Three is the magic number. Turkish Airlines has signed an order for three A330-200 freighters to add to its existing A330-200F and four A310 freighters.

The airline has a further 27 aircraft on order with Airbus from contracts placed in 2009 and 2010. Turkish Airlines has also signed an order for 10 passenger aircraft.

 Air cargo news reported this order on its website.  While three freighters does not seem like a high order, the fact that these orders have been placed adds to the impression that the worldwide economy is improving at a slow but steady pace.

 Pack n send is continually monitoring both air and ocean orders of equipment as a way to monitor economic improvement.

 Pack n send is located in Houston Texas. For assistance with your freight preparation, freight receiving, crating and packing please feel free to contact pack n send at 716 266 1450.

Taken from handy shipping guide WORLDWIDE – Ever the innovators  Dhl Global Forwarding have come up with two solutions to an age old problem. Exporting or importing a car without any of the serious damage that can result even after the smallest bodywork scrape. For decades this particular cargo has been the bane of many a freight operator’s life and now refinement of a double rack system, plus a new innovative box built for motor vehicles, may well prove the answer for many.

The collapsible C3SB transport box and the double car rack facilitate the loading of vehicles and increase efficiency in using transport capacity. In addition, both systems offer protection against damage due to external factors during transport by air, sea and road, such as turbulences, heavy seas or poor roads. Both transport solutions have now been patented by the German Patent Office, (the freight forwarding side of DHL is of course a division of Deutsche Post DHL).

Racks to transport two cars within one container have of course been around a long time but the new model has a movable intermediate level enabling the car rack to be used to not only to store two sedan-sized vehicles on top of each other in a container but also two cars also need only one space in the main cargo hold of a freight aircraft.

Both systems provide for more efficient transport, and therefore increased environmental efficiency, than conventional containers. The advantages of these novel shipping concepts become evident particularly in multimodal transport. Cars no longer need to be unloaded and reloaded during combined road, sea and land transport, since the C3SB box and the car rack are equally suitable for all transport methods.

DHL automotive experts based the C3SB box on the principle of the collapsible boxes used in many households. Their sides fold inward to rest on the bottom of the box. This represents a major further improvement of efficiency compared to the previous C2SB model already successfully used. The movable walls and the cover of the so-called "Customized Car Safety Box" already provided sufficient space and the required flexibility needed when loading the vehicles and making them safe for transport. The C3SB version with its collapsible walls now enables several empty boxes to be piled on top of each other, which therefore occupy only one space during transport.

Hermann Ude, Chief Executive Officer DHL Global Forwarding, Freight said of the new systems:

"The transport box and the car rack offer clients from the automotive sector top-end solutions in terms of safety and flexibility of transport. They again underscore our comprehensive competency with respect to logistics for one of the most important industry sectors worldwide.”

Pack n send has take this article from Handy Shipping  Guide. It is another in our series of article about improvements and efficiencies  in freight and cargo shipping.

 For information about packing freight and cargo in Houston Texas, contact pack n send at  713 266 1450.

As reported in Air Cargo News, the worldwide air cargo industry must be ever vigilant  when placing cargo on airplanes.

NAMIBIAN police have discovered a suspected bomb while loading the cargo hold of an Air Berlin flight departing Namibia.

“A subsequent X-ray [of the luggage] revealed batteries that were attached with wires to a detonator and a ticking clock,” the German authorities said in a statement. “Only the ongoing forensic investigation will show whether this was a live explosive.”

Thomas De Maiziere, Germany’s interior minister, said the country had been warned it would be targeted for its role in the Afghan war. “There is reason for concern, but no reason for hysteria.”

Pack n send is awaiting notice of new embargoed countries at this time for  air cargo shipping.

As we are notified, we will update our blog.

For safe air cargo shipping, or questions about air cargo, please feel free to contact pack n send at 713 266 1450.

EUROPE – Flagship, the Pan European maritime transport project part funded by the EU, claim they have now developed software that can forecast the condition of a ship’s hull over time to help improve the efficacy of surveys and reduce the amount of time a vessel is out of service. The consortium of various stakeholders from the freight and shipping and academic sectors say their new hull condition assessment is designed to accurately predict the condition of a vessel’s structure, coating and components, enabling ship owners and operators to schedule maintenance in a more efficient manner and thereby reduce maintenance costs while improving safety at sea.

The system, known as Flagship-HCA is intended to extend the life of the existing fleet of Tankers and Bulk Carriers by up to five years, with a 10% to 20% reduction in service repair costs for ships throughout their life-cycle. One of the primary concerns for ship owners and Class societies is that of corrosion of the ship’s structure and this is the target of the new system.

Flagship-HCA includes three primary tools which enable the ship owner and classifier to exchange hull data in real time, based on crew inspections and maintenance work as well as periodic measurement campaigns. Firstly, the toolset includes the Survey Advisor Tool (SAT) which advises surveyors where individual ships are most vulnerable and therefore where they should concentrate their investigations.

Secondly, the Hull Health Programme Advisor (HHA) optimises the survey and maintenance programme taking in to consideration the vessel’s work schedule and the predicted structural integrity of the vessel. Finally, the Corrosion Parameter Prediction Tool which takes the results of a survey or set of surveys and update a database if corrosion parameters associated with every aspect of a ship’s hull – based on observed rules and results.

Designed to assist ship owners and surveyors Flagship-HCA enables ship owners to schedule vessel maintenance and ship replacement more accurately than has been possible to date. Its objectives include not only optimising existing asset lifecycle and investment decisions but can also provide the Class Societies with more robust data upon which to base their rulings.

The project was led by the BMT Group in the UK and was supported, delivered and trialled in conjunction with Marintek of Norway; Bureau Veritas and Sirehna of France, Germanischer Lloyd of Germany and Portline - Transportes Marítimos Internacionais, of Portugal. Mr Herman de Meester, Coordinator of Flagship, commented:

“Flagship has pursued the twin objectives of reducing still further both risk and the environmental impact of the world’s commercial fleet whilst generating the opportunity for real commercial benefits. Flagship-HCA is a tangible example of the maritime industry collaborating to improve performance and efficiency in everyone’s best interests.”

By extending the life of ships, we can all help our environment.  We have reprinted this article from the  Handy  Shipping  Guide as a service to our customers.

