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Deregulation has increased competition not only in pricing but services. Freight forwarders have strived to tailor services to the needs of shippers. Shippers like convenience of one stop service and don't waste time shopping around. Many small parcel services have sprung up to meet more the specialized needs of other shippers.

ALTHOUGH the days are long past when railroads were synonymous with intercity passenger travel, the locomotive still plays an essential role in the U.S. economy. Railroads remain easily the largest […]

City official says passengers benefit from fewer cab controls If Alfred LaGasse knows what he's talking about, Indianapolis' experiment with taxicab deregulation should be over soon. 'Generally, within five years, [...]

Japan's Transportation Ministry Ports Director Mikiya Chishiro reports that deregulation of the country's ports remains on course despite opposition from other officials. Chishiro maintains that deregulation efforts are still being pushed to prevent ports from losing business to Asian rivals due to costs.

Shipping executives met at the International Week of Transport and Logistics in Paris in Mar. 1997 to discuss issues affecting transportation deregulation. Merchant Marine Academy transportation center program manager Gerhardt Muller, for instance, says that policymakers can learn from the US deregulation experience while National Industrial Transportation League Pres. Edward Emmett says that policy debates should focus on the needs of customers rather than carriers., Lower prices for shippers? Easier carrier-shipper partnerships? Fewer jobs for transport employees? Fewer restrictions? An international panel of American and European experts debated these topics. Paris As a U.S. Senate [...]

Canadian National Railways Co. and CP Rail are trying to block Western Canadian farmers' efforts to purchase a fleet of 13,000 hopper cars. The railroads contend that they can operate the wagons more efficiently and that shipping is usually conducted by grain companies and not farmers. Meanwhile, the Canadian Dept. of Transport, as part of its deregulation program, has ruled that farmers' bids for the hopper cars would be accepted.

Korean transportation and storage policies need to be re-evaluated and tangible measures to be undertaken to reduce overall expenditures which in 1994 amounted to 48 trillion won or 15.7% of GDP. The government targets a 1% annual decrease of transportation and storage expenditures starting in 1996. Expansion of seaport facilities, the construction of new expressways and large complexes and the establishment of an information network are among the government's plans. The need to deregulate truck operation and port and sea transportation was likewise cited.

The Republican legislature in Washington D.C. expects that it will be successful at reducing the growth of the federal government by eliminating unfunded mandates, programs which force local government to pay for them once the federal funds run out. Congress is expected to be forced to either approve a certain measure and supply it with specific funding for it, or the program will not pass the House. Many of the unfunded mandates which are in operation include numerous environmental actions and business regulation, for which no price tag is suggested., Among all weapons the Republican right is aiming at big government, unfunded mandates reform fired first. A backwater issue for years, mandate reform offers a way to nip future growth [...]

US and Canadian transport officials are considering the resumption of derailed negotations for a liberalized air transport agreement. US Transporation Sec. Federico Pena and Canadian Transport Minister Douglas Young reviewed the status of the long-dormant talks and have appointed American Steven Kaplan and Canadian Geoffrey Elliot as their personal representatives in studying the possibility of renewing negotations.

The increasing deregulation of the transportation sector promises to boost economic growth. For instance, legislation deregulating intrastate trucking is being heralded to save businesses as much as $6 billion to $8 billion per year. Also, the Trucking Industry Regulatory Reform Act, which calls for the removal of the filed rate doctrine and other federal government economic regulation of the trucking industry, is estimated to result in annual savings of $12 billion to carriers, shippers and consumers.

The world has been watching New Zealand's experiments in aviation deregulation that are part of its decade-old competition policy. Reforms include a commercialized air traffic control system, commercialized airports and a privatized flag carrier.

A private sector commission created by the Canadian federal government to study the effects of the National Transportation Act of 1987 came out with several recommendations calling for further deregulation of the transportation sector. Among the measures it suggested included the abolition of the ocean shipping conference system, privatizing Canadian National Railways and easing Canadian airlines' foreign ownership restrictions. Many of the proposals exceeded the expectations of industry.

Pro-deregulation Texas Republican chooses leadership of nation's largest shipper group over possible second term. You'd be hard-pressed to find a shipper critical of the selection of Interstate Commerce Commission Vice [...]

Transportation labor unions have expressed support for the candidacy of Bill Clinton believing that his administration will usher in re-regulation. Although Clinton has revealed little about his transportation policies, union leaders are optimistic he will be more responsive to their interests compared to the Republicans, under whose leadership deregulation became widespread. Clinton's campaign officials were quick to assure unions about the high priority the candidate gives to their cause.

Commission Proposals Seek EC Cabotage The European Commission has set ambitious targets in its third package of deregulation proposals, announced in July. It is looking for cabotage within the European [...]

2 Barriers to U.S. Trade Editor's Note: The Tennessee Eastman plant at Kingsport, Tenn. is considered perhaps the largest single source of liner cargo in the Southeast. When the Appalachian [...]

DOT SECRETARY URGES ACTION Shipper and carrier groups are calling for uniformity in state transportation taxes and regulations. Representatives of both the shipping community and commercial motor carriers are saying [...]

When Samuel K. Skinner commented on U.S. transportation a year ago he was new to Washington. After a turbulent year, he urges U.S. shippers and carriers to act in order [...]