freight

FedEx Freight Canada has reduced transit times in more than 500 lanes connecting Toronto and Montreal to dozens of cities and regions in the United States. These service enhancements are designed to help enable cross-border LTL shippers to achieve supply chain improvements. FedEx Freight Canada, a subsidiary of FedEx Freight Corp., provides cross-border and intra-Canada less-than-truckload (LTL) shipping services.

Specific north and southbound cross-border transit-time reductions include:

Less-than-truckload (LTL) carrier Con-way Freight has launched a major network re-engineering that will cut transit times by one day to 460 U.S. destinations, while decreasing the company's carbon footprint. The initiative, it is hoped, will also lead to reduced re-handling and fewer service exceptions, improved on-time delivery and a more efficient operation. Major lanes affected include those between Southern Texas and the Northeast, Chicago and Southern Florida, and Chicago and Southern Texas.

German national railway Deutsche Bahn and the Chinese Ministry of Railways have signed a memorandum of understanding to cooperate more closely in rail freight transport and in expanding the Chinese rail infrastructure. Both parties plan to step up the establishment of new transports between Asia and Europe through closer cooperation.

For the first time since mid-2008, average global container freight rates experienced a year-on-year increase in late 2009, according to a report from U.K.-based consulting firm Drewry. The Drewry Global Freight Rate Index recovered by 3% in the year to November 2009, after collapsing the first half of 2009, increasing by 18% between July and September 2009 and rising by another 6% between September and November 2009.

Eurocarex has achieved a major first: the first test of a high-speed freight train between Lyon St Exup?ry airport and St. Pancras International Station in London, passing via Paris Charles De Gaulle airport and the Channel Tunnel. This test demonstrates the efficiency, speed and environmental benefits of a shift in intermodal container traffic from air to the high-speed rail network.

Emirates SkyCargo, the cargo division of Emirates airline, and DHL Global Forwarding, the air and ocean freight forwarder of Deutsche Post DHL, are partnering to drive the e-freight agenda across their networks. Both companies believe that working in an electronic environment will bring enhanced operational efficiency and improvement to the supply chain.

E-freight is an industry-led project involving carriers, freight forwarders, ground handlers, shippers and customs authorities. It aims to take the paper out of the air cargo supply chain, streamline processes, improve speed and reduce costs. A number of factors contribute to these positive results: reduced cycle times of 24 hours on average, greater reliability and accuracy due to one-time data entry at the point of origin, and much better visibility in the online track on account of electronic documentation.

Экспериментальная технология е-freight направлена на изъятие бумажных документов из процесса авиационной перевозки грузов и их замену в электронный вид. В связи с этим идет работа по внедрению на таможенном посту "Аэропорт Красноярск" автоматизированной системы "Пункт пропуска".

The University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI) and less-than-truckload (LTL) carrier Con-way Freight have announced the results of a year-long field test of an integrated system of crash warning technologies designed to enhance the safety of commercial trucks. Program funding was provided by the Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA) Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program Office of the U.S. Department of Transportation.

FLOW is an intensive one-day workshop on the use of advanced analytic and computerised methods for optimising freight transport and logistics operations. The workshop is a joint initiative between CSIRO and the Logistics Association of Australia (LAA).

Ships powered by skysails and solar, gas-powered locomotives and the use of biofuel are just some of the future technologies that could help to make the freight industry more sustainable, according to the South Australian Freight Council (SAFC) (www.safreightcouncil.com.au/).

SAFC believes that the freight industry has a responsibility to become more sustainable and reduce its impact on the environment.

The council has released a discussion paper, Green Freight, which is aimed at highlighting current industry efforts to become more sustainable, and discusses future initiatives that the industry could adopt.

SAFC CEO Neil Murphy said it was clear that the environment played an increasing role in transport and logistics and that action needed to be taken within the freight industry.