GHY Tradelines

(Alex Lennane – The Loadstar)

Mid-sized forwarders are waiting for carriers or associations to propel them into e-freight as they remain uncertain about the benefits, The Loadstar has learned.

While the large multinationals are, for the most part, ready to send electronic documents, and many smaller forwarders, through the collaboration between WIN and Champ, now have a platform through which to enable e-cargo, there is some concern that medium-sized forwarders have yet to embrace an electronic future.

“Multinationals are taking care of themselves, and some of the mid-size ones are following that approach – but others are waiting,” said Felix Keck, managing director Champ Cargosystems, Germany. “Everyone who does something about e-freight does the right thing – but it is very, very slow.” Read more here.
 

(Cargonews Asia)

Japanese freight forwarders Yusen Logistics and “K” Line Logistics have agreed to pay a combined US$18.9 million in criminal fines for conspiring to fix fees, the US Justice Department said.

The two companies agreed to plead guilty to fixing fuel surcharges and various security fees on shipments from Japan to the United States, reported Reuters. Read more here.
 

(Handy Shipping Guide)

Heavy Lift and Break Bulk Cargoes Rarely Run Exactly to Plan

For many project freight forwarding companies the shipping of materials supporting the energy sector is ‘the new black’ as the saying goes. At a time when tonnages can be uncertain the heavy lift and break bulk cargoes have provided a more stable income for many logistics companies within departments that hitherto were often regarded as the icing on the financial cake rather than the daily breadwinners.

Tuscor Lloyds has actively pursued its interest in logistics projects for the Oil, Gas and Energy Industry of late and the policy is paying dividends illustrated by their latest specialist movement between Japan and Mexico when the request arrived to deal with the multimodal transport of parts needed to repair a transformer which had been damaged. The suppliers, the Mitsubishi power generation division in Kobe, Japan, readied the cargo as 63 packages weighing in at 45 tonnes and 125 m3 and Tuscor Lloyds divided the consignment into two phases. Read more here.
 

(Transport Intelligence – Thomas Cullen)

The case of the anti-cartel fines levied by the European Union (EU) on a string of freight forwarders is a useful insight for any shipper looking to understand how they are charged by forwarders and how forwarders manage their margins.

No less than four different processes were deemed anti-competitive by the EU Competition Commissioners according to a statement on Wednesday. The first ‘cartel’ was that relating to the British customs “new export system” introduced in 2003. Here, forwarders were found to have illegally agreed to establish a surcharge on customers for operating this customs reporting service and to fix its amount according to the size of the customer’s consignment.

The next issue was concerning the American “advanced manifest system”, which the forwarders agreed a common surcharge for the transmission of data to the U.S. customs and agreed amongst themselves not to use the charge as a “tool for competition”. Read more here.
 

(Canadian Underwriter.ca)

Freight forwarders and other transport intermediaries face increasingly significant liability risk, particularly in emerging markets, as they tackle additional supply chain services for their customers, warns international transport liability insurer TT Club.

Manufacturers, retailers and other users of transport and logistics services are expecting their suppliers to undertake new complex risks as they outsource more of their sub-assembly, inventory handling and distribution processes, TT Club notes in a press release.

“Those traditional freight forwarders who have in the recent past seen the opportunity to expand their service role by offering extended warehousing, packaging, delivery fulfillment and even purchasing functions for many shippers are not always fully aware of the liabilities for cargo loss and third-party damages that these additional tasks are opening them up to,” said Andrew Kemp, TT Club’s European regional director. Read more here.
 

(Handy Shipping Guide)

Shippers Should Join Discussion According to GACAG

Two new press releases today from the Global Air Cargo Advisory Group (GACAG), the body formed by the International Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations (FIATA), the International Air Transport Association (IATA), The International Air Cargo Association (TIACA) and the Global Shippers’ Forum (GSF) expounding the value of e-commerce and the need for continued development of cargo screening processes. The modernisation of documentary processes and better cargo security are the very raison d’être for GACAG.

At the heart of a long overdue process changes, the Group says, is the elimination of paper-based documentation. With participation from airlines, forwarders, ground handlers, customs and shippers, GACAG has initiated a review of the e-freight project launched by IATA in 2006, and will review other relevant initiatives, to identify the best possible roadmap to accelerate the implementation of a paperless transportation process. Two areas have been identified as priority for collaboration by GACAG members: the electronic air waybill (e-AWB) and the promotion of electronic Customs procedures. Read more here.

The Customs and Border Protection report of the recent meeting can be read here.
 

(World Trade Interactive)

The Department of Commerce announced Nov. 10 a new effort to help increase exports by U.S. small and medium-sized businesses. The Global Buyers Initiative will help identify experienced foreign buyers and help to connect them to U.S. suppliers. A pilot program will be launched in Canada, France and Korea this year followed by Australia, Colombia, Japan, Mexico, Panama and Singapore, with several additional markets targeted soon thereafter.

According to DOC press release, the GBI will be piloted by FedEx, which will seek out experienced importers in National Export Initiative-focused markets and sectors that have traditionally not sourced products or services primarily from U.S. businesses. Once a specific buyer with a specific need is identified, DOC will help connect the buyer with a U.S. supplier and let the overseas importer know what DOC resources are available to help them.

The press release notes that FedEx, along with UPS, the U.S. Postal Service and the National Association of Manufacturers, is already a partner in DOC’s New Market Exporter Initiative, which has identified more than 1,400 small and medium-sized U.S. companies that already export to one foreign country but are looking to expand into additional markets.
 

(Chris Dupen — American Shipper)

A recent Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision over an air cargo shipment “has evened the playing field for air freight forwarders when it comes to third party indemnity claims,” says Peter D. Clark, a partner at Clark, Atcheson & Reisert.

Clark has written a detailed article about the decision in Chubb Insurance Co. of Europe S.A. vs. Menlo Worldwide Forwarding Inc., which is posted on the Sea Law section of his law firm’s Web site.

He said the decision could have important implications across the United States and beyond the border of the United States. Read more here.