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New Ships Will Pressure Rates: U.S. importers of European products can expect higher rates through 2005, but a surge in vessel capacity will give importers the upper hand in rate [...]

THE BOOMING Chinese economy is causing shipping costs to soar worldwide. John Rogers, forest products business development manager at Mersey Docks & Harbour Company, said the hire of vessels quadrupled [...]

PURCHASING MAGAZINE EXCLUSIVE Freight Rate Outlook Buyers look to increase spending next month (transportation buying trends, 30-day outlook, percent of buyers reporting) Same 50% Down 13% Up 37% Note: Table [...]

Freight rate increases came out from LTL carriers in June. FedEx Freight implemented a 5.9% general rate increase effective June 30 at the company's two operating units, FedEx Freight East [...]

DOE Diesel Price Index (cents per gallon) National Average -- 142.3 June 23, 2003 REGION 1 142.9 REGION 2 140.1 REGION 3 136.5 REGION 4 144.8 REGION 5 * 156.3 [...]

The UK CRT monitor market received a double blow last week after sea freight couriers unveiled pending price increases and LG-Philips Displays confirmed its fabrication plant in Wales was to […]

High diesel fuel costs are fraying relations between a group of trucking firms delivering goods into Mexico and the independent drivers they hire on contract. About 100 independent drivers staged [...]

A sharp rise in the Baltic Dry shipping rates index, driven by higher oil production, usually preceeds general economic upturns.

Truckers who long have felt underpaid for their work at the ports are establishing some new clout as shipping terminals try to clear a backlog of cargo that piled up [...]

Eight international shipping lines announced on October an increase in container freight rates of $200 per 20-foot equivalent unit (TEU) as part of the rate restoration programme for 2002. Member [...]

Importers who negotiated their container shipping contracts early this year when the economy was struggling and carriers were obsessed by fears of overcapacity got the best deals on freight rates [...]

OIL IMPORT FREIGHT COSTS (*) Cargo Freight size, (Spot rate) Source Discharge Cargo 1,000 bbl worldscale $/bbl Caribbean New York Dist. 200 172 0.89 Caribbean Houston Resid. 380 106 0.60 [...]

Watch out for new minimum charges Shippers of certain bulky articles may pay more to move these goods by truck soon. On Feb. 1, the Interstate Commerce Commission vacated its [...]

Starting next month, Kansas City manufacturers who rely on Asian suppliers will have to pay 30 percent to 40 percent more on freight rates to ensure shipments from the Far [...]

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Four senators, armed with a General Accounting Office (GAO) report on the legal process rail shippers must negotiate to gain relief from unreasonable shipping rates, are cooking [...]

NEW YORK -- While apparel importers say they are preparing to fight the second substantial hike in the last two years in the cost of shipping goods from Asia, they [...]

Transpacific carriers will push through with the planned increase of rates to $300 per FEU to counter falling rates since 1995. The decision, announced in Nov 1997, was confirmed in Jan 1998 by the presidents of conference and independent lines which make up the Transpacific Stabilization Agreement. Economic conditions in Asia, particularly the weakness of Asian currencies against the dollar, favor eastbound carriers. However, the situation is reversed for westbound carriers which are struggling to keep their business.

The high cost of logistics in South Korea continues to affect the country's economic condition. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) reveals that export-import companies, as well as product owners are forced to pay logistics costs of up to 18 different times. The country's logistics costs of 14.3% is higher compared with 7.7% in the United States and 8.8% in Japan. Experts agree that the high cost of South Korea's shipping and handling services negatively affects the country's widening current trade deficit and corporate global competitiveness.

Most chemical shipping routes seem to be on the rebound in terms of both demand and volumes. Activity has picked up in the Baltic, northwestern European, transatlantic, and US Gulf-Far East routes, but the intra-European and Europe-Far East routes have remained lackluster. Gas shipping routes continue to be busy, while LPG, propylene, ethylene and butadiene movements have slowed down. Demand for vinyl chloride monomer is robust in Asia but it is in short supply in the US Gulf. A recovery in shipping rates has yet to be seen because of increased competition.

