I am a major believer in green technology and practices. We borrow our environment from our children. The good folks at Storage Solutions sent me the following infographic, which outlines ways in which warehouses can be made energy efficient. Many of the major contract logistics firms practice these techniques today, though many have a long way to go, particularly in older facilities and in buildings located in remote or offshore locations.
Click the image below to see the whole infographic.
Boeing's new aircraft plant in Charleston, SC has rolled out its first commercial airplane. This beautiful new 787 is for Air India. Boeing tweeted this image yesterday afternoon. I look forward to seeing this bird on airliners.net in a few weeks when she is online and in service.
You can follow Boeing Airplanes on twitter at @BoeingAirplanes. They've been posting a nice series on the Dreamliner on tour in the UK and Europe this past week.
Jeremy Kolassa of unitedliberty.org published an interesting article about privatizing the US Postal Service. Many countries have done this including several in Europe and found it to be an effective market alternative to government ownership. I clipped part of the article below. DHL is the post office in Germany.
Can we just sell the Post Office already?Fri, 04/27/2012 - 11:47am | posted by Jeremy Kolassa On Wednesday, the United States Senate narrowly avoided a two-year ban on the closing of post offices, which prompted me to ask: do you guys still live in the 1950s? In a world of Gmail, Twitter, Facebook, cloud services, Google Drive, Dropbox, 3D printing, UPS, DHL, and who knows what else, I have to ask: who still uses the postal service any more? There are only a few people with which I still get mail from through the USPS. The first are direct mail types, and nobody reads those sort of things. (This is the way your trash can goes “OM NOM NOM.”) The second are my parents and grandparents, so, in other words, old people. The thing is, as I said, nobody is reading the former, and the latter are getting fewer and fewer. Meanwhile, the postal service is hemorrhaging money; the Cato Institute’s Downsizing Government project notes that it lost $20 billion between 2007 and 2010, and it hasn’t done any better since then. The thing is, we taxpayers are being forced to foot the bill. A bill for something that these days, an increasingly small portion of the populace actually wants. And, at the same time there’s decreasing demand for its services, its costs have continued to go up as it struggles to deal with employee pensions. Not a good situation to be in. Here’s a better idea: let’s just privatize the post office. And by privatize it, I don’t mean sell it to one major corporation, but let’s privatize the entire industry. Allow competing mail delivery services in the market. Ensure that there are no more monopolies on first-class mail within the United States. |
Hapag Lloyd announced on April 16th that ocean bookings out of India would be subject to a plethora of new surcharges for booking cancellations, modifications or other changes effective May 15th, 2012.
In a move that seems designed as a precursor to the annual May contracting season, Hapag sent the circular to forwarders and Indian shippers this week. Given the normal chaos that takes place in Chennai as an example, the selection of India for these new surcharges seems a little bit surprising.
Fee Structure:
As of now, Hapag appears to be the only carrier looking to push these charges; however other carriers, notably Maersk, will be watching this carefully and are likely to follow if these charges stick. Maersk has historically tried some of this (container booking cancellation charges) in the US West Coast market in the past, but had difficulty practically administering this. We will now see how well this works with HALO in India.
Ocean carriers have traditionally worked on the "rental car model" where failure to show up for a booking does not result in a penalty. The carrier preferred way is the "airline model" whereby failure to show means loss of the ticket, or rebook fees. Carriers also typically prefer to negotiate base rates rather than surcharges. Addition of new fees gets around existing contracts that preclude either General Rate Increases (GRI) or Peak Season Surcharges (PSS) during the contract year. It's all about the revenue. This is a tactic that likely covers some level of real administrative costs, but it is not lost on the ocean carriers that airlines make tremendous money on bag fees and other ancillary charges.
Let's watch and see how well this sticks. India is an interesting place to start charging for precision in booking accuracy.
