Industry Insights

Hurricane Hermine has deepwater seaports in the southeastern U.S. bracing for severe weather, causing the Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) to close its facilities in Savannah and Brunswick, according to an alert issued by American Shipper. The Jacksonville Port Authority may shut down operations at all Jaxport terminals Friday, Sept. 2, 2016, as well. The National Weather Service upgraded Hurricane Hermine earlier today from a tropical storm to a Category 1 hurricane. The storm is expected to bring heavy rains and maximum sustained winds of around 75 miles per hour when it reaches northeast Florida and southern Georgia later tonight, according to […]

Hanjin Shipping Officially Sunk, Declared Bankrupt February 16, 2017 A South Korean court on Friday pulled the plug on Hanjin Shipping Co., declaring it bankrupt and ordering the liquidation of a company that has led the country’s shipping industry for the past four decades. The bankruptcy comes five months after the company, which was once one of the largest container-shipping lines in the world, filed for court receivership under heavy debt. A court-appointed caretaker will sell any remaining ships and other assets Hanjin still owns to pay off its creditors, said Choi Ung-young, a judge on the Seoul Central District […]

The Zika virus, primarily transmitted by a yellow fever mosquito, was first discovered in 1947 in the Zika forest in Uganda, but it didn’t make headline news until last year when a mysterious rash-causing illness began spreading across northeastern states in Brazil. Within months there was a sudden surge in microcephaly in infants in Brazil — a congenital disorder in which a baby is born with an underdeveloped brain and abnormally small head. By the end of December, Brazil had reported nearly 3,000 cases of microcephaly, and in early 2016, Puerto Rico reported its first case. Now, the Zika virus […]

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) recently updated its 2016 Atlantic Hurricane Season Outlook, calling for a higher likelihood of a near-normal or above-normal season. In fact, the season, which runs from June through the end of November, is expected to be the most active since 2012. According to NOAA forecasters, we should expect a 70% chance of 12 to 17 named storms, of which 5 to 8 are expected to become hurricanes, including 2 to 4 major hurricanes. The seasonal averages are 12 named storms, 6 hurricanes and 3 major hurricanes. Is your logistics firm prepared for a […]

Earlier this year reports of international rings targeting California’s booming agriculture industry and increasingly stealing truckloads of high-value nuts made front-page news. In fact, in 2015 California nut shipment thefts totaled losses of $4.6 million with 31 cases reported. Indeed food and beverages have replaced electronics as the most-stolen goods in the U.S., with losses in this category totaling $3.81 million in the second quarter of 2016, according to CargoNet. Why is food, particularly nuts, such a hot commodity for criminals? Nuts are expensive, they have a long shelf life, and they don’t have serial numbers necessary to track or […]

July 23, 2016 July 23 is next in CBP’s series of deadlines for filing cargo release and entry summary information in ACE. On that date, CBP will require entry types 02, 07, 12, 21, 22, 31, 32, 34 and 38 filings to be made in ACE. While some PGA data sets are not ready for ACE, the CBP portion is still required to be filed in ACE. For practical purposes, this means that all Activity Code 1 single transaction bonds will be eBonds by July 23 and not be submitted on Form 301 (by paper or email). eBond STBs must […]