Road Freight News

Global industrial production and containerised freight flows remained in the doldrums at the start of the third quarter, confounding predictions earlier in the year for a strong rebound.Manufacturers and distributors in North America and Europe were struggling to reduce excess inventories after the post-pandemic rotation from goods to services spending.Rising interest rates and a cost-of-living squeeze have also dampened expenditure on expensive long-lived durable items.Global industrial output was up by less than 1% in the second quarter of 2023 from the same period in 2022…

A shift to coastal shipping and rail could cut NZ’s freight transport emissions – why aren’t we doing it?According to a recent study, coastal shipping produces a fifth of the carbon emissions (well-to-wheel) of road freight. Rail also performed well, with about a quarter of trucking emissions.Despite this, trucking accounts for nearly 80% of New Zealand’s heavy goods transport, and a 94.5% share of the total emissions from heavy freight transport.The dominance of trucking follows the expansion of the road network…

Lithuanian ship designer Western Baltic Engineering (WBE) is unveiling new designs for what it believes is the first ever electric pusher vessel for use on Europe’s inland waterways called the Electric Eel.Klaipeda headquartered WBE said the first electric pusher is due to be built next year for the Lithuanian Inland Waterways Authority, a public body operating under Lithuanian Government Ministry of Transport and Communications.WBE’s Head of Sales & Marketing Eglė Mikalauskienė…

A second P&O ferry that sails between the English town of Dover and the French city of Calais has been detained by British officials due to a "number of deficiencies", likely exacerbating Easter holiday travel disruption.P&O Ferries, which accounted for a third of Dover's capacity, has struggled to operate a service after it fired 800 workers last month to cut costs, drawing sharp criticism from the government and sparking union protests.Britain's Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) have since inspected a number of P&O's vessels and suspended four, with two operating between Dover and Calais.

In the run-up to Christmas, there was considerable anxiety about shortages of festive food and gifts. Trade friction was already at the core of the Brexit debate, and supply chain issues have been made much worse by the COVID-19 pandemic.For example, a computer chip shortage had a knock-on effect across many industries. Concerns have also been raised about everything from lithium supply for electric vehicle batteries to restaurant food supplies to even coffee shortages.Never has the issue of supply chain management been so prominent.

Driver-less heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) will be to ship freight between the UK and continental Europe in the future, according to a new white paper published by the British Ports Association (BPA) and the specialist freight transport consultancy MDS Transmodal.Commercial and environmental pressures will encourage freight operators to look at autonomous trucks and they would transform the way the ro-ro market works in Great Britain."Changes anticipated include significant growth in the market share of ‘driverless accompanied’ RORO traffic – particularly through North Sea and Western English Channel ports," it said.Technical developments…

Brazil's policy of setting minimum freight rates is reducing the volume of cargo at Brazilian ports as farmers and agricultural exporters have difficulty arranging transportation at higher cost, according to the head of a Brazilian ports association.The country instituted minimum rates for freight above the previous market rate as part of a deal to end a truckers' strike over high diesel prices in May. The strike paralyzed the country's roadways, preventing agriculture exports…

Georgia Ports Authority Executive Director Griff Lynch outlined a plan that will double container handling capacity to 10 million TEUs at Garden City Terminal within 10 years. "Georgia is home to both the single largest container and roll-on/roll-off facilities in North America," Lynch said. Lynch provided an overview of GPA's 2028 Plan that calls for 42 ship-to-shore cranes, 200 yard cranes, new RTG lanes and significant intermodal expansion in Savannah. The GPA will soon open its second inland terminal in Northwest Georgia and break ground on the Mason Mega Rail project at Garden City Terminal. Combined, both intermodal projects will open new markets while significantly reducing rail crossings and over the road freight through Savannah, Atlanta and beyond.

There is no more economically and environmentally efficient way of transporting the world’s goods than by sea. Compared to air or road freight, based on per ton of cargo shipped, shipping’s carbon footprint is small. Yet with the 60,000 or so ships that transport 80 percent of the world’s goods emitting about 1.12bn tons of CO2 each year, almost 4.5 percent of all global greenhouse gas emissions, it is unequivocal that we need a viable way of reducing our environment impact. As other sectors reduce their carbon footprint shipping’s is likely to increase as an overall percentage.

Gibraltar’s Gibdock shipyard has completed an extensive package of work on Solstad Shipping’s Normand Cutter. The 127m long, 10,979grt construction support vessel (CSV) left the yard on June 29th following a 22-day drydock programme, which included a comprehensive overhaul of its entire propulsion system. Norway-based Solstad has become a regular Gibdock customer, entrusting the yard with work on a number of high-tech offshore vessels over the past decade. The 2001-built Normand Cutter is in fact a repeat visitor to the yard, having previously docked at Gibdock in April 2011 for its last 5-year special survey. Gibdock managing director, Richard Beards, says: “We are delighted that such a well-respected, quality operator as Solstad has decided to come back to us once again.

Greencarrier Freight Services has promoted Jarmo Halonen to the role of Chief Operating Officer, with combined responsibility for the company’s air, ocean, road and rail freight activities. This is the first time the four modes have been brought under the control of one director. Greencarrier Freight Services, one of the Nordic region’s largest privately owned companies specialising in global transport solutions, has been growing steadily and now employs 625 people in 13 countries.

Shanghai Shipping Exchange launched on Wednesday the "Belt and Road" shipping indices, tracking trade data and shipping freight rates under the initiatives of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, reported China Securities Journal. The indices, with January 2015 used as the base period, will be released on the last Monday of every month. The Belt and Road Freight Trade Index (SRFTI), is designed to track the volume and value of international trade between China and 66 countries along the Belt and Road, which are in Asia, North Africa, Europe, and Oceania, a statement of SSE said. The Maritime Silk Road Freight Index (MSRFI), tracks the shipping freight rates of imported and exported containerised cargoes, imported dry bulk cargoes, and imported crude oil.