The shipping industry lost an iconic leader this week when Maersk McKinney-Moeller, owner of Maersk Line, passed away in the hospital in Copenhagen. McKinney-Moeller lead Maersk for 38 years himself before retiring. Maersk is currently the worlds largest container shipping line.
He died as Denmarks richest man and was a well known philanthropist. Bloomberg BusinessWeek has a great article on his life and impact on our industry.
McKinney-Moeller took over Maersk Line in the mid 60's during the first generation of containerization, and along with greats like Malcom McClean were part of the creation of the modern shipping industry.
As a red blooded Southern boy, I follow college football closely. Year round. That means the web, television, sports talk radio and of course, Twitter.
This week, the CFB world exploded with salacious details of the downfall of University of Arkansas head football coach Bobby Petrino. Petrino managed to wreck his motorcycle on a joyride with a 25 year old Athletic Department employee with whom he was having an affaire. The lies led to investigation by the press and the school administration and ultimately lead to Petrinos firing. The details are all over the web.
Tony Barnhart, who is probably the best American sportswriter today covering college athletics, wrote a great article today for cbssports.com on the "new rules" for high profile coaches regarding the standards they are now held to as a result of the crazy money they are paid and the ready access to information via modern technology and the US Freedom of Information Act. Virtually every telephone call and text message and email becomes matter of public interest and record if you are a state employee. Petrino was employed by a state university. The media frenzy then took off.
Ok, I write for freightdawg.com. So what does Arkansas football possibly have to do with Logistics? Not much. What it does have to do with is an example of the impact of social media and discovery on your personal and work communications. Petrino and others like him, have rudely found out that actions are no longer secret. Anybody with a subpoena can discover what you thought were private communications.
I worked for a company once that retained an attorney to come in and brief the executive team and employees on the impact of email and social media. The attorney subsequently became a good friend of mine. In teaching the audience, he spent 5 hours informing us that every email, every paper and every web post becomes discoverable in court. Even if you are the lowest new hire in a company, if you post an email to a buddy that mentions business details that are inappropriate, or illegal, these can be found. IT departments keep email records. Believe or not, so does your internet provider. Attorneys hire forensic folks who can and will go through years of emails to find the scrap of information you wrote that will help their case. It can be two lines, but you can wind up seeing it years later at a deposition.
Twitter is a fun but dangerous tool. A 140 character post meant to be funny can get you fired. Several years ago there was an example of an advertising executive who tweeted a negative comment about one of his clients. The client happened to be one of the major express integrators. They also happen to follow twitter. Guess who saw the tweet? Guess who got fired?
How many of you use a "nom de web" to post stuff on chat boards? Remember when you registered and you gave your private real name and real email address? If you threaten someone (like the President as an example), guess who can and will go looking for who you are? The FBI. Guess who will give that info up in about 2 seconds? The board operator and the ISP. Read the terms and conditions you signed up to.
Google is not your friend. Remember that. If you post it, it can be searched, indexed and recovered. Forever. Many of us have been told not to post inappropriate things on Facebook as an example, but the web in general is dangerous if you post something that can damage your career. Every so often, its a good idea to Google your own name. You might be surprised to find that there are others with the same name doing weird stuff. You might find a lot of good stuff on yourself, but you also might find that someone in another state with your name is a documented sexual predator. Disconcerting would be least of your emotions.
The old maxim of never write down anything you would be ashamed to have published on the front page of the newspaper applies here. I can guarantee you Bobby Petrino is now utterly aware of that rule. I also suspect that every sports agent out there is using Petrino as an example and reminder to their clients. Young people in particular tend to think that tweets, text messages and emails are their private domain. Not so. Believe me. You will see it again.
What goes around...comes around. That maxim applies now more than ever.
Eric
I have to admit even as a Delta Platinum flyer, I am loving that Delta has new competition in the ATL. Southwest Airlines purchased Airtran in 2011 and is now finally introducing their own brand and aircraft into the Atlanta market. This will serve to drive both prices down and service UP. For years Southwest was frozen out of Atlanta by agreement between Delta and the Atlanta Airport Authority. However, after buying Airtran, SWA now has an entrance.
