Teamster negotiators said the first round of UPS Freight negotiations wrapped up last week in San Diego with significant progress being made. Teamsters General Secretary-Treasurer Ken Hall, Director of the Package Division, said the union presented proposals to the company that include eliminating subcontracting, limiting the overuse of casuals and allowing discretionary days to accumulate year to year. The National Negotiating Committee refused to accept a company proposal to be reimbursed for 10 cents per page for any paper copies requested by a local union in excess of 10 pages, it said. UPS Freight negotiations are to resume Nov. 12-16 in Washington, D.C.

Pilots for Northern Air Cargo airline ratified their first contract, the Teamsters union said. NAC, owned by Saltchuk Resources, operates a fleet of Boeing 737s throughout Alaska. Saltchuk is a transportation holding company that owns other transportation related companies including Aloha Airlines.

Customs brokerage Livingston International bought Norman G. Jensen, Inc., including its Canadian brokerage company, Jensen Customs Brokers Canada, said Livingston CEO Peter Luit. He said the deal strengthens Livingston's presence along the Canada-U.S. border and adds "attractive air/sea ports" and bolsters its services on the border with Mexico. A second-generation family business founded in 1937, NGJ is a major independent customs broker with a strong presence in the western U.S.

Shipping officials and longshoremen "are making good progress on a number of difficult issues at the full committee and subcommittee levels," after concluding five days of negotiations Oct. 13, said Federal Mediation & Conciliation Service Director George Cohen. The U.S. Maritime Alliance and the International Longshoremen's Association were to resume talks this week, he said.

Zepol said U.S. import shipment volume for September, measured in TEUs, was down 3.6% from August, but up 2.6% from September 2011. Imports of TEUs dropped from more than 1.6 million in August to 1.55 million in September. Q3 of 2012 was up 3.8% from Q3 2011, said Zepol CEO Paul Rassmussen. Most Asian countries had a drop in shipments to the U.S. from August to September, but an overall rise in Q3 compared to Q3 of last year, the report said. China was up 0.57% from Q3 2011, and South Korea rose 8.5% and Japan 3%.

Supply chain solutions provider Marken said it was again designated as a C-TPAT (Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism) certified company, following a CBP inspection. It first achieved the designation in 2008, it said.

FedEx Trade Networks said it has completed its mission to enable ACE (Automated Commercial Environment) entry summary filing at all U.S. ports of entry. "Technology plays a huge role in our business and any opportunity to work with CBP to pioneer innovation in our industry is always a win," said Andy Henry, vice president of U.S. Operations for FedEx Trade Networks. Since it's well ahead of any CBP mandated cutover date, the company said it expects no service disruptions when the cutover becomes mandatory. "Customers benefit from the improved visibility and expanded functionality of the new ACE systems which allows them to make better, real-time decisions regarding their shipments," Henry said.

Crowley Maritime's freight-forwarding, export-packing and logistics company, Jarvis International Freight will transition into the company as a new branch of Crowley Logistics, it said Oct. 10. The move will allow Crowley to offer project logistics and global freight management services to a wider array of industries and in more geographic locations, it said. Adding Jarvis boosts the company's position in the petroleum and energy industries, allowing it to take on more complex projects for those customers, it said.

"U.S. companies continue to see strong growth and profitability in China," said US-China Business Council President John Frisbie, releasing its 2012 China Business Environment Survey. "Two-thirds of companies surveyed said revenue from their businesses in China grew by 10 percent or more in the past year. Seventy-five percent said profit margins from their China operations were the same as or better than their company''s global margins." Competition with Chinese enterprises (state-owned or private), cost increases, and uneven local enforcement and implementation of laws and policies remain top challenges, the report said. USCBC estimates that China is a $250 billion market for American companies. It said the survey showed that the Chinese exchange rate does not impact U.S. company competitiveness in China, compared to other market access issues. "The exchange rate issue failed to make the top 25 issues again this year," Frisbie said.

Freight volume continues to vary depending on the sector and trucking's outlook will be cloudy in coming months, American Trucking Associations Chief Economist Bob Costello said. The trucking economy is “pretty mixed right now,” he said on an Oct. 9 panel at a management conference. Some groups, such as tank trucks and flatbeds, are doing well, while others, like dry vans, are underperforming, he said. Capacity “remains relatively in balance to demand,” but if the overall economy grows, “we would not have enough trucks to handle the corresponding increase in freight,” he said. The biggest risk to trucking would be a return to recession either because of the collapse of the euro or, more likely, uncertainty related to the “fiscal cliff” at year's end, he said. Another area of concern is the sharp decline in manufacturing orders, which will limit manufacturing output and put a damper on truck volumes in the next few months, he said.