A relaxing get-acquainted day of activities, including a golf tournament, will open IRTA's fifth annual convention to be held June 13-15 at the Westin Hotel in Seattle, Washington.
The meeting will assemble the most comprehensive group of importers, exporters and transportation services executives to network on trends and topics in the refrigerated transportation industry. The program will include presentations on loss and damage prevention, technology updates, refrigerated commodities, ocean transportation, inland transportation, and world economics. More than 350 IRTA members and guests from around the world are expected to attend.
The meeting will be hosted by the Port of Seattle-the fifth largest container port in the U.S. and the twentieth largest in the world-with promotional sponsorship by The Journal of Commerce.
Opening Day Attractions
The opening golf tournament will be held at the picturesque Classic Country Club, one of the top courses in the state. Special tee times have been reserved for IRTA participants and their guests.
Nicknamed "The Emerald City," Seattle is surrounded by lakes, rivers, the Puget Sound and mountains. Conference attendees will have an opportunity on June 13 to participate in guided tours of this beautiful city, which is renowned for its livability and outdoor recreation. Private bus tours will pick you up and drop you off at the Westin for sightseeing at the Museum of Flight, the Seattle Aquarium, Pike Place Market, the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks and the Space Needle. The buses will return in time for you to freshen up for the opening reception that evening.
(If you want to get a taste of what Seattle has to offer ahead of time, a fun "virtual" tour of the city-complete with sights, sounds, museum/aquarium schedules, maps and restaurant listings-can be found on the Internet at www.ci.seattle.wa.us/cgi/tour.pl.)
Executive of the Year
On Monday, June 14, IRTA will provide a full slate of sessions and opportunities for networking. This is your chance to hear industry updates, view trade exhibits and get reacquainted with other IRTA members. Presentation of IRTA's prestigious Refrigerated Transportation Executive of the Year Award will highlight Monday's luncheon. A private reception atop the World Trade Center will cap off the day.
A half day of presentations will take place on Tuesday, June 15. (The conference agenda is currently being finalized and will be forwarded to participants in the near future.) The conference will conclude at noon so that participants can take in more of Seattle, set up afternoon business appointments or relax before traveling home.
Special rates have been reserved for hotel rooms, rental cars and airfare for IRTA participants. For more information (including on-line registration), try IRTA's Internet web site at www.irta.org or call us at (800) 996-3233.
by Robert C. Mirone
The new year is a good time to discuss the changes that have occurred in IRTA. As many of you may already know, our executive director, David Letteney, has retired and plans to spend part of this year in Ireland. Dave has been of invaluable assistance to our association. The IRTA Board of Directors and I will miss his sage advice and organizational skills.
We have retained the services of Milestone Presentations, LLC, to manage a number of the association's executive functions as well as organizing our 1999 annual convention in Seattle. As you may recall, Milestone President Mark Stone has worked with us previously, especially in organizing our conventions. We look forward to a long, promising relationship with Mark and his staff.
Milestone, which is based in Colorado, has teamed up with Association Resources, Inc., to provide comprehensive association management and support services to IRTA. Douglas Ravnholdt, president of Association Resources, will be coordinating member services for our organization.
Milestone has also engaged Alicia Rudnicki, an editor, and Valri Kaleda, a graphic designer, to prepare the association's quarterly newsletter. We have renamed it The IRTA Report, and we hope you enjoy the new look.
Milestone presented a draft budget to the Board in January that contained an ambitious line item for signing one hundred new members. As Douglas Ravnholdt noted, "There is a huge number of potential members out there. We just need to identify them and present an attractive list of member benefits to encourage them to join IRTA."
While speaking of changes in our organization, at our last Board of Directors' meeting, Joe Carone, a former director, was elected to fill a vacancy on the Board. Welcome back, Joe. We'll especially keep you busy organizing the law and insurance session for our upcoming convention.
While membership has its perks, such as the fun and information to be shared this June in Seattle, it also has its responsibilities. The Board of Directors urges you to continue your membership and to respond promptly when you receive your bill for annual dues so that IRTA may thrive.
