Cross-border security issues will appear at the top of the agenda when the Can/Am Border Trade Alliance holds its conference on U.S.-Canada trade, transportation and border management in Washington from Sept. 22 to 24. Among the confirmed speakers are Gov. Tom Ridge, director of the office of Homeland Security; Robert Bonner, commissioner of the U.S. Customs Service; Immigration and Naturalization Service Commissioner James Ziglar; and congressmen Jack Quinn, John LaFalce and George Nethercutt. Federal Highway Administrator Mary Peters has been invited, and officials from the U.S. State Department, the Canadian Embassy and Canada Customs will also address attendees. For more information about the program or to register, contact Executive Director Jim Phillips at (716) 754-8824 or e-mail canambta@aol.com.

The U.S. Department of Transportation says it has successfully tested a new technology aimed at securing cargo containers entering the United States. The test, which was conducted by DOT's Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) program, involved the use of electronic seals. These radio-frequency devices transmit shipment information and can indicate whether containers have been tampered with. The test involved auto parts shipped from Nagano, Japan, through Seattle to a Canadian assembly plant. Participating in the E-Seal project were both the U.S. and Canadian Customs Services, the Washington State Department of Transportation, the Washington State Trucking Association, the ports of Seattle and Tacoma, Westwood Shipping, Maersk-Sealand and APL. For additional information on this and other ITS technologies, visit www.its.dot.gov.

The world's busiest cargo airport is Memphis International Airport. According to the Memphis Regional Chamber of Commerce, aircargo shipments through the Western Tennessee airport are up nearly 45 percent this year compared to 2001 levels, which would put the airport in the top-ranked position where cargo is concerned for the 11th year in a row. Through April, domestic aircargo volume was up 58.4 percent, while international volume fell by nearly 10.0 percent. The chamber says much of the growth results from FedEx Express's contract with the U.S. Postal Service to transport 70 percent of Express Mail and a large percentage of Priority Mail packages. Memphis International Airport is the primary hub for FedEx.

While West Coast ports were engaged in tense labor negotiations, labor was being dealt a blow back on the East Coast. Employees at Evergreen America Corp.'s U.S. headquarters in Morristown, N.J., voted down an effort by the International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) to organize clerical workers there. According to Evergreen, this was the first vote resulting from the ILA's attempts to organize clerical workers at agencies and offices of ocean carriers that call at Atlantic and Gulf Coast ports. Thomas Chen, president of the North American agent for Taiwan-based Evergreen Line, acknowledged that employees had some concerns about relocation, job security and potential retaliation against union supporters, but he expressed confidence that those concerns could be addressed internally.

Together again: The members of the Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) have voted to re-affiliate with the American Trucking Associations (ATA). The group broke away from the ATA several years ago. Under the new agreement, TCA will remain an independent organization with its own staff. It will pay the ATA an annual advocacy fee of $100,000 and will have one voting seat on the ATA's executive committee. TCA retains the right to hire its own lobbyist when necessary. Both groups also will cooperate to increase each other's membership.

Obtaining news about changes in federal transportation regulations just got easier. The U.S. Department of Transportation has added a new feature to its electronic docket management system that automatically notifies users when a major government document has been posted. Users can select specific rulemakings or proceedings by the regulatory identification number, docket number or operating administration. Interested parties can register for the service by going to http://dms.dot.gov and selecting "List Serve."

Major ocean carriers serving the eastbound trans-Pacific market intend to increase rates beginning this month. Members of the Transpacific Stabilization Agreement (TSA), which represents 14 container shipping lines, will increase rates for inbound shipments from Asia by $380 for 45-foot containers, $340 for high-cube 40-foot containers, $300 for standard 40-foot containers, and $225 per 20-foot container. According to the TSA, inbound ships have been running at near capacity since March but rates remain significantly below 2001 levels. The group adds that member carriers expect to suffer combined losses of $1.2 billion this year unless rates go up. The rate increases come on top of fuel surcharges that were imposed by the TSA in July.

Aircargo rates could also be heading up. The National Industrial Transportation League (NITL) reports that the International Air Transport Association has adopted a proposal that would change the way international aircargo shipments are dimensionalized. The proposal calls for changing the volume-to-weight relationship from 166 cubic inches per paid pound to 138 cubic inches per paid pound. That would increase the density threshold for volumetric freight from 10.4 per cubic foot to 12.5 per cubic foot, raising overall rates by 16.7 percent, the league says. The rationale for the change: As shipment densities have dropped, airlines have received less revenue per flight. The proposal must win approval from the Department of Transportation in the United States and regulatory agencies in other nations. If approved, the change would take effect on Oct. 1.

In a measure of its growing stature in the financial community, United Parcel Service was added to the Standard & Poor 500 index last month. The parcel carrier was one of seven companies that replaced non-U.S. companies that were removed from the widely followed stock index. Membership, which requires companies to meet stringent inclusion criteria, is expected to increase demand for UPS stock as well as raise stock prices by approximately 7 percent, according to Greg Burns, vice president of research at J.P. Morgan Chase.

World War II Merchant Marine veterans will be eligible for full military funeral honors at Arlington National Cemetery as a result of a recent decision by the U.S. Army. During World War II, more than 6,000 merchant seamen and officers lost their lives through war-related causes. Members of the Merchant Marine and 36 other groups, called Active Duty Designees, served during the war in civilian or contractual service. In addition to the seafarers, they included such organizations as the Flying Tigers, Women's Air Force pilots, Women's Army Auxiliary Corps, defenders of Bataan and Wake Island, female civilians who served with the U.S. Army Nurse Corps at Bataan and Corregidor, and battlefield ambulance drivers. Until now, the designee groups, which are eligible for inurnment (but not burial) at the cemetery, could not receive military funeral honors.