Air: New Air Cargo Security Rules Effective December 1

The Transportation Security Administration's new air cargo security rules are set to go into effect on December 1, providing a few measures in the rules can be clarified in time.

Although the rules do not call for the mandatory physical screening of all air cargo carried on passenger aircraft, it does tighten up existing regulations. For starters, the TSA plans to consolidate the roughly 4,000 'Known Shipper' lists maintained by the private industry into a centralized government database. In addition, three hundred more air cargo inspectors will be added to the ranks at 102 airports around the U.S. And, freight forwarders will be required to conduct background checks on the approximately 51,000 employees who have access to air cargo.

Pete Cheviot, director of global security for freight forwarder BAX Global, stated in an interview that the new air cargo rules will not be too different from what many security-minded companies have already implemented.

Air: Improved Forecast for Air Cargo Carriers

The International Air Transport Association has upwardly revised its forecast for the airline industry due to stronger demand for air cargo and higher passenger load factors.

North American carriers are expected to return to operating profitability this year. European carriers are also expected to perform better, thanks to strong growth in premium traffic and double-digit growth in Asia-Europe trade lanes. Profits for Asian carriers, however, will weaken due to increased competition from low-cost carriers in the region.

Rail: Progress on Heartland Corridor Project

The Federal Highway Administration has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, and Norfolk Southern Corporation for $95 million in federal funding for the Heartland Corridor double-stack rail project.

Tunnel clearances will be raised and other modifications made in the three states to allow double-stack containers to move by rail from the ports in Hampton Roads, Virginia to destinations in the Midwest.

The public-private Heartland Corridor will reduce transit times by up to one day for intermodal traffic moving between Mid-Atlantic States and those in the Midwest.

Construction is expected to be completed by the end of 2009.

Rail: Intermodal Traffic Sets Record

The Association of American Railroads reports that for the week ending August 26, U.S. rail carriers originated 253,981 trailers and containers, beating the previous record of 250,966 units recorded during the week of July 31.

Volume was also up 7.1 percent over the same period in 2005, which suggests that this year's peak shipping season will likewise go down in history books as one of the busiest.

Trucking: Truckers File More than 10,000 e-Manifests

Customs and Border Protection's Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) handled more than 10,000 electronic freight manifests in August-a new high for the system.

The e-manifests will eventually become the standard method for clearing truck shipments along both the northern and southern U.S. borders.

In 2008, Customs and Border Protection will migrate ocean and rail filings to ACE from the older Automated Commercial System, while air manifests will move to ACE in 2009.

Technology: Market for SCM Software Growing

A new study by AMR Research finds that the supply chain management software market grew 3 percent last year to $5.6 billion. The expansion was boosted by globalization, leaner supply networks, increased customer expectations, more mass customization, and increased variability of demand.

SAP was the top vendor for SCM software in terms of revenue for the third consecutive year, while other top vendors included Oracle, i2 Technologies, Manhattan Associates, and Infor.

The fastest-growing delivery model for SCM software was Web-hosting, which allows a company to 'lease' or subscribe to the software and use it online, versus purchasing it outright.

According to AMR Research, revenues for SCM software vendors this year are forecasted to grow by 7 percent.

Ocean: World's Largest Box Ship Sets Sail

The 11,000-TEU Emma Maersk made its maiden voyage last month, leaving its home in Aarhus, Denmark for Singapore with several stops along the way.

Standing twelve stories high, the huge ship can carry 57 percent more cargo than Maersk's current fleet of large ships, which can handle 7,000 containers.

Maersk is hoping the new vessel will help boost market share. “The main benefit is that they can reduce the cost per container and it should allow them to grow faster than the market,” remarked one industry analyst, who said the company's market share fell to about 14.5 percent this year from 17.3 percent last year.

Maersk is expecting to get 95 percent utilization rates for the Emma Maersk, and plans to order 14 of the huge vessels.

The next largest container ship after the Emma Maersk is a vessel operated by China Shipping Group Company, which can handle 9,600 boxes.