Hiab, part of Cargotec, is presenting its latest product innovations together with the World Crane Championship finals at the Commercial Vehicle Show in Birmingham, UK on 14-16 April. The CV Show is the largest and most comprehensive road freight transport event staged in Britain. We welcome all interested parties to watch Hiab's World Crane Championship finals, which will take place on our outside stand number 3A 80 (outside Hall 4). The Hiab team and our latest product innovations are also at our indoor stand, 5F 101 (Hall 5). Hiab is sponsoring the very first World Crane Championships, the finals of which take place on 15 April. The WCC final is set to be one of the main highlights of the CV Show.

As a polar vortex snarled North America's railroads and upended freight flows this winter, everyone from agricultural giant Cargill to Dow Chemical rushed to secure the next-best form of hauling goods: trucks. In what trucking executives described as an unprecedented bidding frenzy, spot market rates surged by as much as 20 percent to record highs in the first three months of 2014 as shippers sought to minimize sometimes weeks-long delays in rail service. "We've received letters from CEOs from major chemical companies asking us if we can do more," said Bill Marchbank, vice president of operations at Houston-based Trimac Transportation, a leading bulk shipper of liquid chemicals and industrial minerals.

DHL Global Forwarding say they have delivered the world's largest Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scanner ever built to the Center for Magnetic Resonance Research at the University of Minnesota. The journey of the 100-ton heavy-load module from Oxford, United Kingdom, to its destination in the U.S. via ocean and road freight  took almost 6 weeks. "Even though we do have a lot of experience in heavyweight cargo transports, this project has really been an interesting challenge for us.

DSV has launched an intermodal service between Turkey and the U.K. to add to its portfolio of road, air and short-sea services between the two countries. “We have seen an increasing interest in intermodal services as shippers seek more cost effective ways of sending their goods,” said Morten Joergensen, Managing Director DSV Road, Turkey. There are two options: three times a week direct by rail from Halkali train terminal in Istanbul to Zeebrugge or Rotterdam, or by short-sea services from Istanbul to Trieste in Italy and then by rail to Zeebrugge or Rotterdam…

As the evolution and integration of robotics in maritime vehicles continues to reshape missions and capabilities inland, near-shore and at sea, Maritime Reporter & Engineering News last month was on hand in Abu Dhabi for the unveiling of a new Unmanned Surface Vessel family. If it delivers as designed, it will revolutionize marine robotic vehicle applications for both military and commercial purposes. Robert J. Murphy is certainly no stranger to the world of autonomous robotic marine vehicles, having worked in the field for more than a quarter of a century, dating to the mid-1980s.

GAC Pindar in J/V with global freight forwarder TNL International, deliver a 7.6 mt Stamas boat from Georgia USA to Aukland, New Zealand. The privately owned motorboat, which is 3.93 metres high and 12.58 metres long overall, was handled with care for its 15,000km voyage. Before being loaded onto a ship bound for Auckland at Savannah, Georgia, it was shrink-wrapped and cradled on a special mafi trailer. Once the craft arrived in New Zealand, TNL GAC Pindar had to make special…

Yesterday, the European Commission launched three Calls for Proposals under the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) multi-annual program, making €180 million (nearly $258 million) available to finance European transport infrastructure projects in the fields of European Rail Traffic Management Systems (ERTMS), Motorways of the Sea (MoS) and River Information Services (RIS). This will help to make travel and transport by rail and water more safe and secure as well as more attractive compared to other transport modes. Commission Vice President Siim Kallas, responsible for transport, said:  "The Commission is happy to play its part in making our transport system more competitive and sustainable. The TEN-T multi-annual program aims to finance the highest priorities of the TEN-T network.

Shippers seeking to choose ‘green’ or ‘sustainable’ transport are being put off by the confusion of initiatives and promises offered by logistics and transport companies, says  Andrew Traill, Shippers' Voice Managing Partner. “The lack of a common programme results in a proliferation of calculation methodologies, carbon calculators, sustainability initiatives and so on,” he explains. “This usually leads to increased effort and cost for companies to assess carbon emissions of transportation…

To ensure the continuing safety and promote the efficiency of inland waterway transport, Germanischer Lloyd (GL) has released an update to the GL Rules for Inland Navigation Vessels (INV). The update to the rules came into effect on 1 November 2011 and consists of rules for: classification and surveys; hull design and construction; machinery, systems and electricity; and additional requirements for notations. A major impetus behind the update is to ensure that vessels comply with…

UK's Freight Transport Association (FTA) conducts survey on whether Sulphur Directive could cause modal shift from sea to road freight. The FTA is asking short sea users for feedback on how the directive could affect them. A five-minute FTA survey has been set up which will gauge the impact the directive will have across the industry. The survey is confidential and only asks for estimates based on respondents' understanding. Christopher Snelling, FTA - head of supply chain policy said: “The UK Department for Transport have said to us they need evidence about what impact cost increases or reductions in service would have on the use of short-sea shipping.

GAC Pindar forms a new venture with global freight forwarder TNL International to offer specialist marine leisure logistics services. The new partnership, named TNL GAC Pindar, is headquartered in Auckland, New Zealand. It serves Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands, providing a complete package of solutions including yacht transportation, superyacht services, air, sea and road freight, agency services and specialist superyacht bunkering. Experienced freight forwarder Richard Thorpe has been appointed as Manager of TNL GAC Pindar, Australasia.