In a potential breakthrough for Pacific Coast labor peace, the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) announced that it will begin discussions with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) to extend the current PMA/ILWU contract which expires in 2019.

The British International Freight Association recently supported the latest challenge by UK shippers against ocean freight surcharges. For years the Global Shippers Forum, National Industrial Transportation League and the ESC have also been complaining about carrier surcharges on behalf of their members. Let’s examine some of these charges, consider why they were enacted and see if they have any merit.

With new vehicle sales and production in North America still running at record levels, the region’s vehicle-handling ports are running out of room. Larger vessels, sometimes arriving in bunches, are putting more pressure on terminals and yard space. Land for expansion, meanwhile, is hotly contested because port authorities have competing claims on its use, whether with the much larger container trade, or with real estate developers keen to invest in waterfront property.

The Asian Longhorn, native to China and other Asian countries, was now threatening the mass destruction of trees almost seven thousand miles away. It was inconceivable! How could this happen?

Former Republican Congresswoman Helen Bentley, who died on August 6that the age of 92 years old, was a leading proponent of the U.S. Merchant Marine, the Jones Act, the Port of Baltimore and an outspoken opponent of U.S. trade deals that she believed outsourced U.S. jobs and technology.

The E-commerce giant Amazon is set to unveil the latest phase in its logistics program.

In 2006 the ports of L.A. and Long Beach in conjunction with the California Air Resource Board (CARB) began working on a comprehensive plan to improve air quality in the region.

Port Saint John officials have announced a lease agreement with DP World for the operation of its container terminal within the context of the largest private and public sector investment in the New Brunswick port in decades. This means that starting on January 1, 2017, DP World will replace Logistec Corporation, which has been managing the Rodney Container Terminal for 20 years.

The second quarter of 2016 saw the emergence of the new “Ocean Alliance” in the wake of CMA’s purchase of APL and an operating agreement with OOCL, COSCO and Evergreen.

Last week “The Citizen” announced that China’s EXIM Bank has secured a $7.6 billion loan to upgrade the Central Railway Line in Tanzania from narrow to standard gauge.