The Panama canal is modernising its locks,  to enable larger vessels to pass through.  In conjunction with this development, many of the world’s largest freight and container terminals are up-dating their handling equipment to accommodate ships with greater draught and beam. A crane equipment manufacturer based in Helsinki, Finland is taking advantage of this by [...]

The Chief Executive of Felixstowe port has suggested that passenger trains on the Ipswich to Felixstowe lines should be scrapped and replaced by a high quality bus service. He said that the service is a bottleneck, and that freight only trains should be run on the line outside peak hours. This would enable more freight [...]

The Thames Gateway port which is currently under construction near London is in negotiation with major shipping lines.  The port’s management is hoping to attract freight container ships from Asia – particularly China – but will be in competition with Felixstowe port which is expanding its capacity. Currently freight rates are declining and shipping lines [...]

The Danube, one of the main rivers in Europe used for freight shipping, is not being used by at least four countries. Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania and Serbia decided this after up to 90 per cent of the river’s surface became covered with floating ice. The busy river flows 2860km from Germany and serves as the natural [...]

Freight operators in Scotland are protesting about the government cutting the funding for Freight Facilities Grants by 62.5%.  The funds are to help operators transfer freight from road to rail. The Rail Freight Group (RFG) said the reduced budget would undermine the government’s plan to hit carbon emissions reduction targets, and would discourage manufacturers and [...]

The port of Rotterdam showed an increase in freight volumes of only about 0.8%. The volumes of dry bulk increased, while ore and scrap fell as producers used up stores.  General freight cargo increased by about 13%.  The well being of the port is strongly linked to the economy in Germany and Rotterdam is expecting [...]

It was announced earlier this week that the rail freight service, which has been running for a year, between Oslo in Norway and Narvik in the Arctic Circle has been a success.  Utilisation has been about 96%, and the service offers regular transport on the 1960 mile route, which runs mostly through Sweden. About 25,000 [...]

Construction of a new freight route across the Andes will begin this year. The 204km corridor will connect Punta de Vacas in Argentina and Saladillo, Chile, which should enable transit times of just four hours. There will also be seamless Customs and border controls. Currently, an estimated 85% of freight shipped between Chile and Bolivia and [...]

Shipping lines began last year to offer different types of service in order to gain share in what seems to be a declining market.  The main innovation was guaranteed daily departures from the main Asian ports to Northern Europe. But according to a recently published report, this may make 2012 an even harder year for [...]

A Suffolk manufacturer of metalwork fluids has opened up the Russian export market with the help of UKTI, the government agency charged with enabling businesses to export and import more easily. UKTI helped the company to find a distributor in Yekaterinburg, which will help them with the difficulties inherent in managing logistics in Russia.  The [...]

The Freight Transport Association has spoken out in support of recent recommendations in a review of the retail industry by Mary Portas. The review makes 28 recommendations to the government, one of which is to lift restrictions on night-time deliveries. The FTA has supported out-of-hours freight deliveries for a long time, as it brings environmental, [...]

Freight operators using the Severn crossing, already the most expensive toll in the UK, will have to pay 90p more in the New Year. The Freight Transport Association has condemned the decision to once again increase the charge for heavy goods vehicles to use this vital trade corridor. This time the increase is from £17.20 [...]

While China – in spite of slowing economic growth – is still exporting tons of finished product to the West, few industries have succeeded in increasing exports in the opposite direction. However, the US and Canadian timber suppliers have achieved huge growth in exporting lumber freight to the Chinese.  Wood Resource Quarterly predicts that exports in [...]

A 42,000 m2 extension has been opened at the logistics centre in Duisburg logport.  Part of the capacity is used as a freight distribution centre for Germany, Austria and Benelux for one large customer.  Some 11,000 m2 is available other activities. Duisburg Intermodal Terminal offers train and inland shipping connections with the port of Rotterdam. [...]

The Scottish freight and logistics industry is concerned that it will not be able to meet reduction emission targets after a reduction in government subsidies.  Support for modal shift has been reduced from £10.3m in 2010 to £2.9m since the spending review announcements. Earlier this year, Scotland transport minister Keith Brown told the Freight Transport Association [...]

Growth in the German economy slowed unexpectedly in the second quarter of this year.  German GDP only increased by 0.1 percent in the quarter to June compared with the previous quarter. Although exports and investment made a positive contribution, imports grew more than exports so the balance of trade became less favourable.  Surprisingly, Italy was [...]

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 second African Region Freight Forwarders Conference for independent forwarders will be held in Nairobi, Kenya from 26th to 28th June. International logistics companies from China, Europe, North America, and Africa will meet to network and explore opportunities for growth with particular emphasis on Africa.  There will be a delegation of attendees from the top 50 freight [...]

At the beginning of June, only 63 container ships were listed as idle, which is the lowest level since August 2008.  However, shipping line revenues are suffering as carriers are forced to reduce rates on ships in an attempt to stimulate demand. The outlook remains uncertain because ships are not running at full capacity on [...]

Freight container rates from Asia to Europe are declining, even though shipping lines are increasing bunker surcharges. The Shanghai Containerised Freight Index (SCFI), all-in spot rates from Shanghai to Europe were $9 lower than the previous week. Shipping lines may find it difficult to implement a peak-season surcharge (PSS) this year as ships are only [...]