Japan’s biggest shipping line Nippon Yusen KK and Nippon Oil Corp have confirmed they are working to install solar panels on top of a 60,000 tonne car carried intended for use by auto giant Toyota.

Solar panels have been used on container ships before to generate power for auxiliary systems, but the new 40KW array is expected to represent the first time the sun’s energy has been harnessed to help drive a ship’s engines.

I wonder, if once completed, they will immediately implement a solar surcharge.

Post from: 3PLwire

Solar powered cargo

Share This

With the price of crude oil recently down from it’s high of $140 per barrel, the cost of gasoline now just under $4.00 per gallon, and the price of jet fuel causing airlines to jettison aircraft, reduce jobs, and eliminate unprofitable lanes, at what point will high energy prices cause companies who outsource manufacturing to offshore locations start bringing manufacturing back closer to home?

According to a report by MIT’s David Simchi-Levi, the tipping point for many companies to start looking at “nearshoring” is directly tied into the price of oil. Once oil reaches a certain threshold, companies may benefit by sourcing closer to home. Although the manufacturing unit costs are in many cases higher, those costs are offset by the increased shipping costs from offshore locations.

Many of the customers I currently deal with are still manufacturing all or at least a great majority of their products in China, especially those companies dealing in retail goods. However, over the past couple of months I have seen a slight increase in companies requesting quotes for transportation out of Mexico and South America. These companies are mostly looking to benchmark South America based supply chains and the corresponding total landed cost of goods with their current China based supply chain.

Drop us a comment and let us know if the high cost of fuel has warranted a look into “nearshoring” options within your company. We would be interested to know.

Post from: 3PLwire

The high cost of fuel - The tipping point

Share This

For me, today was that day. I love logistics and have made it my career, however today it was the last thing I wanted to do. I don’t know if it was the recent string of customer complaints, dealing with endless billing issues, the conference calls, and meetings that did me in, but today I was bored with freight…Anyone else ever have those days?

Back at it again tomorrow.

Post from: 3PLwire

Bored with freight?

Share This

The ranking criteria for the 3PL category is based on a number of factors including the following:

1. Carrier Selection/Negotiation
2. Order Fulfillment
3. Transportation Distribution
4. Inventory Management
5. Logistics Information Systems

Each company receives a ranking in each of the above areas and then an overall weighted average is given. This year in the 3PL category, Unyson Logistics took the top spot with a weighted average of 38.31, just edging out Expeditors score of 38.14. I guess the most surprising item about this year’s results was that Unyson Logistics didn’t even make the list in 2007.

I still have no idea who they are, but according to this report, I probably should.

Post from: 3PLwire

Who is Unyson Logistics?

Share This

Via Traffic World:

Total box volume in July fell 2.54 percent at the LA port to 698,159 TEUs - a standardized measure for variable-sized containers as twenty-foot-equivalent units.

Outbound loads of U.S. exports jumped 34 percent to 173,650 TEUs, but the number of empty boxes - which even a year ago outpaced export loads — plunged 23 percent to 157,012. The dominant category of loaded import containers shrank nearly 4 percent to 367,496.

Long Beach docks handled 563,703 TEUs last month, down 12.9 percent from July 2007,
as the volume of loaded inbound boxes dropped by 18 percent to 272,350 TEUs.

Like at neighboring Los Angeles, outbound loads now top the number of empties moving through Long Beach. Exports rose 13.5 percent to 153,364 TEUs and empties dropped 23 percent to 137,989.

Post from: 3PLwire

LA and Long Beach Container Volumes Down

Share This

Via Drewy:

This excludes any business moving within its confines on a feeder basis which are bound for markets such as Europe, the US and South America. With China acting as a regional resource centre and with new free-trade deals emerging, there seems little doubt that the intra-Asian trades will continue to grow at a robust pace in the short to mid-term.

Post from: 3PLwire

Intra-Asian container trade booming

Share This