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.TOP NEWS
New Minister of Transport announced
Freight Management Association of Canada
The Prime Minister announced a Cabinet shuffle that has the Honourable Marc Garneau moving from Transport to Global Affairs. The Hon. Omar Alghabra, MP for Mississauga Centre, has been named Minister of Transport.
Mr. Alghabra trained as a mechanical engineer and and also holds a Master of Business Administration degree. He was most recently Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister.
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Bank of Canada business survey turns positive for first time since pandemic began
Financial Post
Business sentiment in Canada has turned slightly positive for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began, with the outlook bolstered by stronger foreign and domestic demand, according to a Bank of Canada survey.
The survey, conducted ahead of many tougher restrictions aimed at curbing surging COVID-19 infections, found that while half of businesses say their current sales are below pre-pandemic levels, most expect them to rise in the next 12 months.
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MSC update on Canadian supply chain congestion
MSC
MSC sent a message to customers this week, including the following information.
"The purpose of this message is to update you on the current situation as it relates to the overall supply chain congestion in Canadian ports:
"As you may be aware, major rail providers in the Greater Toronto Area are experiencing a high level of volumes and congestion in their yards. This is causing a ripple effect to other depots in the area as empty import return containers have had to be redirected to their yards. These depots are now reaching maximum capacity, resulting in longer wait times or an inability to accepting empty import returns until space becomes available."
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Quasar is an end-to-end supply chain optimization platform that enables the management and cost control of the supply chain for shippers. It’s a fully cloud enabled and digital platform designed to automate manual effort in tracking assets, as well as provide data and insights into how to optimize the supply chain from “order to cash.”
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Transportation Secretary Chao resigns in wake of riot
Progressive Railroading
U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao announced in a tweet addressed to U.S. Department of Transportation colleagues that she would resign her office effective Jan. 11.
One of the longest-serving members of President Donald Trump's cabinet, Chao cited the recent deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol in her resignation announcement.
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The View with Lou: Pandemic pain
Inside Logistics
According to author Lou Smyrlis: If you are in the midst of transportation contract negotiations right now, I don't envy you. There is so much uncertainty heading into 2021 — much of it thanks to the impact of Covid-19 — that decisions will be nothing short of difficult. While I am going to focus specifically on truck freight for this column, the uncertainty applies to every mode.
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.RAIL
Rail traffic for the week ending January 9, 2021
AAR
The Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending January 9, 2021.
For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 525,253 carloads and intermodal units, up 4.7 percent from the comparable week of 2020, which was Week 2 – ended January 11, 2020.
Total carloads for the week ending January 9 were 235,404 carloads, down 1.6 percent compared with the comparable week in 2020, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 289,849 containers and trailers, up 10.4 percent compared to 2020.
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CN, CP exceed grain revenue limits for 2019-2020 crop year
Progressive Railroading
The Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) recently announced that the revenue earned by CN and Canadian Pacific from grain shipments were above their maximum entitlements for the 2019-2020 crop year.
CN's grain revenue of CA$933,502,041 was CA$3,170,615 above its entitlement of CA$930,331426; and CP's grain revenue of CA$999,230,8080 was CA$2,170,010 above its entitlement of CA$997,060,798, CTA officials said in a press release.
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CP sets grain hauling record in 2020
Inside Logistics
Canadian Pacific moved 31.32 million tonnes (MMT) of Canadian grain and grain products in 2020, more than any prior calendar year in its history, the company announced on January 4.
At year's end, CP also completed its best ever quarter and best ever December for hauling these commodities.
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G3 opens new grain elevators in Alberta
Progressive Railroading
G3 last month announced three new grain elevators in Alberta, Canada.
The facilities in Wetaskiwin, Erskine (G3 Stettler County) and Irricana are high-efficiency. Trucks can unload grain in less than 5 minutes, and trains up to 150 cars can load in a continuous motion on a loop track in a matter of hours, G3 officials said in a press release.
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.TRUCKING
DOT lays out strategy for automated trucking
Freight Waves
The U.S. Department of Transportation released a strategy for integrating automated driving systems into the commercial trucking and passenger vehicle sectors.
The 38-page Automated Vehicles Comprehensive Plan, which will be published in the Federal Register for public review and comment, "lays out a vision for the safe integration of automated vehicles into America's transportation system while ensuring that legitimate concerns about safety, security, and privacy are addressed," said Secretary Elaine Chao.
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GM reveals electric delivery van with connected pallets
Frieght Waves
General Motors Co. flung itself into the battery-electric commercial delivery and freight-tech businesses recently, revealing an electric-powered cargo van and a connected pallet system for getting goods from the vehicle to customers’ doorsteps.
The automaker had hinted it was working on a battery-powered electric van.
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.AIR
FedEx Express transports first shipment of COVID-19 vaccines for Pfizer
The STAT Trade Times
FedEx Express, a subsidiary of FedEx Corp. and the world's largest express transportation company transported its first shipments of COVID-19 vaccines.
