WASHINGTON — Joe Kramek has been appointed president and CEO of the World Shipping Council to replace the retiring John Butler, the container shipping lobby group announced on Wednesday. Kramek has been WSC’s director of U.S. government relations since March 2021. “I am deeply honored to assume the role of president and CEO, building on the foundation laid by John Butler,” Kramek said. “Together with the dedicated team at WSC, I look forward to addressing the evolving needs of the shipping industry and continue driving positive change.” Joe Kramek (left) and John Butler. Source: WSC Butler, w ..read more

The Federal Aviation Administration has issued a preliminary fine of $2.9 million against Aeromicronesia Inc., a cargo airline based in Guam that does business as Asia Pacific Airlines, for safety violations related to pilot training and equipment. Asia Pacific Airlines provides scheduled and ad hoc charter service between Guam, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, Palau and Honolulu. It has five Boeing 757-200 converted freighters on its registry, but two of them have been parked for more than three months, according to aircraft tracking sites. The ..read more

Shortly after announcing its $17 million raise in March, Gather AI, an inventory management solutions provider that uses drone technology, launched two new offerings on Tuesday to elevate its ability to help warehouse operators find underutilized space. The initial solution, location occupancy, harnesses computer vision data collected by Gather AI drones. It accurately gauges available space and promptly notifies managers when products can be consolidated, optimizing space utilization. The location occupancy feature is finding space for more storage. (Photo: Gather AI) The second addition is ..read more

Kay Pfeiffer, senior vice president of TrueLifeCare joined Jeremy Reymer on a recent episode of Taking the Hire Road. Pfeiffer and Reymer chatted about the importance of awareness, education and action in addressing the diabetes epidemic plaguing the trucking industry today. The average lifespan of a truck driver is just 61 years old. That doesn’t sit right with Pfeiffer.  A trio of diseases — sleep apnea, diabetes and hypertension — is largely responsible for shortening the lifespan of drivers across the nation. One of these diseases, diabetes, is particularly insidious because it can ..read more

On Episode 707 of WHAT THE TRUCK?!?, Dooner is talking to Dominick Angelo Tullo of T&R Oil Co. about fuel fraud, scams and skimming. Tullo has firsthand experience with all the black hat tricks of the trade and shares a story about a scam that cost his company a few thousand gallons of fuel. It’s been three weeks since the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore. How has cargo been disrupted? Overhaul’s Ronald Greene talks about impacts to auto and other commodities. He also warns shippers of risks to watch for and shares cargo theft trends. Daylight Transportation is opening a ..read more

United Airlines, buoyed by a significant recovery in market conditions, delivered surprisingly strong cargo results in the first quarter that likely will be the benchmark for comparing the performance of other airlines. United (NASDAQ: UAL) reported after Tuesday’s market close that sales for freight and mail were $391 million, a notably small dip of 1.8% from the same three-month period in 2020 considering the air logistics sector’s 16-month slump that lasted into the second half of 2023 and the revenue hit taken by airlines. CEO Scott Kelly said on a conference call he anticipates it will b ..read more

WASHINGTON — Federal regulators are not convinced that the potential for lost wages for prospective truck drivers outweighs the safety benefits of current rules on how states must administer CDL skills tests. In a notice scheduled to be published in the Federal Register on Thursday, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration denied a petition by Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles asking that the state be exempted from a federal regulation requiring that the three-part CDL skills test be completed by test-takers in the following order: pre-trip inspection, basic vehic ..read more

Logistics warehouse operator Prologis slightly lowered its 2024 guidance on Wednesday as it expects leasing activity to “stay competitive” in some markets. It’s calling for occupancy and net operating income to step lower. Prologis (NYSE: PLD) reported core funds from operations (FFO) of $1.28 in the first quarter of 2024, which was in line with the consensus estimate. It lowered FFO guidance by 1% to a new range of $5.37 to $5.47, which was slightly below analysts’ expectations of $5.50 at the time of the print. “While operating conditions are healthy in the majority of our markets, customer ..read more

The Port of Los Angeles recently opened a waterfront promenade on its property, giving the nearby community unprecedented access to the water and sweeping views of the port’s activities. The $77 million Wilmington Waterfront Promenade is the second phase of connecting the Wilmington community, located adjacent to the port, to the waterfront. The 9-acre promenade opened in February after more than three years of construction. Until this project, which port officials have deemed “transformational for the Wilmington community,” the industrial space wasn’t accessible to the public. The port in 20 ..read more

On March 31, 2022, FreightWaves declared that a freight recession was imminent. More than two years later, the freight market remains in one of its deepest and longest recessions in history. Our original conclusion was derived from signals from FreightWaves SONAR. Its high-frequency datasets, which track freight supply and demand in real time, indicated an imminent collapse. When FreightWaves first published the article, many were not only skeptical of the conclusion, they derided FreightWaves for the call. Even after the recession took hold, few would have guessed that the freight downturn w ..read more