Posted on Fri, Jun 04, 2010
US - The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) will conduct its annual Roadcheck event, June 8-10, at more than 1,500 locations across the United States, Mexico and Canada. Roadcheck is the largest targeted enforcement program on commercial vehicles in the world. The event mobilizes thousands of federal, state, provincial and local inspectors to conduct comprehensive North American Standard (NAS) Level I Inspections and other related roadside enforcement activities.
The CVSA is an international not-for-profit organization comprised of local, state, provincial, territorial and federal motor carrier safety officials and industry representatives from the United States, Canada, and Mexico. It has representation on the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's (FMCSA) Motor Carrier Safety Advisory Committee and the mission of the organisation is to promote safety in the field of commercial vehicle safety.
The majority of Roadcheck safety inspections are not performed at random. Inspectors target trucks and drivers for inspection based upon the safety record or previous inspection records of the motor carrier, the driver, or upon the observation skills of the trained inspectors.
Last year, 9,683 CVSA and FMCSA certified inspectors at 2,145 locations across North America performed a record 72,255 truck and bus inspections. Of that total, there were 56,486 NAS Level I inspections, the most comprehensive roadside inspection. Road check 2009's record total of overall inspections and Level I inspections showed significant declines in vehicle and driver OOS rates, as well as a significant drop in safety belt violations. Data show the highest overall vehicle compliance rate - 80.4 percent - since 1996, and the highest overall driver compliance rate - 95.7 percent - ever. For NAS Level I inspections, the compliance rates of 77.8 percent (vehicles) and 96.1 percent (drivers) were both records for Roadcheck, and represented 7.1 and 20.4 percent improvements respectively over 2008's totals.
The event is supported by a wide spectrum of interested commercial vehicle industry parties including the American Trucking Association's (ATA), FMCSA, state enforcement agencies, and other safety organizations all of whom will kick off the event at an international press conference at Fed Ex Field in Landover, Maryland at 10am on the 8th June.
"ATA has supported CVSA's annual Roadcheck since its inception and has worked cooperatively with CVSA to determine emphasis areas," American Trucking Associations (ATA) Vice President of Safety Policy Rob Abbott said. "Roadcheck is a very beneficial program since it spotlights the importance of roadside enforcement and focuses limited state and local resources on unsafe operators. ATA looks forward to this year's Roadcheck results which we anticipate will reflect the industry's improved safety record, as they have consistently done in years past."
This article was printed in Handy Shipping Guide. Pack n send has re printed it here as a service to our customers. If you or your company need help with domestic or international shipping, crating and or freighting, please fell free to call pack ‘n send at 713 266 1450.
Posted on Thu, Apr 22, 2010
Pack n send is still monitoring worldwide air shipping. Our containers are leaving as scheduled, but air shipments to Europe are still delayed. Some of the reasons for the delays in passenger air and freight shipments are outlined in the article below.
Sections of an article written by JAD MOUAWAD and MATTHEW L. WALD are reproduced below
As airlines were forced to ground flights for five days in the wake of the eruption of a volcano in Iceland, some criticized the European authorities as having overreacted and needlessly stranding millions of passengers and tons of cargo. But with flights scheduled to slowly resume Tuesday, the industry's record shows a very low level of tolerance for getting airplanes anywhere near volcanic ash.
"We've been flying for over 100 years, but volcanoes have been around for a lot longer and frankly, they win," said Capt. Rory Kay, the head of air safety at the Air Line Pilots Association and a Boeing 757 and 767 pilot. "We have to treat them with the greatest respect."
Even though volcanoes have always been a threat to aviation, there are no guidelines for dealing with volcanic ash clouds other than to avoid them - in contrast with the standards for dozens of other potentially hazardous situations like landing in low visibility.
Jet engines are vulnerable to ash, which can cause engines to stall, or shut down. The ash, which acts like millions of pieces of shredded glass, can also scrape the paint off the planes or sandblast the windshield. Ash clouds are also tricky to make out, since they can resemble vapor clouds.
"There is almost no day where there is no volcanic ash cloud somewhere in the world that people are tracking and trying to avoid," said Tom Murray, the director of the Volcano Science Center, part of the United States Geological Survey, in Anchorage. "It is that frequent. There is a lot of activity you need to keep track of."