For more information about shipping from Houston, Texas and freight forwarding Houston, Texas, please feel free to contact pack n send at  713 266 1450.

Pack n send is posting this article  from Air  Cargo News. It is another in our series of articles about air cargo and freight shipping security. It presents  a logical argument to the question about 100 per cent air cargo screening.

 “KILLING the airfreight industry with draconian security procedures would be giving the terrorists a result they would long to see,” says Andrew Traill, managing partner of Shippers’ Voice, a logistics advocacy and information portal.

He says 100 per cent scanning of airfreight would not only harm international trade, it would be ineffective,

“The most effective way to detect and deter anyone intending to use airfreight to carry out an attack is through intelligence,” he says. “There are regulations now in the US and Europe, that require information about the freight, its origins and destination, the people handling it and its route to be sent in advance of its arrival.

“This means in practice that most air cargo carriers will not want to even take off before being sure that the freight they carry has been cleared by the security authorities.”

Traill says that enabling people in the chain to perform security checks and maintain the security through the transport chain, (themselves authorised to do so based on the systems and practices they deploy), is not a weakness of security but a strength.

“Provided the system is properly policed, this multi-tiered approach to security in air freight is far more effective than scanning everything, especially when we know the technology is not perfect, and watching the airfreight industry collapse under the weight of delays and excessive costs.”

He admits that some of these programmes are still being implemented around Europe and indeed elsewhere around the world. “But the industry and the authorities are getting their act together, and increasing the quantity, standard and variety of security procedures being implemented. Now is not the time to undermine these initiatives in any knee jerk reaction to the latest threat,” he says.

“The industry must be robust in its defence of current and developing practices or else risk facing unworkable, costly and pointless security measures which will be no better and possibly worse than what we have and are developing today.”

 For more information about air cargo and freight shipping, please feel free to contact pack n send at 713 266 1450.

Changes to Cargo Shipping

Pack n send has republished this article taken from  Voice-Air, Cargo News. We are putting this in our blog as a reminder that there are different ways to protect the cargo coming into and leaving the United States, and that much work on improving these systems still need to be accomplished.

“KILLING the airfreight industry with draconian security procedures would be giving the terrorists a result they would long to see,” says Andrew Traill, managing partner of Shippers’ Voice, a logistics advocacy and information portal.

He says 100 per cent scanning of airfreight would not only harm international trade, it would be ineffective,

“The most effective way to detect and deter anyone intending to use airfreight to carry out an attack is through intelligence,” he says. “There are regulations now in the US and Europe, that require information about the freight, its origins and destination, the people handling it and its route to be sent in advance of its arrival.

“This means in practice that most air cargo carriers will not want to even take off before being sure that the freight they carry has been cleared by the security authorities.”

Traill says that enabling people in the chain to perform security checks and maintain the security through the transport chain, (themselves authorised to do so based on the systems and practices they deploy), is not a weakness of security but a strength.

“Provided the system is properly policed, this multi-tiered approach to security in air freight is far more effective than scanning everything, especially when we know the technology is not perfect, and watching the airfreight industry collapse under the weight of delays and excessive costs.”

He admits that some of these programmes are still being implemented around Europe and indeed elsewhere around the world. “But the industry and the authorities are getting their act together, and increasing the quantity, standard and variety of security procedures being implemented. Now is not the time to undermine these initiatives in any knee jerk reaction to the latest threat,” he says.

“The industry must be robust in its defence of current and developing practices or else risk facing unworkable, costly and pointless security measures which will be no better and possibly worse than what we have and are developing today.”

For more information about cargo and freight shipping, please feel free to contact pack n send at 713 266 1450.

The United Kingdome has added additional security measures in response to toner  and ink cartridges coming from Yemen.

 The increased aviation security is as follows:

 For air flights both in and out of the United Kingdom,  toner and ink cartridges weighing more than seventeen point five ounces, or five hundred grams have been suspended.  The United Kingdom Department of Transportation has issued these rules. 

 If any equipment is shipped with these cartridges inside, the restriction will also apply. 

 Pack n send will try and keep their customers updated as new security measures are put into place by various countries.

For more information about cargo and freight shipping, please feel free to contact pack n send at 713 266 1450.

  Pack n send is reprinting this article from today’s Houston Chronicle. Since this will directly impact both incoming and out going ships, it is important to note that there will be cargo delays at the Port of Houston this week.

 By ZAIN SHAUK
HOUSTON CHRONICLE

A set of barges crashed into an electrical tower Sunday in the Port of Houston, prompting the U.S. Coast Guard to shut down most of the nation’s second-largest maritime shipping complex, possibly until Wednesday.

A towing vessel pushing three barges of scrap metal through the Houston Ship Channel about 6 a.m. hit a 300-foot-tall electrical tower, which carries lines across the artery, said Petty Officer Richard Brahm, a spokesman for the Coast Guard. No injuries were reported.

The crash happened at the narrowest point in the waterway, leaving three-fourths of the port’s terminals inaccessible.

“Maybe if it was wider we could have got boats around it, but it’s not, so it’s a logistical problem,” Brahm said. “It’s a bad place for it to happen.”

There was no risk of electricity-related injuries or effects to the power grid, which is owned by Houston-based CenterPoint Energy, because lines in the area were deactivated prior to the crash for maintenance work, said Penny Todd, a spokeswoman for the company.

CenterPoint was in the process Sunday of moving equipment needed to clear the steel tower and cables from the waterway — work the company expects will be completed Wednesday, she said.

The 25-mile-long port complex is a major economic engine for the region and in 2009 handled more waterborne tonnage than any port in the country, according to the Port of Houston Authority.

About 60 ships carrying $322 million in goods and resources — ranging from crude oil to finished products in containers — move through the port each day, said Chief Warrant Officer Lionel Bryant, a spokesman for the Coast Guard.

19 miles closed

Items shipped through the Port of Houston move to and from destinations in every state, which could mean delays for companies with vessels in the water.

Those ships will have to drop anchor and wait until the steel electrical tower, which was propped up by the barges after the accident, is removed.

At least eight ships were waiting in an anchoring area outside the port after the crash. Five others were waiting to leave.

The Coast Guard closed 19 miles out of the 54-mile-long ship channel, leaving more than 100 terminals — including those for oil giants Shell and Valero — cut off from the sea.

