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One of the key factors underlying the success of the fastest growing economies is integration into the world economy through international trade. Many countries remain isolated and international trade makes […]

Facing increasing demand for its inks and coatings combined with raw material shortages and higher transportation costs, Sun Chemical increased prices across a broad portfolio of its packaging and commercial [...]

Shipping firms are facing challenges in deciding whether to prefer service contracts or spot market pricing for their services. Challenging global economic conditions have made shippers reluctant to commit on long-term contracts. The inability to accurately forecast volume is also believed to be a factor in the shippers' reluctance to commit to long-term contracts.

Shippers Forum annual meet held in Amsterdam recently has discussed the various options for increasing customer services in shipping industry. The meet also discussed several price decreasing strategies.

Increasing global shipping tariffs and their effects on shipping industry is discussed.

Suppliers' concern over payment of chargebacks for their alleged failure to comply with shipment requirements on routing of products is discussed.

Shipping fees considerably influence order incidence rates and significantly affect average expenditures. Customer acquisition is more sensitive to order size incentives and retention is influenced by base shipment fees.

Rail shippers 'captive' bound to a single carrier are fighting to persuade the Congress to pass a legislation in order to increase competition and reduce rates to freight rail transportation. Captive shippers that account for around 20-30% of railroads' traffic volume, pay rail rates of up to 450% above railroads' costs as against 6% premium paid by shippers where rail competition exists.

Shippers and consignees want goods delivered fast, on time and are shipping them shorter distances. After the financial markets closed April 7, regional less-than-truckload carrier USF announced its first quarter [...]

Managing freight and logistics costs will be more difficult in 2005 than ever. Not only will the strong demand that surfaced in 2004 continue to drive rates higher in nearly [...]

This chapter describes conditions and trends in trade and freight markets, covering the major liner and bulk cargo sectors; it gives liner freight rates as a percentage of commodity prices, [...]

We propose improved pricing and market mix can improve the profitability of the freight transportation provider through the reduction of equipment repositioning costs. We hypothesize that because of complexities surrounding pricing and equipment repositioning costing, existing pricing strategies in freight transportation fail to fully consider these costs. We test this hypothesis in an applied setting in which Monte Carlo simulation captures the stochasticity of market conditions inherent in the problem. We use a heuristic to improve the nondifferentiable, discontinuous objective function. Our results from test cases show with high confidence that current prices are not optimal, as indicated by a strong correlation between recommended increases and decreases in market prices and the internalized repositioning costs. Our hypothesis is further supported by a high confidence that the obtained profit level distribution is significantly (statistically) higher than the current profit levels.

Modal competition between rail and truck-barge is examined under a scenario of breaching four dams on the Snake River system in Washington State. The single barge operator and the two rail companies are portrayed as duopolists in a competitive environment. In the event that barge services are terminated on the Snake River above the Tri-Cities (Pasco, Richland, and Kennewick), then road transport costs are projected to increase. Truck-barge transport rates and overall costs rise most for shippers located in Idaho ($5.37 per ton) relative to their peers located in Oregon ($3.08 per ton) and Washington ($2.26 per ton).

When it comes to exporting grain, fuel consumption is a significant cost but can be controlled if the proper calculations are made prior to transport. During most of 1998 and [...]

Adam Rashid, head of supply chain solutions in Europe for Sony, explained how volatile carrier rate swings can be, even for a major, well-established, international manufacturer. Sony saw rates rise 45% in March 2008 from March 2007. March 2010 rates, on the other hand, increased by 200% from March 2009 levels.

The details of the survey conducted by ComPair Data on fright rates and transportation costs are presented.

Driven by a fear of overcapacity, shipping lines this spring slashed their rates on imports from Asia by several hundred dollars per container. Now, with cargo volumes unexpectedly robust through [...]

Shipping lines in the eastbound Pacific are bracing for a decline in freight rates this spring as they enter into contract negotiations with shippers, but the import trade from Asia [...]

Catholic Relief Services' agent in Mombasa was in a quandary. Shipments of U.S. food aid were arriving in containers, and the steamship lines were charging an extra fee for stripping [...]

Less-than-truckload carrier Con-way Freight has announced a general rate increase averaging 5.9% for non-contractual business, effective June 24. The rate increase will be implemented for customers on the company's CNW [...]

Carriers must carefully consider the balance between the cost of providing service and the setting of competitive prices. Costs are usually derived by a combination of actual operating costs and going market rates. Variables that are considered include what an individual customer expects, capacity, and what commodity is being shipped. Some carriers are using software models to calculate which customers are the most profitable. Areas to consider for cost savings are suggested by carrier officials. For example, pallets are not always the most efficient or economical way to transport goods., It's a gut-wrenching thing to walk away from a big account, claims one carrier vice president. He considers walking away a last resort. However, some 30% of this carrier's business [...]

LTL carrier Old Dominion Freight Line Inc. (ODFL) plans to boost its base rates by roughly 4.9% effective Sept. 6 this year. 'The general increase is in keeping with our [...]

A majority of carriers reported that average freight rates in the past quarter continued to rise, according to the recent First Quarter Business Expectations Survey completed by Transport Capital Partners, [...]

The March issue of FTR Associatesa Shippers Update reports that total shipping costs will accelerate rapidly driven by a growth in transport costs. FTRas Shippers Condition Index (SCI) remained in [...]

Q: I've declined 2-year-old original collect freight bills (six bills totaling $24,645) from a major railroad for shipments from Canada to a point in the upper Midwest U.S. based on [...]

Surprise visitors arrived at the headquarters of Horizon Lines, Sea Star Line and Crowley Maritime on April 17, 2008. Armed with subpoenas, FBI agents carted off boxfuls of documents, computers, [...]

Q: We have a carrier who is using a factoring company for its freight bills. We, of course, ordinarily remit payment to the factoring company, not the carrier. But the [...]

After nearly two years of tortured debate in the shipping world over freight transport prices, you can forgive carriers across the modes if they're a bit surprised over the latest [...]