In key markets like Atlanta to Orlando, which was the former home of Airtran, Southwest and Delta will compete for vacation travelers. SWA is gradually introducing more flights to places like Denver, and other hubs within its network. Southwest is a little bit quirky in how they do their seating and online booking, etc., but the fare competition and especially the service competition is something DAL needs in Atlanta. With over 1000 flights a day out of Atlanta, Delta needs to stay on its toes.
I particularly love Southwests baggage philosophy vs the lame way the majors handle baggage. I wrote about this previously and it remains one of the most popular posts ever posted here. The video link to one of SWA's commercials is no longer available but the article content remains valid!
Atlanta is the global headquarters of Delta, and despite the fact that they are a great airline on their own, it is good for DAL to have some competition here in the heart of the Southland to remind them that cost and service are still important.
Game on: Delta, Southwest duke it outThe Atlanta Journal-Constitution In one corner is the newcomer from Dallas, touting free checked bags, no change fees and seat-yourself boarding. hometown giant boasting of its cushy first class cabins and 1,000 daily flights from Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport to cities all over the world. The prize is the Atlanta flier. Dallas-based Southwest and Atlanta-based Delta airlines are waging their 2012 Battle of Atlanta on the airwaves, on billboards and online. It’s driven by Southwest’s launch of service at Hartsfield-Jackson in February and Delta counterpunching to defend its citadel hub. Delta needles Southwest and its all coach seating in an ad: “Improving first class begins by offering one.” Ouch! Southwest has its own zinger on checked luggage: “Say bye-bye to bag fees, Atlanta.” Oh, snap! Southwest is introducing itself to the Atlanta market as it takes over AirTran Airways and gradually replaces AirTran service with its own planes and way of doing business. “Southwest has very much made its presence known and we will continue to do that,” said Southwest spokesman Brad Hawkins. Delta’s ads are a variation on its national “Keep Climbing” campaign, but clearly tailored to the new local competition. Ken Bernhardt, marketing professor at Georgia State University, said the competing ads are aimed at travelers who aren’t buying solely on price, with each airline showing off what else they offer and appealing to different target markets. He doesn’t expect the battle to translate into what many fliers probably hope for most: fare wars. “People who believe that fares are going to be lower because Southwest has entered the market are going to be disappointed,” Bernhardt said. Because of high fuel costs, “you’re going to see them rising, not dropping.” Along with the ads, each airline offers a web page targeted at Atlanta travelers. Delta touts itself as “Atlanta’s Hometown Airline.” It even trademarked the phrase, having filed for the rights in late 2010, a few weeks after Southwest announced it was buying AirTran. The page also mentions its expanded first class and a free first checked bag for SkyMiles American Express card holders, among other amenities. Southwest’s web page is part promotion, part education for Atlantans -- starting with its “Bags Fly Free” line, also trademarked. Though it doesn’t offer first class and is ditching AirTran’s old business class, Southwest makes a bid for business travelers with its no change fees policy giving them more flexibility. It also offers “Business Select” fares with extra amenities such as free drinks, priority seating and security lane access and extra frequent flier points. The education part comes under the heading “Southwest Travel Experience.” “We like to do things differently than ‘the other guys,’” it explains. Among those differences are an open seating system -- passengers board by zones and then pick whatever seat they want. Southwest also is not listed with online travel agencies like Expedia, Travelocity and Orbitz. Southwest’s website is the only place travelers can book flights online -- one reason Southwest advertises more heavily than other carriers. |
I've spent years telling my Mac converted relatives that Macs sucked. Oh, and I wasn't limited to just Macintosh computers. I meant ALL Apple products. I was an absolute zealot on this.
