The Agricultural Marketing Service released the Ocean Shipping Container Availability Report (OSCAR) for the week of Jan. 16-22. The weekly report contains data on container availability for westbound transpacific traffic at 18 intermodal locations in the U.S.¹ from the eight member carriers of the Westbound Transpacific Stabilization Agreement (WTSA).² Although the report is compiled by AMS, it covers container availability for all merchandise, not just agricultural products.

Sea piracy reached a five-year low in 2012, with 297 ships attacked compared with 439 in 2011, said a report by the International Chamber of Commerce International Maritime Bureau Jan. 16. It cited a "huge" reduction in Somali piracy, but said East and West Africa remain the worst hit areas, with 150 attacks in 2012.

Notice of Agreements Filed (here)

Unlicensed international moving companies are misrepresenting their Federal Maritime Commission license status on websites and advertisements, said the FMC Office of Consumer Affairs and Dispute Resolution Services. It said the companies have posted the Commission’s seal on their websites or have listed the organization number of a licensed company with a similar name to the unlicensed company to lure unsuspecting consumers. FMC said consumers should make sure that companies are listed on the Commission’s list of FMC-Licensed & Bonded OTIs, and call 202-523-5843 if they have questions. Complaints can be filed at complaints@fmc.gov.

Air freight grew faster in November than in previous months at +1.8%, due in part mainly to a recovery in shipments through the holiday season, said the Airport Operators Council International. The biggest revival was in North America, where the air freight volume increased by +3.5%. Africa had a decline of 4.6%, Latin America-Caribbean dropped 1.7% and Europe 0.9%, it said. The result was overall flat growth in 2012, said ACI World Economics Director Rafael Echevarne, and "it is still too early to project sustained growth [for 2013] based on the present conditions and risks.

The Agricultural Marketing Service released the Ocean Shipping Container Availability Report (OSCAR) for the week of Jan. 9-15. The weekly report contains data on container availability for westbound transpacific traffic at 18 intermodal locations in the U.S.¹ from the eight member carriers of the Westbound Transpacific Stabilization Agreement (WTSA).² Although the report is compiled by AMS, it covers container availability for all merchandise, not just agricultural products.

The amount of freight carried by the for-hire transportation industry rose 1.7% in November 2012 from October, according to a Department of Transportation Freight Transportation Services Index (TSI) report released Jan. 9. The Nov. 2012 index level (108.9) was 15.5 percent above the April 2009 low during the recession, DOT said. The Freight TSI rose in Nov. at least partly as a result of recovery from Hurricane Sandy, which depressed truck and freight rail traffic in October. The Freight TSI measures the month-to-month changes in freight shipments by mode of transportation in ton-miles, which are then combined into one index. The index measures the output of the for-hire freight transportation industry and consists of data from for-hire trucking, rail, inland waterways, pipelines and air freight.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is proposing several minor amendments to Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 119 to revise the formatting and replace a missing footnote in Table II, it said in a Federal Register notice for publication Jan. 10. The standard was amended in a final rule published June 26, 2003 as part of a comprehensive upgrade of several standards to improve tire safety, as required by the Transportation Recall Enhancement, Accountability, and Documentation (TREAD) Act of 2000. NHTSA believes the proposed revision is needed to correct minor oversights in the June 2003 final rule for No. 119. Comments are due by March 11 to DOT Docket Number NHTSA-2010-AK17 at http://www.regulations.gov, or to Docket Management Facility: U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue S.E., West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, Washington, D.C. 20590-001.

Air freight demand increased in November, up 1.6 percent over the same period in 2011, the International Air Transport Association said in its monthly report on air traffic. “November brought some positive signs for air transport demand -- particularly for air cargo,” said Director General Tony Tyler. It's premature to consider this a turning point for air cargo markets in terms of bouncing back and regaining lost ground, he said, but when coupled with better economic developments in the U.S., and more business confidence in recent months, “the conditions are aligning to see a return to growth in 2013.” IATA expects cargo volumes to grow 1.4 percent this year. But the bottom line is that continued growth isn't guaranteed, IATA said. Governments should try to lower barriers to connectivity growth by addressing excessive taxation, high infrastructure costs, and onerous regulation, and by boosting the capacity and efficient of airports and air navigation services, it said.

There has been “substantive progress” on more than half of 20 critical steps needed to further reduce highway crashes, the American Trucking Associations reported. Its report came four years after ATA published a list of safety priorities and urged policymakers to do more to make trucks and roadways safer. ATA wants common-sense, data-supported regulatory and legislative changes to boost safety, President Bill Graves said. State and federal regulators and lawmakers have responded in several areas but there's much more work to be done, he said. Areas where no headway has been made include implementation of a national speed limit of 65 mph and speed limiters for all commercial vehicles, ATA said. In addition, the federal truck safety program, along with many states, “is moving in the wrong direction on truck-involved traffic enforcement interventions.”