We also want you to take an active part in designing IRTA's programs and recruiting new members. This is your organization, and the Board needs to know what you think of it, your suggestions for changes and any ideas you want to share to improve the organization and meet member needs.
I look forward to seeing all of you in Seattle. Meanwhile, please feel free to contact me, Mark, Doug or Alicia by phone, fax, e-mail or on the web at the following addresses:
Supporters and some studies say that triple-trailered trucks are involved in less accidents than regular big rigs. But the U.S. Department of Transportation in January issued a report saying that the use of LVCs (longer vehicle combinations) may increase the risk of accidents if they are allowed on all the nation's highways, so they must be studied more.
The DOT said that the 1,000-page report is not intended to establish policy, but to help Congress and state governments decide how and where LVCs should be allowed to travel. The report assesses both the environmental and economic impact of these bigger rigs. It discusses what would happen if (1) uniform standards were set for all states at current federal standards, (2) U.S. laws were made to conform with the Mexican and Canadian standards, which allow significantly heavier truck weights or
(3) current restrictions-which vary from state to state-were removed altogether.
Under the first scenario, weight limits would be capped at 80,000 pounds and route restrictions would be set for the LVCs traveling on interstates and national highways.
The second considers what would happen if the maximum weight for LVCs were raised to 131,000 pounds.
The third, which is advocated by the trucking industry, would allow LVCs to operate with gross weights up to 148,000 pounds and with double trailers, each 53 feet in length. The study estimated a 23.4 percent decrease in the number of truck vehicle miles traveled if double and triple trailer trucks were allowed, because there would be fewer trucks on the road.
Organizations such as AAA have said that surveys of motorists reveal concern about the safety risks of increasing truck size and the number of routes available to LVCs, while proponents argue that using multi-trailered rigs would make it possible to lessen pollution and exposure to accidents by having fewer trucks on the road. o
Reproduced with permission from The Journal of Commerce
Shippers pressing for legislative changes to the rules governing rail access and competition will meet in Washington March 17-19 for a combined seminar and lobbying effort organized by the Alliance for Rail Competition (ARC). The Alliance has lined up 11 other trade associations as co-sponsors.
Known as the Rail Customer Forum, the gathering has been designed to include speakers from federal agencies, Congress, shipper groups and the railroad industry itself. Invitees include Linda Morgan, chairman of the Surface Transportation Board, and two Cabinet members' Secretary of Transportation Rodney Slater and Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman.
Wide Range of Sponsors
In addition to ARC, the sponsoring groups include the American Farm Bureau Federation, the American Forest & Paper Association, the American Public Power Association, the Chemical Manufacturers Association, Consumers United for Rail Equity, the Edison Electric Institute, the National Association of Wheat Growers, the Society of the Plastics Industry, the Fertilizer Institute, the Transportation Intermediaries Association and the U.S. Clay Producers Traffic Association.
The drive by trade associations and their individual members to create more rail-to-rail competition appears to be the most serious challenge to rail regulation since 1988, when an effort to change some provisions of the Staggers Rail Act of 1980 was defeated in the Senate.
Railroad Deregulation
The Staggers Act, which partially deregulated the railroads, frequently is cited by the carriers as the reason for their steady improvements in productivity, service and profitability. Railroad officials have said they will oppose any effort to alter current provisions of the Staggers Act.
Customers and trade groups that attend the meeting are expected to spend March 18 talking with members of Congress about a legislative agenda to advance changes in rate, access and competitive policies pursued by the carriers.
A set of formal proposals is expected to be developed before the two-day session to facilitate introduction of legislation around the time of the March meeting.
The Bottleneck Case
One issue that is expected to be addressed in that legislation is a 1996 Surface Transportation Board (STB) decision known as the bottleneck case. In that decision, the STB refused to force a railroad that could serve both the origin and destination for a shipment to quote a competitive rate in conjunction with a second carrier that could handle the same shipment for most, but not all, of the distance between the origin and destination.
