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3PLwire - More Than Just a Blog?

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We apologize if you were unable to access our site during that time.

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…And we’re back!

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Midmarket ERP Solutions Buyer\’s Guide
5 Ways ERP Can Help You Implement Lean
Supply Chain Digest

No credit cards, coupons, or promo codes required. Try it today!

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Logistics Magazines

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The plan includes a road map for raising $520 million over several years. Approximately $350 million would come from per-container fees that would be assessed on ocean carriers along with matching government funds. The remaining $170 million would come from bonds approved by California voters in November 2006.

Along with other pollution mitigation, the money would be used to replace or retrofit approximately 1,900 older polluting diesel trucks and to rebuild the Seventh Street rail crossings at the heart of the port.

Emphasis ours. Sound familiar? As expected, the per-container-fee and the prospect of another nightmare if local authorities try to force the port trucking industry into the hands of the Teamsters has local port customers nervous:

The possibility of container fees and a proposal to restructure the harbor trucking industry sets up a struggle with port customers and probably will mean litigation.

Late Monday, 54 companies, including Gap Inc., Levi Strauss. J.C. Penney and Target Corp., as well as trade associations, wrote Oakland Mayor Ronald Dellums saying the proposals violate state and federal law and impose an unfair burden on those moving goods by container.

It’s important to note that this is all still in the beginning stages and that the port is merely “considering” a set of goals to work with. Nonetheless, while clean air is a goal that I believe everyone involved with the port shares, they should learn from the current mess that our neighbors down south are currently involved in and heed the words of the Pacific Merchant Shipping Assocation:

The Pacific Merchant Shipping Association, which represents the ocean carriers and terminal operators that are tenants of the West Coast ports, urged commissioners in a letter Monday to be cautious about imposing container fees due to competition with other ports.

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Clean Air Program: First Los Angeles / Long Beach, now Oakland

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Looking for potential ways to avoid paying the carbon taxes that might be coming our way in the near future? Well, according to an article I just read on CNN Money, outsourcing more supply chain components to a 3PL might be the way to go.

“Regional third party logistics providers inherently help reduce emissions for businesses by consolidating freight and running efficient routes,” said Brian Flood, President of Last Mile Logistics Group (OTCBB: LMLG). “Since we’re already out on the road delivering goods to other clients in the area, using a 3PL company to outsource local transportation will reduce the carbon footprint of a business measurably.

The greening of the supply chain is definitely here to stay. It will be interesting to see how 3PL companies begin to position themselves as the leaders in all things green.

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Reduce Your Logistics Carbon Footprint

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1. Chicago: O’Hare
2. Newark, NJ: Newark Liberty International
3. San Francisco: San Francisco International
4. Dallas/Ft. Worth: Dallas/Ft. Worth International
5. Miami: Miami International

No surprise with O’Hare at number 1. It’s been awhile since I’ve flown in or out of Newark but I’ve never had any problems there. I was very surprised by SFO at #3, but then again I primarily fly international out of SFO, not domestic, and my colleagues who live there claim domestically it can get pretty bad. I’ve had mixed experiences with Dallas and have never flown through Miami.

Scrolling through the list it’s not too surprising that the nation’s major metropolitan “legacy” airports fared the worst while the smaller, secondary airports , which are more likely to be serviced by budget airlines and smaller planes, fared better. Anyways, head on over to their site and check out the entire list, pretty interesting.

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America’s Airports “Misery Index”

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Welcome to the all new 3PLwire.com!

We are now entering our third year here at 3PLwire and are looking forward to another great year in 2008. 2007 was a banner year for us; we completed our second full year, our readership doubled, and we were featured in an article in industry leading Inbound Logistics magazine.

In addition to the site re-design (we hope you like it), we will also be adding a variety of new features over the coming months.

Coming in 2008

1. Logistics Forum
2. Logistics Roundtables
3. Company Spotlights
4. Parcel Tracking

And a few surprises…

As always, we will continue to bring you the latest in third party logistics trends, news, and information, so check back often daily and subscribe to our feed to have the latest 3PLwire articles delivered directly to your inbox.

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Welcome to 3PLwire.com

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The property, owned by GATX, was formerly used for tank farms. But it’s now empty and will lkely will be used for other purposes such as condominium development if the port does not acquire the land, he said.
The port’s container terminals will reach maximum capacity in 12 to 18 months, Devine claimed.
Devine said NYCT is the only terminal in the port with contiguous land that could be used for expansion. Development of that 38-acre property could enable NYCT to handle an additional 350,000 containers a year, he said.

Still, as Jamie Simpson of GHK consultants said:

“Improving productivity is the way you make money, not by pouring concrete,”

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NY Container Terminal pushed to increase acreage

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During the Seattle WTO protests, in 1999, the phrase “Turtles & Teamsters, Together At Last” jumped from protest sign to guiding philosophy. It symbolically described hundreds of thousands Sierra Club activists (who dressed as sea turtles) and union members who marched to demand that human and environmental concerns be included in discussions of global Free Trade regimes. “Turtles & Teamsters” also put a name to the increasingly common alliances between environmentalists and labor unions, which were no longer willing to accept that protecting the environment and jobs were mutually exclusive conditions. That potent alliance has formed around the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, and offers both hope and dangers.

In August 2006 Teamster reps told me the Brotherhood “basically got kicked out of the ports when the trucking industry was deregulated and hiring owner-operators became the standard MO for the industry. The Teamsters ominously said that they were already laying to ground work to reorganize drayage drivers and ‘we’ll be back’.” (LBP 10/19/2006) The following October, Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed a bill that would have granted collective bargaining rights to drayage drivers, for the second year in a row. (ibid)

The March 29th edition of the Daily Breeze showed a mob of owner-operators at a Coalition for Clean and Safe Ports rally. Careful observers noted that each of the enthusiastic port truck drivers wore a green fleece with a Teamsters’ emblem on the breast, but that not one of them was legally allowed to join the union.

It’s the irony in that picture that forshadows an explosive political conflict in the coming months and years. The CCSP has proposed that the Ports limit access to pre-approved companies and their employees, a local-level policy change which would make an end-run around Sacramento. The change would radically alter the labor relations by ending the ‘independent contracting’, provide a mechanism for enforcing vehicle efficiency upgrades and shore up TSA security initiatives. It would also inevitably (and substantially) raise the cost of moving freight, which means the world’s largest retailers and manufacturers will not be gentle.

In the short term, shippers will probably be able to keep the Ports from implementing the CCSP’s proposals, but it comes with a risk. Teamsters are famous for their militancy and port truckers have been known to stage their own independent direct actions (i.e. shutting down the I-5 with a single abandoned truck). This is the beginning of an election cycle which many expect to obliterate the Republican Party, and an energized Democratic Party is looking at every conceivable cause to grow and activate its base. Allowing tens of thousands of immigrant truck drivers to unionize will be an easy issue support for Democratic insurgents, and an easy campaign promise to deliver once in power.

Toeing the line and refusing to negotiate has been a reliable breakwater for businesses and shippers keep down costs. Logistics industry insiders, however, predict a ‘Perfect Storm’ in 2008 and truckers in Long Beach may contribute to the tsunami which threatens to wipe out the deregulated transportation industry of the last 20 years.

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Teamsters and Turtles

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