Further delays possible

The few accessible terminals are mostly for container ships and will not be usable by most companies that would need other infrastructure for loading and unloading or that had planned to arrive at terminals north of the crash site, said Tom Pace, presiding officer of Houston Ship Pilots, a labor association.

Three days of backups could result in further delays, even as traffic begins moving through the port again, Pace said.
“It’s going to take probably three days to get everything back to normal after that,” he said.

Crew members from the towing vessel, the T/V Safety Quest, were removed from the boat and tested for drugs and alcohol.

It was unclear how the accident occurred, but the tower’s location has long been known to ship pilots who work in the port, Pace said.

It was one of six towers in the channel, but was the closest to the preferred waterway for traffic.
“The one problem is the tower’s really close to the navigable channel,” Pace said. “That’s probably one of the reasons it had happened.”

For more information about shipping cargo and freight receiving through the Port of Houston, please contact pack n send at 713 266 1450.

Pack  n send is posting this article written by Ryan  Phillios at News 21  as a service to your customers. We found the entire article published on msn.com.  While the trucking industry is making improvements, it looks like the DOT still has a way to go as far as monitoring its own policies.

Trucker Bob Caffee needed a medical card fast. His certificate from the U.S. Department of Transportation was to expire in two days, and he was in Southern California, halfway across the country from his regular doctor. So Caffee headed to one of the medical clinics that have sprung up at truck stops across America.

The clinic in Ontario, Calif., where Caffee stopped, is housed in a small, rundown building next to a Travel Centers of America truck stop. A sign advertises "DOT Physicals" next to a picture of a red truck.

"You say, 'I need a DOT physical,'" and the assistant says, "'OK, come back here and I’ll call the doctor,'" Caffee said.

About this project

1. This project was reported by journalism students in the Carnegie-Knight  News 21 program in collaboration with the Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit investigative journalism organization.

The two of them checked his blood pressure, urine, breathing, hearing and vision. Caffee remembers that he had trouble reading past the top two lines of the eye chart. "I told her I wear glasses, and she OK'd me," he said, even though his driver's license didn’t say he was required to wear glasses.

The whole thing was over in 20 minutes, and Caffee emerged with a medical certificate that states he is healthy enough to drive a commercial truck for the next two years. Cost of exam: $30.

The exam Caffee underwent is required for all interstate commercial drivers. However, in many states, almost any health professional, including chiropractors, physician assistants, osteopathic doctors and advance practice nurses, can issue medical certificates for truck drivers. There are no training requirements and only minimal standards for what to check.

If a trucker is denied by one doctor, he can easily try another. There is no database to check whether medical certificates are valid, or whether a driver is "doctor shopping."

Drivers can download a medical certificate from the Internet and fill it out themselves. Others don’t bother getting a medical certificate — genuine or false. Few are ever caught. A trucker caught without a certificate is often given a fine — and allowed to drive on.

Deadly consequences
The problem of medically unqualified commercial drivers first drew national attention in 1999 when a bus driver veered off Interstate 610 near New Orleans, struck a guardrail, went through a chain-link fence, vaulted over a golf cart path and rammed into a dirt embankment, killing 22 of the 43 passengers on board.

The driver, who had a current medical certificate, had been in and out of the hospital the day before for treatment of his kidneys. He was released less than eight hours before reporting to work, according to an NTSB report. Post-accident tests were positive for marijuana and an over-the-counter sleep medication that can cause drowsiness and dizziness. A passenger reported seeing the driver "slouch down" prior to the accident.

Conclusions

1. Findings of the News21 investigation include:

• The National Transportation Safety Board has essentially given up on 1,952 of its safety recommendations – one of every six it has made since 1967.
• Federal agencies, states and transportation industries are taking longer than ever to act. Over the past decade, the average number of years to implement recommendations went from 3.4 years to 5.4 years.

The accident prompted the National Transportation Safety Board to issue a series of stern recommendations in 2002 to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, whose primary mission is to prevent commercial motor vehicle-related fatalities and injuries.

Specifically, the board directed the FMCSA, part of the Department of Transportation, to "prevent medically unqualified drivers from operating commercial vehicles" and "establish a medical oversight program for all interstate commercial drivers."

Mitch Garber, a NTSB medical officer, said the FMCSA’s response to the board’s calls for tougher medical standards has been disappointing. The agency has addressed a few problems, but the approach has been piecemeal and largely ineffective, he said.

"It’s no more difficult for a medically unqualified driver to drive today than when the recommendation was made," Garber said.

For information on freight and cargo shipping from Houston, TX, please call pack n send at 713 266 1450.

 PAKISTAN – LUXEMBOURG – The catastrophic floods which have swept through Pakistan bringing misery to millions prompted the people of the Duchy of Luxembourg, encouraged by an appeal from the local Pakistan Consulate, to initiate a countrywide collection resulting in around 600 boxes, containing used clothes, sheets, shoes, plus tinned foods being donated.

Now Europe’s largest all-cargo airline, Cargolux, will transport these charity boxes free of charge on board its B747-400 freighter to Karachi on 14 and 21 September 2010. From Karachi, the shipment will be forwarded to the flooded areas by the local relief organization Edhi International Foundation.

Coordination and documentation were done by Cargolux’s Charity Committee at head office Luxembourg, taking care of the company’s worldwide charity activities, in line with the available space on Cargolux freighters.

Free storage room was offered by Streff, Luxembourg, who will also take care of the delivery of the boxes to the Luxair Cargo Centre, while Luxair Cargo arranges for free security screening of the Cargolux charity shipments.

On behalf of the People of Pakistan, The Honorary Consul General, Mr. Mark Samuel, extended his sincere gratitude to Cargolux Airlines, enterprise Streff, Luxair Cargo, and the People of Luxembourg at large for contributing generously with their valuable donation to help the floods affected people in Pakistan.

Pack n send has reprinted this article from the Handy Shipping   Guide as a service to our customers. Freight, cargo and airline companies consistently assist with disaster relief.

For information on cargo, and freight shipping from the United States, please contact pack n send at 713 266 1450.

With the ever adjusting economy, pack n send is monitoring changes in both the freight and cargo industries. We are reprinting this article from The Handy Shipping Guide as a service to our customers. For information on freight and container loading, please contact us directly at 713 266 1450.

