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Cornerstone Systems
Rock Solid
Intermodal
Truck
Railcar/Consolidation
Warehousing
Transloading
Port Drayage
On-Site Logistics
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Water Cooler Trivia
Completely useless but fun...
Mardi Gras Trivia
Did you know...?
The first Mardi Gras celebration in the U.S. on record was in Mobile, Alabama in 1703. The first recorded Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans was in 1837.
Mardi Gras means "Fat Tuesday" and of course is celebrated on that day of the week.
The official colors for Mardi Gras are purple, green, and gold. These colors were chosen in 1872 by the King of Carnival, Rex. The colors represent the following: purple represents justice, green stands for faith and gold stands for power.
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Greetings!
Industry updates are important to all of us. If you would like to receive an update on a topic not listed in this issue or receive more information on Cornerstone Systems, please contact us at 800-278-7677 or visit our website at www.cornerstone-systems.com.
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Fuel Prices Surge
Biggest Diesel Spikes 15.5 cents - Highest Pump Price Since 2008
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The White House said Monday it was considering its options as to whether it should open the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve as unrest in the Middle East sent prices for crude oil and refined products like diesel and gasoline through the roof.
Diesel surged 15.5 cents to $3.871 per gallon. It was the second week in a row that the increase was as big as any since 2008. In the 15 consecutive weeks of recent price increases, diesel has risen 22.4 percent, or 70.9 cents, according to figures from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
President Obama's chief of staff William Daley said on a Sunday talk show the White House was considering opening the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which holds 727 million barrels of oil, or about 38 days of consumption. It has been tapped only rarely since its creation after the Arab oil embargo in the 1970s. It was last used in 2005 following Hurricane Katrina.
  
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Carriers Face Renewed Container Shortage
Production of Boxes Lag-Back Haul Shippers From US/Europe Hit Hardest
Ocean carriers face a shortage of containers in the coming months as production of boxes lags growing cargo capacity, according to Alphaliner. The box-inventory-to-vessel capacity ratio will drop to 1.99 by the end of the year from 2.03 in 2010, the Paris-based analyst forecasts. This is the lowest ratio on record and compares with the capacity ratio of 2.99 boxes per slot in 2000.
Back haul shippers from the U.S. and Europe will be hit hardest by the box shortage as carriers will need to quickly return empty containers to high demand locations in Asia, Alphaliner said. Ocean carriers and freight forwarders are also predicting a shortage of boxes later in the year will drive up freight rates, mirroring the situation last summer when lines responded to a dearth of equipment by imposing peak season surcharges of up to $750 per 20-foot container on the Asia-Europe trade.
The box-to-slot ratio has been shrinking gradually over the past decade, partly reflecting the more efficient management of equipment by container lines, according to Alphaliner. Over the past decade the global inventory of containers grew 6.9 percent annually while the container ship fleet increased 11.1 percent per year.
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Transportation Industry News
Retailers Project 11 Percent Container Growth , Trans-Pacific Exports Grow But Rates Fall, AAR Releases February Figures, Maersk Posts Record Profit As Freight Biz Surges
The National Retail Federation is projecting an 11 percent increase in March for containerized shipments over March 2010. The NRF said the data from its Global Port Tracker survey are evidence of a continuing economic recovery. The projected figure for March closely follows similar percentage increases in January and February over the same months last year. The NRF said its survey of 10 of the largest U.S. ports showed 1.2 million 20-foot equivalent units landed in January, 5 percent higher than December 2010, and up 12 percent from January 2010. The volume in February, traditionally the slowest month, was up 12 percent from February 2010. The NRF anticipates that container volume for the first half of 2011 will be 7.5 million TEUs, a 9 percent increase from the first half of 2010.
Shipping lines that carry U.S. exports to Asia face the paradox of declining freight rates even as cargo volume remains quite strong. "This is a most confusing market," Ed Zaninelli, vice president of westbound service at Orient Overseas Container Line, told the 11th annual Trans-Pacific Maritime Conference in Long Beach. The peak season for exports in the trans-Pacific trade extends from late fall to early spring. Last year during those months carriers successfully implemented several rate increases. This year they have not been able to increase rates at all during the winter months, Zaninelli said. The big difference this year is that carriers have taken very little capacity out of the Pacific trades during the winter months, so a surplus of vessel capacity has made it difficult for shipping lines to increase their westbound rates.
In February, U.S. railroads originated 1.13 million carloads, up 4.2 percent compared with February 2010 volume - the 12th-straight month of year-over-year carload gains, according to the Association of American Railroads (AAR) latest monthly Rail Time Indicators report. Intermodal volume climbed 10.3 percent to 881,830 containers and trailers, marking the 15th-straight monthly gain. However, February's carload increase was the smallest since July 2010 as heavy snowfall over most of the nation impacted rail operations, the report states. Overall, 15 of 20 commodity categories registered gains, led by metallic ores, up 71.9 percent; non-metallic minerals, up 12.7 percent, and motor vehicles and parts, up 11.2 percent.
A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S, the Danish company that owns the largest ocean shipping line, announced record earnings on Feb. 23, powered by a rebounding international freight market. The parent company reported earnings of $5.02 billion, its largest profit ever, one year after posting a $1.02 billion loss. The 2009 loss had been the first since at least World War II. The previous profit record was $4.3 billion in 2006. Maersk achieved its earnings record by more than tripling its pretax profit to $9.7 billion from $2.8 billion. Revenue rose 16% to $56.1 billion from $48.6 billion. Container shipping accounted for $2.6 billion of the pretax profits, reversing a loss of $2.1 billion from that business in 2009 as the world economy slumped. Freight rates rose an average of 29% last year after falling by an almost equal 28% in 2009. "Improved market balance and shortage of containers in the second and third quarters formed the basis for considerably higher freight rates," the company report said. Shipping volume rose 5% to 14.6 million 20-foot units. The firm also saved $800 million in operating costs by using steps such as slow steaming that reduced vessel speeds and increased transit times. Results for 2011 are not expected to match last year, the company said in its Feb. 23 earnings statement, with "satisfactory" container shipping performance as ocean freight volumes rise 6% to 8%.
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Current Fuel Facts
The Energy Information Administration reports U.S. On-Highway Diesel Fuel Prices (dollars per gallon) as follows:
3/7/11 Date Released
3.871 Average Retail Price
0.155 (Up) Change From Week Ago
0.967 (Up) Change From Year Ago
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