Attendees at the conference will include Australia’s top refrigerated transportation providers. Transportation topics at the conference include chain of responsibility, safe truck program, driver fatigue issues, safety technology, current market conditions, cold chain challenges in Indonesia, opportunities in China and much more.

For more information on programming and to register, visit the RWTA website.

IRTA Members Present at Truckload Carriers Association

IRTA and IARW members recently delivered a presentation at the 2007 Refrigerated Meeting of the Truckload Carriers Association. Rich Kappmeier of Versacold and Mike McClendon of RCS participated on a panel moderated by IRTA Sr. Director of Policy and Programs, Corey Rosenbusch. The panel shared with the refrigerated truck carriers their opinion on future trends in temperature-controlled logistics. The central message delivered to the participants was a need for increased collaboration and communication among all players in the cold chain. Look for full coverage on this presentation in the next addition of the IRTA Report.

North American Chapter Meetings

Mark your calendars for your North American Chapter Meeting! Held at first-class resorts and attended by top industry professionals, the North American Chapter Meetings are the best opportunities of the year to discuss pressing issues affecting your local industry and network with customers and colleagues from your area. Find out more.

Assembly of Committees Next Week

Assembly of Committees is right around the corner and this year’s IRTA Transportation Committee will cover a variety of pressing issues affecting transportation of refrigerated commodities. Topics will include:

· Trucking industry capacity, trends and issues

· TWIC Implementation

· Cargo insurance

· End-user rail executives

· Dispute Resolution Center

Quick Question: Multi-Temp Truck Use

Does your company utilize multi-temp trucks? Click here to respond to this 2-second question and see what others said. Results help us tailor IRTA’s services to your needs.

Headline News

Congress Agrees to Goal to Scan All Cargo-Containing Ships

U.S. Lawmakers agreed Thursday to a goal of scanning all cargo-containing ships before they leave foreign ports by 2014 as Congress neared a deal on a major security bill to carry out recommendations from the Sept. 11 commission. See full story from The New York Times.

U.S. Congress Bans Serious Felons from U.S. Seaports

The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly voted to support legislation preventing serious felons from gaining access to secure areas at American seaports. See full release.

U.S. Congress to Increase Scrutiny of Foreign Investments

More than a year after Dubai Ports World sparked a big political fight on Capitol Hill, the Democratic-led Congress is close to winding up action on legislation that tightens U.S. scrutiny of foreign investments. See full story from The Wall Street Journal.

Heated Contract Talks Continue between IWLU and California Ports

Negotiations are still underway between representatives from some of the world’s largest shipping lines and terminal operators that serve the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach and International Longshore & Warehouse Union (ILWU)in an effort to avert a strike by the marine clerks that work at both ports that would effectively shut down operations at the two harbors. See full story from The CalTrade Report.

FDA Bans Seafood from China

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration blocks the sale of five types of Chinese farm-raised seafood found to be contaminated by unapproved drugs and additives. See full story from The Chicago Tribune.

Reddy Ice Stockholder Opposes Takeover Bid by GSO

Shamrock Capital Advisors Inc., owner of 5.4 percent of Reddy Ice Holdings Inc., opposed Reddy's $1.1 billion takeover by hedge fund GSO Capital Partners LP, calling the purchase price "grossly inadequate." See full story from Reuters. See full story on takeover from CNN.

NYK Logistics Opens New Logistics Center

NYK Logistics (Americas), Inc opened the new Norfolk Logistics Center on Wednesday, June 27, 2007 in Norfolk, Virginia, U.S. See full release.

Air News

Demand for Jet Fuel On the Rise

Total demand for jet fuel is forecast to reach 7.6 million barrels per day in 2012, up from about 6.8 million barrels per day in 2007. This translates into a 2.3% demand growth for jet and kerosene in that period. See full story from Aviation Week.

Maritime News

Eimskip Offers New Service in Massachusetts, U.S.

Eimskip started a new direct cargo service to the port of Boston from Halifax. See full story from The Boston Globe.

OOCL Offering Less than Container Load Service to Asia

OOCL will commence “Reefer LCL Plus” from mid-August. “Reefer LCL Plus” is a less than container load service for frozen cargo to Hong Kong and Tokyo. See full story from foodweek.com.

APM Terminals Opens New Terminal Off Tangiers

AP Moeller-Maersk's subsidiary APM Terminals said it has opened a new container terminal in deep waters off Tangiers, in the north of Morocco. See full story from Forbes.

ICTSI Expanding to Colombia

The Philippines' largest port operator, International Container Terminal Services Inc (ICTSI) will be investing 180 million US dollars for the construction of a new container terminal at the Port of Buenaventura in Colombia. See full story from Forbes.

PSA Cutting Back Operations at Indian Port

PSA International of Singapore is cutting back operations at Tuticorin, India after the Indian authorities slashed tariffs by more than half, leaving it in a loss-making position. See full story from Cargonews Asia (Free Subscription Required)

Keynote Speaker Announced for TPM Asia Conference

Zheng Mingli, President & Chairman of China Railway Container Transport Corp. Ltd. (CRCT), will give a keynote address at the 1st annual Trans-Pacific Maritime (TPM) Asia Conference taking place on September 17-18 at the new Intercontinental Hotel in Shenzhen, China. See event information.

Rail News

Rail Freight Traffic Down

Freight traffic on U.S. railroads was down during the week ended July 14 in comparison with the corresponding week last year. See full release from the Association of American Railroads.

Trucking News

U.S. Court Rejects HOS Restart

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on July 24 invalidated two significant pieces of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s hours-of-service regulations. See full story from etrucker.com.

Georgia Law Requires Highway Watch Training Program

A new law in Georgia, U.S. requires all truck drivers seeking or renewing commercial driver licenses (CDLs) to complete a Highway Watch training program, according to Georgia Motor Trucking Association information. See full story from Refrigerated Transporter.

Trucking Groups Urge Government Support for Fuel-Saving APUs

The American Trucking Associations and the Canadian Trucking Alliance urged state governments in the United States and provincial governments in Canada to revise their fuel tax systems to encourage truckers to use environmentally friendly idling reduction technology. See full release from the American Trucking Associations.

IRTA members are encouraged to submit company news or articles of interest for publication in Cool Moves and/or the IRTA Report. Please e-mail all items to Tori Miller at Cold Chain Headquarters.