US- UK – WORLDWIDE - Having peered into the financial abyss last year YRC, the US less than truckload (LTL) haulier have continued their policy of refinancing by selling off their logistics arm. YRC Logistics has been purchased by Texan venture capital firm Austin Ventures, known for start up and company growth capital investment. The deal, mooted in June, was completed last week for $38.7 million and the investors immediately re branded the group as MIQ Logistics.

Former president and CEO of BAX Global Inc. Joey Carnes was installed as Kansas based MIQ boss and the group will revert to the original MIQ name which was changed by YRC Worldwide in 2007 to emphasize the YRC brand having originally been successful as Meridian IQ logistics. Since that time it has been an uphill struggle for YRC who have had to improve liquidity by strategic redundancies, sale of property and assets, a debt to equity swap in December and a deal to cut salaries negotiated with the unions.

It seems that these drastic measures may have settled the tension surrounding the stock as YRC reportedly took $33.6 million in cash whilst settling YRC Logistics company affairs for payments totaling $11 million. YRC Worldwide is also apparently to retain the potentially lucrative Chinese logistics interests but the bulk of all freight forwarding and customs operations will be transferred back to MIQ.

The deal includes the transfer of the Hampshire based operation which only opened a new 6,500 square foot warehouse in Totton in December citing a big increase in business for the expansion. YRC Logistics has a presence in Asia, North America, South America and Europe and operates from six sites in the UK in London, Birmingham, Manchester, Hemel Hempstead and Glasgow as well as Southampton.

Pack n send is publishing this article from Handy  Shipping News as a service to our customers.

US - Always keen to promote  innovation  and  education throughout the shipping industry, German heavy lift and oversize project freight specialists Beluga  Shipping  GmbH is the latest company to support a short  course designed to fast-track project cargo management skills that otherwise may take years to acquire.

Beluga will join the sponsors supporting the Certificate of Achievement in Project Cargo Management that will be offered during the education component of the 21st Annual JoC Breakbulk Americas Transportation Conference & Exhibition at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston from 12th to 15th October.

Port Corpus Christi is also a sponsor of the training that will be run over two days from October 14-15 and is a joint venture initiative between the JoC Break Bulk Conferences (a division of UBM Global Trade) and international over dimensional 3PL network, Project Professionals Group. Course trainer and the general manger of the Project Professionals Group, Kevin Stephens, said the support from the project forwarding industry was much appreciated and showed that they were committed to education and training that delivered a higher standard of handling services for clients:

“Understanding how to manage multimodal project cargoes is extremely challenging and increasing skills through practical training is in everybody’s best interests to ensure the successful delivery of the freight.”

For more information about freight and cargo shipping as well as household goods shipping overseas, please fell free to contact pack n send at 713 266 1450.

The Port of Houston offers an up close look at cargo shipping. Pack n send is posting the information  taken from the Port of Houston website as a service to our customers.

Get ready for an unforgettably spectacular waterborne tour of one of the busiest ports in the world aboard the Port of Houston Authority's free public tour boat!

Named for the legendary military commander who led the fight for Texas independence from Mexico and later statehood, the M/V Sam Houston offers free leisurely 90-minute round-trip cruises along the Houston Ship Channel.

Embarking from the port's Sam Houston Pavilion, visiting sightseers can enjoy passing views of international cargo vessels, and operations at the port's Turning Basin Terminal. Measuring 95 feet in length and 24 feet in width, the boat carries a maximum capacity of 90 passengers with air-conditioned lounge seating and additional standing room on the boat's rear deck.

The M/V Sam Houston has been operating as the Port Authority's public tour vessel since its inaugural voyage on July. 30, 1958. By 1979, a total of 1 million passengers had taken the tour.

No food or beverages are allowed to be brought aboard the boat or into the pavilion. However, a free beverage is provided on the boat during the trip. We want all of our visitors to enjoy the tour experience in a clean and safe environment, therefore picnics in the pavilion are not allowed.

The tour is free; however reservations are required 24 hours in advance of the planned tour. Enhanced port security measures require government-issued photo identification for passengers ages 18 and older. Examples of acceptable identification are state-issued drivers license, state of Texas Identification card, or passport.

Register online anytime, or call 713-670-2416, Monday through Thursday between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Please note: a maximum of 45 reservations is allowed for any one group. Also, a maximum ratio of one adult per four children under the age of 12 will be enforced.

SECURITY NOTICE

Because of heightened security measures, regularly scheduled tours aboard the M/V Sam Houston may be canceled without advance notice. Before making the trip to the Port of Houston for a tour aboard the Sam Houston, please consult this Web site for information on the status of your tour.

Security regulations also prohibit the carrying of any camera equipment aboard the M/V Sam Houston and the taking of photographs from aboard the ship is strictly prohibited.

Also, large baggage such as backpacks and oversized purses are not allowed on board. Passengers' personal belongings may be subject to searches in accordance with federal regulations. The PHA reserves the right to refuse passage to board the vessel to any person for any reason at any time.

 We advise that you arrive at least 15 minutes, preferably half hour, before your tour launches to assure that you have plenty of time to check in through security and to board the vessel.

For more information on international shipping, please feel free to contact pack n send at 713 266 1450.

Now that a one hundred square ice piece has broken off a glacier, the cargo ships now face a new peril. 

After dealing with pirates and colliding ships this floating island is another worry for boat captains.

 This ice island break off follows six months of unusually warm record.  These past six months have recorded the warmest temperatures since 1962.

Since glaciers are melting faster than any one had anticipated, they are adding to threats of flooding coastal cities all over the world.

It should take approximately two years for this latest breakaway piece of ice to melt. At this point, the worry is that the iceberg may head toward shipping lanes off of the Canadian Coast, and also in the North Atlantic Ocean.

By monitoring the progress of this large ice mass, ships should be able to adjust their course during the next two year time period.

For information about freight and cargo shipping, please contact pack n send at 713 266 1450.

CANADA – After harsh words had been exchanged over what the Innternational  Transport  Workers   Federation  (ITF) called last week “a needless overreaction” it seems talks are to resume at the  Port  of Montreal   which will possibly mean an end to the labor dispute which commenced in June. On the 27th of that month the dockworkers claim that employers changed the working conditions of 169 dock workers with the least seniority. The longshoremen responded by refusing to work overtime as of the 9th July.

