Business

Although sanctions against En+, Rusal and ESB were lifted Jan. 19, it took Treasury until Sunday to declare the action official.

Despite the temporary end to the government shutdown announced late Friday, the U.S. Census Bureau failed today to release its report on manufacturers’ durable goods shipments, inventories, and orders for the month of December 2018.

A former NTSB executive tells FreightWaves that “perishable information” critical to freight accident investigations is at risk of disappearing.

As a slew of regulatory and tech changes hit the trucking and freight industries, the businesses that succeed will be the ones that are open to innovation — and surveillance.

The still-high operating ratio came in for criticism while management says it will reveal all on February 11.

Bringg is a delivery logistics startup that integrates with logistics players and also with brands, bringing them together on an open platform where they can leverage the network and serve their customers optimally.

As of December 16, 2019, anyone running an AOBRD must switch to an ELD. There are steps that can be taken now to ensure the changeover will be painless.

A.N. Deringer, Inc., a leading international logistics provider and customs broker, has joined the Blockchain in Transport Alliance (BiTA).

Plus: More on the tech-lash, shippers, beware of millennials, an autonomous division bites the dust.

Is 60 degrees hot or cold? Is the freight market hot or cold? The answers to both questions depend on perspective.

The Reciprocal Trade Act would allow the U.S. to increase tariffs based on higher tariffs in other countries.

The Coalition for a Prosperous America pushed for a look at taxing corporate profits based on the location of sales.

Numerous flights in and out of New York’s LaGuardia Friday morning were canceled or rerouted due to a shortage of federal air traffic control and safety personnel.

OFAC adds Qeshm Fars Air to its list of sanctioned entities for its role in transporting weapons to support Iran’s military operations in Syria.

The numbers that have come out so far are showing few signs that there had been a significant fourth quarter slowdown.

Company looks to link states on peer-to-peer platform.

Port’s growing base of automotive and other shippers needs better way to move freight as traffic woes mean Charleston is ‘not as quaint.‘

The biggest hurdle to making an infrastructure plan work is figuring out how to pay for it. A Washington D.C. think tank says Congress is ready to consider mileage-based user fees.

The company moved up its operating ratio targets on the back of a strong performance in the early days of precision railroading.

One-quarter of carrier respondents to a new survey believe that driver pay will need to approach $100,000 a year before it makes a dent in driver turnover.

SupplyOn, an IT service provider that specializes in intelligent supply chain management solutions for discrete manufacturing in automotive, aerospace, rail, and engineering, has joined the Blockchain in Transport Alliance.

Nova Dynamics is testing DAX the robot in the tiny town of Philomath, population 4,760.

Financial transactions within the U.S. maritime sector – including vessel loans and project eligibility – are on hold waiting for an end to the government shutdown.

Wheels, a relatively new entrant to the electric scooter-sharing ecosystem has raised an investment of $37 million, which further reinforces the explosive interest shown by investors towards this segment.

Lower WTI prices mean slower pipeline construction and more pressure on crude-by-truck.

Chinese ecommerce behemoth JD.com is turning delivery schedules up a notch by introducing delivery drones in Indonesia and completing its first “government approved” drone delivery earlier this month.

Trade analysts shared their perspectives on how the Trump administration might deal with South Korea as the U.S. weighs whether to impose auto tariffs.

A KPMG webinar described how importers should file post-summary corrections and/or protests to claim refunds under the Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act.

Executive Director Mario Cordero says even after a record 2018 the port is hopeful for additional volumes.

It was a great quarter for the railroad with revenue growth in all its product lines and increases in both operating and net income.

Covenant Transport (NASDAQ: CVTI) reported record revenue in the fourth quarter, beating analyst projections by $10.72 million. The company announced $272.3 million in total revenue, a 33.9% increase compared to the fourth quarter of 2017.

Port truck operators could potentially increase their wages by using a new service from NEXT that helps them run shorter runs and return to ports with empty containers. The company just secured $97 million in funding to help it expand.

Sponsored by Redwood LogisticsWhile Redwood has moved freight in and out of the Southeast for quite some time, this acquisition provides the company with strong operational presence in the region. This geographical expansion is a key component of Redwood’s overall acquisition strategy.

David Rowan, founder and editor-at-large for Wired UK, will deliver a keynote address on Day Two of the upcoming Transparency19 conference.

