Bar-code standards groups want to lay down rules for so-called "smart" tags. The Uniform Code Council Inc., which assigns individual bar codes to products and companies in the United States, said it will set up a not-for-profit organization called AutoID Inc. to oversee Electronic Product Code (EPC) standards. The Auto-ID Center at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology pioneered the EPC, a trademarked system for marking goods and shipments with radio-frequency identification tags. To set up an EPC network, UCC said it would work with both the Auto-ID Center as well as EAN International, a group that assigns bar codes for international use. For more on this emerging technology, read "Get Smart" beginning on Page 65.

It's summer, so it must be time for another round of LTL rate hikes. Many national and regional less-than-truckload carriers, including FedEx Freight, Jevic Transportation, Saia, and Overnite Transportation, to name just a few, have announced their annual general rate increases. Most of the rate hikes average around 5.9 percent, but some run higher. For more details, turn to the "Bohman on Pricing" column on page 25.

Screen all cargo that flies in the belly of passenger planes. That's the position taken by two Congressmen, Reps. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Chris Shays (R-Conn.), who have attached an amendment to that effect to the appropriations bill for the Department of Homeland Security. The adoption of such a measure would put an end to the "known shipper" program, which provides a screening exemption for shippers that regularly do business with an airline. Markey contends that the known shipper program is "an excuse for allowing commercial cargo to be carried on passenger planes without physical screening."

Rail and road have put their differences aside and joined forces to maintain current truck sizes. The American Trucking Associations (ATA) and the Association of American Railroads (AAR) have reached an agreement to support current truck size and weight regulations during discussions on reauthorizing the Transportation Efficiency Act (TEA-21). The erstwhile opponents hope to curb impending legislation such as H.R. 2180, the Safe Highways and Infrastructure Prevention Act, which would reduce truck lengths and weights as well as ban long combination vehicles. The groups cited the need to focus on common legislative and policy goals that would benefit the entire U.S. freight network.

Exporters could soon face mandatory registration and training for filing Shippers Export Declarations (SEDs). Although data quality has improved since the Automated Export System (AES) filing system came online, the level of inaccuracy remains unacceptable, said C. Harvey Monk Jr., chief of the U.S. Census Bureau's Foreign Trade Division, at last month's American Association of Exporters and Importers annual conference. To solve that problem, Census is proposing that exporters and freight forwarders be required to undergo training and obtain a license to file SEDs. Expect to see a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking sometime this fall.

Make it simpler for small railroads to find buyers for branch lines, and fewer will be abandoned. That's the message from more than 60 short lines and regional railroads. The carriers have asked the Surface Transportation Board to consider new procedures to facilitate the sale of underused lines slated for abandonment. Under their proposal, a short line or regional railroad would no longer need to prove a line is not viable before it could put that branch up for sale. Instead, it could immediately offer a line for sale but would have to provide detailed commercial notices in local papers and transportation trade publications. Buyers also would have 90 days to make a purchase rather than the current 30 days.

Want to learn about the latest developments in the field of logistics management? Then consider attending the Council of Logistics Management's annual conference, to be held at Chicago's McCormick Place Sept. 21—24. The conference, which typically attracts logistics professionals from around the world, will offer 28 educational tracks this year. For more information, contact CLM, 2805 Butterfield Road, Suite 200, Oak Brook, Ill. 60523. Phone: (630) 574-0985, or visit the organization's Web site, www.clm1.org.

A new Web site makes it easier to get the latest on rates, services, and market trends in the U.S.-to-Asia container trade. The Westbound Transpacific Stabilization Agreement (WTSA), a discussion group of 13 ocean carriers, last month launched www.wtsacarriers.org. The site includes general information about the WTSA, links to the 13 member carriers' sites, information on non-binding changes to rates and ancillary charges, and instructions for calculating the quarterly-adjusted bunker fuel charge. Visitors to the site also can find archived press releases, fact sheets, speeches, and other policy-related materials.

The trucking industry has a new resource on homeland security, thanks to J.J. Keller & Associates, a provider of safety and regulatory-compliance products. In response to a request from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for help from the transportation industry, Keller created the online Homeland Security Information Center. The center will relay up-to-date information from the DHS and the TSA about threat levels, security issues, and reporting processes to users. Keller also will provide industry professionals with e-mail notifications of changes and information on how those changes could impact operations. To access that information, go to www.jjkeller.com/dhs.

Fireworks will brighten the skies on the 4th of July after all, now that the Feds appear to have scaled back restrictions on commercial transport of explosives. As described in last month's "Parting Shot" column, the railroads self-imposed an embargo on fireworks shipments because of concerns about a new security law. The wording of the Safe Explosives Act led rail carriers to fear that their employees would have to undergo background checks to move fireworks. But the Transportation Security Administration and the Federal Railroad Administration last month issued a notice stating that railroad employees would not be subject to that law because the U.S. Department of Transportation already regulates hazardous materials movements.

Follow the purchase order ... rather than the money, says Hans Hickler, chief executive officer of APL Logistics. Freight forwarders, carriers, and third-party logistics (3PL) companies typically cast their activities in terms of shipments, voyages, and flights, he notes. To improve their customer's supply chains, logistics service providers should instead follow the purchase order trail. "If you follow the p.o., then you are able to solve the customer's problems," Hickler says.

Technical standards for electronic container seals will be key to encouraging their use. So says a report from the Cargo Handling Cooperative Program (CHCP), a U.S. Maritime Administration partnership with private industry. The Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002 mandates the development of such standards but is unclear about who should be responsible for doing so. CHCP stepped up to the plate and tested several electronic seals, which use radio signals to alert users that a container has been tampered with. CHCP concluded that assigning a standard international transmission frequency would reduce costs for electronic seals and speed their adoption for container shipping.