C.H. Robinson Worldwide formed a new ChemSolutions division to provide logistics services to chemical manufacturing and distribution customers globally. It is to provide chemical bulk shipping, safety and sustainability, freight forwarding, customs brokerage, vendor and supplier compliance, global trade management, and multi-modal transportation to chemical shippers, the firm said. ChemSolutions has RC14001 certification and uses proprietary technology to ensure that contract carriers meet customer, and industry requirements, it said.
Law firm Squire Sanders opened an office in Seoul, Korea, to deal with a variety of matters, including trade disputes, it said. The office is led by Joon Yong Kim, a U.S. licensed lawyer who was admitted as a foreign legal consultant by the Ministry of Justice in July.
U.S. high-tech executives' confidence in the future of global trade and U.S. exports has grown significantly over the past two years, according to a UPS annual survey. It said 85 percent of U.S. high-tech executives believe the Obama administration's National Export Initiative goal to double exports by 2014 is either "very likely" or "somewhat likely" to be achieved, versus 40 percent two years ago.
The Teamsters launched contract negotiations for 250,000 UPS employees, but said no tentative agreement will be reached with UPS until supervisor harassment is addressed and there is consensus on restrictions on the use of the U.S. Postal Service. And at UPS Freight, there will be no agreement without addressing subcontracting, they said. The UPS contract is the largest collective bargaining agreement in the country. The UPS and UPS Freight contracts are five-year agreements and expire July 31, 2013, and both sides stressed the importance of reaching a tentative agreement by March 31.
August air freight volume fell 0.8% compared to the previous year, according to International Air Transport Association figures. IATA said the minor recovery seen at the start of the year has faded quickly and the stability seen in freight markets during 2012 could be under threat owing to continued economic weakness. There was growth in the Middle East (11.3%), Africa (10.2%) and North America (2.0%), but all other regions saw freight volumes decline, including a 5.5% drop for Asia-Pacific carriers, it said.
Freight logistics company FreightCenter said it's actively recruiting staff, despite the downturned economy. It said it has nearly doubled its employee count since 2011, creating more than 40 new positions. By the end of 2012, FreightCenter anticipates adding 20 additional positions to its workforce, it said. Employment inquires can be sent to careers@freightcenter.com or call 800-716-7608.
INTTRA said it has enhanced the OceanSchedules multi-carrier scheduling solution, allowing customers to access and evaluate over 7 million global vessel schedules from 31 carriers with a new option for integrating OceanSchedules within existing applications and support for additional data formats. This release of OceanSchedules includes a new delivery format that supports the requirements of SAP's Transportation Management Solution, it said, joining XML and EDI as a way for shippers and alliance partners to receive OceanSchedules information. With this release, INTTRA is delivering access to OceanSchedules through a web service that retrieves available schedules in real-time, eliminating the need to load schedules into a local database, it said.
The American Trucking Associations' seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index contracted 0.9% in August after increasing 0.4% in July, it said. The drop in August, while not erasing the cumulative 1.5% gain in June and July, was significant, the ATA said. But, compared with August 2011, the SA index was 3.2% higher in August 2012. Year-to-date, compared with the same period last year, tonnage was up 3.7%, ATA said. "Expect tough year-over-year comparisons to continue through the rest of the year as tonnage grew nicely during the last five months of 2011," ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello said. As a result, tonnage is expected to increase less than 3.5% in 2012.
Contract talks between the Teamsters union and UPS and UPS Freight are to begin Sept. 27, the union said. It said the national union and locals have approved the union proposals to be presented at the meeting. No details were immediately available on the specific proposals.
C.H. Robinson Worldwide said it agreed to buy Phoenix International for $571.5 million in cash and about $63.5 million in newly-issued C.H. Robinson stock, subject to regulatory approval and conditions. Closing is expected in the fourth quarter, it said. Phoenix is a privately-held international freight forwarder, with net revenue of about $161 million in the fiscal year ended June 30, and operating income of about $48 million, it said. It provides international freight forwarding services, including ocean, air, and customs brokerage to about 15,000 customers. It has about 2,000 employees in 76 offices in 15 countries.