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West
Coast Trade between NAFTA partners
climbs during month of December
WASHINGTON, DC — U.S.-NAFTA freight totaled $95.8 billion in December 2014 as four out of five transportation modes – truck, rail, air, and pipeline – carried more U.S.-NAFTA freight than in December 2013, according to data released by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS). Year-over-year, the value of U.S.-NAFTA freight flows by all modes increased by 5.4 percent, with December marking the 11th consecutive month of year-over-year increases. The value of NAFTA trade by vessel declined in December due to the reduced price of mineral fuels. The rise in total pipeline freight value took place despite a decline in cost per unit, due to an increase in the volume of freight. In December 2014 compared to December 2013, the value of commodities moving by truck grew by the largest percentage of any mode, 9.3 percent. Rail freight increased by 8.3 percent, air rose by 6.3 percent, and pipeline grew by 4.0 percent. Vessel freight decreased by 22.6 percent, mainly due to lower mineral fuel prices. Trucks carried 59.2 percent of U.S.-NAFTA freight and were the most heavily utilized mode for moving goods to and from both U.S.-NAFTA partners. Trucks accounted for $28.4 billion of the $52.5 billion of imports (54.0 percent) and $28.4 billion of the $43.3 billion of exports (65.6 percent). Rail remained the second largest mode, moving 15.1 percent of all U.S.-NAFTA freight, followed by vessel, 8.3 percent; pipeline, 8.0 percent; and air, 4.1 percent. The surface transportation modes of truck, rail and pipeline carried 82.3 percent of the total U.S.-NAFTA freight flows.
American Fast Freight taps
Kelly
as president, chief executive officer
TACOMA — American Fast Freight, Inc. (AFF) has announced that its Board of Directors has appointed Kevin Kelly as president and chief executive officer of the company, effective immediately. Mr. Kelly will also continue to serve as a member of AFF's board of directors. Previously, he served as AFF's president. Since joining the Company in 1990, Mr. Kelly has held a wide variety of leadership roles, most notably leading AFF's Hawaiian Ocean Transport business where he was responsible for that division's profitability, direction and growth. American Fast Freight, Inc. is a transportation and logistics company headquartered in Fife, Washington. AFF and its affiliated companies and divisions provide a wide range of ocean freight forwarding, trucking, project logistics and warehousing-distribution services. The core business is ocean freight consolidating and forwarding, specializing in the domestic Jones Act markets of Alaska, Hawaii, Guam and Puerto Rico.
Fire hits MOL
containership
while calling Port of Oakland
ULSAN — Hyundai reports the vessel MOL CONTRIBUTION V007W caught fire this week while in port in Oakland. The fire was contained in the living quarters, so there was no damage to cargo or injuries to crew. Once the fire was extinguished, carriers took action to discharge from the damaged ship all live refrigerated containers which were loaded a few days earlier in Los Angeles. The reefer containers were discharged in Oakland at Trapac Terminal. The action, taken in advance of a CBP waiver to the Jones Act, was motivated by the fragile nature of perishable cargoes and the desire to protect the integrity of the goods and avoid delay. In the meantime, because repairs to the vessel are expected to take several weeks, MOL has applied to CBP for a waiver to the U.S. cabotage laws. If granted, the waiver will allow the carrier to also discharge all dry containers loaded in Los Angeles into Trapac Terminal in Oakland.
Port of Los Angeles
releases
January container numbers
SAN PEDRO — Container volumes at the Port of Los Angeles decreased 22.7 percent in January compared to the same month last year. January 2015 cargo volumes totaled 529,427 Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) compared to 685,549 TEUs in January 2104. Imports dropped 28 percent, from 360,036 TEUs in January 2014 to 259,206 TEUs in January 2015. Exports declined 23 percent, from 161,938 TEUs in January 2014 to 124,365 TEUs in January 2015 Combined, total loaded imports and exports fell 26.5 percent, from 521,975 TEUs in January 2014 to 383,571 TEUs in January 2015. Factoring in empties, which fell 10.8 percent, overall January 2015 volumes (529,427 TEUs) declined 22.7 percent. Current and past data container counts for the Port of Los Angeles may be found at: http://www.portoflosangeles.org/maritime/stats.asp
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Crowley Maritime
scholarships
presented to four UAF students
FAIRBANKS — Crowley Maritime Corporation has awarded four Thomas B. Crowley, Sr., Memorial Scholarships to University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) students John Oulton, Shamariah Hale, William Kelly and Elizabeth Lindley. These students were chosen for their outstanding academic records and having met other scholarship criteria. They each received $2,500 toward tuition. Preferences for Crowley-funded UAF scholarships are given to students from rural Alaska from Crowley-served communities throughout the state. Since 1984, Crowley has provided scholarship funding for more than 1,000 students studying at maritime academies and other select institutions in the U.S., Alaska, Puerto Rico and Central America.