All Entries

Monday, May 06, 2013

Having trust in your colleagues, or teammates, if you will, is crucial and makes for the stronger product, service, or brand. That was a key message from Lee Corson, ESPN College Football Game Day Host and Director of Business Development for Dixon Ticonderoga, a Florida based pencil manufacturing company, at last month’s National Shippers Strategic Council (NASSTRAC) Annual Conference in Orlando.

Friday, May 03, 2013

The Port of Los Angeles is gearing up to host the largest-ever global gathering of port authorities, convening in downtown Los Angeles next week for the International Association of Ports and Harbors’ (IAPH) 28th World Ports Conference.

The ISM’s monthly Non-Manufacturing Report on Business stated that the index used by the ISM to measure non-manufacturing growth—known as the NMI—was 53.1 in April, falling 1.3 percent from March. Despite the decline, though, non-manufacturing activity increased for the 40th consecutive month.

Following February’s announcement that it had achieved a positive annual operating income in 2012 for the first time in six years, the Overland Park, Kan.-based carrier said today it had a positive first quarter operating income—also for the first time in six years.

On the heels of a positive performance in March, the April edition of the Cass Freight Index from Cass Information Systems Inc. showed that the solid trends evidenced in March did not carry over into April.

April carloads—at 1,108,722—were down 4,640 carloads or 0.4 percent annually. Intermodal—at 962,019 trailers and containers—was up 15,053 units or 1.6 percent compared to April 2012.

Thursday, May 02, 2013

CEVA said that it will reduce its consolidated net debt by more than $1.7 billion ($1.3 billion euros) and its annual cash interest expense by more than $170 million ($130 million euros) and also receive a capital infusion of a minimum of $301 million ($230 million euros) for investment in its business plan.

Shippers may have been cheered by last month’s manufacturing report issued from the Institute for Supply Management, but other key indicators suggest caution.

The United States Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) said this week that trade using all forms of freight transportation between the United States and its North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) partners Canada and Mexico was down 1.0 percent in February 2013 compared to February 2012 at $88.4 billion.

In the first quarter edition of its Intermodal Market Trends & Statistics Report, the Intermodal Association of North America (IANA) said this week that total first quarter intermodal container and trailer movements—at 3,682,049 trailers and containers—were up 4.5 percent annually.