Rail transport company Freightlink, the operator of rail freight services on Australia’s Adelaide to Darwin Railway is said have been the subject of some interest from Adelaide businessman Alan Scott.

As the owner of one of Australia’s Largest transportation company’s, Scott’s Transport, Alan Scott has reportedly expressed an interest in operating the Adelaide Darwin freight service, just as the loss making operation has been put up for sale by the company’s shareholders.

(more…)

Hungarian road transport and logistics company provider, Waberer’s Optimum Solution, has signed an agreement with the Hungarian subsidiary of Volvo trucks, to obtain some 1500 of the Volvo FH Model trucks.

Building on a previous agreement in 2006, the new agreement will see  Waberer’s take delivery of the Volvo trucks, the completion of deliveries expected by 2011.  Waberer’s already enjoys a fleet of some 2500 vehicles as well as having access to 600 sub-contacted vehicles.

Speaking to the ten years of cooperation between Waberer’s and Volvo, David Illes the Managing Director of Volvo Hungary said that “collaboration between the companies began in 1998, and since then Volvo Trucks has delivered on average more than 200 trucks to the company every year.”

(more…)

Provider of intermodal logistics services in North America, RoadLink, have announced that they will acquire the CP Ships Trucking (C-Truck) concern from Hapag Lloyd in Canada.

The deal, which will be subject to a review by Investment Canada is set to see RoadLink enhance the company’s capabilities for customers across the United States and Canada, after Hapag Lloyd took a strategic business decision to offload the company.

As it stands now, C-Truck operates from six locations in Canada and the United States and operates a fleet of approximately 240 trucks, the majority of which are owner-operated.

(more…)

In the wake of the terror attacks on the United States in 2001, much changed and much needed to change, however while security is important to our lives, so is the ability to live our lives in a society with as much freedom and with as little constraint as the modern world will allow.

I say this in reference to security that has been put in place for Australia’s Ports.  In 2003, the Australian Government created new Maritime Security laws, for, all intents and purposes, to prevent terrorists from striking an an essential part of the nations infrastructure.  While this is of course is an admirable thing to do, unfortunately, a perhaps unwanted outcome of the laws is that some Ports have now completely cut off access to the general public.

Specifically, I have found that the Bunbury Port Authority has done this more than most.  I live in Bunbury and have lived in the South West region of Western Australia for most of my thirty-four years, and it used to be that the general public had excellent access to the Port. Indeed I remember that I would fish from one of the Inner Harbour berths, or just go to the port to watch the ships.  I spent many an evening enjoying seeing the ships and watching the activities at the port.

(more…)

The member lines of container shipping’s Grand Alliance have announced, that in partnership with The New World Alliance that a new service to and from Asia and the Black Sea, has commenced from the 25th of June.

The Grand Alliance  which is considered as the the leading integrated consortium in global container shipping, is made up of Hapag-Lloyd, MISC Berhad, NYK and OOCL, while The New World Alliance features such shipping lines as APL, Hyundai Merchant Marine, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines  and CMA CGM.

Since starting cooperation in February with a slot exchange on their respective fortnightly services to the Black Sea. The new joint service will now provide shippers a weekly frequency with common port.

(more…)

Three of the worlds major container shipping lines, Hamburg Süd, Hapag-Lloyd and Maersk Line are set to join forces with ANL-USL to adjust services between Australia, New Zealand and the west coast of North America.

The new service, subject to regulatory approval, will see the the four lines, in partnership, offer eight monthly sailings under a three string service concept, with ANL-USL integrating their existing service into the Oceania Vessel Sharing Agreement.

According to partner Hapag Lloyd, the new service will consist of a  weekly Pacific Southwest String, a fortnightly Pacific Southwest String, as well as a Pacific Northwest String sailing fortnightly.

(more…)

After several shooting incidents involving trucks transiting Interstate 95 in or near St Johns County Florida, the St Johns County Sheriff’s office has reiterated concerns over the incidents.

In communication with Freightscene.com, Sergeant Chuck Mulligan from the St Johns County Sheriff’s office has said that the “sheriff’s office along with the Florida Highway Patrol and other law enforcement agencies have increased the number of patrols along the interstate both in marked and unmarked vehicles”.

Sergeant Mulligan also told Freightscene.com that an area along the interstate, where the shooting incidents are believed to have taken place, has been processed by law enforcement, and while no suspects have been identified at present, the Sheriff’s Office has said the situation does present a real danger as proven by the shooting of the Eagle Transport Corporation gas tanker.

(more…)

North American rail transportation companies, Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern have announced that the two operators will partner in a new Automotive Interline Co-Loading Service.

The service will enable both Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern to take advantage of each other’s rail car capacity, as well as offering automotive manufacturers  the option to ship multiple brand vehicles within a single rail car.  The aim being to increase the speed of vehicle distribution as well as efficiency by allowing manufactures to group their vehicles together for transport, rather than having to wait for a complete car load of similar branded vehicles.

Commenting on the Interline Co-Loading Service, David Julian, the President for Automotive and Supply Chain Services at Norfolk Southern Railroad remarked that the end goal of the service was to offer an improved service for auto manufacturers.  “Co-Loading will create the ability to ship vehicles sooner by generating rail car quantities of vehicles by combining smaller destination facility shipment,” he said.

(more…)

Automotive shipping and logistics company Wilh Wilhelmsen has announced that due to a new taxation environment in Norway, the company will relocate its shipping activities to the island of Malta, as well as listing part of its new fleet on the Maltese Maritime Authority shipping register.

With a total of forty-two new vessels on order, it is unclear how many will be placed on the Maltese register, however the company has expressed that the decision is based on a new tax regime to be applied to shipping companies in Norway.

The Chief Financial Officer of Wilh Wilhelmsen, Nils Petter Dyvik has remarked that the decision by the company was “both political and commercial,” and that “the tax situation faced by ship owners in Norway has been under constant scrutiny for the last 10 years.”

(more…)

Late last week, both Dubai Ports World (DP World)and Israel’s ZIM Ports announced they have purchased respectively a 60% and 40% share in Spain’s Contarsa Sociedad De Estiba (Contarsa).

The Spanish company holds the concession to operate the Port of Tarragona’s container terminal, as such both DP World and ZIM Ports have moved to enter the substantial Spanish container market.

Taking the majority share in Contarsa and subsequently the Tarragona concession, DP World Chairman Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem said that “Tarragona is an exciting addition to DP World’s global portfolio with considerable growth potential. We are looking forward to building a closer relationship with Spain to serve customers across the region as well as increasing the trade between the Middle East and southern Europe.”

(more…)