APL cargo volumes decrease dramatically

If you are still looking for evidence of global economic slowing, then look no further than today’s announcement from Neptune Orient Lines stating that APL’s container volumes for the last 6 weeks of 2008 were down 24 percent compared to the prior year. According to the company, APL moved 218,000 FEUs in the six week period compared with 288,600 during the same period in 2007.

It’s getting pretty grim out there.

Port of Long Beach to begin clean trucks fee on Feb. 18th

Well, it’s official, the Port of Long Beach announced on Wednesday that they will begin collecting the $35 per 20′ container Clean Trucks fee beginning February 18, 2009.

Via polb.com:

“It is imperative that we begin collecting the fees so we can move forward and achieve our clean-air goals,” said Richard D. Steinke. “The truck financing fee is a critical, long-planned part of our Clean Trucks Program to protect public health and improve air quality and security.”

The Clean Trucks Fee is expected to raise about $1 million a day or about $1 billion over the next few years at both San Pedro Bay ports to help finance the replacement of many of the 17,000 trucks that are a leading source of air pollution in Southern California.

Collection of the fee was originally schedule for last November but was delayed due to FMC review. Collection of the fees will go towards accelerating “the replacement of thousands of polluting cargo trucks”.

Ultimately, payment of the fee will be the responsibility of the cargo owner and must be paid prior to pulling a container from the port. Payment of the fee can be be processed via credit card or electronics fund transfer through the official website at www.portcheck.org.

For additional information you can access the official announcement from the Port of Long Beach here.

2009 Top 10 Freest Economies : Heritage Foundation Report

The Heritage Foundation in conjunction with The Wall Street Journal has released their 2009 Index of Economic Freedom report. The report covers 183 countries across 10 specific freedoms such as Business Freedom, Trade Freedom, Fiscal Freedom, Government Size, Monetary Freedom, Investment Freedom, Financial Freedom, Property Rights, Freedom from Corruption, and Labour Freedom.

For the 15th year in a row the freest economy belongs to Hong Kong. Here are the top 10:

1. Hong Kong
2. Singapore
3. Australia
4. Ireland
5. New Zealand
6. United States
7. Canada
8. Denmark
9. Switzerland
10. United Kingdom

The United States dropped a spot in the rankings this year. I was not surprised (although disappointed) to see the United States scores for government size and fiscal freedom below the average. Here is what the report had to say about the U.S. in terms of fiscal freedom:

U.S. tax rates are burdensome. Both the top income tax rate and the top corporate tax rate are 35 percent. Other taxes include a property tax, an estate tax, and excise taxes, and additional income and sales taxes are assessed at the state and local levels. In the most recent year, overall tax revenue as a percentage of GDP was 28.2 percent.

The bottom 5 countries (no real surprise) were as follows:

175. Eritrea
176. Burma
177. Cuba
178. Zimbabwe
179. North Korea

You can access the complete list of countries here.

CBP 10+2 ISF 2009 Outreach Schedule

With the start date of DHS’ 10+2 security filing rapidly approaching, CBP is hosting trade outreach events in various cities across the country. The events are designed to provide the global trade community with additional information regarding the new Importer Security Filing and Additional Carrier Requirements (10+2) as well as provide a basic understanding of how to fulfill the new requirements. The start date of January 26, 2009 is rapidly approaching so if you live in one of the below cities and are still a little unsure of what to expect, register for one the events here at the CBP’s website.

Cities scheduled for January:

Oakland/Burlingame, CA – Wednesday January 14, 2009

Baltimore, MD – Thursday January 22, 2009

Philadelphia, PA – Friday January 23,2009

Charleston, SC – Wednesday January 28, 2009

Savannah, GA – Thursday January 29, 2009

Cities scheduled for February:

Houston, TX – Wednesday,February 4th, 2009

JFK Area, NY – Thursday, February 5th, 2009

I would also suggest (if you haven’t already) checking with your freight forwarder, customs broker, or anyone else you have designated to handle your ISF filings for specific information on how they plan to comply with the new requirements.

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