In recent months, several shipper groups also have complained about other STB decisions. Those included a refusal to broaden competition in Texas, STB's unwillingness to change competitive access rules and its decision to continue using a disputed formula for calculating railroads' profitability.
The Port of Corpus Christi is constructing a state-of-the-art refrigerated distribution center in joint partnership with Berkshire Foods of Chicago. The on-dock warehouse will cover 100,000 sq. ft. The project, which is scheduled for completion in October 1999, is part of Corpus Christi's effort to diversify its services.
The port is an ideal location for such a distribution center, because Corpus Christi's location on the Gulf of Mexico makes it a natural to serve the ever-growing north/south trade markets. The port's access to major target areas in Mexico as well as the central and western U.S. enable it to better serve the import/export markets of North America, Mexico, Central and South America, Africa, Europe and Russia.
According to Terri Young, Port of Corpus Christi information and research coordinator, the vast potential of domestic and global markets make the port's refrigerated warehouse the ideal transshipment facility.
The warehouse features a 60' wide apron with enclosed temperature controlled truck and rail access. Young said that as a result, the cold chain is not interrupted, thus achieving a fresher, higher quality value of commodity for the customer. Other special features that she noted include (1) division of the warehouse into three rooms, two of which can be converted to chill space; (2) blast freeze capability; (3) humidity control; and (4) six high racked storage with 14,500 pallet capacity.
The Port of Corpus Christi is served by three railroads-the Union Pacific, the Burlington Northern & Santa Fe, and the Tex-Mex. Major interstate and U.S. highways are less than one mile from the facility. The distribution center is also located within the port's Foreign Trade Zone with 24-hour security.
Reproduced with permission from Port Illustrated
Increasing fruit imports from the southern hemisphere encouraged the Port of Wilmington, Delaware, to demolish a 50-year-old warehouse last year and begin construction of an 130,000 square foot cold storage facility. The State of Delaware is providing funding for the project.
The 50,000 square foot dry cargo shed known as "Warehouse E" was torn down in July and the site cleared for the construction of a new $17 million temperature-controlled warehouse and fruit distribution center. Construction is scheduled for completion this winter.
The 3.9 million cubic foot cold storage will have a temperature range of +10 Fahrenheit to +60 degrees, making it capable of handling both frozen and chilled cargoes. It will have two rooms specially equipped for controlled atmosphere storage of apples and other fruits.
The new coldstore will increase the Port's overall cold storage capacity to 680,000 square feet (13.5 million cubic feet), making Wilmington one of the world's largest shipside cold storage terminals.
Virginia to Spend $10 Million Doubling Refrigerated Warehouse
The Virginia Port Authority is doubling the capacity of an 80,000-square-foot refrigerated warehouse built less than two years ago at Norfolk International Terminals. It plans to do this by building a warehouse adjacent to the current facility. The new project will cost $10 million.
A license to operate the expanded warehouse will be issued to International Refrigerated Port Services, the company that operates the existing warehouse. International Refrigerated is a subsidiary of Richmond Cold Storage, a large warehouse management company that operates 32 million cubic feet of refrigerated space in the southeastern United States.
Reproduced with permission from Traffic World
In late 1999, a subsidiary of the world's largest producer and marketer of fresh fruit and vegetables, Dole Fresh Fruit International Ltd., will take delivery of the largest reefer containerships in the world. But this time ports are not going bananas over the challenge of handling larger ships.
The two 30,600-dwt box ships are being built in Germany by shipbuilder HDW and are due to be delivered in December 1999. Although the open-hatch ships will transport some frozen goods, they will mainly haul bananas from Central America to the United States.
That's a Lot of Bananas
"It's a whole new ballgame and a real challenge," said Ian Pull, Dole's president of vessel management. "The biggest ships we have now can handle 492 reefer containers. These big ships can carry close to 1,000 FEUs - that's a whole lot of bananas."
The terminals Dole uses will have to be expanded to accommodate the influx of containerized fruit. But the ports involved are not fretting over inadequate infrastructure. Dole has turned the problem of how to squeeze large container vessels into congested harbors on its head: the ships are being built to fit the ports.
