Posted on Mon, Mar 08, 2010
INDIA - In a move that reveals the depth of frustration that Indian haulage drivers are feeling at the failure of the Indian government to deliver on previous promises to help their industry, the president of the, has threatened to call all of their members
trucks out of service on the 5th of April unless a number of issues of concern are addressed by the 31st of March.
As the AITMC claim
the strike threatens to be immensely disruptive to the nation's trade and commerce.
The heart of the dispute is taxation.The increase is described by the AITMC as "abnormal, unbearable and intolerable, which will further deteriorate the already dwindling condition of the Truckers."
The AITMC went on to say that: "More than 85% of the trucking community constitutes owners with one or two trucks who are trying to survive in the present highly inflationary and competitive environment. The Government is well aware that when the vehicles of poor truckers are seized by bank officials because of non-payment many have taken the extreme step of committing suicide.
The AITMC is also arguing that the current fees that haulers pay in road tolls is also unfair and disproportionate, arguing that by already paying a multitude of permit fees and taxes the road haulage industry has already more than paid its fair share for road construction and maintenance.
Combined with this is a great deal of anger that previous promises by the Indian government to deliver a ‘New National Permit Scheme' by the 1st of January this year, which they agreed to in February 2009 to solve a dispute with the truckers, have apparently not come close to implementation.
"Therefore, if our demands are not addressed by the Government before March 31, 2010, we will be left with no alternative but to take action from midnight of April 5, 2010."
Portions of this article were posted on the Handy Shipping Guide.
As pack 'n send ships internationally, we try and keep our customers informed about issues that concern them throughout the world.
For help with international shipping , please contact pack n send at 713 266 1450.
Posted on Thu, Mar 04, 2010
CHILE - The huge earthquake that struck Chile on Saturday has dramatically affected a number of the key freight and logistic handling facilities that serve the country and which will impede international efforts to assist with relief efforts.
Current information indicates that whilst the country's northern ports are operating fine, a number of other areas are closed due to damage and under curfew conditions due to problems with rioting.
Here is a summary of the latest information available to us:
CENTRAL PORTS: QUINTERO/LAS VENTANAS: A number of piers are out of action due to damage, though port still has some operations running and repairs will see increasing service restored over the next two weeks.
SAN ANTONIO/VALPARASIO: Partially operative with some piers under evaluation for damage.
SOUTHERN/CENTRAL PORTS: A curfew is in operation in this area and most ports /terminals are closed due to Tsunami and serious port damage. Details are not fully available at this time.
Update provided by handyshippingguide.com
Pack n send is keeping a close eye on when all ports in Chile will be fully operational.
For more information on freight shipping, please contact pack n send at 713 266 1450.
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Posted on Wed, Mar 03, 2010
Congress two years ago set an August deadline as a way to ensure the security of every piece of cargo placed next to travelers suitcases, but the air freight industry isn't ready to meet the demands according to Brandon Fried, executive director of the Airforwarders Association a Washington, D>C.- based air cargo trade group.
Since Feb1, 2009, the transportation Security Administration has required screening for all cargo placed on narrow -body, single-aisle passenger jets. The rule will be extended to all air cargo placed on wide-body jets beginning Aug. 1.
In places like Los Angeles, this could be a big issue because that's where wide-body aircraft depart an that's where so much of the cargo is being processed" Fried said.
"Some say the lack of cargo screening own-body jets is a weak link in security," Kyser said. "But we will have to see how it plays out this summer and if there are ay economic ramifications."
This article was a summarization of an article that appeared in Daily Breeze.
For more information on airfreight and cargo shipping, please contact pack n send at 713 266 1450
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Posted on Tue, Mar 02, 2010
We have received requests for ocean rates to Haiti, the ports were so damaged that no cargo was moving except via airfreight until now....
We are now able to ship cargo of all kinds to Port Au Prince, Haiti. Prior to booking the shipment, we need you to make sure that the consignee is capable of picking up the cargo and clearing their goods through customs.
Please contact pack n send at 713 266 1450 for all your shipping needs to Haiti.
www.pack-n-send.com
Posted on Tue, Mar 02, 2010
US - Despite much wrangling the pollution statistics around the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles speak for themselves. Even critics of the way California has introduced clean air regulation, and these include trucking bodies who lost a Court appeal on Wednesday over the contentious issue of independents having to be employees of LA port approved organizations must admit that the quantity of atmospheric pollutants in the air has fallen dramatically with newer or newly modified vehicles mandatory and improvements in fuel grades employed by companies.
Now the same fight is being taken on by other major ports around the States.
The next phase is to see a nation wide standard for fuel. This is the only way to ensure problems are not simply transferred around the country.
We have taken excerpts of this article from Handy Shipping Guide. Pack n send has been at the forefront of maintaining a clean environment since opening business in 1981.
