Logistics infrastructure has been identified as a key driver of development in Morocco, and the King has given the go-ahead for substantial investment in two major logistics projects. One of the projects is a road connecting the port of Casablanca to its hinterland, to facilitate the transit of freight traffic. The other is the creation [...]

A new logistics centre will be built in the vicinity of Heilbronn, selected for its strategic location on the A81 transport corridor.  The new centre will be controlled by Stuttgart in Baden-Wurttemberg and will handle freight from all over Europe. Construction should begin in early summer 2012. The new terminal will employ around 450 employees [...]

An international cold chain conference, Cool logistics Global 2012, will be held in Antwerp from 24 – 26 September. One of the main topics of discussion will be how to keep the integrity of the supply chain for perishable goods in Latin America, China and India. Representative of the transport and storage sector will be [...]

The Manchester Ship Canal is being developed as a logistics hub, in order to minimise costs and Carbon emissions.  So far, freight containers have been shipped on barges, but last week a tanker of chemicals was loaded on to a barge and shipped to Runcorn. This shipping mode is ideal for heavy and over-sized cargo, [...]

Last year Transport Minister Mike Penn, gave his unequivocal support to the Freight Transport Association’s (FTA) Logistics Carbon Reduction Schemes. This week, Transport for London launches its Anti Idling and Fuel Management campaign for commercial vehicles. The Department for Transport wants to encourage change in road haulage in the UK , with the increased use of electric vehicles [...]

A new multi modal logistics park is planned for the port of Marseilles in Southern France.  It will be developed over the next five years and will be situated less than 15 km from the existing Fos freight container terminals. Construction may begin early next year, and there will a strong emphasis on building temperature-controlled [...]

Lloyds of London Maritime Academy is offering a new distance learning course covering all aspects of container shipping. The course examines the commercial, technical and operational aspects of the liner shipping industry and is ideal for people working for shipping lines. It would also be especially beneficial to personnel engaged in the wider container logistics [...]

FIATA, the international organisation representing freight forwarders throughout the world, is holding its annual conference this year in Los Angeles.  Billed as the ‘premier event for the international freight forwarding community’ the conference will take place in California in the second largest city, of the world’s largest trading nation.

The fifth year of Multimodal will take place in Birmingham from 1 to 3 May. There will be a wide spectrum of exhibitors from 3PL Logistics providers and freight forwarders to international hauliers and rail service providers. The British International Freight Association will be exhibiting; last year over 4000 visitors attended, 88% of whom were [...]

According to the Scotsman newspaper, 44% of the current employees in the logistics industry are older than 45.  Introducing young people to freight and logistics by way of the apprenticeship scheme is seen as vital, as the sector is expecting demand for as many as 500 000 new workers over the coming years.

The Chartered Institue of Logisitics and Transport has cautiously welcomed Government’s plans to consult on charging foreign freight lorries using UK roads. The Institute says that this would help the competitiveness of the UK freight and logistics industry and prepare for a new way of taxing commercial vehicles.   It hopes for a fairer system [...]

This Trade Fair for the logistics, freight, transport and packaging industries will meet in Helsinki from 9 – 12 June 2012.  Service providers in manufacturing, commerce and freight and logistics sectors will be able to meet decision makers, users and providers.

London Gateway port, currently under construction 40 km east of London, will be the United Kingdom’s newest deep-sea container port combined with one of Europe’s largest logistics parks. The port is hoping to attract at least 70 percent of containers arriving from China. With a capacity of 3.5 million TEU the port will be almost [...]

The Government’s Logistics Growth review, published at the end of last month emphasised the importance of the logstics industry working with local authorities to promote the use low-carbon, low emission freight vehicles. The Government has set aside £8 million to pump prime the procurement of low emission HGV technologies and their supporting infrastructure. In addition [...]

Nominations for the MAN Everywoman in Transport and Logistics Awards close on 13 February. One in eight people work within the transport and logistics industry (source: Skills for Logistics), so this is an opportunity to champion role models and show other women what vast opportunity there is in this diverse industry. Launched in 2008 the [...]

