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Cornerstone Senior Staff Title Changes
Clay, Nieman Assume Additional Duties and Responsibilities
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President and CCO Tim Clay |
Chairman/CEO Rick Rodell announced new title changes for Senior Staff members Tim Clay and Pat Nieman. Effective July 12 President Tim Clay added Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) to his title and duties, and CFO Pat Nieman added Chief Operating Officer (COO).
"As the role of the CCO centers on developing and driving an integrated vision and engine for the company," said Rodell, "the role of the CCO requires a blend of skills and perspective that includes: the business strategy of a senior level executive with P&L experience, the market understanding and insight of a marketing person, along with a customer relationship focus and experience of a sales leader. Tim has been calling on our major accounts for quite some time, understands marketing strategy and knows our market, and as former CFO certainly has experience with P&L. In addition he, along with Ron and myself have a strong relationship with our rail partners and understands their importance.
Pat has been getting more and more involved with the operating side and as we continue to grow," Rodell continued, "Pat's knowledge of the company along with how much of our business is tied to financial matters makes this a logical move."
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CFO and COO Pat Nieman |
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Retailers Urge Ports, Labor to Reach Agreement
The National Retail Federation called on both sides involved in labor talks at ports on the East Coast and Gulf Coast to reach an agreement without a work stoppage, which would force diversions and delays of cargo.
Talks are scheduled to take place in Florida Wednesday through Saturday between the United States Maritime Alliance, which negotiates for port terminal operators and ocean carriers, and the International Longshoremen's Association. The current contract expires Sept. 30.
"The negotiations come at a critical time as retailers are in the process of making final decisions on whether to divert cargo from the East and Gulf Coast ports in order to avoid potential disruptions," Matthew Shay, president of the NRF, wrote in a letter dated Monday.
The federation represents companies that generate $2.7 trillion in annual sales. The Retail Industry Leaders Association sent a similar letter. The USMA and the ILA, representing dockworkers from Halifax, Nova Scotia, to Houston, began talks in March after ILA President Harold Daggett unveiled a list of key issues, including terminal automation, job preservation and chassis.
Union members currently maintain chassis used by intermodal truckers but previously supplied solely by ocean carriers. Neither management negotiators nor the union responded to requests for comment, but the union's website included a statement from Daggett, who said that "substantial progress" had been made on several issues.
Source: Journal of Commerce |
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Transportation Industry News
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Industry News |
NS RR Opens Crescent Corridor Terminal in TN -
On July 1, Norfolk Southern Railway opened theMemphis Regional Intermodal Facility in Rossville, Tenn. - the first new intermodal terminal to become operational along its planned Crescent Corridor.
The $105 million terminal features new gate and terminal automation technology, low-emission cranes and a main administration building built according to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, standards. The facility is designed to handle about 327,000 containers and trailers annually. After future expansion work is completed, the terminal will cover more than 400 acres, and feature six loading tracks and 2,200 parking spaces. NS has shifted domestic and premium intermodal service between Memphis and the Northeast (including Erail, N.J., and Morrisville and Rutherford, Pa.) from the existing Memphis terminal to the Rossville facility. The Memphis Regional Intermodal Facility is one of four planned terminals along the Crescent Corridor, including facilities under construction in Birmingham, Ala., Charlotte, N.C., and Greencastle, Pa. NS is developing the $2.5 billion, 2,500-mile corridor between major markets in the Northeast and Southeast via a public-private partnership. The initiative calls for constructing and expanding terminals, building passing tracks and double tracks, straightening curves, and adding and improving signal systems between New Jersey and Louisiana.
U.S. Intermodal Traffic Rises 5.6% -
Intermodal shipments on major U.S. railroads in the week ending July 7 rose 5.6 percent year-over-year but fell 1.2 percent from the prior week, according to the Association of American Railroads. Carload traffic fell 1 percent year-over-year and 1.3 percent from the previous week. Shipments of farm products, nonmetallic minerals, primary forest products, and iron and steel scrap fell on a double-digit basis from the same period a year ago, while coal traffic slipped 4.1 percent in the same period. For the first 27 weeks of 2012, intermodal traffic rose 3.4 percent; carload traffic fell 2.8 percent in the same period.
Canadian intermodal volume in the week ending July 7 rose 2.1 percent year-over-year, and carload volume rose 2.4 percent in the same period. So far this year, Canadian intermodal volume is up 7.2 percent year-over-year, and carload traffic is up 3.4 percent. Mexican intermodal volume last week jumped 3 percent year-over-year, and carload traffic rose 10.3 percent in the same period. In the first 27 weeks of 2012, intermodal traffic rose 18.4 percent from the same period in 2011, but carload volume fell 1.8 percent.
Maersk Renews Seattle Calls -
The Port of Seattle got good news for a change on Tuesday when Maersk Line renewed its agreement to call SSA's Terminal 18 at the port. Maersk Line will continue to call the port with its TP 9 service from Asia, which is a vessel-sharing agreement with CMA CGM on which both lines deploy eight vessels each. "This is great news for the Port of Seattle," said Tay Yoshitani, Port of Seattle CEO. "SSA's T-18 is big ship ready-they've made the investments in six new container cranes capable of handling the largest ships in world. This cargo volume means jobs will be staying here." Seattle earlier this year lost calls by the Grand Alliance carriers of OOCL, Hapag-Lloyd and NYK Line, which moved their vessel calls from Seattle to Washington United Terminals in Tacoma. In addition, other carriers have decided to call Tacoma rather than Seattle, with two new services starting in August.
Port of L.A. Container Volume Up 6% in June -
The Port of Los Angeles said its import container volume rose 6% in June from a year ago. Loaded imported containers rose by almost 354,000 Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units, while outbound containers rose 6.9% to 174,000 TEUs. Year-to-date volume is up 6.5% from the same period last year, to just over 4 million total TEUs, the port said. The Port of Los Angeles and neighboring Port of Long Beach make up the largest U.S. container port complex.
Virginia Container Volume Rises for Fifth Month -
The volume of containers handled by the Port of Virginia rose by a strong 11.2 percent in June from the same month last year for the fifth consecutive month of year-over-year container growth at the port. June container throughput rose to 168,430 20-foot-equivalent units from 552,430 TEUs a year earlier. Import TEUs jumped 14.8 percent to 78,795 TEUs, while export TEUs climbed 8.2 percent to 89,635 TEUs. The port also reported increases in other cargo sectors for the first half. The number of rail containers increased by 12.3 percent to 179.178 containers, breakbulk tonnage jumped 11.1 percent 187,762 tons, and vehicle volume soared by 52.2 percent to 18,477 units. On a year-over-year basis, after a drop in January, container volume at the port increased by 2.2 percent in February, 5.3 percent in March, 4.6 percent in April and 12.4 percent in May. For the fiscal year 2012 ended June 30, the port's container throughput increased 3.4 percent to 1.968 million TEUs from 1.903 million the fiscal 2011.
NY and NJ Port Expedites Bayonne Bridge Project -
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey reports the Bayonne Bridge will have enough clearance by the fall of 2015 to handle larger post-Panamax ships that will begin to call East Coast ports through the expanded Panama Canal.
Sources: Transport Topics, Journal of Commerce, Progressive Railroading
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Fuel Prices
The Energy Information Administration reports U.S. On-Highway Diesel Fuel Prices (dollars per gallon) every week.
7/16/12 Date Released
3.695 Average Retail Price
0.012 (Up) Change From Week Ago
-0.228 (Down) Change From Year Ago
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