opt for an IPO and sell stock to the investing public. An improving stock market makes an IPO much more viable than it would have been a year ago.
Source: http://www.joc.com/node/416304
Tags: cargo shipping, container transport, freight carriers, freight shipping, trucking loads
Posted in Auto Industry News, Freight Industry News, Momentum Freight, Momentum Freight News, Shipping News, freight shipping | No Comments »
Thursday, January 28th, 2010
Bulk trucking firms use to bring freight to the old coal loading facility in Rugby, England, today trains run in and out of the old coal yard delivering goods to supermarkets in Scotland. The old coal yard was transformed into a rail freight terminal that currently services one train per day, but plans are on the drafting board to increase the amount of trains running through the Rugby Terminal to as many as three trains per day. If designers are able to complete the job of increasing the capacity of this rail terminal to handle up to three trains per day the Rugby Terminal should be able to handle about 50,000 containers per day. No firm dates have been given for any additional transformation to the Rugby Terminal to help increase the capacity to about three trains per day.
All around the world humans are trying to find ways to make use of things that we would normally just throw away or tear down, rather than find away to recycle or reuse something that still has value and usefulness, as long as we use a little innovation and elbow grease. The transformation of the old rail yard in Rugby into a container transport terminal is one example of a new way of thinking in both the United Kingdom and the rail freight carrier industry as a whole. The freight industry of Britain deserves a pat on the back for making use of an asset that normally would have been ignored.
In the future we’ll be seeing a lot more use of assets that in better times might have been ignored or left to rot, such as the old coal yard in Rugby. In fact, expect to see assets in the United States that normally would have been forgotten, used in innovative ways such as this in the future.
http://en.shippingchina.com/sailingnews/in…l/id/15044.html
Tags: Bulk Trucking, container shipping, container transport, freight carrier, freight shipping
Posted in Freight Industry News, Momentum Freight, Momentum Freight News, Shipping News, freight shipping | No Comments »
Monday, January 4th, 2010
Shipping container transportation is big business. When choosing where to get your shipping containers make sure that you include the location of your seller in the equation. The nearer your container seller is, the better.
Once you have already identified where you will be buying the containers from, you would have to think about how you are going to move those containers into your location. You can ask your seller if they can deliver the containers. Most companies who sell containers have the capability to deliver them to any location you want. In most cases, containers are delivered by semi tractor-trailers with trailer beds that can slide off.
One thing you should also consider is the accessibility of the road where you want your containers to be delivered. These roads should be straight because trailers are heavy, large and long and most truckers will not be able to drive on a paved surface or off the road.
If in case your location is off the road, make sure that you discuss your options with the company you are dealing with to avoid problems. For off road locations, considering ground moisture and the slope are very important. This will help your driver decide if he can actually drive your container to the target point.
When moving containers it is important to consider your neighbors and the building regulations where the containers are to be delivered. Containers are sometimes considered as temporary structures so check with the local building regulations just to make sure you are abiding with these rules.
Tags: container transport, freight forwarders, heavy haul
Posted in Momentum Freight | No Comments »
Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009
The container transport industry worldwide has been struck hard with the recession. The European shipping industry is no exception. Some of the largest shipping companies are based in European nations such as Denmark, Switzerland, France and Germany. The Danish Maersk has the largest fleet, owning 15% of the world’s market share. It has been predicted by analysts its fleets will be reduced by several millions by the end of this year.
Twelve percent of the industry’s fleets are left idling. The industry’s attempt to reduce their excessive numbers of fleets is evident with the ships left along the shorelines of Singapore. Now referred to as ghost ships, hundreds of crewless vessels from Western nations are left anchored together in the southern Malaysian area.
The city of London is said to be the bastion of container transport industry. It is also the place where the effects of reduced trade and plunging profits are felt the most. Chartering costs have plummeted to encourage business but with very little result. Last year, a container capable of carrying 80,000 tons of freight would have cost £31,000 or $50,000 for each day that it was used. With the recession, the cost dropped to a mere £3,400 or $5,500. A year ago, a 40 foot container holding goods from China bound for the UK cost £850, not including other charges. This year, the price dropped to £180.
With the cost of running ships per day exceeding their daily profits, European container companies are left with hard decisions. The industry is keeping a close eye with the demand for the Christmas season, hoping that there would be a flurry of activity and demand for their services. For now, looking forward to a brighter new year might be a long way off.
Tags: container transport
Posted in freight shipping | No Comments »
Thursday, December 17th, 2009
Container trucking information concerns correctly receiving and processing of data related to where the container should be moved. The importance of getting the right information is paramount. When the said chain is examined, it can reveal certain discrepancies that may indicate criminal or terrorist involvement.
The amount of information generated through a container move is a bit daunting and this includes around 30 physical documents and other communication such as electronic messages. What s gathered from such a transaction is then transmitted all throughout the move and can cover a few hundred discrete information or data from the shipper.
Even if container transport companies get a lot of information about a company or an individual shipping certain goods or cargo, the said data is difficult to cross-reference. With container transport companies’ aim of dispatching the container as quickly and accurately as possible, the flow of information from the shipping company to the port suffers from fragmentation. This means that much of the data generated in the early part of the transaction does not reach the Customs of the country where the cargo is being shipped. If the information provided early on is accessed by Customs, it will be easier for them to do their security screening.
At present, the data gathered by all players in the container shipping industry is not harmonized making messaging interoperability impossible. This in itself is a security risk since there is no single controlling entity that regulates the entire transport chain. Because of this, many industry specialists and governments have concluded that the whole container transport system is vulnerable when it comes to terrorist misuse.
Tags: container transport, container trucking
Posted in Momentum Freight | No Comments »