A major tyre supplier will be the first company to set up its operations in the new Tankgatan logistics area adjacent to the port of Gothenburg in Sweden. Companies linked to logistics and port operations are in the process of establishing business operations at Tankgatan and the tyre and wheel supplier is a market leader, importing around [...]

The Nord Pas de Calais is set to become a key logistics hub for Northern Europe.  The development agency is supporting a project to transform the region, although many major logistics companies are already located here. With a high speed rail freight connection to the UK at Lille, and its location next to the sea, [...]

The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport has welcomed the news that the Department of Transport will allow trials of longer trailers for articulated freight lorries. The Institute says that longer trailers could reduce the road miles for high volume light weight goods which could help to reduce carbon emissions, reduce accident rates and lower [...]

The FTA has told the European Commissioner Siim Kallas that the proposed four meter height restriction on freight trailers should be withdrawn. They said that a four meter height limit will have a “catastrophic impact” on many logistics contracts. The efficiencies which have been achieved through the use of high-cube trailers in the UK would potentially [...]

As well as giving substantial donations to help people affected by the floods, a major shipping line operating in Asia will provide free transprot of relief supplies. They have also supplied shipping containers to act as a flood barrier. Another shipping and logistics operator has provided free containerised transport of relief supplies and rescue boats [...]

Intermodal Europe, featuring a free to attend conference and exhibition, is returning to Hamburg on 29 November – 2 December 2011.  It is expected to attract key decision makers from some of the world’s leading shipping lines, cargo owners, freight forwarders and logistics operators. Visitors will also be able to attend a series of free high-level [...]

An International Conference and Exhibition on Logistics and Supply Chain Management is planned for 1 November at Hotel Lahore.  It is being jointly organised by Pakistan International Freight Forwarders Association, Air Cargo Agents Association of Pakistan and the Publicity Channel. The aims and objectives are to promote reforms in the sector, and to the discuss latest [...]

This month sees the opening of a new 41 000 square metre logistics centre in Wiel am Rhein in south Germany.  30,000 EURO pallets can be stored at the same time and 18,000 square metres of floor space is available for storing small freight. There are 35 loading bays. 60% of the space has already been contracted; [...]

Chesterfield College is now offering logistics training at its specialised logistics centre.  There is a 40 seat conference centre and classrooms, together with a dedicated forklift training facility. The centre has been developed in conjunction with the Coalfields Regeneration Trust, and it is hoped that it will help support the development of the East Midlands [...]

London Gateway sea port and logistics park will open in the fourth quarter of 2013, the developer said on 4 October.  An extra 1000 jobs will be added to the economy during the coming months, but in total the project is expected to create 36 000 jobs. The project will provide a world class international freight [...]

Intermodal Europe will take place in Hamburg, Germany from 29 November to 1 December 2011.  Focussed on Logistics and Container Shipping by road, air and sea, you can either visit the Fair free of charge, or take a stand in the exhibition hall.  The Conference, covering subjects such as intermodal innovation, the role of rail [...]

The Paris Council is intending to impose restrictions on car-carrying road trailers, with a view to banning them completely by 2016. In response to this policy, the Compagnie Fluviale de Transport of France has announced a new barge service on the Seine for the delivery of new vehicles to car dealerships and car rental firms. [...]

A joint venture between a consortium of three German universities and the United Arab Emirates Higher Colleges of Technology has launched a logistics college in Abu Dhabi.  The Gulf region has an ever increasing need for logistics experts, and the new college will offer a four year Bachelor of Engineering (Logistics) course plus a Masters [...]

The Freight Transport Association is warning that temperature controlled logistics providers need to be planning now with their customers to make sure that supplies continue during the Olympics.  A recent FTA survey suggested that fewer than 5% of respondents felt totally prepared to deal with the inevitable disruption.  Many claimed to have no knowledge of [...]

