Freight (Cargo)

Subterms

    Latest story

    125 Shares90 Views

    Fred Smith, Billionaire Founder of FedEx, Is Dead at 80

    by

    His vision for how to ship packages overnight led to not just a new company, but also a new sector of the world economy and a now-familiar English verb.Frederick W. Smith, who bet everything he had on a plan to revolutionize freight transport, courting disaster early on but ultimately winning vindication in the form of power in Washington, billions in personal wealth and changes in how people all over the world send and receive goods, died on Saturday. He was 80.His death was announced by FedEx in a statement that did not provide further details.FedEx was conceived in a paper that Mr. Smith wrote as a Yale University undergraduate in 1965. He argued that an increasingly automated economy would depend on fast and dependable door-to-door shipping of small packages containing computer parts. He got a C.Today, FedEx employs more than half a million people and operates the world’s largest fleet of cargo aircraft. On an average day, the company ships more than 16 million packages in about 220 countries and territories.Like Google, FedEx created a new service that came to be seen as so essential that the corporate name is now a widely recognizable verb.Mr. Smith was celebrated as one of the great business minds and executives of his time.He was well prepared for the industry he helped create. He flew planes as a teenager and then served two tours of duty in Vietnam as a Marine Corps pilot. His father, formerly chairman of the Dixie Greyhound Lines, was known as the Bus King of the South.Aside from seeing the need for national overnight delivery, Mr. Smith’s greatest innovation was a hub-and-spoke system of routes. He based the sorting of packages in Memphis, where he found an unused airplane hangar. He flew his planes at night, when the skies were relatively empty.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

    More stories

    • 113 Shares99 Views

      in Elections

      3 Are Arrested in Russia-Linked Sabotage Plot, Germany Says

      by

      The men, Ukrainian nationals, were arrested in Germany and Switzerland, the state prosecutor in Berlin said. They are suspected of planning to sabotage commercial freight infrastructure.Three Ukrainian men have been arrested in Germany and Switzerland for planning acts of sabotage against infrastructure in Europe on behalf of Russia, the German authorities said Wednesday.The federal prosecutor’s office in Berlin said it was investigating the three men, who were arrested over the past five days, for a plan to send incendiary and explosive devices in parcels to addresses in Ukraine. None have been charged.The aim, the prosecutor said in a statement, appeared to be part of a plot to damage logistical infrastructure for commercial freight. The statement did not provide further details about possible targets.One of the men, identified only as Vladyslav T. in accordance with Germany’s strict privacy rules, posted two test packages in Cologne containing GPS transmitters in order to trace the route of the packages to Ukraine, the prosecutor said.Another man, Yevhen B., who was arrested Tuesday in Switzerland and will be extradited to Germany, directed that action, the prosecutor said. A third man, Daniil B., delivered the GPS transmitters and other items for the test packages, it said.Authorities are treating the men as foreign agents, and believe they had been directed by Russian state actors, the prosecutor said.Last year, a package exploded at a DHL hub at the airport in Leipzig, in what Western intelligence officials believe was a test run for a plot coordinated by Russia’s military intelligence agency, the GRU. The fire in Leipzig was followed by a similar fire at a DHL warehouse in Birmingham, England, and at a transport company near Warsaw.A Romanian national has since been detained by British police in connection with those fires.Poland has also accused Russia of being behind a fire that wiped out 1,400 small businesses when a shopping mall in Warsaw was almost completely destroyed in May of last year. On Sunday, Prime Minister Donald Tusk of Poland accused Russia of being behind the blaze.“We now know for sure that the great fire of the Marywilska shopping center in Warsaw was caused by arson ordered by the Russian special services,” he wrote on X.The arrests come after several official warnings that Germany has become the target of Russian hybrid attacks. Last year, the authorities charged three Russian-German dual citizens who they believe were hired to carry out acts of sabotage on industrial and military sites. The military has also reported foreign drones flying over training sites where Ukrainian soldiers are being trained.The issue of Russian sabotage in Germany even made it into Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s inaugural speech to lawmakers on Wednesday.“Look at the espionage and sabotage and the systematic disinformation of our population — this is overwhelmingly the work of the Russian government and its helpers, including here,” he said. More

