Truckers ready new driver pay hikes as peak season looms

With freight tonnage increasing in July, and the fall peak shipping season looming, trucking companies are readying another round of truck driver pay increases.  Freight demand may not be as strong as a hear ago, but the need to secure drivers remains a key pressure point in discussions of truck capacity and truck pricing. (This article requires registration at the Journal of Commerce.  To access, please click on the above link.)

 

Retailers struggle to balance inventories as online sales grow

An empty shelf in a big box store may be a retail logistics manager’s worse nightmare, but it’s not the only one.  An empty warehouse rack or shelf may be just as bad, especially if that warehouse ships e-commerce orders.  (This article requires registration at the Journal of Commerce.  To access, please click on the above link.)

Widespread inventory ‘de-stocking’ softens US freight markets

An inventory correction or “de-stocking” is under way in the U.S., as manufacturers and retailers attempt to whittle down inventories of components and goods.  That corrections is cutting into freight volumes moving by rail and on highways this summer, as shippers pull from existing stocks before placing new orders, sources told JOC.com. (This article requires registration at the Journal of Commerce.  To access, please click on the above link.)

While No Cure-All, Possibility of Driverless Trucks Offers Hope for Truck Driver Crisis

Some of the world’s biggest corporations – Apple, Google, Daimler-Benz and countless others – are behind the fast-moving technology that is pushing driverless vehicles.

U.S.-bound shipments show typical growth pattern through first six months of 2015, reports Panjiva

United States-bound waterborne shipments had another strong month in June, according to data issued by Panjiva, an online search engine with detailed information on global suppliers and manufacturers.

ISM reports a slow growth month for manufacturing in July

Even with a slight decline from June, the July edition of the Institute for Supply Management’s (ISM) Manufacturing Report on Business still showed growth.

East Coast builds on West Coast’s problems

Some of the most pivotal developments in the U.S. container transportation, such ass the first double-stack train in 1984 and the launch of the first post-Panamax vessel four years later (both APL innovations), helped fuel the rise of West Coast ports as the primary U.S. container gateways. (This article requires registration at the Journal of Commerce.  To access, please click on the above link.)

West Coast ports head south to salvage relation with fruit exporters

The Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners and officials from the port are packing their bags and heading to Chile and three countries in Asia this month so shore up relations with key shipping lines and fruit exporters impacted by the recent 9-month-long labor dispute at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. (This article requires registration at the Journal of Commerce.  To access, please click on the above link.)

China slowdown poses risk for ocean carriers

LONDON – The slowdown in China’s economy poses risks for container shipping but they are “far smaller” than the impact on the dry bulk market, according to Drewry Maritime Research. (This article requires registration at the Journal of Commerce.  To access, please click on the above link.)

Senate DRIVE Act would keep some CSA scores from public view, OK hair testing

One might say the Senate was “driven” Thursday night, working over its allotted hours and passing the House’s $8 billion, three-month extension (HR 3236) and a measure of its own, H.R. 22, the DRIVE Act, which contained a provision to cut CSA percentile scores from public view.