U.S. exporters may be tempted to prematurely re-engage with three Russian industrial giants reportedly relieved from Treasury sanctions before knowing all the facts.

Australia’s Heavy Vehicle National Law has been heavily criticised for being too bureaucratic, prescriptive and generally difficult to work with. A major review has been announced.

Heartland continues its strategy of being willing to walk away from revenue if it isn’t profitable and it is showing in the company’s operating ratio.

Demand for trained workers is growing, but few educators know how to teach the fundamentals of logistics as it is practiced today.

For-hire truck tonnage posted its best yearly growth since 1998, but a decline in ATA’s Index at the end of the year indicated some softening.

FMCSA Administrator Raymond Martinez wanted to “fast track” the HOS rules changes – but the government shutdown is in the way.

Blockchain based supply chain startup Citizens Reserve has partnered with IoT platform Smartrac to assign physical items a digital identity that can be carefully and accurately traced along the supply chain.

The combined brokerage expects to do $200 million in revenue this year.

Top supply chain trends and Rhode Island collects more in toll revenue than it expected, plus the growing scooter logistics sector and more container checks.

Bridgestone Europe is acquiring TomTom Telematics for €910 million, a definitive step towards bolstering its presence in the “mobility solutions” segment. This acquisition would provide Bridgestone the leverage to up-sell and cross-sell solutions to a broader customer base.

Commenters recently submitted their requests for provisions in a potential U.S.-United Kingdom free trade agreement.

A company that’s been doing it, a company that says it’s going to be doing it and a company that is being affected by others doing it: that was the theme on three calls about precision railroading.

Customs and Border Protection planned to start enforcing the in-bond changes on Feb. 6, but said the ongoing federal government shutdown forced its delay.

The sun is setting on the Australian shipping register as ship operators abandon the local coastal trading regime. Ship operators are fleeing the flag following the 2012 reforms.

Regulators say a database designed to standardize and simplify training certification for new drivers will be ready on time next year.

By joining BiTA, Daseke will be at the forefront of shaping the development and deployment of blockchain technology in trucking and logistics.

Lattice materials can be used to manufacture stronger yet lighter objects through the technique of additive manufacturing. A good place to start would be the automobile industry, which could do well with reducing its dead weight for improved fuel efficiency.

VAYAVISION’s new software is an autonomous vehicle environmental perception engine that fuses raw sensor data together with AI tools  to create an accurate 3D environmental model of the area around the self-driving vehicle.

Analysis shows that the ongoing shutdown is impacting trade functions across the federal government.

U.S. exporters wait for official announcement from OFAC for guidance on how to proceed.

The European Commission submitted its proposal to the United Nations on Friday.

The enthusiasm was infectious. While most companies are in the exploratory phase of blockchain, we’re starting to see more and more people taking action on blockchain.

U.S. Xpress Enterprises is selling its interest in its Mexican cross-border operation, but the company is not abandoning the Mexican market, says its CEO.

Industrial production rose at a solid pace to round out 2018, helped by a jump in manufacturing activity during the month. The gain in output in December rounded out the strongest year for the industrial sector since 2010, and eased fears after a string of negative releases from manufacturing.

Just a few months after its CEO expressed some skepticism about the practice, the NAFTA-focused rail company will adopt its principles.

December was a month of growing uncertainty and severe declines in the U.S. financial markets. The only thing that seems to be growing is the level of ambiguity in everyone’s outlook. 

In partnership with Slync… There are numerous reasons to be worried about the health of global trade and the goods economy, even though, in our view, a full-on macro-economic recession in the United States is still unlikely.

The connected Smart Cities of the future require smart solutions that go beyond just autonomous vehicles.

Though cobalt is an integral part of our lithium-ion batteries, the extraction of the trace element is a huge cause for concern. Blockchain could provide respite by bringing accountability and transparency into cobalt supply chains.

Various duty refund programs remain on hold as numerous CBP employees are on furlough during the federal government shutdown.

Surprise fees for practice that reduces congestion at ports and improves driver turns amounts to ‘dirty pool’ on part of the steamship lines.

Agriculture is excluded from the draft mandates on industrial goods tariffs and conformity assessment.