    • 150 Shares189 Views

      in Elections

      New Pact Would Require Ships to Cut Emissions or Pay a Fee

      by

      A draft global agreement sets a fee for cargo ships, which carry the vast majority of world trade, to pay for their greenhouse gas emissions.Amid the turmoil over global trade, countries around the world reached a remarkable, though modest, agreement Friday to reduce the climate pollution that comes from shipping those goods worldwide — with what is essentially a tax, no less.A draft accord reached in London under the auspices of the International Maritime Organization, a United Nations agency, would require every ship that ferries goods across the oceans to lower their greenhouse gas emissions or pay a fee.The targets fall short of what many had hoped. Still, it’s the first time a global industry would face a price on its climate pollution no matter where in the world it operates. The proceeds would be used mainly to help the industry move to cleaner fuels. It would come into effect in 2028, pending approval by country representatives, which is widely expected.The agreement marks a rare bit of international cooperation that’s all the more remarkable because it was reached even after the United States pulled out of the talks earlier in the week. No other countries followed suit.“The U.S. is just one country and that one country cannot derail this entire process,” said Faig Abbasov, shipping director for Transport and Environment, a European advocacy group that has pushed for measures to clean up the maritime industry. “This will be first binding decision that will force shipping companies to decarbonize and switch to alternative fuels.”The agreement applies to all ships, no matter whose flag they fly, including ships registered in the United States, although the vast majority of ships are flagged in other countries. It remained unclear whether or how Washington might respond to the fee agreement.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

    • 125 Shares99 Views

      in Elections

      Oil Tanker and Container Ship Collide in the North Sea

      by

      Britain’s coast guard said it was “coordinating the emergency response to reports of a collision between a tanker and cargo vessel,” and that a fire had broken out.A container ship collided with a U.S.-flagged oil tanker off the northeastern coast of England, according to emergency responders, who scrambled to the scene on Monday morning. Initial images shared by the BBC showed fire and thick black smoke rising from the ships, and local authorities said that a number of people had been taken to area hospitals.The British coast guard said it was “coordinating the emergency response to reports of a collision between a tanker and cargo vessel off the coast of East Yorkshire,” and that an alarm was first raised at 9:48 a.m. local time. More

    • 113 Shares189 Views

      in Elections

      Finland Lets Eagle S Tanker Depart to International Waters

      by

      The Finnish authorities suggested that the ship, which was seized on suspicion of involvement in the cutting of undersea cables, had ties to Russia.The Finnish authorities said on Sunday that they had released an oil tanker seized in December over suspicions that it had deliberately cut vital undersea cables but that a criminal investigation into the episode would continue.The authorities said last year that the ship, the Eagle S, appeared to belong to Russia’s shadow fleet — older tankers that covertly transport Russian crude oil around the world — escalating concerns about a covert campaign to sabotage European infrastructure.On Sunday, the Finnish police said that since the criminal inquiry “has progressed,” the aging tanker was free to leave and that border officials had escorted the ship out of the country’s territorial waters.Petteri Orpo, Finland’s prime minister, said in an interview with Yle, the country’s public broadcaster, that “the criminal process and investigation will continue.”Investigators were still examining materials gathered after an onboard “forensic investigation” and would continue to interview the crew, according to the police.Eight crew members are suspected of criminal offenses, including aggravated criminal mischief and aggravated interference with communications, the police said in a statement. Five were allowed to leave Finland last week, while the other three were still barred from leaving, according to the statement.The police said the authorities hoped to conclude the investigation by the end of April.The cutting of the cables under the Baltic Sea in late December came on the heels of a series of similar incidents and prompted NATO to bolster security in the region. In January, the Swedish authorities also seized a ship and said they suspected “gross sabotage” after a different undersea cable was damaged. Last month, the European Union vowed to increase security after another cable break.The Eagle S, registered in the Cook Islands in the South Pacific, had been sailing from St. Petersburg, Russia, to Port Said, Egypt, when it was seized.Western officials have long feared that Moscow’s so-called shadow fleet could be used to circumvent sanctions imposed over the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The episodes of severed cables raised worries that the shadow fleet might also be used for sabotage.The Kremlin has denied involvement in sabotage, and Russian officials have condemned the seizure of the Eagle S. More

    • 88 Shares169 Views

      in Elections

      Dockworkers Vote to Accept New Labor Contract

      by

      Workers at East and Gulf Coast ports who went on strike briefly in October ratified a deal that includes a 62 percent raise over six years.Dockworkers on the East and Gulf Coasts voted in favor of a new contract on Tuesday, ending labor turbulence at ports that handle a large share of U.S. trade with the rest of the world.The dockworkers’ union, the International Longshoremen’s Association, said nearly 99 percent of its members had supported the contract, which raises wages 62 percent over six years and guarantees jobs when employers introduce technology that can move cargo autonomously.The deal was reached after a short strike in October, the first full-scale walkout since 1977, and the intervention of two U.S. presidents.Officials from the Biden administration pushed the United States Maritime Alliance, the group representing employers, to increase its wage offer, which ended the strike and brought the I.LA. back to the bargaining table. After his election victory, Donald J. Trump backed the union, saying he supported their fight against automation.“This is an incredible contract package,” Harold J. Daggett, the president of the I.L.A., said in a statement.Dockworkers have significant leverage in contract talks because they can shut down ports, throwing supply chains into chaos. But labor experts said Mr. Daggett had bolstered the union’s cause by calling a strike and by establishing strong ties with Mr. Trump.“The only way they would have gotten a deal like this was through striking, showing that they had the economic power and, it turns out, the political power,” said William Brucher, an assistant professor at the Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations.All 41 members of the Maritime Alliance, a group that includes port operating companies and shipping lines, voted for the contract, which covers the roughly 25,000 longshoremen who move containers on the East and Gulf Coasts.Under the contact, hourly wages will rise to $63 in 2029, from the current $39. That is comparable to the pay for dockworkers on the West Coast, represented by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, whose wages will rise to nearly $61 in 2027.With overtime and higher rates for working at night, longshoremen can earn well over $200,000 a year.The I.L.A. has long opposed the introduction of automated cranes and other machines.Like the old contract, the new one bars employers from deploying machinery that can operate at all times without a person directing its moves. The West Coast longshoremen’s union has allowed such technology — like driverless container-moving vehicles — at its ports for years.But the I.L.A.’s new contract does not stop employers from adding cranes that can at times perform tasks — like stacking containers — without direction from a human. And the new contract makes it easier for employers to introduce such cranes.Still, the union got a job guarantee that management would assign at least one worker for each additional crane. (Now, one union worker might remotely oversee and operate several cranes at once.) More