On Sunday the 18th July the union and employers met all afternoon and planned to continue ongoing negotiations during the following week. During the next 48 hours however there was a lockout preventing access to the port and infuriating union officials. The lock out was described as “incomprehensible and pointless. News of the lockout reached them they were in the middle of a general meeting to cancel the planned application of pressure tactics. They pointed out that overtime is voluntary and no reason to be excluded from work.

Now it appears common sense has prevailed on both sides and they have agreed a protocol to return to work enabling the port to function whilst negotiations continue, with union representative Michel Murray saying that with both sides talking an agreement could be reached in the next few weeks.

Shipping through the port, Canada’s second largest behind Vancouver and capable of handling one and a quarter million TEU’s per annum, has been diverted to other ports, principally Halifax, since the dispute started and the problems are causing delays and possibly the cancellation of new contracts and investments.

 Pack n send has reproduced portions of this article from Handy   Shipping News as a service to our customers.

Pack n send monitors port operations throughout the world.  While most of our cargo shipments go via ship to ports in Central America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, any port closure or slowdown can affect freight shipments throughout the world.

 For more information on overseas shipping, please feel free to contact pack n send at 713 266 1450.

The Los Angeles Times has reported that clerical workers  went on strike at several terminals in both Los Angeles Long beach. These workers are responsible for critical paperwork for ocean cargo in California.

While the ports are fully functioning, there have been some picketing by workers at the port. 

An arbitrator declared that the strike was improper and ordered the employees back to work. 

The clerks who have walked off their jobs are responsible for export paperwork as well as transport documentation.

This job action along with the governor call for minimum wage for all California state employees not currently under contract, could set a double whammy for the already beleaguered economy in California.

Other ports around the nation that handle freight and cargo shipping have not been affected by this labor dispute.

For information on shipping  freight and cargo from the Port of  Houston, please contact pack n send at 713 266 1450.

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Is Manufacturing Coming Back to the U.S.?

Why is pack n send posting this article on our website?  If it costs us more to do business with China, it will be more expensive to import Chinese goods. If the US can pick up on this, we should be able to manufacture more in the US. This should enable the US to not only to manufacture more goods, but also export more goods to other countries! This will be good for not only pack n send, but other companies that prepare freight, and ship freight to other countries.

If you haven't been paying attention to the news lately, you might have missed some interesting developments: the Chinese government has started allowing the value of its currency to fluctuate, and Chinese workers have begun striking in efforts to increase their wages. Both of those developments are likely to increase the cost of manufacturing in China, and here's another newsflash: the costs of shipping containers are also going up. Fast.

Steve Crowder, the president of GuildMaster, an SRC affiliate that manufacturers and sells accent furniture, told me that the costs of overseas shipping containers have increased by 30 percent since the beginning of May - increasing from $4,000 a container to $5,200. And that doesn't fully account for the fuel surcharges that logistics and shipping companies have begun tacking on to take advantage of all the goods needed for an expected surge in demand for the upcoming holiday shopping season. The reason I point out these stories is that I'm seeing an emerging trend: the increasing cost of doing business in China.

The upside of such a trend, of course, is that more and more companies like GuildMaster are taking a second look at United States manufacturers, something that's being called "near-sourcing."

Personally, I've always seen off-shore manufacturing as a significant risk to a company's cash flow, something not enough people pay attention to. It used to be cheap and easy to borrow the money to finance off-shore manufacturing, but that's changed. Consider this example: Let's say you want to order a batch of widgets from a manufacturer in China that's charging 50 percent less than a manufacturer here in the United States. The price may be good, but you have to wire the money up front to pay for your order. Then you wait - up to 90 days while your product is produced and shipped across the ocean.

When you finally get the product to your customer - let's say it's a big-box retailer - you then have to wait up to 90 days before you get your money. Think about that. The time between when you lay out your money to your manufacturer and when you finally receive a payment from your customer can be as long as 180 days. So, you might wait up to 225 days before you get your money back. That's a long time and a serious drain on cash flow. And that's assuming everything goes well. It's also possible that your product won't sell and your big-box client will return it. If that happens, you're stuck holding more inventory and waiting to get paid for it, possibly until the following season.

But let's look at this scenario from a different angle. Suppose you choose to hire a domestic manufacturer instead of one in China. Now, rather than paying up front, you may well be able to negotiate terms where you pay your supplier 60 days after you receive your product - which amounts to a 60-day, interest-free loan. Ideally, you end up paying your supplier at just about the same time you receive your payment from your customer.

The shorter supply chain also comes into play in a big way if you run into a quality problem or a shipping delay or if you have the happy problem of needing more product to meet customer demand. Several big-box retailers will penalize you if they sell out of your product and you can't resupply them immediately - what's known as a "stockout."

When you source your product from China, and need to wait up to 90 days for each order, you have to carry extra inventory as stock-out protection - another big hit to your cash flow. When you use a domestic supplier, you can turn to FedEx or UPS to solve your problem overnight. That means you don't have to carry as much extra inventory.

With a long supply chain, an entrepreneur faces tough choices because the company's cash is tied up with suppliers and customers. With credit still tight, companies can end up struggling to cover the inevitable cash shortfalls that come from growth. Some companies resort to doing things like factoring - borrowing off their accounts receivable at interest rates that can top 20 percent - or bringing in outside investors and private equity money, decisions that cut into either net income or equity.

Then there are companies like Springfield Spring in Springfield, Mass., an open-book company founded in 1942 that makes precision-engineered springs and clips. Norman Rodrigues, the company's chief executive, says that domestic small businesses have long underestimated the true cost of manufacturing overseas, but he believes those costs are now becoming clearer.

"Six years ago, everyone was falling over themselves to get into China to save money and maximize what they called their ‘shareholder value,'" Mr. Rodrigues told me. "But, when you begin to add up the cost of freight, the aggravation of delays, the lack of quality control, and the money you need to invest relative to cash flow, you're starting to see people in the boardrooms of the big corporations reconsider that decision."

Of course, we don't have the same manufacturing base here that we used to. And, for certain products, off-shoring might still make sense. But, given the advantages that a domestic manufacturer can give its customers, like just-in-time delivery and better quality controls, maybe we'll see more opportunities for new businesses to take root in the United States in the near future.

