Transportation Supply Chain News

The Federal Maritime Commission issued an order authorizing Commissioner Rebecca Dye to identify operational solutions to cargo delivery system challenges related to Coronavirus-19.The Order notes that “Recent global events have only highlighted the economic urgency of responsive port and terminal operations to the effectiveness of the United States international freight delivery system. Given the Commission’s mandate to ensure an efficient and economic transportation system for ocean commerce…

German-based global cargo container shipping line, Hapag-Lloyd AG Hapag-Lloyd set to implement XVELA’s collaboration services to increase transparency throughout the transportation supply chain and more efficiently employ assets and resources.A press release from XVELA, the world’s first maritime business network for ocean carriers and terminal operators, said that both companies plan to initiate the global rollout on one of Hapag Lloyd’s premier Latin American services and will continue to broaden throughout its terminal partners. XVELA is an affiliate of Navis.This ‘Phase One’ rollout will leverage XVELA’s services to further enhance communication and collaboration between Hapag-Lloyd planners and terminal partners.

The Inland Waterways View.At the start of any new year, we are often asked what our challenges will be or what we are going to do differently in the year ahead. However, in 2019, just like each year since Waterways Council, Inc. (WCI) was founded in 2003, we intend to stay the course to advocate for full and efficient funding for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to continue its Civil Works mission to construct and maintain navigation projects on the inland waterways.The Corps’…

Waterways Council, Inc. "WCI applauds President Trump’s visit to the heartland and for his speech today that will surely bring heightened attention to the investment needs of the inland waterways system. Our country has not seen this kind of leadership on infrastructure since President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 1930s New Deal to build our locks and dams, or since the 1950s by President Dwight D. Eisenhower to construct the National Defense and Interstate Highway system. Today, Presidential…

Overhead crane and hoist manufacturer Ace World Companies has made its first appearance at the Inland Marine Expo, which took place for the third time this May at America’s Center Convention Complex in St. Louis, Missouri, on the banks of the Mississippi River. The expo is the annual trade show for the inland and intracoastal marine transportation industry, which is a target market for the manufacturer and its recently acquired business, Pullift Corporation, a provider of standard and custom material handling equipment, including winches. Camron Ghanemi, vice president at Ace, said, “I was encouraged by recent comments from Michael Toohey, the president of the Waterways Council, who referenced ‘record funding’ to modernize the nation’s inland waterways transportation system.

The FY ’17 Energy & Water Development (E&WD) and Related Agencies appropriations bill has been approved by the U.S. Senate in a 90-8 vote, significantly increasing funding in Fiscal Year 2017 for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Civil Works Program. The House version of this bill, which passed out of the Appropriations Committee last month, is awaiting floor action. Waterways Council, Inc. (WCI) President Michael J. Toohey underscored the work of Chairman Cochran and Senate Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), Senate E&WD Subcommittee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Ranking Member Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), as well as Senate Majority Leader McConnell, that was key to the passage of this strong funding bill.

Waterways Council, Inc. (WCI) President/CEO Michael J. “We thank Chairman James Inhofe and Ranking Member Barbara Boxer for their collaborative efforts to develop a WRDA 2016 bill that addresses inland waterways system priorities. Particularly, we applaud the Committee’s rejection of lockage fees/tolls to finance Public-Private Partnerships (P3s) on the Nation’s waterways. WCI is also supportive of the Senate bill’s authorization of $16.7 million in modification work for Calcasieu Lock in Louisiana, and for the Brazos Island Harbor project (funded with $116 million Federal and $135 million non-Federal funds). We also applaud the provision to remove Inland Waterways Trust Fund capital projects from the five-year/no funding de-authorization rule until Olmsted is substantially off the books.