"We designed the ships with the ports in mind," confirmed Pull. That means a maximum draft of around 31 feet to enable the vessels to berth alongside Dole's terminals in South America.
Harvesting in Advance
At the same time, Dole is reorganizing its loading and unloading operations in preparation for the big ships.
As Pull explained, "You have to start loading for the ship well in advance of its arrival."This means that, rather than cutting fruit for a ship the day before it arrives at the load port, harvesting will begin long before its arrival. Containers will be delivered to the plantations earlier and loaded with bananas. The loaded boxes then will be trucked to the terminal.
"We are going to have to expand our terminals and have more parking space for containers" at the port, Pull said. Berths at Castilla, Honduras and Moin, Costa Rica, currently are being expanded and more reefer connections are being installed.
Expansion at Wilmington
A similar process is under way in the United States. Dole's main U.S. port is Wilmington, Delaware. At the beginning of last year, the fruit company inaugurated a second weekly container service to Wilmington, increasing its annual cargo volume through the U.S. port by about 25 percent.
Wilmington extended a berth guarantee to the Dole vessels on a weekly basis, and leased additional container storage acreage to the company. In order to accommodate Dole's new ships, Wilmington is purchasing a crane and allocating more terminal space to the company.
The arrival of jumbo ships is part of an overall trend toward more containerized reefer traffic through Wilmington, one of the United States' premier ports for fruit. Container volumes for fiscal year 1997 reached 166,438 TEUs, and Wilmington expects its 1998 record for imported bananas to top a million tons from Dole and Chiquita, the world's two top banana suppliers.
Fruit of the Wise Men
Bananas have been cultivated for more than 2,000 years. It is generally agreed that the banana originated in Malaysia and the East Indies. The fruit is frequently referred to in ancient Hindu, Chinese, Greek, and Roman literature and in sacred texts of Oriental cultures. In the Koran, there is a plant referred to as "the tree of paradise" that is believed to have been a banana plant. It is also said that armies of Alexander the Great fighting in India were the first Europeans to learn about the fruit. Bananas arrived in the Caribbean Islands and Mexico shortly after Columbus' voyages.
Musa sapientum, the scientific name for the common banana, means "fruit of the wise men." This name derives from the legend that sages in India sat under banana plants during times of meditation. Today wise men, women, and children eat bananas because they are such an excellent and nutritious food.
Reproduced with permission from The Journal of Commerce
Different fruits have different timetables, but the gap between picking and consuming is growing. Apples, picked at the right time, in the past could last up to a month in cool storage. At sea, in dark cool barrels they lasted months. Thanks in part to advances in refrigerated shipping containers, the produce industry has a 12- to 13-month window to deliver apples to the best market at the peak of ripeness.
While it is simple to stuff rags, wastepaper and even freshly cut logs into containers, the shipping of produce is still a masterpiece-in-progress, always advancing as distributors try to extend the product's life cycle by another week or even a day.
Think strawberries: Strawberries on a kitchen counter will spoil in a day or two. Strawberries in a refrigerator will last up to a week, maybe longer. Strawberries kept in a cool environment, with certain shades of light and enhanced doses of nitrogen, will last two weeks to a month. Strawberries with all of the above, and just the right amount of humidity at just the right time along the way, might last for more than a month. And even that could be extended if anyone dared pick and pack them sooner.
Simple Yet Challenging
Controlling the atmosphere inside a container is no easy task. The trick to longevity in a container is the proper mix of air. Most air is about 21 percent oxygen and 79 percent nitrogen.
"A generic controlled atmosphere might be 2 percent oxygen to 98 percent nitrogen," according to Greg Malcolm, a spokesman for Permea Inc., which supplies controlled atmosphere systems to warehouses, refrigerated-container manufacturers and to operators of refrigerated ships, including Dole Fresh Fruit International, Ltd.
Ed Murphy, director of refrigerated services at Maersk Line said that refrigerated containerization is "a simple idea, but it's a challenge to do it. We want to preserve the product for as long as we can, until we are ready to provide it to the consumer. That's what the scientists are working on every day."