Pack n send already makes our custom crates for shipping in our  ware house. That way, each crate is specifically prepared to fit the individual order.

For freight and cargo shipping please visit our website at http://www.pack-n-send.com/.  We have listed the countries that we ship to. Or, you can call us at 713 266 1450

Most Common Offence Committed by Drivers of Small Commercial Vehicles

UK -This week the Freight  Transport Authority  (FTA) offered a timely reminder to the owners and operators of vans about the problems and dangers of overloading cargo or equipment into small commercials. The FTA has published a best practice guide for transport managers on the safe securing of loads in vans. The intention is to provide realistic and practical advice, clarifying compliance standards for operators and helping them to improve their drivers' safety.

Worryingly, yet unsurprisingly to many industry insiders, the LGV overloading prohibition rate found by traffic enforcers increased from 55.1 per cent in 2007 to 66.9 per cent in 2009 (VOSA) making it by far the most common offence found among light goods vehicles (LGVs). Often drivers are unaware of the actual carrying capacity of their vehicles and equally many shippers fail to provide accurate weights for consignments they consider too small to warrant proper attention.

Additionally, many drivers are unaware that correctly distributed axle weights, even on small vehicles can be crucial to ensure the safety of their vehicles, and problems like this led the FTA to commission the Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) to conduct a research project - jointly-funded by members of FTA's Utilities Working Group - which, unlike previous research, accounted for the typical forces experienced by an LGV and its load in a collision. While the Department for Transport's (DfT) code of practice on load retention only accounts for deceleration forces of 1G, as found in normal driving conditions, a serious collision can generate more than 20 times this force. FTA used TRL's unparalleled experience of analyzing road traffic accidents within the UK to identify the real risks of unsecured loads in everyday situations.

James Hookham, FTA's Policy Director, said:

"With many of its members running vans as well as trucks, FTA recognizes the strong need for consistent and clear guidance regarding the safe securing of loads, especially in the face of more onerous operator liability.

"We wanted to fill the void in guidance with meaningful advice based on realistic data to not only improve the safety of drivers and passengers in commercial vehicles, but also remove any legal ambiguities, so that operators know exactly where they stand.

This article has been partially reprinted from the Handy   Shipping  Guide.

Pack n send prepares freight, and ships freight both domestically and internationally.  For more information about our cargo shipping and freight shipping services, please contact pack n send at 713 266 1450.

Pack n send is posting this press release issued by the Port Authority of Houston.  Pack n send ships cargo and containers through the port of Houston. 

Freight shipping from Houston has a major impact on the Houston economy.

By unanimous vote, the Harris County Commissioners Court and the Houston City Council today jointly re-appointed James T. Edmonds as chairman of the Port Commission of the Port of Houston Authority. County commissioners and city council members gathered at Houston City Council Chambers for the re-appointment vote.

"I am deeply honored and grateful for the confidence Harris County Commissioners and the Houston City Council have expressed in me since I was first appointed chairman in 2000," Edmonds said. "I will work even harder over the next two years to ensure that confidence is well-placed."

Initially appointed to the port commission in October 1996 to represent Harris County, Edmonds was first appointed chairman in 2000 by the city and the county. Edmonds is also a member of the board of commissioners for the Houston Pilots Association. Port of Houston Authority (PHA) commissioners serve two-year terms without pay.

Under Edmonds' leadership as chairman, PHA has implemented some of the most innovative initiatives in environmental stewardship, security and facility operations while experiencing the most aggressive growth, capital expansion and profitability in the organization's 96-year history.

"I'm glad to see Jim Edmonds reappointed for another term as chairman of the Port of Houston Authority," said Harris County Judge Ed Emmett. "It's in times of economic uncertainty like these that Jim's foresight and calm, steady guidance are most needed. All of us in Harris County benefit from Jim's experience and wisdom."

The port authority made history in 2002, when it became the first U.S. port facility to implement an Environmental Management System (EMS) that meets the rigorous parameters of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 14001 system. Under Edmonds' leadership, the port authority continues to set standards in environmental stewardship and security measures. In 2008, PHA became the world's first port authority to initiate a Security Management System worthy of certification for ISO 28000:2007. In 2009, the recertification of its EMS raised the bar yet higher, with the additional certification of the Bayport Container Terminal. Opened in February 2007, the Bayport terminal has added to PHA's capability to process 1.8 million in container TEUs annually.

Houston Mayor Annise Parker stated, "I am pleased to join Harris County Commissioners and Houston City Council in reappointing Jim Edmonds as chairman of the Port of Houston Authority. He is a proven leader who has guided the port through a period of unprecedented growth and environmental advances. Keeping him at the helm will help ensure this progress continues."

In addition to operating or leasing the public port facilities, the Port of Houston Authority is the sponsor of the Houston Ship Channel. In 2009, Chairman Edmonds worked closely with U.S. Rep. Gene Green and other members of the Texas congressional delegation to help the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers receive $98.8 million in funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. It was the largest single allocation of federal funding for infrastructure projects the channel had ever received. The waterway's impact on the region includes about 785,000 jobs and $118 billion in economic activity. Across the U.S., 1.5 million jobs and $285 billion worth of economic activity are related to the ship channel.

Edmonds' leadership also enabled the port authority to play a major role in advancing railroad transportation efficiency by helping create the state's first Gulf Coast Rail District. The Houston Ship Channel Security District also gained state legislative approval during Edmonds' tenure. Both projects are highly regarded for setting standards of excellence in public- private partnerships.

The completion of the $700 million Houston Ship Channel deepening and widening project in 2005 is considered a testament to Edmonds' strength in building coalitions among congressional members and various local stakeholders. In addition to enhancing navigational safety for commercial vessels, the project created more than 4,200 acres of wetlands and wildlife habitats.

PHA's opportunities with small businesses also were elevated under Edmonds' leadership. In 2002, PHA created and implemented its Small Business Development program with a 35 percent participation goal and - since its inception - the program has awarded nearly $285 million in PHA eligible contracts to registered firms.

In addition to his civic service with the Port of Houston, Edmonds also serves as a board member of the Memorial Hermann Hospital System, Gulf Coast Rail District, I-69 TxDOT Advisory Committee, and the Alliance for I-69 Texas. Edmonds is president of Edmonds & Company, a business consulting firm. business consulting firm.