The US shipping industry charges about 100% to 200% more than international vessels in transporting export products. The transit time also takes longer compared to that of foreign shippers due to unavailability of direct service or poor crane capacity by the US-flag carriers. Westinghouse Electric Corp. managed these defects via global transportation sourcing which enables them to do a 90-day round-trip transit time.

You believe your company has been overcharged on a freight bill. How much time do you have to contest that charge - 180 days or 18 months? Ever since the [...]

The apparel industry is enjoying a reduction in cargo shipping rates from the Far East to the West Coast. American President Lines broke with the rate-setting cartel, Asia North America Eastbound Rate Agreement, and offered lower rates. Eight other carriers followed their lead. In June 1996, the price has been cut by more than half from the May 1995 rate., WASHINGTON (FNS)--Rates for apparel and textiles shipped to the U.S. from the Far East have taken another substantial plunge, thanks to mounting competition among warring ocean carriers. 'We have better [...]

Freight managers are advised to examine the 'general rate increases' of 5-6% imposed annually by carriers. While some carriers increase rates for all lanes, some appear to have done so arbitrarily, imposing different rate increases in various lanes. Some seem to have implemented large hikes in well-traveled lanes, some in less viable lanes. Shippers should take a close look at their most common shipping lanes and compare the rates for these. A substantial cost impact may help justify a discount in these lanes to prevent shipping costs from rising further., Curtis Bok wrote in the 'Saturday Review' in 1954, 'Truth has a way of shifting under pressure.' I don't know why, but when I think of that saying, politicians immediately [...]

As you are well aware, class rates maintained by most LTL carriers vary according to class and weight, with separate LTL rates assigned for each of the following weight groups: [...]

One of the fastest-growing types of pricing concessions negotiated by shippers over the past few years has been the single-class FAK (Freight, All Kinds) rate. This type of pricing scheme [...]

They may not be for everybody, but new motor carrier pricing options - including simplified pricing schedules - are cropping up all the time. More and more motor common carriers [...]

Although several of my columns in recent years have focused on individually negotiated discounts with LTL motor common carriers and the levels to which they have risen, I've written little [...]

Members of the Asia North America Eastbound Rate Agreement (Anera) have opted to double their fuel-adjustment surcharge to account for rising fuel prices in the trans-Pacific region. This will increase Anera surcharges from $41.25-$82.50 per 40-foot container and $31-$62 per 20-foot container. Anera client Nike Inc. was not worried about the increase and cited production sources in Asia and worldwide distribution as factors that necessitate a trans-Pacific route.

Japanese container shipping companies are hoping to increase freight rates from Japan to Europe by $100 per 40-foot container and $50 per 20-foot container. However, manufacturers are resisting any rate increases in the face of a prolonged recession and the appreciation of the yen. A proposed rate increase in the Japan to US route has already failed, and analysts link any improvement in the carriers' situation to the resurgence of the Japanese economy.

COLORADO SPRINGS, CO - Pending the outcome of Current's protest of United Parcel Service's latest rate hike, Colorado shippers were still paying 1993 UPS rates for packages shipped within the [...]

Every LTL shipper is familiar with common-carrier tariffs--both agency and individual carrier tariffs--that publish classification descriptions, ratings, rules, and packaging requirements that have general application to all shippers. Occasions do [...]

Backhaul cargoes have become crucial to rates for paper and lumber shipments, as revenue-hungry truckers and ocean carriers jostle for market share for these forest products. Rates for softwood lumber, for example, have been slashed to $30 per ton from $36 by a group of containerized carriers to attract more forest products cargo. Although forest products are not prime sources of revenue for carriers, they are sought after by them when they know that they will have to return from their main runs with no cargoes.