Maersk carries papayas from South America to Europe. Safmarine and others ship apples and oranges from South Africa to Europe. Flower bulbs go halfway around the world. CSAV/Chilean Line carries grapes to North America. Medicine, fish and meats are increasingly shipped around the world as refrigeration technology advances.
As trade develops, refrigerated boxes are more and more common in countries with weak infrastructure. That means local support systems for containers, such as electricity, are less reliable. In many cases, it also means harsh environments, such as temperature extremes. For example, Sea-Land Service, Inc., and Maersk deal with very cold conditions sending boxes by rail into Russian cities from the West, mindful that many cargoes require refrigeration only and not outright freezing.
Origin of Refrigerated Transport
Long before the containerization revolution swept the world, scientists and engineers began what has become an assignment without end: How to transport produce and other products as long and as far as possible, guaranteeing they are fresh when they reach the consumer.
Some say refrigerated truck boxes originated in the chicken industry. It was the late 1930's. Raising chickens became an industry unto itself, and the large, new producers found themselves on specially constructed chicken farms located far from their core customers in the cities. Blocks of ice had proved insufficient. Movie theaters boasted air conditioners. Why couldn't trucks?
Frederick Jones, a Kentucky native who tinkered his way into top design-engineering assignments, became the guiding light and vice president of engineering at Thermo King Corp. in Minneapolis. Jones put air conditioners atop truck cabs and then solved the vibration problem.
World War II brought new uses for refrigerated boxes-items such as potable water, medicines, foods, chemicals, sensitive papers, laboratory film and some types of ammunition.
One of the largest producers of reefers in the world is Carrier Corp, which is based in Syracuse, New York. According to Carrier, the first documented example of bus air conditioning was on the 15-hour desert journey between Baghdad and Damascus, Syria, in 1936.
by Lisa Reeves, Esq.,Fox Rothschild O'Brien & Frankel
Marine surveyors and consultants who take an active role in solving cargo problems concerning loading, stowage, discharge or other matters must be aware of their potential liability in the event of damage related to the matters on which the surveyor offers advice.
In a recent District Court decision, the Court refused to dismiss a claim against a surveyor, and the Protection and Indemnity Club that engaged him, for damage to cargo allegedly resulting from the negligent advice of the marine surveyor. While the claim against these parties may ultimately be dismissed, both must incur legal expenses and costs in the meantime and, of course, face potential liability exposure.
Assisting in Making Decisions
Most cargo surveyors are engaged simply to observe and record the condition of the cargo, its handling and stowage, and do not take an active role in those activities. On occasion, however, the surveyor is called upon to assist the owner or charterer in making decisions as to how a particular cargo should be loaded, stowed, handled, discharged or otherwise cared for. When this occurs, it is usually because there is already a problem with the cargo, making the danger that the surveyor and those engaging him will be dragged into any subsequent litigation even more likely.
While there is nothing wrong with holding the consultant liable for the consequences of his advice, that liability should be based on contract principals, and the surveyor's duty should run to the party who hired him, and be limited by the terms of the engagement.
Simple Negligence
The problem presented by the aforementioned case is that the surveyor and P& I Club were potentially liable to the owner of the cargo, a third party whom the surveyor did not purport to represent. The Court nonetheless held that the surveyor owed a duty to the cargo owner under simple negligence principles, and that the cargo owner had stated a valid cause of action against the surveyor for negligently directing the discharge and segregation of the cargo. (The court did not hold that the surveyor was in fact negligent, simply that the plaintiff had stated a proper cause of action against him.)
In addition, the Court found that the P&I Club who hired the surveyor was potentially liable for his negligence under the doctrine of respondeat superior. This holding is particularly disturbing as it means that an underwriter potentially exposes itself to direct liability for the actions of an independent contractor hired to assist its insured with a problem cargo.
