Nelson Cabrera

Free Trade Pact Study Ahead of Schedule

China, Japan and South Korea are in first, second and fourth places for Asia’s largest economies. Third place goes to India. Together, China, Japan and South Korea comprise around 20 percent of the global gross domestic product (GDP). The countries... Read >

Truck Tonnage Decelerates in April

The trucking industry is predicting a fairly busy year in 2011. They have forecast numbers that show “moderate growth" for the industry, which has been supported by the numbers that we’ve seen so far. The For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index increased by 2.... Read >

Asian Shipping Suspected of Price Fixing

On May 17, 2011, the European Union antitrust officials conducted several unannounced raids on the European offices of a few Asian carriers and European ocean shipping lines. This was a probe to address suspected price fixing , as reported by the lines ... Read >

Should Free Shipping be Standard in Retail?

The direct marketing industry has been scrambling for information since L.L. Bean began offering free shipping to the United States and Canada on March 25, 2011. How will this affect retailers? Should they all offer free shipping to compete? Most c... Read >

Suppliers Struggle to Meet Demand

The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) Report released in early May brings up questions for suppliers and manufacturers. Manufacturing is on the rise, and suppliers are working hard to keep up with the demand increase. With the economic difficulties ... Read >

Chassis Business Model for Maritime Industry

The US has been the only country to provide free chassis usage to drivers for almost half a century, but that is soon to change. Starting on May 1, 2011, importers will not likely be able to enter contracts that offer free chassis usage. Ocean shipping ... Read >

ACT Research Says Truck Capacity Expected to Decline

Despite recent truck order surges, ACT Research is predicting that there will still be shortages. Manufacturing just can’t keep up with the demand as the economy recovers from its deep recession. Freight demand is on the rise and heavy-duty Class 8 ... Read >

Orders for Heavy Commercial Vehicles Jump 20%

Freight demand has been on the rise, pushing heavy truck orders to their highest monthly number since May of 2006. According to Americas Commercial Transportation Research Co. LLC (ACT Research), a preliminary reading of heavy-duty Class 8 commercial... Read >

Trans-Pacific Operations Halted by TCC

The Containership Company (TCC) launched a niche Trans-Pacific service about a year ago and is now reporting that they will be forced to shut it down based on weak volumes and rates. The CEO Jakob Tolstrup-Moller told The Journal of Commerce that “Th... Read >

Air Freight Rates in Asia Fall to 17 Month Low

Asian air freight prices have fallen 14.1% from the same month last year, the lowest that they've been in almost eighteen months. This is reported in the Drewry air Freight Price Index provided by Drewry Publishing. Drewry provides an independent viewpo... Read >

Maersk Switches Focus to Emerging Markets

CEO Nils Andersen of AP Moller-Maersk Group says that they are optimistic about maintaining their market share of 14.4 percent of the global cellular fleet this year. According to Exim News Service, Maersk appears to be well positioned to take advantage ... Read >

Carriers Increase Charter Rates as Demand Increases

The supply and demand gap has been widening in 2011 as the global economy rebounds faster than anyone really expected. Capacity issues have arisen and have ocean shipping companies scrambling to provide service for the business that is out there. Carrie... Read >

Diesel Gas Prices Increase Again

Average diesel fuel prices increases to a two-year high back in November of 2010. Now we’ve seen another increase that has been climbing steadily for the last two months. Diesel fuel reached a new high of $3.294 per gallon in December. In California, t... Read >

Industrial Price Index of Materials on the Rise

The Industrial Price Index of Materials Pricing has been closely monitored by many in the ocean shipping industry and for good reason. Historically, the index has been a reliable source of comparison between economic growth in the US and industrial commo... Read >

Lawsuit to Delay CSA 2010

On November 29, 2010, the National Association of Small Trucking Companies, The Expedite Alliance of North America, and the Air & Expedited Motor Carriers Association filed a motion with the US Court of Appeals to put a hold on the Comprehensive Safety An... Read >