I am a dedicated PC gamer and many of my favorite simulations and games, as well as most used business applications are PC based. I also have a multi-PC network in my house, so wasn't prepared to support a multi-platform network in my spare time. So ergo.. Apple must suck.
Then my Dad gave me an Ipad. He upgraded to a new Ipad, so I inherited an Ipad 1. Holy ish! This thing is a Swiss army knife! While I retain my affinity for my PC platforms that are configured to handle my business and gaming fun, this Ipad has really shown me the light on a new way of working.
I was in the UK this week on business and did not even take the laptop out of my bag. I used the Ipad for both business email on the fly as well as presentation and note taking. This actually happened naturally, and not by design. The Ipad boots quicker, picks up Wi-Fi networks quicker, and has more flexible tools for information delivery.
I spent about 10 secs being pissed. Mostly at Bill Gates. Then, decided that while the laptop has its business uses, the tablet platform has ergonomic uses especially at information delivery. It's not a great communications device on an outbound basis. While I can get company email, I prefer a traditional keyboard and mouse for speed and accuracy in sending outbound mail. However, given both voice and short hand applications which are available, this may be mostly a training issue for me.
What I figured out pretty quickly are there are a number of serious uses for both executive mobility and logistics / supply chain. This includes numerous apps from the App Store.
1. Airline and Hotel Apps - Most airlines including Delta, United, American and others have apps to track flights, check in, track bags, etc. Marriott, Hilton, etc also have apps that I have downloaded that are useful in managing both frequent stay programs as well as current reservations.
2. Flightboard applications - numerous apps including Flighttrack and Flightboard, include real time flight schedules for global airports. This isnt just for airline flights, but also includes scheduled flights for cargo aircraft and the Express carriers as well.
3. Weather applications - Weather.com as well as Living Earth have great apps for looking at current and future wx patterns in any global geography. Given the horrible weather in the Adriatic this February this was a handy app to tell my customer what was delaying their container deliveries.
4. Geo location and Navigation Apps - These include the native Ipad Maps application as well as downloadable Google Earth and Spyglass applications that function as geography tools as well as a real time compass and GPS tool. Ipad uses geo locator to tell you where your Ipad is at any time, so all navigation is relative to your current position.
5. Direct Track and Trace Apps - UPS, FedEx and DHL Express / DHL Global Forwarding all have downloadable apps for live track and trace.
6. Real Time Clock applications - useful for understanding time zone differences with trading partners and overseas offices.
This article doesn't even touch the business applications available for tablets and Ipads. Where I converted was based on the shear utility of the tool I was given. All I saw was that I was more productive with a new weapon in hand. Given that I'm a tech nerd anyway, now I will be after owning a 64 Mb WIFI/4G Ipad 3. (thats a note of warning to my bride and budget! Fathers Day is coming!)
They say converts are the biggest zealots...I think that's right. (I suspect my siblings had a different word in mind than "zealot" however.)
Mr. Jobs, I stand corrected.
Eric
About a year ago I got a call from my great uncle asking me if I would be interested in spending a couple of hours flying Delta Airlines full motion flight simulators here in ATL. He is a former P-51 pilot from WWII and had made the acquaintance of a DAL instructor pilot at the gym. The instructor had invited my uncle to come try his hand with a modern jet virtually speaking. He was allowed to bring a guest and asked me.
My answer was an immediate "oh hell yes!". What followed was an unforgettable evening shooting virtual landings in a B777 at SFO. A major blast for a guy in the air freight business and a flight sim addict to boot.
Check out Deltas blog post about the major challenge of relocating Northwest Airlines sims to Delta flight training headquarters here in ATL. http://blog.delta.com/
Having spent the week in the UK on business this week, I am a little late posting this but the Port of Oakland hosted a momentous event last week in the arrival of the Med Shipping vessel M/V MSC Fabiola. The Fabiola is the largest container ship to ever call a North American port.