A Better View
We would argue that the better view would hold that the surveyor was hired by the underwriter to act on behalf of the ship owner, operator or charterer as the case may be, and that his negligence should therefore be imputed to that party, and not to the underwriter or broker who engaged him and paid his bill. We would further argue that the surveyor is present as an advisor only, and that the responsibility for any damages resulting from his advice rests with the owner or charterer who then acts on that advice. The surveyor's liability should be limited to an action for breach of contract, and should be governed by the terms of his engagement.
Nonetheless, the courts have found that, in some instances, an implied warranty of workmanlike performance is created, and that this warranty extends to third party beneficiaries, such as the cargo owner. The courts have not gone so far as to apply this doctrine to surveyors who do no more than observe, record and report on conditions found at loading discharge, but only to those who take a more active role.
Understand the Risks of an Active Role
To protect themselves, surveyors and other consultants should understand the risks involved when they take an active role in cargo operations, and should take steps to insure or otherwise protect their businesses from potentially devastating litigation. In addition, P&I Clubs and other underwriters would be well advised to appoint surveyors on behalf of their insured, and accept responsibility for payment of the survey fees only and not for the actions of that surveyor.
Letters of engagement, as well as the representations and reports of surveyors, should include language clearly setting forth each party's role in an effort to place responsibility for the cargo operation where it belongs - on the owner or charterer who undertook the duty to load, stow, and discharge in the first place.
Seatrade USA Opens New Offices
In January, Seatrade USA opened new offices in Tampa, Florida, and began serving as U.S. general agents for Seatrade Reefer Chartering, one of the world's largest operators of fully refrigerated vessels.
As part of this move, Seatrade USA took over representation of Seatrade Reefer's U.S. activities, which were previously handled by Elliott Shipping of Pt. Canaveral, Florida. Seatrade USA will oversee sales, administration, and accounting related to Seatrade Reefer's parcel and liner activities throughout the United States. Seatrade also took over as agents for the company's SEACAT (Central America/Tampa) Line, which was previously handled by Riomar-Jomaris, Inc.
Seatrade USA combines key staff members from Elliott Shipping and the Tampa office of Riomar-Jomaris. Former Elliott staffers who have joined Seatrade are Polly Anderberg (manager of sales/marketing) and Mike Naugle (operations manager). Howard Posner (general manager) and Patti Lopez (customer service/documentation) came from Riomar-Jomaris.
Current Seatrade activities in the U.S. include parcel activities between Pt. Canaveral and Holland, between U.S. East and Gulf coasts and Russia/CIS, between Tampa and Central America/Caribbean and between Florida and Mexico.
Asian Longhorned Beetle Threatens Trade
Although it is only about the size of a quarter, the Asian Longhorned Beetle is threatening to have a big impact on trade for a long time to come. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is planning on banning wooden pallets from China in an effort to keep out the beetle, which attacks trees and has no known predators in the United States and few in Asia.
The ban could affect a third to a half of China's $62 billion exports to the U.S. For thorough coverage of the Longhorned Beetle story check out The Journal of Commerce Online at www.joc.com/beetle/index.htm. o
Reproduced with permission from The Journal of Commerce
When badly deteriorated track forced the Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) to shut down its three-mile stretch of track on the north side of Seattle's Lake Washington Ship Canal, it seemed as though that was the end of it. But a handful of industries on the north side of that canal, and the business owners and families who rely on them for their livelihood decided they could not accept life without a railroad.
The Ballard area of Seattle, located in the northwest corner of the city, had grown up with the Seattle & Montana Railroad, which rolled its first train into town in 1893. Over the years a fish plant, a building supply company, a furniture plant, a marine repair shop and a depot for loading heating oil destined for Alaska took root on the canal, along with other industries.
A Serious Disadvantage
When the railroad, now BNSF, shut down rail service, these businesses suddenly were forced to ship by truck. While some managed without the railway, others - such as the fish plant, Western Pioneer - were at a serious disadvantage.
For Western Pioneer, fish delivered by boat from Alaska had to be loaded into refrigerated trucks and moved to a cold warehouse facility for further loading into rail cars and final delivery to New England. This additional handling put the plant at a cost disadvantage, which threatened the longevity of this major area employer.