If you have any questions about Houston freight shipping or Houston container shipping, please feel free to contact pack n send at 713 266 1450.
Posted on Wed, Apr 14, 2010
Pack n send is republishing parts of this article from the LA times.
We are seeing an increase in furniture moving - furniture freighting from Houston to California. In good times shoppers from all over the country come to Houston to purchase small amounts of furniture. Pack n send, a Houston mover is able to freight or move small amounts of furniture all over the world.
Excerpts of article written By Alejandro Lazo LA Times
Southern California's housing market showed fresh signs of momentum in March with the median price and sales pace improving from the same month a year earlier as buyers hurried to take advantage of a soon-to-expire federal tax incentive, cheap prices and low interest rates.
The median price paid for new and previously occupied houses and condominiums in Southern California jumped 14% in March to $285,000 from the same month a year earlier, according to San Diego real estate research firm MDA DataQuick. The closely watched median -- the price at which half the homes sold for more money and half for less -- rose 3.6% from February.
In Orange County, the region's priciest market, the median rose 12.2% to $432,000 as the number of foreclosure properties on the market sank and more homes in expensive neighborhoods were sold.
"There is no question that prices at the lower end of the market have stabilized and are showing some increases," said Esmael Adibi, director of the Gary Anderson Center for Economic Research at Chapman University in Orange. "While this is welcome news, the word of caution is people should not really see this as the values of homes changing. It is mostly the mix we are seeing change" as sales pick up in more expensive areas.
The overall jump in the region's median reflects a rebound from the depths of the financial crisis a year ago, when fears of another Great Depression abounded and a glut of foreclosed homes hit battered markets such as the Southland. Those fears have receded, fewer foreclosures were in the region's sales mix last month, and more homes in higher-priced coastal markets were sold, contributing to the price jump.
"It's almost like a boom-year figure," said Ed Leamer, director of the UCLA Anderson Forecast. "But the numbers over the last several years have been influenced by the number of bank-owned properties, and the banks were selling their homes at rock-bottom prices."
Southern California's sales pace also improved last month from March 2009, up 5%, but not as robustly as usual for a March, DataQuick said. A total of 20,476 houses were sold in March, up from 19,506 sold in the same month a year earlier, but that was about 18% off the historical average.
"Right now the question is not whether the housing market is in recovery. The real question is how sustainable that recovery is, and that is where the gray area resides," said Christopher Thornberg, principal of Beacon Economics. "The market is being driven by government policy and not by fundamentals, and now the government is starting to back off."
Also, the Federal Housing Administration, which has stepped up its support of low-interest mortgages for first-time buyers, has tightened its lending standards.
At the end of this month, a federal tax-credit program for first-time buyers and for some current homeowners is scheduled to expire. The program provides as much as $8,000 to first-time buyers and as much as $6,500 to current homeowners.
Last month California lawmakers decided to add to the stimulus package and approved a credit of up to $10,000 for first-time home buyers and those buying newly built homes. The credit will take effect May 1.
For more information on furniture moving from Houston, or freight forwarding from Houston, please feel free to call us at 713 266 1450.
Posted on Wed, Apr 07, 2010
This headline form Transport Topics online shows an indication of the inflationary tendencies that the Federal Government is now discussing.
A few fleets are starting to raise driver pay, as freight demand and the need for more drivers increase this spring, reversing the pattern of the past couple of years that kept wages steady or reduced them, the National Transportation Institute said.
Pack n send has noticed an increase in factory orders. As these orders are delivered, more freight drivers will be added to fleets. With higher demand experienced freight drivers will request higher wages. Freight companies are still very cost conscious. As with the ocean shipments, freight trucks will try and ship only full loads. This will save on fuel costs.
Companies are also watching speed, and fuel efficiency. New wheel covers used to reduce the drag, and thus improve fuel efficiency are being added to many trucks that carry freight.
For more information on your freight, and shipping needs, please feel free to contact pack n send at 713 266 1450.
Posted on Thu, Mar 18, 2010
Pack n send helps keep customers notified about road and bridge closures that may affect shipping. This article from handyshipping news details a bridge closing in New Orleans.
