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Jeffrey Kessler would be tasked with ensuring compliance of U.S. trading partners with free trade agreements.

The Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday favorably reported the nomination of Jeffrey Kessler, setting up the full Senate to consider confirmation.

Vessel discharge of the Ever Summit, which struck a crane on Jan. 28, is expected to be completed by Thursday morning.

Drivers – not brokers – facing penalties of $5,000-$10,000 for violating new e-manifest filing requirements at the border.

Last-mlle delivery robots have a Goldilocks problem – they must be large enough to contain the computing power but compact enough to traverse the sidewalk.

The earnings were accompanied by a strong report from Cowen on the company’s outlook.

Supply chain investments are helping retailers meet the inventory challenges of a growing market, the National Retail Federation (NRF) reported today in its 2019 retail sales forecast.

The Port of Cork is developing a new state-of-the-art container terminal, which is expected to be open for business in 2020, 10 kilometers downstream, leaving the old Tivoli port area available for urban regeneration.

FreightWaves adds agricultural truckload prices and numerous warehousing and real estate data points to SONAR.

New vans to hit roads in New York, California.

Thick ice to cover parts of the Midwest tonight as next winter storm approaches. Major cities are in the path.

A look at what you can expect at this year’s Transparency event in Atlanta.

FreightWaves will live stream each of its Trucking Freight Futures road shows, allowing everyone who participates in the freight market to learn how they can offset their exposure to price swings.

Access to data has improved market transparency, and recent spikes in volatility make the case that transportation costs must be hedged and de-risked.

Foxconn Technology Group (OTC US: FXCNY) created more uncertainty for its suppliers on Friday when it announced that it’s recommitting to building a liquid crystal display monitor (LCD) factory in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin according to the Wall Street Journal.

Maryland is battling a Code Orange air quality alert this week, aggravated due to a weather phenomenon called inversion. Nonetheless, it is time for the state to think of ways to reduce carbon emissions on their streets to make sure such situations do not occur regularly.

Tesla’s acquisition Maxwell Technologies could have an impact on Maxwell’s fleet business, which counts more than 7,000 trucks using its products.

Moving cargo on the trade by rail and truck is becoming an increasingly feasible option.

House Transportation Committee Chairman Peter DeFazio highlighted the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund and gas tax as critical issues that must be addressed.

A new petition is seeking White House help to get two bills that would exempt most small trucking companies and owner-operators exempted from the ELD requirement reintroduced to Congress.

The port authority says the project proposed by Fraser Surrey Docks failed to show substantial progress on construction had been made by Nov. 30, one of 83 conditions.

Record-breaking year also showed strains in supply chains as busiest U.S. East Coast port.

The United States Postal Service is deploying seven all-electric step vans in California, powered by Motiv’s EPIC system, plus living life on the road and the Polar Vortex causes crude troubles.

The Class I railroad says it has seen an increase in efficiency and improvement in quality of customer service since implementing scheduled railroading.

Letter to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross calls for end to agreement suspending antidumping investigation.

Convoy is now matching 100 percent of loads automatically in major markets, effectively eliminating the need for any person to call or communicate between the shipper and carrier.

Recovery efforts following the Jan. 28 crane collapse have been slowed by high winds and the discovery of more extensive damage to the crane’s boom.

The containership’s 16 sister vessels also are technically prepared for retrofitting.

The Agriculture Department and Office of the U.S. Trade Representative will accept nominations for four-year terms until March 1.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection said all drawback claims will have to be filed electronically in the Automated Commercial Environment.

The Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA), an organization devoted to the North American 3PL industry, has appointed Matt Mantione as vice president of membership and Chris Burroughs and Will Sehestedt as vice presidents of government affairs. […]

(PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK) In Part One, we talked about the delusion of the industry, the sales job to the “inside the walls” personnel, and a little about apathy. The next step, […]

Australia’s busiest box port, the Port of Melbourne, broke the three million mark in handling twenty-foot-equivalent unit (TEU) shipping containers in the last calendar year. It is likely the first time that any port anywhere in Australia has handled three million TEU in any twelve month period whether that’s on a running month, financial year, or calendar year basis.