    • 163 Shares169 Views

      in Elections

      Activist Ancora Wins Three Norfolk Southern Board Seats but Will Not Oust CEO

      by

      An activist investment firm failed to replace the railroad’s top executive and all its directors, but did win three seats on its board.Shareholders of Norfolk Southern, the beleaguered freight railroad, on Thursday voted down an attempt by an activist investment firm to remove the company’s chief executive and take control of its board.But the activist, Ancora, a Cleveland firm, managed to secure a foothold at the company, after shareholders voted to place three of its directors onto Norfolk Southern’s 13-member board. Ancora had hoped to take control of the company’s leadership with an aim to cut costs and increase Norfolk Southern’s profits and stock price.The result is a partial victory for Norfolk Southern’s executives, who had to defend themselves against criticisms of the company’s safety record and its lackluster financial performance. A company train carrying hazardous chemicals derailed last year in East Palestine, Ohio, forcing residents to evacuate.The results of the shareholder vote, which are preliminary, were announced Thursday morning at a virtual company annual meeting.During the meeting, Alan Shaw, Norfolk Southern’s chief executive, said he looked forward to working with the new directors.“Norfolk Southern persevered through several challenges over the last year,” he said, “We have met every challenge and never lost sight of where we are taking our powerful franchise.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

    • 113 Shares99 Views

      in Elections

      Maersk Says Expanded Houthi Attacks Are Forcing More Delays

      by

      The shipping company said the militia had recently tried to attack ships further from the shores of Yemen, putting more strain on logistics.Global shipping lines have become increasingly strained as the Houthi militia in Yemen broadens its attacks on cargo vessels, one of the largest companies in the industry warned on Monday.“The risk zone has expanded,” Maersk, the second-largest ocean carrier, said in a note to customers, adding that the stress was causing further delays and higher costs.Since late last year, the Houthis have been attacking ships in the Red Sea, which cargo vessels from Asia have to travel through to reach the Suez Canal. This has forced ocean carriers to avoid the sea and take a much longer route to Europe around the southern tip of Africa. But in recent weeks, the Houthis have been trying to strike ships making that longer journey in the Indian Ocean.Because going around Africa takes longer, shipping companies have had to add more vessels to ensure that they can transport goods on time and without cutting volumes.The threat to vessels in the Indian Ocean has only added to the difficulties. “This has forced our vessels to lengthen their journey further, resulting in additional time and costs to get your cargo to its destination for the time being,” Maersk said.The company estimated that putting extra ships and equipment onto the Asia to Europe route would result in a 15 percent to 20 percent drop in industrywide capacity in the three months through the end of June.That said, shipping companies have plenty of capacity available because they have ordered many new ships in recent years.Maersk said on Monday that customers should expect to see higher surcharges on shipping invoices as a result of the higher costs borne by the shipping line, which include a 40 percent increase in fuel use per journey.The cost of shipping a container from Asia to a northern European port was $3,550 last week, according to Freightos, a digital shipping marketplace, down from a recent high of $5,492 in January, and well below rates that climbed above $14,000 when global shipping became snarled during the coronavirus pandemic.The Houthis, who are backed by Iran, have said that their attacks were in response to Israel’s war in Gaza. More

    • 125 Shares99 Views

      in Elections

      Dozens of Major Bridges Lack Shields to Block Wayward Ships

      by

      Ben Franklin Bridge Crescent City Connection Dolphin Expressway Bridge Kingston-Rhinecliff Bridge Lewis and Clark Bridge Memphis-Arkansas Bridge Mid-Hudson Bridge Newburgh-Beacon Bridge Robert C. Byrd Bridge Sherman Minton Bridge Tobin Bridge Veterans Memorial Bridge Aerial photos by Nearmap and Vexcel Imaging More