Waterways Council, Inc. (WCI) reacted to the FY 2017 budget request made by President Obama earlier today, as detailed below. •  proposes $4.620 billion for the U.S. •  a $1.289 billion inland waterways user fee. •  $986 million be appropriated from the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund (HMTF), down from $1.25 billion in FY 2016. •  is no funding for NESP. Lockport Lock and Dam  (Major Rehab) was awarded $1.4 million for contract modifications to close out the project. •  is no funding for NESP. “The Administration’s FY ’17 budget request for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Civil Works mission proposes a 30% cut and is the most disappointing budget to date.

WCI today applauded the work of negotiators to reach a final agreement last night for an FY 2016 Omnibus Appropriations bill that funds the Corps of Engineers’ Civil Works program under the Energy & Water Development Appropriations bill. The full House is expected to vote on a final agreement later this week. FY ‘16 funding for the Corps’ Civil Works mission is $5.99 billion, a 27% increase above the President’s budget request of $4.732 billion. --Inland Waterways Trust Fund (IWTF)-supported projects are meant to receive record-level funding of $405.6 million for priority navigation projects in FY ’16, a 75% increase over the Administration’s request of $232 million.

Washington-based Tracy R. Zea advocates for Waterways Council, Inc. (WCI) goals for authorizations and appropriations which support a modern, efficient, and reliable inland waterways transportation system. Zea also works to enhance WCI’s stakeholder relationship with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers while additionally tracking implementation of WRRDA legislation and ensuring that WCI’s views are reflected in the outcomes. Before joining WCI, Zea served on the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) for five years.

WCI and the Illinois Corn Marketing Board have undertaken a campaign with Google and YouTube to raise public awareness about the critical importance of inland waterways transportation to production agriculture. The goal of the campaign is to have more than one million people view WCI’s 30-second video, “Inland Waterways Are Critical to Agriculture!”  The campaign began August 10 and, to date, more than one million people (1,064,882) have viewed the entire video about the importance of efficient, modern waterways to the transport of agriculture products. There has been a corresponding increase in first-time visitors to WCI’s web site, with a 77% increase in new sessions/new visitors in one month since the campaign began. The campaign will continue until October 10.

The nation and its inland waterways received a great gift at the end of 2014. On December 16, 2014, the Senate voted 76-16 to pass H.R. 5571, tax extenders legislation that included a 9-cent increase in the inland waterways diesel user fee. The increase will be effective April 1, 2015 and funds – around $40 million from industry levies – will be deposited into the Inland Waterways Trust Fund for the benefit of priority navigation project construction and major rehabilitation.

Exhaustive studies by The National Waterways Foundation (NWF), a center for research and learning where industry leaders address public policy issues related to America’s inland waterways system, conclude that inland waterways transport generates fewer emissions of particulate matter, hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide and nitrous oxide than rail or truck on a per ton mile moved basis. But, it’s one thing to claim that metric, and another altogether to prove it to shippers and other freight stakeholders. The time to do that, says the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), is now. Since 2011, the EPA has fostered an initiative to protect…

Collaboration is a wonderful thing. And in Washington, DC, it seems to be a concept that has become more alien than ever before, with partisan politics that have gripped the nation’s capital. But teamwork is alive and well in the inland waterways industry when it comes to supporting the concept of increasing the amount of investment raised for lock and dam infrastructure on the inland system. Since 1986, commercial inland towing operators have been paying a user fee of 20-cents-per-gallon of fuel used while operating on the inland system that is deposited into the Inland Waterways Trust Fund (IWTF). Those monies are then matched by General Treasury dollars and spent for the purpose of new construction and major rehabilitation work on the inland waterways.

Today WCI applauded the leadership of Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Thad Cochran (R-MS) and Senate Energy & Water Development (E&WD) Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-TN) for the 26-4 vote approving the FY 2016 appropriations bill that increases funding for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Civil Works Program. The overall size of the Corps’ Civil Works mission portion of the Senate bill is $5.499 billion and adds $768 million to the Administration request. “Important to (the) American commerce and public safety, the committee rejects the President’s budget recommendation to cut Army Corps of Engineer(s)…

