ILWU Calls For May 1 Dock Walkout – CalTrade Report - US West Coast action called to protest ''imperialist'' war in Iraq, Afghanistan - The International Longshore & Warehouse Union (ILWU) has said the 40,000-plus members of its 60 locals in California, Washington and Oregon will walk off the job for eight hours on May 1 to protest the US-led war effort in Iraq and Afghanistan. Letters seeking support for the walkout were also sent to the London-headquartered International Transport Workers Federation and the International Dockworkers Council in Barcelona, Spain. Ports in Canada will not be affected.

Adverse Weather Results in Rail Delays in Oklahoma, Missouri, and Tennessee - Beginning Tuesday, March 18, 2008, track inspectors reported high water between Tulsa, Oklahoma, Memphis, Tennessee, and St Louis, Missouri. Train operations have been affected as a result of mud slides and water over the rail at various points in these corridors. BNSF personnel are monitoring the situation and are maintaining track fluidity with reroutes currently taking place. Customers may experience delays of 12 to 24 hours on shipments moving through these corridors.

Brazilian Port Customs Inspectors started a strike March 18th with no estimated end date which will impact the flow of goods to and from Brazil. No further information is available at this time.

Due to carrier increases, Phoenix’s fuel surcharge is .85/kg USD, with a $15.00 USD minimum, effective Monday, March 17th for all air export shipments originating in the United States.

Some Phoenix offices in the following countries will close for holidays on March 21st and/or March 24th: Ireland, England, India and Indonesia; possibly other countries too.

Nehru truck strike averted – JOC - Truckers at India's Port of Jawaharlal Nehru called off their strike planned for Wednesday following a settlement with the private container terminals, operated by DP World and A.P. Moller-Maersk.

Boxes scarce as U.S. exports rise – JOC - Securing containers is not the only problem that exporters in the U.S.- Asia trade are facing. Vessel space in the westbound Pacific is at a premium and exporters are paying high rates to book space when they can find it. For the first time in 10 years, export shipments are being “rolled,” or left on the docks to await the next voyage. Containerized exports from the U.S. increased 16.2 percent in 2007. Exports could increase 20 percent this year. Grains and other commodities that traditionally moved in bulk vessels are shifting to the container trades because capacity on bulk vessels is at a premium and bulk shipping rates have increased dramatically. There is a severe shortage of empty marine containers in some locations. In the upper Midwest and Pacific Northwest, you can’t get a container. Dunavant, a large cotton exporter, is tackling the problem by loading cotton into 53-foot trailers and shipping it to seaports or inland distribution hubs such as Dallas that attract a large volume of imports. Dunavant then transloads the cotton into 40-foot marine containers for export to Asia. Shippers in the interior U.S. should expect to encounter container and equipment shortages throughout 2008, and to pay higher ocean freight rates for months to come. Railroads have increased their intermodal rates about 30 percent and are tacking on large fuel surcharges as well.

Some carriers report that recent severe weather conditions in the UK affected all UK ports forcing long periods of shut down. These shut down periods resulted in huge delays in port operations and also affected when the vessels could dock.

FYI, the following previously reported story is now thought to be just a rumor and intended to get factories help clean up the air before the Olympics. Factory Shutdown May Result in Chinese Port Bottleneck - The Chinese government plans to shutdown polluting factories for nine weeks (July 17th - Sept. 20th) within a 200 kilometer radius of Beijing to clear the smog for the 2008 Olympics and Paralympics. The area includes Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia and Shandong provinces. There could also be a shut down of material transportation and power plants to clear the air.

Port clean-up bound for courts? – LA Times - The ports of L.A. and Long Beach have set out to clean up the drayage trucks that carry cargo between the ports and distribution centers. They differ is on the best way to make this work. There is still a chance to speed the cleanup: The L.A. Harbor Commission should reject its staff's recommendation on the employee-trucker strategy and work with Long Beach toward a solution both ports can accept. The ability of municipal agencies such as the ports to interfere with the trucking industry is limited. The Port of L.A.'s plan is an untested attempt at regulating the business that might run afoul of interstate commerce laws. By passing it, harbor commissioners will all but assure a legal battle that may go on for years.

Our summary articles are compiled from a number of public sources that, to the best of Phoenix’s knowledge, are true and correct. In the event any information provided is erroneous, Phoenix International Freight Services, Ltd. accepts no liability or responsibility.