Upcoming negotiations between West Coast dockworkers and the Pacific Maritime Association is putting shippers on edge as the July 1 expiration of the six-year labor contract looms. The International Longshore and Warehouse Union represents 13,600 dock workers on the West Coast. The big sticking point in this year’s talks will be who pays for a so-called “Cadillac tax” that comes due in 2018 under Obamacare on the most lucrative of health care plans which is what the longshoremen currently have. 

Did you know? A freight bill auditing service not only pays for itself, it also saves you a lot of money. Discrepencies in billing are not uncommon or just "chump change". Freight bill mistakes can be causing you to overpay by up to 8.8% on average. Most freight hauling companies understand that 8.8% is enough to put anyone out of business. Margins are smaller than ever. Now is the time to consider a freight bill auditing service. Land-Link provides freight bill auditing including:

The 2014 outlook for the container shipping industry appears bleak. The industry generally remains leveraged by significant debt amid continued fluctuating business levels. That onerous interest burden can be traced to the steady increase in leverage across the industry in the past decade, as carriers have invested in new tonnage. We are now seeing a number of profound structural changes in the industry that will have broad ranging impact. The race to build and deploy larger, more efficient vessels is both a cause and an effect of the persistent financial pressure. 

One of the "firsts" in the Port Authority legacy, the Goethals Bridge was built as part of an overall project to accommodate greatly increased interstate automobile traffic following World War I. The Goethals Bridge is essential to moving cargo between airports and seaports and regional markets in the New York/New Jersey metropolitan area. 

Because the Bayonne Bridge is only 151 feet above the water, larger container ships often cannot cross under it to reach our marine terminals – Port Newark, Elizabeth and Howland Hook in Staten Island. The expansion of the Panama Canal is expected to result in a shift to larger, cleaner, more-efficient ships servicing our region and other East Coast markets. In order to ensure these new ships can reach our ports, the clearance limitation must be addressed. 

A new bill has been introduced in the House that’s being dubbed the Freight Infrastructure Reinvestment Act of 2014 (FIRA). The bill would establish a 1% tax to be added to the cost of all shipments of freight cargo within the United States to be paid by the shipper.

United States ports and inland waterways have experienced years of neglect, resulting in a rapidly deteriorating waterborne trade infrastructure that is likely to have a severe impact on economic conditions. Experts estimate that America will need investments totaling around $30 billion to repair these key structures, but currently there’s only $14 billion earmarked for that purpose. According to the American Society of Civil Engineers “unless America’s infrastructure investment gaps are filled, transporting goods will become costlier, prices will rise and the United States will become less competitive in the global market.” 

There has been congressional hearings on autonomous vehicles (Driver-less trucks). There is allot of discussion on this issue, could this solve a driver shortage problem? Could this solve then hours of service issue? Will this cut back on Tractor Trailer faulty accidents? Could a driver less truck enter Route 80 in New Jersey and travel to California and only have to stop long enough at a fueling station located within easy access to the interstate? 

Lost hours of driving time cost shippers more than money. The new hours of service are disrupting delivery windows concerning appointed freight. The high service expectations are changing. Distribution centers were built around how many hours a driver could drive, now less hours and less miles means not meeting those original expectations. 

How do you feel about driver shortage, is this a myth or reality?

Has government involvement helped the position we are in when considering this issue?

The law which was enacted (MAP-21) to protect the motoring public from Commercial drivers being able to obtain a driver license in more than one state, not being able to hide behind poor driving records, worth the added cost these new regulations will generate?