A new base in Parsdorf near Munich will forward containers arriving by train from Hamburg for delivery of the cargo by road in the Munich area.  The new base forms part of the strategy to organise regional forwarding of shipping containers which have arrived at the North European sea ports within the different regions of [...]

Totally Logistics North will take place at Doncaster Racecourse on 28 and 29 September.  As well as an exhibition hall, featuring stands with handling companies, computer suppliers, freight forwarders, specialist software and shipping companies, there will be a schedule of seminars on topics of interest to the industry.

A report issued jointly by a shipping consultancy and the Bremen Institue of Shipping Economics and Logistics, warns that freight rates will remain low next year unless carriers reduce the amount of capacity available. The report suggests that shipping volumes will be flat in December with any increase well below those of 2010. The report [...]

Emerging markets will become more and more important in the global economy, as countries like India and China report growth rates of around 10%, in sharp contrast to the developed Western economies.  The CEO of Agility Europe wrote in the journal of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport that logistics providers need to re-examine [...]

The Scottish Government and Transport Scotland plans to announce proposals which should keep freight and passengers mowing in the event of a freeze.  Large sections of the country were at a standstill last winter, leading to frustration for motorists and disruption of the logistics supply chain. Measures may include stacking lorries at the side of [...]

The Freight Transport Association will be inaugerating a national Logistics Day on 14 November 2012.  This is an attempt to increase the profile of the logistics industry which is essential to our commercial well-being; and industry which is largely unrecognised by society. The FTA wants to increase awareness of what the logistics and freight industry [...]

The Road Haulage Association has protested about the unfairness of the differences in fuel prices for consumers and freight operators.  While supermarkets have reduced the pump price in the wake of the reduction of crude oil prices. road hauliers, logistics operators and freight companies cannot take advantage of cheaper prices. Supermarkets have reduced their prices [...]

The port of Tilbury has submitted plans for an extension of about 26 hectares.  The port was built in the 1880′s by the East and West India dock company, and has continued to adapt to changing shipping methods.  It is now Britain’s third largest container port. Concentrating on port-centric processes, Tilbury is expanding to meet [...]

The Haven Gateway area, which includes the ports of Felixstowe, Harwich and Ipswich is developing a Low Carbon Freight project which will pay SME’s a dividend of up to 30% for moving their freight from truck to train. It is hoped that the project will cause about 30 000 freight containers to switch from road [...]

The logistics industry has inevitably been hit by the riots which disrupted towns and cities on three nights earlier this week. A 20 000 sq metre distribution centre in Enfield, north London, was set on fire just before midnight on Monday.  The building was completely destroyed. Several major retailers closed stores early on police advice [...]

September will see the official launch of what will be one of the largest logistics hubs in Europe. The hub will be developed in the Turqurie industrial zone, which runs between the port of Calais and the Channel Tunnel along the Calais to Dunkirk railway line. It is hoped that the project will attract up [...]

A survey published by the Freight Transport Association has revealed that most of its respondents are completely unprepared for the disruption to collections and deliveries which will be caused by the Olympic Games.  Around a third of respondents claimed that they had ‘no knowledge’ of how the Olympic Route Network or Games Lanes will operate. [...]

The Freight Transport Association has voiced concerns that the European Commission has suggested the UK should conform to the minimum trailer height of Europe.  The standard allowance of four metres for all new freight trailers would mean that some of the trailers used within the postal, bakery and retail sectors would be outlawed. The FTA [...]

New research from Barclays Corporate and Grant Thornton suggest that more consolidation should be expected in the UK logistics sector.  Most of the country’s major logistics operators are foreign-owned; overseas ownership of the top 50 companies has increased to 52% over the past five years. The research suggested that the majority of respondents think merger [...]

Freight companies in Ireland are refusing to use the tunnel under the river Shannon in Limerick, as the tolls are too high.  Since the tunnel opened last July, the private operator has seen a shortfall in usage, and has been compensated by the Irish National Roads Authority. The toll is 5.7 Euros per freight truck, [...]