For more information on both helping the environment and shipping, please contact pack n send at 713 266 1450.
www.pack-n-send.com
Posted on Mon, Mar 01, 2010
We are posting this article to highlight today's changes in construction projects though out the United States. While this halt may not affect you directly, it may slow down both travel and shipping times for project that have been halted.
USA - The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has furloughed almost two thousand employees without pay from today after a bill to extend a short-term extension of the Highways Trust Fund was blocked by Senator Jim Bunning.
The Fund finances many national transportation programs such as works on highways, bridges, and safety inspections
Due to the furlough a number of major infrastructure projects are to be suspended immediately as federal inspectors will no longer be available to oversee them. These include the $36 million replacement of the Humpback Bridge on the George Washington Parkway in Virginia, $15 million in bridge construction and stream rehabilitation in Coeur D'Alene, Idaho, and the $8 million resurfacing of the Natchez Trace Parkway in Mississippi. The Secretary of Transportation, Ray LaHood, has reacted angrily to the news, saying: "As American families are struggling in tough economic times, I am keenly disappointed that political games are putting a stop to important construction projects around the country.
The furloughs will affect employees at the Federal Highway Administration, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Research and Innovative Technology Administration.
Information derived from USA article
For more information, please contact pack n send at 713 266 1450
Posted on Mon, Mar 01, 2010
According to the United State Postal Service packages and mail are still being sent to Chile.
As more updates are available, we will post them on our blog.
For shipping internationally, please contact pack n send at 713 266 1450.
www.pack-n-send.com
Posted on Thu, Feb 25, 2010
2 DAY ONLINE AUCTION FEATURING:
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Online Bidding Began: Wednesday, Feb. 24 at 6:00AM PST / 9:00AM EST
Preview: By Prior Scheduled Appointment
Preview Location: 48890 Milmont Drive Suite 108-D, Femont, CA 94538
Contact information for Auction
Jeff Ritchie, President
Disposition Services
48890 Milmont Drive, Suite 108-D
Fremont, California 94538
Telehone: 510.656.6000
Facsimile: 510.656.6008
Mobile: 408.402.2436
Email: info@dispositionservices.com
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VEECO ASL 200 PRECISION LAPPING SYSTEM '07
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TI INSTRUMENTS PROFORMA 200SA NON-CONTACT MEASUREMENT SYS
ENGIS HYPREZ 28LM230VP PRECISION GRINDER
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For information on equipment shipping, please contact pack n send at 713 266 1450.
www.pack-n-send.com
Posted on Wed, Feb 24, 2010
The Postal Service has placed a temporary hold on all mail destined for Haiti.
The decision was made following the cancellation of normal flight operations by air cargo contractors to the island nation, where emergency relief efforts are continuing in the wake of a devastating earthquake.
Post Offices are continuing to accept letter mail and packages addressed to Haiti. However, customers are informed that no decision has been made on when mail delivery will resume.
For more information on when mail service will return to Haiti, please contact pack n send at 713 266 1450
www.pack-n-send.com
Posted on Tue, Feb 23, 2010
This article from Business Week highlights some of the dangers now associated with freight shipping. It discusses the measures being taken to protect both cargo and lives.
The U.S. says it wants to find cheaper options to battle pirates off the coast of Somalia, as an international naval force has pushed the seaborne brigands from the 1 million square miles of the Gulf of Aden into an area twice that size in the Indian Ocean.
"The locus of pirate activity has shifted and we are trying to deal with it," Tom Countryman, the principal deputy assistant secretary of state for political military affairs, said in Washington today. "It's expensive, and that's why we feel strongly the need to pursue the lowest-cost options to deter piracy."
Warships from more than 20 nations have kept a shipping corridor open and nearly free of attacks for the 30,000 cargo ships that pass through it annually, Countryman said. There were 198 attacks last year, 50 of them successful, and seven vessels with 160 crew members are known to be held by pirates, the State Department said in an e-mailed statement. There's been only one successful hijacking of a ship in the Gulf of Aden since last summer, Countryman said.
Aerial drones, manned aircraft and satellite surveillance could help track shipping and pirate activity off the coast of East Africa, Countryman said.
Defensive Measures
Defensive measures taken by ship owners and crews are "the lowest-cost and most-effective way to deter pirate attacks," Countryman said. Measures can include using firehoses to fend off pirate skiffs, erecting barbed wire at entry points to the ship and teaching the crew to take evasive action when potential pirates are in sight.
Rebuilding Somalia's economy, shattered by two decades of civil war, and going after the organized crime syndicates that finance the attacks are the best ways to halt piracy, said Countryman.
"The economic situation in Somalia has led to a situation in which people will take these kinds of very high-risk efforts -- very high-risk criminal activities -- in order to feed their family," Countryman said.
"The people deriving the primary benefit are not the poor Somali fishermen," he said. "They are the capitalists who have financed the acquisition of boats and put these young men into the risky position of endangering their own lives in search of some money."
For more information on safe freight shipping, please contact pack n send at 713 266 1450.
www.pack-n-send.com