The Waterways Council, Inc. (WCI) and The American Waterways Operators (AWO) expressed their support of the bipartisan process to move a long overdue Water Resources Development Act (WRDA). House efforts, led by House Transportation & Infrastructure (T&I) Committee Chairman Bill Shuster (R-PA), along with Ranking Member Rep. Nick Rahall (D-WV), as well as Water Resources and Environment Committee Chairman Bob Gibbs (R-OH) and Ranking Member Rep. Tim Bishop (D-NY), culminated in this week’s introduction of H.R. 3080, the Water Resources Reform Development Act (WRRDA). WCI and AWO are urging the inclusion of provisions in H.R. 1149, the WAVE 4 Act…

OIA Global, a worldwide transportation, supply chain management and packaging solutions provider, announced that it has acquired U.S. Worldwide Logistics, Inc. (USWWL) a Kentucky-based provider of domestic and international freight forwarding, and warehousing and distribution services. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. “This acquisition is an important step in our overall growth strategy and confirms our commitment to continue building our U.S. client base, particularly in the Cincinnati – Northern Kentucky metropolitan area,” said Charlie Hornecker, CEO of OIA Global. “Both Pam and Steve Stapleton have built a growing and profitable company by delivering full-service, worldwide transportation and logistics services for a variety of clients.

Waterways Council, Inc. (WCI) and its members and stakeholders tonight applauded the Senate’s passage, by a vote of 76 to16, of a 9-cent increase to the barge diesel fuel user fee. The provision was a part of tax extenders legislation that was combined with the “Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE)” Act that establishes tax-favored savings accounts for individuals with disabilities. The ABLE Act that included the provision to increase the user fee by 9 cents passed the House on December 3 by a vote of 404-17. The user fee – currently 20-cents-per-gallon of fuel used while operating on the inland system – will be increased to 29-cents-per-gallon, effective April 1, 2015.

Waterways Council, Inc. (WCI) and its members and stakeholders applauded the Senate’s passage, by a vote of 76 to16, of a 9-cent increase to the barge diesel fuel user fee. The provision was a part of tax extenders legislation that was combined with the “Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE)” Act that establishes tax-favored savings accounts for individuals with disabilities. The ABLE Act that included the provision to increase the user fee by 9 cents passed the House on December 3 by a vote of 404-17.

New Waterways/Ports funding proposal will create jobs, relieve traffic congestion, increase exports. At its Board of Directors meeting held yesterday in Houston, Waterways Council, Inc.’s Board of Directors unanimously endorsed the  American Waterworks Act, proposed in late October by Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) to modernize America’s inland waterways and ports. Increase revenue to Inland Waterways Trust Fund in a manner consistent with the agreement between the Inland Waterways Users and the U.S.

American Commercial Lines Inc. (NASDAQ: ACLI) (ACL) announced that it has received the 2010 GE Energy New Product Introduction Award. The award is provided to the company that introduces the most innovative solution to GE Energy's commercial transportation supply chain. ACL was recognized for bringing a water-based, environmentally friendly, economical, and safe solution to GE Energy as an alternative to land-based transportation options.Commenting on the award, Gabe Forir, ACL's Director of Sales, Midwest Region, stated, "We are excited to receive the 2010 GE Energy New Product Introduction Award for our work, along with partner TMO Global Logistics, in developing a barge transportation solution for GE. Transporting wind turbine blades and towers in barges via the U.S.

In response to the December 6 letter from Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works) Jo-Ellen Darcy to Senator Richard Durbin providing an analysis of the impact of additional Missouri River releases to sustain navigation traffic on the Mississippi River, The American Waterways Operators (AWO) and Waterways Council, Inc. We reiterate that barge operators and shippers throughout the nation that rely on safe and efficient water transportation need  the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers…

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reports today that two contractors named to remove rock pinnacles at Thebes, Illinois are en route and are expected to arrive on location on December 13 and 17, respectively. The Corps says it is “cautiously optimistic we can start blasting next week” after it meets with the contractors and reviews their blasting submittals. “While this is welcome news, it only solves part of the problem to avoid an effective Mississippi River shutdown to commerce.