SpaceX’s lease on a 19-acre site at the port will end in February, while Cal Cartage will close its warehouse on an 85-acre site in July.

Under the proposed Telecommunications Denial Order Enforcement Act, Chinese telecoms that violate U.S. sanctions would face “the same severe punishment” as ZTE.

Plus: Skewering Theresa May, B.C. rail investigations, California clean air program assessment

It’s a long road from the wellhead down to the fuel going into a truck. Who makes money along the way?

The advent of modern communications technology such as, obviously, the mobile phone, has created a new, yet poorly understood and under-researched, form of driver distraction. Australian road authorities are calling for research and are updating their road rules.

Intermodal is about half the business. It saw its volumes decline but overall grew its revenue.

A growing number of factories, warehouses, and construction sites are integrating unpowered exoskeleton devices into their operations. Workers and companies using these devices are expected to benefit from increased safety and productivity.

“I thought: I can  book a flight online, a hotel online. Why can’t I book a shipment online?”

The company’s stock took it on the chin for much of 2018 but the company said it had a strong fourth quarter.

Chicago to Atlanta is holding up around $2/mile net of fuel, while lanes like Los Angeles to Dallas have crashed 40% off their November high.

Analyst Bruce Chan at Stifel praises the reorganization at the company that suffered an accounting scandal and sees the base being laid for future growth.

FreightWaves joined in on the third annual Alexa Conference with its estimated 600 attendees from more than 12 countries. What’s coming in voice technology for transportation in 2019 and beyond?

Gig economy companies contend with Supreme Court ruling that mandates full time workers to be considered as employees and not contractors; oil supply reduces after Saudi Arabia’s drastic production cut; government shutdown strains supply chains across the country.

The Senate Finance chair suggested the government shutdown could delay congressional consideration of USMCA as well as the start of trade talks with Japan and the EU.

The barge would move containers between the Wando Welch and Hugh K. Leatherman terminals.

The port handled a record amount of container volumes in 2018, but the outlook for the coming year is uncertain, according to the port’s maritime director.

Facility has been frequent target of labor action and drew attention of local politicians, who tried to evict third-party logistics firm.

Airbus (AIR: EURONEXT) broke ground for its new A220 manufacturing facility in Mobile, Alabama on Wednesday. The newest airliner in Airbus’ product line, the A220 is designed to revolutionize the market for 100-150 seat aircraft.

The operating ratio—strong enough in the third quarter that it can be argued it was earth-shaking—weakened slightly but was still ahead of the fourth quarter of 2017.

Simpson talks about legacy transportation companies adapting to change.

Vector is digitizing the trucking sector by extracting information that is offline and moving it online.

Walking the show floor at the Detroit Auto Show is an experience that transforms you from the here and now to visions of the future.

Autobon AI is building an aftermarket autonomous vehicle system that would allow any commercial truck to be turned into an autonomous truck.

The MOBi-ONE is large enough to move washers and dryers, and do so autonomously through the air, perhaps redefining last-mile drone delivery before it even gets started.

Australia is carrying out a series of large scale studies into its domestic supply chain; one study currently underway is into the nation’s freight data requirements. (Photo: Shutterstock).

Truck drivers hauling in the state of New York will not see ELD enforcement until state regulators finish getting the rule on the books.

John Veroneau says the passage of the trade agreement is very much an open question this Congress as several variables are in play.

The United States is in the midst of a building boom for industrial space as the logistics market struggles to accommodate surging e-commerce demand.

Manufacturing supply chains must deal with counterfeit parts. One company is hoping that its blockchain-based tracking solution can help solve that while also providing transparency in the freight supply chain.

New Prime v. Oliveira tests use of arbitration in disputes in effort to avoid more costly and lengthier court hearings.

Data on producer prices shows that overall inflation pressure calmed further in December, weighed down again by declines in energy prices. Industry detail showed that trucking rates continued to surge, however, driven by another large gain in long-distance trucking rates.

The TCA Profitability Program, or TPP, is an exclusive performance benchmarking initiative. The program’s aim is to help member carriers improve performance and profitability.

The market for lumber slowed considerably in the second half of 2018 as the Chinese economy lost momentum and trade disputes with the U.S. persisted.

Toyota’s Concept-i Ride vehicle is designed to help people navigate life, especially those that may have mobility issues.