For more information on shipping freight through the Port of Houston, please contact pack n send at 713 266 1450.

Pack n send has republished this article from Handy Shipping   News.  We are monitor improvements in both freight and worldwide cargo shipping.

PHILIPPINES - There will be a Diplomatic Conference held in Manila between the 21st and 25th June which is set to change the way seafarers are trained and certified to improve safety standards on freight and passenger shipping in the future. The Conference will be held under the auspices of the  International Maritime Organization (IMO), the United Nations specialized agency with responsibility for maritime safety and security and the prevention of pollution from ships.

Technology and social requirements have changed vastly in the past fifteen years and the draft amendments to the STCW Convention and Code mark the first major revision of the two instruments since those adopted in 1995, which completely revised the original 1978 Convention and introduced the Code. It is anticipated that, once the proposed amendments have been adopted, the necessary global standards will be in place to train and certify seafarers to operate any modern, technologically advanced vessels well into the future.

Among the measures due for adoption in Manila are a number of important changes to each chapter of the Convention and Code, including:

• improved measures to prevent fraudulent practices associated with certificates of competency and strengthen the evaluation of Parties' compliance with the Convention
• updated and expanded requirements on hours of work and rest and new requirements for the prevention of drug and alcohol abuse, as well as updated standards relating to medical fitness for seafarers
• incorporation of new certification requirements for able seafarers
• new requirements relating to training in modern technology such as electronic chart display and information systems (ECDIS)
• new requirements for marine environment awareness training and training in leadership and teamwork
• new training and certification requirements for electro-technical officers and electro-technical ratings
• updating of competence requirements for personnel serving on board all types of tankers, including new requirements for personnel serving on liquefied gas tankers
• new requirements for security training, as well as provisions to ensure that seafarers are properly trained to cope in the event of attack by pirates
• introduction of modern training methods including distance learning and web-based learning new training guidance for personnel serving on board ships operating in polar waters
• new training guidance for personnel operating dynamic positioning systems
• new training guidance for personnel serving on board off-shore support vessels

The Conference will also consider 16 draft resolutions, relating, among other things, to the provision of accommodation for trainees aboard ships; attracting new entrants to and retaining seafarers within the maritime profession; promotion of the participation of women in the maritime industry; standards of training and certification; and ships' manning levels. The date for implementation of any changes will also be considered at the Conference.

The propositions and the location of the Conference are of course timely, this having been declared ‘Year of the Seafarer' and with some of the dramatic events we have witnessed recently at sea, not least the ongoing Deepwater Horizon tragedy, and the huge upsurge in Piracy

For more information on freight and cargo shipping, please contact pack n send at 713 266 1450.

www.pack-n-send.com

While pack n send has been concentrating on the effects of the oil spill in the Gulf, we need to remember how hurricanes can affect both Houston Shipping as well as general freight and cargo shipping throughout the region.

US - CARIBBEAN - With the start of the hurricane season now officially upon us lives will doubtless be lost at sea, some unnecessarily, and the advice from the Texas  Coast Gurad applies equally to all at risk from a big blow. The   Marine Safety Information Bulletin  regarding severe weather safety planning issued by the Houston - Galveston sector this week offers sound advice to all mariners, and port side operators, likely to be at risk from the storms.

Using the experience gleaned from other catastrophic storms such as Hurricanes Rita (2005) and IKE (2008) the Guard have compiled an eight point plan which, although specific to the area of their jurisdiction, would equally serve seafarers and dock operators anywhere in the ‘at risk' zones.

A revised précis of the plan is as follows:

1) Deep Draft vessels should leave port well in advance of a threatened storm.

2) Such vessels unable to leave port should advise local authorities and issue a declaration of their intent to remain in port where necessary. These ships are generally at far greater risk whilst in port than on the open sea.

3) Commercial boat and barge tows (tugs etc.) that usually ply their trade on intra coastal waterways should leave the threatened area completely as early as possible or, if unable to do so, to head inland as far as possible and make use of any available shelter. Cargo vulnerability (hazardous goods etc) should be given special consideration and local advice sought.

4) Commercial fishing vessels should plan ahead for locations of safe shelter. During prior storms, vessels that sought sheltered moorings and kept a live watch onboard to tend lines and apply horsepower fared best. Once again when threatened by an approaching storm, commercial fishing vessels should leave port or find shelter as far inland as possible to avoid damage during a storm's passage.

5) Skippers should establish if there are plans to relocate Coast Guard offices and other responsible authorities during the severe weather and ensure communications are possible.

6) Facilities with storage tanks, missile hazards, dangerous cargoes, and container and pallet stacks are encouraged to take positive action to secure or remove these entities should they be threatened. Flying objects such as these pose a major threat to lives and property

7) Waterfront facilities are encouraged to conduct an annual survey prior to the Hurricane Season. Also, each facility should have an emergency survey at their docks as soon as possible after a hurricane passes.

8) Local authorities and those responsible should conduct inspections of all susceptible items prior to and immediately after a storm with attention paid to such items as hoses etc which should be drained and secured.

This article was reprinted from the handy shipping guide.

Pack n send will provide further hurricane preparation updates as we find are relevant to this hurricane season.

For more information about Houston shipping and freight preparation, please feel free to contact pack n send at 713 266 1450.

www.pack-n-send.com

 Tanker Cleaned Offshore with Minimal Delays

This news release is reprinted with permission of the Port of New Orleans.

Mississippi River remains open and unrestricted

Update no. 9-- A tanker heading upriver requested to be cleaned this morning after encountering oil. The tanker was cleaned by two offshore work boats outfitted with fire hoses. The cleaning process took about 30 minutes to complete, and was conducted roughly 4 miles away from the entrance to the Mississippi River at Southwest Pass around 10:30 a.m. Tuesday.

The tanker was inspected further after it entered Southwest Pass, where two launch vessels equipped with pressure washers are stationed to conduct more detailed cleaning while the ship is slowly moving upriver. No oil was detected at the second cleaning site and the vessel proceeded upriver.

The tanker was not calling the Port of New Orleans, but was headed to another facility elsewhere on the lower Mississippi River.

A few other vessels were inspected this morning but did not require cleaning.

The Mississippi River remains open to maritime traffic, and no ship calls have been canceled because of the spill.