An industrial dispute between the local longshoremen’s union, the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA), and stevedoring company, Hutchison Ports, is intensifying. A one day strike is now taking place.

Our second look at women in the trucking industry.

Wind damage, tornadoes, record-breaking rainfall hit California the past few days. Unfortunately, one person died.

It’s a growth story at Western Australia’s main container port, Fremantle Ports (Freo), with just under 10 percent growth of international shipping container traffic in the last calendar year. Stevedoring at the port is also up for tender.

New building to support 1-hour deliveries into downtown area.

The railroads have delayed installing life-saving automatic braking technology for another two years, and the NTSB is running out of patience.

Swiss foundation owning 46 percent of Panalpina does not support offer from Denmark’s DSV.

Saudi energy minister Khalid al-Falih announced on January 26 that the country is raising $426 billion in private sector investments, which will include roughly $36 billion for logistics infrastructure according to Reuters.

Ruckit specializes in trucking management software for the heavy construction and materials marketplace and brings transparency by networking the TMS systems of the stakeholders involved in a hauling process.

Not a gangbusters quarter for Saia or Schneider. But the numbers were strong for both and Merrill Lynch thinks the Schneider stock is undervalued.

With the growing complexity of supply chains, the technology advantage that managed transportation providers can provide becomes a key value-add for many shippers.

Whiteout conditions, several more feet of snow for the Sierras early this week. This is on top of several feet from the weekend.

The Grain Transport Report, a weekly publication by the Agricultural Marketing Service (a division of the U.S. Department of Agriculture) released information showing that total export inspections for grain (corn, wheat and soybeans) declined 22 percent from the previous week.

Workhound bridges the gap between fleets and drivers by actually listening to what drivers want and translating that into real-time actionable insights for fleets to help them reduce turnover.

Ryder System, Inc. (R: NYSE) presented its Service Excellence Awards to top-performing carriers at its ninth annual Mexican Carrier Recognition Event in Mexico City on January 17. The event – reported in a press release by Ryder on January 29 – recognized 20 Mexican carriers for their excellence in service in Ryder’s international supply chain.

Drones seen as a source of global good (and money)

Shipping line’s executive vice president of trade says U.S. trucking and rising ship fuel expenses are other concerns.

The investments could facilitate new trade lanes despite looming economic uncertainty.

A Hapag-Lloyd ship that caught fire early in January is now moored off Freeport, Bahamas.

Uncertainty over whether refineries are doing enough to plan for marine fuel switch pushes up premium for low-sulfur product.

CBP is slated to publish Tuesday a ruling that found the U.S. to be the country of origin of certain Ethernet devices for purposes of U.S. government procurement.

Small, yet powerful satellites can now be deployed for just a fraction of the cost of more traditional satellites, potentially changing the way logistics companies access location and other data for assets.

Volumes tapered off in the fourth quarter, growing 4.2 percent year-over-year.

Ashley Coker (PHOTO: YELL COUNTY OFFICE OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT) A professional truck driver attempted to cross a wooden bridge in rural Arkansas despite posted weight limit signs last week. Both […]

Despite labor issues in Mexico and trucking capacity tightness in the Laredo market, 72 million pounds of avocados entered the U.S. by the second week of January.

Electric vehicle makers can learn from some of the lessons that natural gas developers faced when introducing that fuel source to trucking.

The two Super Bowl teams and their fanbases are very different, just like their freight market identities.

Phil Connors, played by Bill Murray, is stuck in the same day, played out over and over again, in the film Groundhog Day. He repeats each day until he gets it right. In the real world, we don’t get the chance at a “do-over,” but delivery operations present an opportunity to do very nearly that.

Also in this report: a rebound in the market helped by OPEC production cuts; ExxonMobil grows big on the U.S. Gulf Coast.

Upheaval caused by the U.S.-China trade war has some freight interests uneasy about giving Trump more tariff power.

Five-year high in growth seen last year thanks to tariff front-loading and tight truck supply, but shippers likely to put brakes on growth this year.

New orders bounce significantly, raw materials prices fall.

The macroeconomy is slowing down to trend-line growth, but drivers of freight movement look worse.

Several feet of snow, lots of wind expected in Sierras of California this weekend. Coastal downpours, flooding possible.