US - Both shipping and road freight will be affected by the current closure of the Judge William Seeber Bridge over the Industrial Canal, New Orleans, Louisiana. The bridge will remain closed to vehicular traffic seven days a week, 24 hours a day, beginning March 15 and lasting until the beginning of May.
The closure is part of a $6.8 million rehabilitation project to replace the wire ropes that raise and lower the bridge, refurbish the bridge's electrical system, replace damaged beams that were struck by shipping in the Canal and oversized trucks replace the bridge decking which will improve skid resistance and eliminate the wave-action in the riding surface of the bridge. In addition, advanced signal notification features will be installed to provide warning to motorists when the bridge is about to be raised for marine traffic.
There will be two five-day closures for marine traffic between March 15 and April 2. The first five- day, 24-hours- a-day, closure will tentatively begin on March 15, depending on the United States Coast Guard's (U.S.G.S.) evaluation on shipping schedules. Following the first five-day closure, a two-to-seven day window will be allowed to clear congested marine traffic and to coordinate shipping schedules. The second five-day, 24-hours-a-day, marine closure will begin immediately once marine traffic is cleared and shipping schedules are coordinated.
For more information on shipping freight, please call pack n send at 713 266 1450
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 Tue, Feb 16, 2010
1. You will need to give your shipping company the following information: City, country and closest airport.
2. You will need to give your shipping company the following information: City, country and closest airport.
3. Date of Travel: Does your pet have a set or flexible travel date?
4. Do you have an approved airplane crate?
5. Does your pet need transportation service to and from the airport? Does your pet need overnight boarding?
6 Some airlines allow you to take small animals inside the cabin. Some only allow your pet to be shipped as cargo.
7. Remember, your pet will need customs clearance if traveling outside the United States.
8. Make sure that shot records are up to date, both in the United States and for the country your pet is traveling to.
For more information on pet shipping please contact pack-n-send at 713 266 1450
www.pack-n-send.com
Posted on Tue, Nov 10, 2009
Moving furniture can be a true trial for some, especially if they do not have the strength or vehicle to do it. This can pose some complications and leave you unable to move your furniture on your own.
There are options available that could help you with furniture shipping more easily, which is a much better and stress free option for you.
Shipping your Furniture Easily
Furniture shipping has become a lot easier with the help of many shipping companies nationwide, but many of them require you to hit a certain freight load to ship. This isn't the case with Pack-n-Send. You can still utilize their shipping services with a less than load freight without being presented with an un-sightly fee.
If you are worried that your furniture may get damaged consider having the items placed into crates or protected with various blanket protectors, styrofoam for smaller pieces and any other packaging protection that Pack-n-Send offers.
Crating is a beneficial option for those delicate pieces such as glass items, antique items, stemware, paintings and any other damagable item.
Options for Moving Furniture Long Distances
If you are planning a move consider having Pack-n-Send assist with the process. They offer many different moving options, whether it is a small move, long distance move or international. With an international move they could assist with international shipping to get your furniture at the new location easily.
You won't have to deal with the worry that the items will not get there or will be damaged with the protection and security behind the crating, packing and shipping abilities that Pack-n-Send has been offering since 1981.
Posted on Sun, Oct 04, 2009
Have you ever had to move small amounts of furniture, household items, or office equipment cross-country? Have you ever considered Less-Than-Load freight?
Most major moving companies require a large amount of furniture and a large dollar amount for moving furniture across throughout the United States.
There are other ways to send small amounts furniture. LTL (less than load) shipment consolidates freight from other customers on the same truck. Small amounts of freight from various customers are shipped at a savings all over the country.
When requesting LTL it is good idea to ask for the days when discounts are provided. Companies that book your shipment should pass these savings on to you, their customer.
Another factor to consider is the length of time it will take your shipment to reach its final destination. Most carriers provide an expedited service at an additional cost.
You can take out coverage for the value of your shipment due to loss or damage by the carrier.
The process for freighting your furniture is relatively simple. Your furniture is packed carefully on a pallet, surrounded by 1 x 4’s shrink wrapped and sent out as freight.
The freight company will call the day before to set a delivery time that fits in with your schedule.
When your furniture is delivered, you can request an "inside delivery" for a few dollars more.
Furniture freighting is the best way for you to ship small quantity of furniture.
For more information about freighting furniture or for a free price quote, call Pack n Send at 713 266 1450.
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