The National Industrial Transportation League (NITL) and the American Society of Transportation and Logistics (AST&L)

have reached a tentative agreement in which AST&L would become a subsidiary of NITL. Under the arrangement, however, AST&L would continue as a separate organization under its own name. The two are among the oldest trade organizations in logistics. NITL, which is primarily an advocacy organization but has taken on a greater educational focus in recent years, was formed in 1907. AST&L was formed in 1946 and offers certification programs for transportation and logistics professionals.

What are roadside inspectors looking for

when they inspect a truck on the highway? More importantly, which violations may cause the truck to be taken out of service, delaying delivery of the freight on board? The answers can be found in a new publication from the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA),2002 North American Standard Out-of-Service Criteria. Because all CVSA commercial vehicle law-enforcement agencies in North America use that standard to determine a vehicle's roadworthiness, the book is an important resource for fleet managers and maintenance professionals. It is available in an 8.5- by 11-inch format for $27 and a 5.5- by 8.5-inch spiral-bound version for $32. To order, visit www.cvsa.org or call (301) 564-1623. Discounts are available for orders of 50 or more copies.

It's not too soon to make your plans

for the Council of Logistics Management's annual educational conference, slated for Sept. 29–Oct. 2 in San Francisco. This year's theme, "The Rules Are Changing ...," highlights the need to adapt logistics and supply chain practices to the demands of a changing world economy. Nearly 40 tracks will address such topics as security in the global supply chain, customer relationship management, emerging technologies and logistics leadership. For information, call (630) 574-0985, e-mail membership@clm1.org or visit www.clm1.org.

The International Graduate Logistics Case Competition held in Chicago in February

crowned a new champion for the fifth time in as many years. This year's winner was a team from the Technological University of Darmstadt, Germany. The 2002 event also featured teams of MBA students from Michigan State University, which took third place; the University of Wisconsin-Madison, which took second place; the Ohio State University; Pennsylvania State University; the University of Maryland and the University of Tennessee. After students received their business case, they had roughly 24 hours to read and analyze it, come up with a solution and develop a professional presentation. Corporate sponsorships and donations from Council of Logistics Management roundtables offset the students' expenses. The corporate sponsors—BASF, GE Medical Systems, Grainger Industrial Supply, Harley-Davidson Motor Co., Pfizer, Schneider Logistics, Schreiber Foods and Tranzact Technologies—also sent senior-level supply chain executives to judge the competition.

You've undoubtedly heard that just 2 percent of all inbound ocean containers are inspected

in the United States. What you may not have heard is that this figure—widely used by government officials to gain support for maritime security initiatives—refers only to the number of containers whose cargo is physically removed by U.S. Customs personnel, says Philip Spayd, Northeast director of field operations for U.S. Customs. Speaking at a conference sponsored by the Coalition of New England Companies for Trade (CONECT), Spayd and Nora Ehrlich, U.S. Customs port director for Boston, emphasized that pre-arrival screening of data and non-invasive techniques such as X-rays make the effective examination rate much higher. Small ports such as Boston survey up to 80 percent of inbound containers, they said; the big problem is in mega-ports like Los Angeles/Long Beach and New York/New Jersey, where increasing the number of physical inspections would create nightmarish backlogs and delays for importers.

Cargo security was also a hot topic

at the annual conference of the Council on Safe Transportation of Hazardous Articles (COSTHA) last month. The group, whose members are responsible for hazardous materials regulatory compliance, is more concerned than ever about security in light of the potential connection between hazmat transportation and terrorism. There is reason to be concerned, said speaker Barry Brandman, president of cargo security specialists Danbee Investigations. He related how a young man who spoke with an accent walked into the office of a logistics industry organization in the Chicago area a few months ago. The man insisted that the group hire him for his freight forwarding skills, although the staff explained that the group was a trade association, not a shipper. When a manager asked to see some identification, the man ran out the door, jumped into a car with three waiting men and sped off. "We believe this is the first example of efforts [by terrorists] to gain access to our freight infrastructure," Brandman said.

The Surface Transportation Board has increased many of the fees

it charges for transactions and proceedings filed with the board. The board says the increases are designed to offset federal salary increases averaging 4.8 percent as well as higher overhead costs. About half of the items on the 2002 schedule reflect increases over last year's fees. Most increases are small, with a few as low as $1 and most less than $300. But the cost of filing a major railroad-merger application jumped by $69,800 to $1.1 million. The fee schedule is available at the board's Web site at www.stb.dot.gov.

Speaking of fees... back in December 2000, the Department of Transportation's Research and Special Programs Administration (RSPA) proposed a temporary reduction in registration fees for companies that ship hazardous materials. Those fees fund the Hazardous Materials Emergency Preparedness grants fund, which has a surplus. Although RSPA had wanted to reduce fees to eliminate that surplus, the agency announced in theFederal Register

last month that it was delaying the fee reduction while it awaited congressional action on the Bush administration's proposal to use the registration fees to fund part of RSPA's hazmat safety program. As a result, registration fees for the registration year beginning July 1 will remain unchanged at $300 for qualifying small businesses and $2,000 for all other registrants.

UPS has united its supply chain and logistics-related businesses

under a single umbrella organization, UPS Supply Chain Solutions. The new entity brings together the services of UPS Logistics Group, UPS Freight Services (including Fritz), UPS Capital, UPS Consulting and UPS Mail Innovations. Combined, the company's supply chain subsidiaries operate in more than 120 countries and generate more than $2 billion in annual revenues. Total revenues for UPS last year were $30.6 billion.

At least they're listening:

A delegation of National Industrial Transportation League members recently met with officials from the newly created Transportation Security Administration to offer a shipper's perspective on security issues and logistics. League President Ed Emmett said in his group's weekly newsletter, "Government officials trying to deal with security issues are under tremendous pressure from all sides, so it is absolutely critical that real, live shippers be involved in the process. ... League members will have to continue these types of meetings in order to see laws and regulations that are sensible."