Concerned about the plant and the future of industry in general, a group of local business operators approached the Washington Department of Transportation (WDOT) for a loan to upgrade the three-mile line and get it operating again. From the state's point of view, the proposal made sense and with the support of Jeanne Kohl, the state senator representing the Ballard area, the group's appeal to the WDOT Rail Office proved successful.
Congestion on Highways Increased
According to Department of Transportation spokesman Ray Allred, part of the reasoning behind approving the loan was the fact that BNSF had moved 180 loaded rail cars off the Ballard line during the 12 months prior to closing. After the line ceased operations, it took 521 heavy transport trucks to move this same amount of freight, a situation that added to congestion on state highways and put additional stress on road infrastructure. This problem, together with the need to preserve rail-dependent jobs in the state, led WDOT to provide the group with a 15-year loan for $350,000.
With this funding in place and an agreement with BNSF to exchange traffic, the Ballard Terminal Railroad Co. was born. Byron Cole, operations manager, oversees the rebuilding of the line and the construction of a second track to receive cars and provide a run-around at the BNSF interchange. Over the next few months he also will supervise the construction of a locomotive repair shop and additional pieces of track to service customers. However, until the repair shop is complete, the BTRC locomotive sits in a fenced compound gleaming with a fresh coat of paint - red and black to match the team colors at a nearby school.
Not Setting the World on Fire
Neither Cole nor Marketing Manager Paul Nerdrum is expecting to set the world on fire with their three-mile railway. But they are hoping to grow the business and are convinced they will succeed where the big railway failed. In the first year of operation, BTRC hopes to gross about $100,000 operating three days a week, three hours a day, according to Cole.
When BNSF pulled out last year there were three customers. There are now two additional customers wanting service and a "few others" who have expressed interest and are waiting to see if Washington's newest railway is going to be reliable, Cole said.
Once the freight side of the Ballard Terminal Railroad is operating smoothly, Cole said, the owners plan to begin running a passenger coach car or two along the ship canal to Chittenden Locks. After all, as Cole said, "When you're in the short line railroad business, you have to make money any way you can."
Frozen Food Express Seeks Single Source Logistics Shippers
Frozen Food Express (FFE) Industries, Inc. has created a special group to seek out single-source logistics customers. The company's new Dedicated Logistics Group will guarantee the number of trucks each shipper needs, thereby removing an unknown from that company's supply-chain planning, said Stoney M. (Mit) Stubbs, Jr., FFE's chairman and chief executive. In return, shippers will provide FFE with a predictable revenue flow from the trucks for a certain number of years.
"Our short-term goal is for dedicated services to account for about 20 percent of total freight revenue within three years," Stubbs said.
The company has assigned 70 trucks to the new division which should produce approximately $10 million in annual revenue, Stubbs said.
FFE is one of the largest temperature-controlled carriers of perishable goods in North America.
Ocean Freight Weight Information Available on the Internet
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Ocean Freight Rate Bulletin is now available on the Internet. The monthly publication, which has been published since 1994, tracks the ocean freight weights for high-valued containerized commodities shipped to Asian markets as well as some European markets.
The bulletin provides a side-by-side comparison of rates and services provided by shipping lines with market share for each of the commodities and trade routes. It tracks freight rates for almonds, apples, beef, cotton, grapes, grapefruit, lemons, oranges, pears, pistachios, potatoes, poultry and raisins.
The Ocean Freight Rate Bulletin can be accessed on the web at www.ams.usda.gov/tmd/ocean. More information may also be obtained by contacting bulletin spokesperson Heidi Reichert
Do you have an idea for an article related to refrigerated transportation that you'd like to suggest? Have you found a story in another publication that you think would be worth reprinting? Would you be interested in writing for our newsletter ? We want to hear from you. You may contact The IRTA Report by e-mail: irtamail@aol.com, by writing us: The IRTA Report, 4255 South Buckley Road, Suite 118, Aurora CO 80013 or by calling: (303) 690-3233; FAX (303) 690-3278. We look forward to hearing from you.