News & Insights

Profits in a number of big shipping lines rose dramatically in the first quarter of 2015. A drop in the price of oil and the rising value of the U.S. dollar helped bolster profits, even though unit costs increased for some shipping lines. The influence of market forces outside shippers’ control suggests that high profits could be short-lived should economic conditions change. Two large lines reported massive swings in profits, and several countries said they saw increases in traffic. Maersk Line reported a record $714 million profit for first quarter 2015, an increase of nearly 60% from first quarter 2014, […]

May 29, 2015

The newest FreightWatch International EMEA Intelligence report is out, and the news isn’t good for the Netherlands and Germany. In the first quarter of 2015, the Netherlands had 31% of the cargo thefts in Europe, the Mideast and Africa, followed closely by Germany at 26%. The U.K. had the next greatest cargo theft risk, with 11% of thefts occurring there in the first quarter, followed by Italy (8%), Spain (7%), France (4%), Austria (4%), South Africa (4%), Russia (3%) and Poland (2%). There were a total of 284 cargo theft incidents recorded in the EMEA region between January and March […]

May 27, 2015

In honor of Memorial day, our offices will close at 3:00PM on Friday, May 22nd. We will remain closed on Monday, May 25th and will resume normal business hours on Tuesday, May 26th. We would like to take this time to remember the brave men and women that gave their lives while defending and maintaining our freedoms.

May 21, 2015

Force majeure is a term rarely used, often overlooked and almost never clearly understood by shippers until it is declared. Unfortunately, at that point it is too late to take appropriate steps to avoid additional expenses or mitigate risks. Please join us as our speaker, Jason Odgers, Vice President – Client Development of Roanoke Trade, discusses these important topics. This essential webinar has been approved for 1 CCS/CES Credit. The webinar will take place on Thursday, June 11th from 1:00PM to 2:00PM ET. Cost is $50 for members, $75 for non-members. This webinar will focus on: Force majeure – what it […]

May 20, 2015

After great anticipation, we are pleased to announce that the Census Bureau’s International Trade Management Division (ITMD) published the Final Rule on Friday, May 15, 2015. This new rule, which revises the Foreign Trade Regulations (FTR), Title 15, Part 30, finalizes the interim rule without change. The final ruling reinstates the previous filing exemptions in Sections 30.37(q) and (r) of the FTR for temporary exports, which includes ATA Carnets and goods that were imported under a Temporary Import Bond (TIB). Please note that these exemptions may only be used if filing is not specifically required per Section 30.2(a)(1)(iv) of the FTR. In March […]

May 18, 2015

Though the crisis on the West Coast has passed (to some degree), congestion at U.S. ports remains a pressing issue – one that is only going to get worse without a substantial improvement to port logistics and capacity. The Port of Virginia is an excellent case in point. Built to handle large volumes of cargo, the port was having trouble in late April processing a surge of containers from three large ships at dock, a report from The Wall Street Journal says. The overload resulted in a mile-long backup for truckers to enter the terminal and a 13-lane wide, 10-truck […]

May 15, 2015