World Trade - October 2008 - (Page 44) LOGISTICS Devil BETWEEN THE AND THE Deep Freight volumes are down, fees are up, yet West Coast shippers and ports see hope on the horizon. BY LARA L. SOWINSKI T his year’s peak shipping season will likely go down as one of the most lackluster in recent years. Not surprisingly, the nation’s retailers have reported dismal back-to-school sales and holiday sales aren’t expected to be much different. At the same time, shippers are being hit with a bevy of new fees—higher fuel surcharges, environmental and infrastructure fees on containerized shipments—at a most inopportune time. Shipping lines, too, are seeing a drop in profits and have scrambled to adjust capacity on trade lanes and even slow down vessel speeds to help trim costs. While the present situation is decidedly bleak, the long-term outlook is hopeful. Treading water on the West Coast The major box ports along the U.S. West Coast have encountered increased competition from seaports along the East Coast in the past few years, but because imports were generally up across the board, there was plenty for 44 WORLD TRADE OCTOBER 2008 everyone. Furthermore, West Coast ports had an edge in transit times from Asia and could accommodate postPanamax vessels. But, several key developments are beginning to change the picture. The first is the longshoremen’s labor union. The 2008 contract negotiations and resulting agreement went fairly smoothly this year. And while most everyone breathed a sigh of relief that they were spared from any damaging slowdowns or work stoppages, experts say the new contract lacks the necessary provisions to help make West Coast ports more able to compete in the changing marketplace. For one, the effort by employers to include two 10-hour work shifts per day to improve loading and off-loading of the new 8,000-TEU vessels was scuttled. Employers also had to accept the International Longshore and Warehouse Union’s so-called “unit” coffee breaks that shut down marine terminals for 15 to 30 minutes
Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of World Trade - October 2008 World Trade - October 2008 Contents Tune Up Your Supply Chain Globalization: The Real Competitive Threat Supply Chain Watch Tradewinds Shippers and Providers Collaborate to Take on a Challenging Economy Tweaking the Supply Chain to Optimize Value and Minimize Cost Supply Chain Software Morphs Into Enterprise Management Can Warehousing Really, Truly Be Strategic? Everybody is Global Between the Devil and the Deep The Hidden Costs of ‘Free’ Translation Blowing Smoke World Trade - October 2008 World Trade - October 2008 - (Page Intro) World Trade - October 2008 - World Trade - October 2008 (Page Cover1) World Trade - October 2008 - World Trade - October 2008 (Page Cover2) World Trade - October 2008 - World Trade - October 2008 (Page 3) World Trade - October 2008 - World Trade - October 2008 (Page 4) World Trade - October 2008 - Contents (Page 5) World Trade - October 2008 - Contents (Page 6) World Trade - October 2008 - Tune Up Your Supply Chain (Page 7) World Trade - October 2008 - Globalization: The Real Competitive Threat (Page 8) World Trade - October 2008 - Globalization: The Real Competitive Threat (Page 9) World Trade - October 2008 - Supply Chain Watch (Page 10) World Trade - October 2008 - Supply Chain Watch (Page 11) World Trade - October 2008 - Tradewinds (Page 12) World Trade - October 2008 - Tradewinds (Page 13) World Trade - October 2008 - Tradewinds (Page 14) World Trade - October 2008 - Tradewinds (Page 15) World Trade - October 2008 - Tradewinds (Page 16) World Trade - October 2008 - Tradewinds (Page 17) World Trade - October 2008 - Tradewinds (Page 18) World Trade - October 2008 - Tradewinds (Page 19) World Trade - October 2008 - Shippers and Providers Collaborate to Take on a Challenging Economy (Page 20) World Trade - October 2008 - Shippers and Providers Collaborate to Take on a Challenging Economy (Page 21) World Trade - October 2008 - Shippers and Providers Collaborate to Take on a Challenging Economy (Page 22) World Trade - October 2008 - Shippers and Providers Collaborate to Take on a Challenging Economy (Page 23) World Trade - October 2008 - Tweaking the Supply Chain to Optimize Value and Minimize Cost (Page 24) World Trade - October 2008 - Tweaking the Supply Chain to Optimize Value and Minimize Cost (Page 25) World Trade - October 2008 - Tweaking the Supply Chain to Optimize Value and Minimize Cost (Page 26) World Trade - October 2008 - Tweaking the Supply Chain to Optimize Value and Minimize Cost (Page 27) World Trade - October 2008 - Tweaking the Supply Chain to Optimize Value and Minimize Cost (Page 28) World Trade - October 2008 - Tweaking the Supply Chain to Optimize Value and Minimize Cost (Page 29) World Trade - October 2008 - Supply Chain Software Morphs Into Enterprise Management (Page 30) World Trade - October 2008 - Supply Chain Software Morphs Into Enterprise Management (Page 31) World Trade - October 2008 - Supply Chain Software Morphs Into Enterprise Management (Page 32) World Trade - October 2008 - Supply Chain Software Morphs Into Enterprise Management (Page 33) World Trade - October 2008 - Supply Chain Software Morphs Into Enterprise Management (Page 34) World Trade - October 2008 - Supply Chain Software Morphs Into Enterprise Management (Page 35) World Trade - October 2008 - Can Warehousing Really, Truly Be Strategic? (Page 36) World Trade - October 2008 - Can Warehousing Really, Truly Be Strategic? (Page 37) World Trade - October 2008 - Can Warehousing Really, Truly Be Strategic? (Page 38) World Trade - October 2008 - Everybody is Global (Page 39) World Trade - October 2008 - Everybody is Global (Page 40) World Trade - October 2008 - Everybody is Global (Page 41) World Trade - October 2008 - Everybody is Global (Page 42) World Trade - October 2008 - Everybody is Global (Page 43) World Trade - October 2008 - Between the Devil and the Deep (Page 44) World Trade - October 2008 - Between the Devil and the Deep (Page 45) World Trade - October 2008 - Between the Devil and the Deep (Page 46) World Trade - October 2008 - Between the Devil and the Deep (Page 47) World Trade - October 2008 - The Hidden Costs of ‘Free’ Translation (Page 48) World Trade - October 2008 - The Hidden Costs of ‘Free’ Translation (Page 49) World Trade - October 2008 - The Hidden Costs of ‘Free’ Translation (Page 50) World Trade - October 2008 - The Hidden Costs of ‘Free’ Translation (Page 51) World Trade - October 2008 - The Hidden Costs of ‘Free’ Translation (Page 52) World Trade - October 2008 - The Hidden Costs of ‘Free’ Translation (Page 53) World Trade - October 2008 - Blowing Smoke (Page 54) World Trade - October 2008 - Blowing Smoke (Page Cover3) World Trade - October 2008 - Blowing Smoke (Page Cover4)
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