Following the Food and Drug Administration's approval of Emergency Use Authorization for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, FedEx Express will begin transport of the vaccine using its FedEx Priority Overnight service supported by FedEx Priority Alert advanced monitoring.
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With air cargo rates set to remain sky high, shippers need to plan carefully
The Loadstar
Accurate forecasting by shippers will be crucial to manage their shipping requirements — and costs — efficiently, as air freight rates look set to remain high this year.
The Baltic Air Freight Index saw a 100% year-on-year increase this week, while the past few weeks have seen the highest readings since the Q2 capacity shortage.
However, forwarders in Asia have noted a softening market ex-China, in part due to lockdowns, although e-commerce remains strong.
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Feds silent on air bailout
Blacklock's Reporter
Liberal MP Omar Alghabra (Mississauga Centre Ont.), newly-appointed transport minister, had no comment on a bailout of the airline sector as exasperated unions appealed for quick aid. A cabinet panel a month ago warned of an "urgent need of targeted assistance to avoid collapse."
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Air Canada suspends routes as COVID restrictions bite travel
American Shipper
Air Canada is reducing passenger system capacity by 25% and laying off 1,700 workers in the first quarter due to new Canadian travel restrictions aimed at curbing the resurgence of COVID-19, the company said recently.
More than 200 employees in the airline's regional express division are also being furloughed. Air Canada said it is working with unions to mitigate the impact on employees. The company released 20,000 workers in May.
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Airbus' Maveric may be a glimmer of green hope
Air Cargo Week
Airbus' remote controlled Maveric aircraft may be a glimmer of green hope for aviation, an industry that is under scrutiny to improve its environmental footprint.
Airbus' unusually shaped Maveric aircraft is only 3m wide but Airbus have noted the size has the potential to be scaled to the size of a passenger jet. The blended-wing design give the whole whole airframe lift, meaning Maveric can be lighter and smaller than current aircraft, but can potentially carry the same payload.
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Air cargo volumes slowly rising
Inside Logistics
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) released data for global air freight markets in November showing that freight volumes improved compared to October, but remain depressed compared to 2019.
Capacity remains constrained from the loss of available belly cargo space as passenger aircraft remain parked.
Global demand, measured in cargo tonne-kilometers (CTKs), was 6.6 per cent below previous-year levels in November (-7.7 per cent for international operations).
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.MARINE
The Quebec Government grants $55 million to the Contrecoeur container terminal project
AJOT
Recently, the Government of Quebec announced $55 million in financial assistance to the Montreal Port Authority towards its expansion project in Contrecoeur.
"The Government of Quebec's backing is an important signal for the MPA and reflects a shared commitment to provide local businesses with a highly efficient supply chain," said MPA President and CEO Martin Imbleau.
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More misery for shippers with return of bunker surcharges on the radar
The Loadstar
As oil prices head north again, ocean carriers are preparing to ramp up low-sulphur fuel surcharges to add to the misery of shippers struggling with sky-high freight rates, surcharges and premium fees.
Since early September, the price of Brent crude has increased by 41%, to $55 a barrel, with an 8% spike alone last week driven by Saudi Arabia's pledge to cut output.
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New portal tracks maritime emissions
Inside Logistics
RightShip and the Australian Marine Environment Protection Association (AUSMEPA) have developed a Maritime Emissions Portal (MEP), which will provide emissions inventory data to ports around the world.
Now available for commercial use, the MEP has been designed as a tool to support port operators to better and more accurately understand ship-based emissions, and use the data to identify opportunities to reduce environmental impact.
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Boxship space in Asia now going, going, gone — To the highest bidder
gCaptain
Major forwarders are engaged in fierce bidding wars in China, in order to secure equipment and space to North Europe.
And several carriers are reported to have opened first- and second-round tenders with the highest bidders for guaranteed shipment this month.
According to Chinese forwarder contacts, carriers are inviting offers for available slots on end-January sailings from Shanghai, Ningbo, Qingdao and Yantian, with all-in bids below $16,000 per 40ft H/C for the UK and $10,500 for Rotterdam, Antwerp and Le Havre unlikely to be successful.
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Inside California's colossal container-ship traffic jam
American Shipper
In the movie "Falling Down," the character played by Michael Douglas is stranded in a Los Angeles traffic jam. He abandons his car, starts walking with briefcase in hand and ultimately has a mental breakdown. Cargo shippers trying to get their containers through the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach can relate.
The pileup of ships offshore in San Pedro Bay and congestion onshore at the terminals have reached epic proportions.
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'Shipageddon' averted: It wasn't a bad holiday delivery season after all
Freight Waves
The holiday parcel-delivery season may not have come off perfectly, but the "shipageddon" that many had feared did not materialize.
Much of that was due to the performance of the parcel carriers, with their preparation for a nightmare peak-season scenario paying off in solid on-time delivery results under tough circumstances. UPS Inc. delivered 96.7% of its parcels on time during a five-week cycle tracked by consultancy ShipMatrix.
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