A peer-to-peer delivery startup underscores what everyone knows but doesn’t always point out about the origin of sharing economy businesses – they draw on century-old practices common in developing countries.

Regulators at the European Union are to fast-track an amendment that will allow trucks operating within the EU to be more aerodynimaclly designed., but the rules must pass through the European Parliament first.

The U.S economy added over 300,000 jobs in January, marking the best monthly performance in nearly a year. Transportation and logistics employment continued to increase at an impressive pace, led by healthy gains in warehousing, parcel and trucking jobs.

Bitter cold outbreak in Midwest may have killed at least 12 people, including FedEx worker, college student, homeless man. Autopsies, investigations continue.

It was only one trade and the comparisons to diesel prices are less than perfect. But there now is an actual transaction that reflects a value for now of what fuel might do under IMO2020.

The monthly economic roundup is a summary of recent event in the economy and a guide for key trends worth monitoring over the next month.

JUSDA, a supply chain platform that spun off Foxconn Technology Group, has raised $356 million in its Series A round.

The Hershey Company, one of the largest chocolate manufacturers in the world, is promoting environmental sustainability in its cocoa supply chain.

The Commercial Vehicle Training Association is pushing for more states to adopt third-party testing to shorten wait times for those seeking to schedule CDL tests.

As another bilateral round of talks concluded this week, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said U.S. and Chinese officials extensively discussed enforcement.

New container service provides Florida greater and cheaper access to Asia’s exporters; start-up aims to reduce per-diem fees on containers.

Korea Development Bank is taking steps to merge Daewoo Shipbuilding and Hyundai Heavy Industries, but says Samsung may bid.

Containerships remain the top vessel, but the canal has seen an increase in LPG and LNG carriers since the expansion opened in June 2016.

Plus: The Trans-Adriatic pipeline, Intel’s new CEO and holiday returns defy expectations.

U.S. Customs officers at Nogales border crossing find 254 pounds of the drug hidden in a truckload of cucumbers.

Oakland, Calif.-based cosmetics firm ELF used two Chinese suppliers that violated the U.S. government’s North Korean sanctions.

Ashley Coker (PHOTO: JOHN WESTON, CHALLENGER MOTOR FREIGHT, 2017 WINNER OF HIGHWAY ANGEL OF THE YEAR, AND NASHVILLE RECORDING ARTIST LINDSAY LAWLER, THE OFFICIAL SPOKESPERSON OF THE HIGHWAY ANGEL PROGRAM) […]

Overall cargo volumes on Australia’s air routes have increased, according to the latest data from the federal government’s Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics.

Australia is experiencing growth in volumes of inbound international air cargo, new official figures show. Freight volumes from overseas airports to airports in Australia grew by 7.3% in the year ended November 2018.

Shipping, orders continue to skyrocket.

ELD’s were supposed to make headway into reducing crashes, but that may not be the case so far, according to academic research from supply chain experts.

Company expects double-digit operating profits this year for all three units.

Women make up 7% of the drivers on the road and 23% of management.

Tuesday’s votes in the British Parliment left the transport trade and industry in general in limbo with politicians again failing to make a definitive decision on which direction the country would go.

The financial tech and freight tech sectors both have a huge addressable market, and both have been traditionally resistant to change. Will the disruption continue, and what should we expect after similar patterns of explosive growth?

Crash scenes have dotted landscapes in parts of Northeast this week. Snow, wind, extreme cold all factors.

Class 1 railroad warns of slowdown in shipments through major intermodal hubs as tracks crack under severe cold.

Debt levels are down and EBITDA coverage for that debt is up as the LTL carrier has a strong year and quarter.

Schneider National (NYSE: SNDR) reported strong earnings again in the fourth quarter, beating analysts’ earnings per share (EPS) estimates of $0.46. The transportation giant posted adjusted diluted EPS of $0.49, up from 2017’s fourth quarter result of $0.33.

Freight volumes recover as January closes. The artic air freezes the Midwest as the Chicago market heats up.

In partnership with Reliance Partners …When incurring demurrage and detention charges, shippers and carriers lose out on hundreds of dollars per diem. Optimizing drayage operations and dispatching cargo as quickly as possible could help in reducing the burden, especially during unanticipated port delays.