Articles

Rail

Star Search: Discovering the Best Site for Your Business

Star Search: Discovering the Best Site for Your Business

Finding the right site for your new manufacturing plant or distribution facility isn’t an overnight sensation. You have to pay your dues by investigating infrastructure, quality of life issues, utilities and taxes, and more. These locations deliver the goods.

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Negotiating Rail Freight Rates

The best way to improve railroad contract negotiations is to understand the market and the opportunities to increase competition for your traffic. Jay Roman, president of Escalation Consultants Inc., Gaithersburg, Md., offers the following advice for reducing rail freight rates. 1. Shake off the rail monopoly power syndrome. Shippers sometimes hesitate to try to reduce […]

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Global Logistics—August 2014

Global Logistics—August 2014

European Ports Stuffed with Congestion A summer labor shortage and longer processing time for larger ships is creating congestion around European port cities and forcing ocean carriers to levy surcharges on tardy shippers. Europe’s top ports — Rotterdam, Antwerp, and Hamburg — are among several cities dealing with congestion issues. Europe is constrained by space, […]

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Dr. Abdullatif “Bud” Zaouk

Networked Track Sensors Keep Rails and Workers Safe

The current state of rail integrity and safety is a critical issue for logistics managers who increasingly rely on intermodal transportation. Intermodal rail traffic has significantly increased during the past two decades, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. In addition to increased rail traffic, aging infrastructure complicate intermodal shipping. In 2011, the Federal Railroad […]

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Global Logistics—April 2014

Global Logistics—April 2014

U.S. Creates ‘Single Window’ for Import/Export Data Transmission The U.S. government has always been light years behind the private sector in technology innovation and implementation. So President Barack Obama’s executive order to streamline U.S. import and export documentation shines a ray of light on the trade community as the government emerges from the Dark Ages […]

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Trends—February 2014

Trends—February 2014

Canadian Pacific: All Aboard the Profit Train Canadian Pacific Railway‘s renaissance under the tutelage of CEO Hunter Harrison continues unabated. After the veteran railroader’s first full year in charge, the Calgary, Alberta-based railroad posted high-water marks in 2013—despite disruptive spring floods . Canadian Pacific reported total record revenue of $6.1 billion in 2013, with net […]

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Global Logistics—November 2013

Global Logistics—November 2013

Aviation Climate Emissions Agreement Flies Forward The October 2013 agreement by 191 countries at the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) general assembly in Montreal, which will develop a global market-based measure for aviation emissions by 2020, is a major breakthrough in the development of global standards for the industry. Under terms of the resolution, governments […]

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