______________________________________________________________
MSC FABIOLA - FIRST CALL TO OAKLAND
THE LARGEST CONTAINER SHIP EVER TO CALL NORTH AMERICA VISITS THE PORT OF OAKLAND
Oakland, Calif. - March 20, 2012 - The Port of Oakland welcomes tomorrow the largest containership ever to call any seaport in North America. The MSC Fabiola is a 12,562 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent-unit) vessel; an average container equals two TEUs. It is part of the fleet of the world's second-largest shipping company, Geneva-based Mediterranean Shipping Co SA. MSC is one of the Port of Oakland's fastest-growing carriers.
The vessel will arrive from the Port of Long Beach tomorrow and will be berthed at Oakland International Container Terminal. It will depart Thursday for an 18-day trans-Pacific voyage to Fuzhou and then onto four other ports in China.
"Hosting the largest containership ever to call in North America is what we mean when we say that the Port of Oakland is World Class, World Fast," said Oakland Board of Port Commissioners President Pamela Calloway. "We invest in our terminals, navigation channels, and landside infrastructure to welcome these ships because they are the cleanest and safest in the industry. They are also where the industry is headed and where we must head to continue to compete."
The MSC Fabiola is almost a quarter mile long, more than the length of four football fields or about equal to the height of a 55-story building. If all of the containers that fit on the ship were put end to end, they would stretch almost 50 miles.
Generally, ships arriving at Oakland carry imports such as electronics, wood furniture, apparel, bedding, toys, sports equipment, auto parts, coffee, and bicycles. When they depart, they carry exports including dried fruit and nuts, wine, rice, cotton, recycled paper and metal scrap, machinery, chilled and frozen meat and poultry, and vehicles.
"Seaport operations support nearly 40% of the more than 73,000 regional jobs generated by the Port of Oakland and its partners. Bigger ships mean more boxes; and more boxes mean more jobs," said Port of Oakland Executive Director Omar R. Benjamin. "Our role as a leading export gateway helped us maintain our maritime volumes last year despite a weak economy; bigger ships are part of growing our exports."
The MSC Fabiola is part of a new class of containerships creating greater economies of scale, increased fuel efficiency, and more service options for shippers. They also host the latest navigational and environmental protection technologies. The larger ships generally produce lower emissions per container.
The vessel exhibits an evolution in containership design--the accommodation block and bridge (combined, "the deckhouse") are located more forward (toward the bow) and not directly over the engine. The split design enables containers to be stacked higher aft of the deckhouse, creating greater efficiency and loadability.
Of the more than 5,000 containerships deployed around the world, only 71 have a capacity of 12,500 TEUs or more, and the MSC Fabiola is the only one to have regular port calls in the United States. Virtually all vessels in this ultra-large class are deployed in the Asia-Europe trade lane.
Vessel statistics:
Photos courtesy Port of Oakland
The MSC Fabiola is part of MSC's Pearl River Delta Express Service (PRX), jointly operated by French carrier, CMA CGM. The PRX Service comprises of six vessels with weekly calls at the following ports: Oakland, Fuzhou, Xiamen, Chiwan, Hong Kong, Yantian, and Long Beach.
About the Port of Oakland:
The Port of Oakland oversees the Oakland seaport, Oakland International Airport, and 20 miles of waterfront. The Oakland seaport is the fifth busiest container port in the U.S.; Oakland International Airport is the second largest San Francisco Bay Area airport offering over 300 daily passenger and cargo flights; and the Port’s real estate includes commercial developments such as Jack London Square and hundreds of acres of public parks and conservation areas. Together, through Port operations and those of its tenants and users, the Port supports nearly 70,000 jobs in the region and over 800,000 jobs across the United States. The Port of Oakland was established in 1927 and is an independent department of the City of Oakland. Connect with the Port of Oakland and Oakland International Airport through Facebook, Twitter and Youtube, and at portofoakland.com.
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Robert Bernardo
Communications Manager
(510) 627-1401
rbernardo@portoakland.com
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