Air
St. Louis Adds International Air Hub

The MidAmerica airport in St. Louis is positioning itself as an international air hub following the signing of a contract with a global freight handling company.

The new tenant will lease 26,000 square feet of space at the airport with plans to develop it for warehousing and international cargo transfers.

In the meantime, the airport is in the process of constructing a new $300,000 building to serve as offices for U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The building is scheduled to open in December.

Rail
Progress on Heartland Corridor Rail Project

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

The Heartland Corridor will enable double-stack containers to be transported by rail between the ports of Hampton Roads, Virginia and locations in the Midwest by raising tunnel clearances and modifying other overhead obstructions in western Virginia, West Virginia, and through to Columbus, Ohio.

The public-private corridor is expected to reduce transit times by up to one day for intermodal traffic moving between the mid-Atlantic region and the Midwest.

Construction will likely be completed at the end of 2009.

Trucking
Driver Turnover Rate Slowing

The American Trucking Associations (ATA), the national trade association for the trucking industry, says the driver turnover rate among truckload carriers during the second quarter declined, but that the job market for professional drivers remains tight.

Chief economist of the ATA, Bob Costello, remarked however, “Despite reduced rates among both groups, driver turnover remains relatively high by 1990 standards. This is a clear signal that the driver shortage has become more acute in recent years.”

The long-haul, heavy-duty truck transportation industry is experiencing a national shortage of 20,000 drivers, and this shortage is expected to increase to 111,000 by 2014 if current demographic trends stay their course and if the overall labor force continues to grow at a slower pace.

e-Manifests Operational at NY Ports

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has announced that the electronic manifest system for trucks is now in full operation at all border crossings in the state of New York.

To date, 49 ports along the U.S. northern and southern borders can now receive and process e-manifests, while 75 more ports will come online by the end of May 2007.

CBP intends to make the truck e-manifest system mandatory at all ports. The e-manifest is one of the first operational features of CBP's new data system, the Automated Commercial Environment.

Ocean
'Virtual Container Yard' for NY-NJ

The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey will become the first East Coast port to implement a 'virtual container yard' that will allow truckers to locate empty cargo containers near their point of origin.

Using a system similar to that in use at Los Angeles-Long Beach, the container clearinghouse will allow truckers to locate an empty container close to the site where they have an export pickup, rather than make an unnecessary trip to a port terminal where empties are typically stored. The system also alleviates the need for truckers to return an empty container to the port.

The Port of New York and New Jersey will be the first East Coast port to launch the system when it goes online in spring of 2007.

Transpacific Rates Likely to Rise

The eleven ocean carrier members of the Transpacific Stabilization Agreement (TSA) are looking to hike rates for the 2007-08 season.

In particular, carriers are seeking increases of $300 per forty-foot container for cargo moving to West Coast ports; $650 per FEU for inland point and mini-land bridge intermodal shipments; and $500 per FEU for cargo moving via all-water via the Panama or Suez Canals to East Coast and Gulf Coast destinations. In addition, the TSA will impose a $400 per FEU peak season surcharge for the period of June 15 through October 15, 2007.

According to the TSA, the rate hikes are necessary to offset higher costs associated with rising import volumes and a widening cargo and equipment imbalance.

Members of the TSA include APL, Evergreen, COSCO, Hanjin, Hapag-Lloyd, Hyundai Merchant Marine, K-Line, MOL, NYK, OOCL, and Yang Ming.

Trade Finance
Trade Credit Insurance Beneficial to SMEs

Utilizing a trade credit insurance program to protect accounts receivable can provide a number of benefits to manufacturing firms selling their products both domestically and internationally.

Small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) typically share three major challenges, according to a senior executive from Euler Hermes. They include access to capital, profit margins that are being squeezed by higher energy costs, and business consolidation reducing the number of buyers.