Pack n send has been paying attention to freight and cargo shipping out of the Port of New Orleans.

With this press release, it looks like good News for the Louisiana coast.

For information about shipping freight out of the port of Houston, or other ports throughout the world, please contact pack n send at  713 266 1450.

US - Once again the American  Trucking  Association advance seasonally adjusted (SA) For-Hire Truck Tonnage  Index  increased for the sixth time in the last seven months, gaining another 0.9 percent in April. Together with a 0.4% increase in the previous month means the Index hit its highest level since September 2008 at 110.2 up six and a half percent in the last seven months. 2010's year to date tonnage is up six percent against 2009.

ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello said that the latest tonnage reading fits with a sustained economic recovery. "Truck tonnage volumes continue to improve at a solid, yet sustainable, rate. Tonnage is being boosted by robust manufacturing output and stronger retail sales." Costello also reiterated a statement from last month's release, saying: "For most fleets, freight volumes feel better than reported tonnage because the supply situation, particularly in the truckload sector, is turning quickly."

The ATA say, with some authority, that truck freight offers a snapshot of the nation's health and serves as a barometer of the U.S. economy, representing 68 percent of tonnage carried by all modes of domestic freight transportation, including manufactured and retail goods. Trucks hauled 8.8 billion tons of freight in 2009. Motor carriers collected $544.4 billion, or 81.9 percent of total revenue earned by all transport modes. The ATA index has functioned for over thirty years and is based on responses from a sample of its 37,000 members who range from major national less than truckload (LTL) operations to small local carriers.

Pack n send is posting this article on our website taken from handy shipping guide.  Once again we are able to post a positive article for the shipping and freight industry.

For any questions about freight and cargo shipping, please feel free to contact pack n send at 713 266 1450.

Containment and recovery (Civilian Flotilla)

By pgray

May 19, 2010, 9:32PM

By pgray

May 19, 2010, 9:32PM

A large and growing chunk of the Gulf is covered with a layer of $70 per barrel oil. If you have a sea-worthy boat and maritime expertise, you can contain and recover AND SELL that oil.
Anyone with a vessel suitable for deploying booms on the open ocean can assist in the containment of the Gulf Slick. You will need to deploy a chain of booms around an area of slick. You will then need a mechanism to tighten the boom chain, reducing the enclosed area and deepening the trapped oil. One method would be to support the boomline with 3/8 cable. To close your trap, thread the free end of the cable through the first boom and reel in the cable, detaching booms as you go. As the oil deepens, it will reduce wave action, preventing emulsification, as well as splashing and wind-borne spray. The excess booms can then be used to contain another portion of the slick. Extend a tube connected to your pump and storage tank beneath the boom chain. An auxiliary fuel tank with 5000 gallon capacity will hold almost 1200 barrels or $8400 worth of crude. On the end of this tube, fit a flat piece of material heavier than oil, but lighter than water such that it will support the mouth of the tube above the waterline, but immersed in oil. As the oil is recovered, continue to tighten the boom line to maintain the flow of oil into the pipe. It may be necessary to attach floats and weights to the tube to maintain optimum position in varying conditions. As lighter fractions are recovered, the degrading oil beneath the surface can be recovered. Adjustment of the intake depth may be required. Recovery vessels must be vented to prevent buildup of volatile gases.
For those with barges, go for the mother-lode. Encircle the area where new oil surfaces. Employ multiple intakes to stop the slick.
If you are interested, or know others who might want to get in on this. pass it on. If you have questions or comments, please respond Thanks Phil 903-780-5644

Pack n send has been monitoring web sites with comments about the oil spill.  While most of them are discussing blame, we found this on the City of New Orlans web site. It is one of the comments listed that not only offered a possible solution, but also suggests a call to action.

While pack n send can ship their cargo out of the port of Houston, businesses in New Orleans are directly impacted by this oil spill. Trucking of cargo to the port of Houston will cost businesses additional expenses that could have been avoided.

Phil has sent this to Horizon support - a task force put together by the government and BP.  Phil is still waiting to hear if they are going to use his idea. The coast guard also puts their ideas through Horizon support. He is hoping that the government will raise the depth of the spill and then surround the spill with barges.  Private industry could help in this recovery since they already have 5000 gallon auxiliary tanks. 

For information on cargo shipping out of the port of Houston, please contact pack n send at  713 266 1450.

Good news for economic outlook

Malaysia Airlines Cargo and Southern Air have announced that they have entered into a multi year aircraft lease agreement.

Why is this good for the United States ?   Maskargo had a nine year absence from the US market.  They now have a viable plan in place enter the United State through China.

This is a multi year deal. This shows their positive viewpoint that air freight volumes in both the Asia-Pacific and Americas is about to recover.

They want to restart flights to the United States of
America after a nine year absence. As quoted by on Sharma Suleiman , "After looking at the US market very carefully we can find a viable plan with Southern Air to enter the US through China.

Suleiman also stated "After a very comprehensive evaluation process, we have selected Southern Air to provide us with the freighter services capacity to meet our demands until the end of next year. As the air freight market has shown encouraging signs of growth in recent months, we are excited that we can offer our customers more value from our new partnership with Southern Air."

At this point the  project is through the end of next year.

Southern Air will provide, crews, maintenance, and aircraft.

With the announcement that  Fed Ex  agreed  to purchase six additional B777F air freighters for its fleet it looks as if the larges air- cargo airline in the world is viewing the current economic downturn as merely a temporary business environment.  Fed Ex will purchase four B777fs from Boeing. They are planning on purchasing two additional B777F air freights from additional sources.

Including this new order Fed Ex has placed orders for a total of thirty eight B777F aircraft.  Four of these have already been placed into service.

It looks like Fed Ex is taking a forward looking stance on the worldwide economy.  The Asia-Pacific and Americas regions appear to be the target areas for Fed Ex's optimistic views.

From our perspective, the orders placed over time, will give the worldwide economy time to heal and reboot before all of Fed Ex's orders are received.

In our business we have noticed a current decrease in air shipping, and an increase in cargo going both by cubic meters and via containerized shipments. Customers appear to still be very price conscious and wary about expending funds.

With two major companies announcing new air craft pack n send sees a very optimistic future in the  air freight shipping industry.

For more information on international shipping and freight shipping, please contact pack n send at 713 266 1450.