One of the best ways to decrease freight damage is to properly package and protect your product. This packaging optimization will save you money and make the freight transportation process run more smoothly.

When loading a pallet there are a few key strategies to follow:

• Pallets should be used for heavy and/or bulky items
• Cartons should be placed on the pallet vertically to maximize the strength of the cartons
• Breakaway adhesive, shrink-wrap, stretch-wrap, or banding are recommended when securing cartons to the pallet
• Stack cartons squarely on the pallet
• Do not have any overhang because overhanging freight is not supported during freight transportation
• Create a flat surface on top by positioning box flaps and corrugations face up
• Ship single containers separately rather than creating a top surface that is not flat
• Be cautious with containers of various sizes because the unit strength may be compromised
• Stacking strength is lost due to misalignment or an interlocking stacking pattern

At PNG Logistics, we are always happy to help you evaluate your freight and offer advice on packaging optimization in order to save you time and money so please contact us with any questions!

Ocean carriers are looking into accepting the TSA (Transpacific Stabilization Agreement) proposal regarding a peak season surcharge (PSS). This PSS would begin quickly – June 10^th, 2012 so companies should prepare for this possibility.

The peak season surcharge has been proposed since ocean carriers have been experiencing high volumes that are expected to continue into the peak shipping season, which is summer through November each year. Ocean carriers are already seeing a 95% utilization rate and expect the demand to increase over the next few months. This demand means that ocean carriers can afford to negotiate surcharges since they are not desperate for freight.

As usual, a great way to keep your freight costs low is to plan ahead before cargo space becomes scarce and therefore, more expensive. Please, contact us at PNGLC with any concerns. We will be staying up to date on this issue and will continue to work to find you the most efficient, effective, and economic options.

The Southeast United States currently contains 44% of the United States population, and it is predicted that this number will increase to half of the U.S. population in the near future. Obviously, this is where consumers are, which is very appealing to domestic and international shippers alike. Another benefit is that the southeastern U.S. ports often have less congestion than West Coast ports.

Shippers and manufacturers began exploring domestic and international shipping back in 2002 due to the West Coast port strike and interest in all-water routes from Asia to U.S. This exploration grew exponentially as West Coast port congestion and other difficulties drove more shippers towards the Southeast.

Manufacturers are taking advantage of Southeastern ports with great accessibility and options and are moving manufacturing facilities to the Southeast United States. They are able to take advantage of the area’s increased demand for economic development as well as global demand for heavy machinery and automotive products.

Southeastern carriers may also have more capabilities to lower prices because of a good balance of exports and imports. This balance allows carriers to avoid empty transports, which is more cost effective for them and allows them to offer competitive rates.

If you have questions about whether or not Southeastern port options are right for your shipments, contact us today!

Many companies are directing their attention towards going green due to the benefits to the environment as well as long run potential for cost savings and sustainability. When you talk about creating a green warehouse or green manufacturing, LEED certification is often considered the goal to strive for. There are a few things that you can change in order to move toward the goal of certification from the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program.

Save on Cooling or Heating Costs

If you live in an area that is often warm, it could be beneficial to reconsider the color of your roof and pavement. A light colored roof will reflect the sunlight and decrease the costs of having to cool the building. However, if you are in an environment that has cold temperatures throughout the year, a dark colored roof would make more sense to aid in keeping heating costs lower. The same logic applies to paving the roadways and parking lots and sidewalks around your building.

Choosing Sources of Light

LED or high efficiency fluorescent lights decrease electrical costs by providing greater quality and sustainability.

Skylights also help to reduce electrical costs since they decrease the amount of man-made light needed during daytime working hours in a green warehouse or green manufacturing building.

You can also install motion sensors that will control the lights so that lights will be turned off when no one is using that particular area to decrease electricity use.

Compare and Combine Systems if Possible

Many facilities are required to have both emergency smoke evacuation fans and general ventilation. It may be possible to use one system that has dual functionality. This not only lowers your initial setup costs, but it decreases your electricity use and cost as well.

Customized ventilation speeds are also a good option. Often these systems cost a bit more initially, but your costs can be recouped within the first two years due to the cost savings of using a system that will automatically adjust fan speed to match your facility’s needs.

Since these are only a few simple options to get you started on turning your facility into a green warehouse or green manufacturing facility, you may be interested in hiring a professional who specializes in LEED certification. Once again, the benefits of sustainability and long term savings often outweigh any increased upfront costs.

Below are three events that are occurring in the area of India logistics currently.

1. Competing for ONGC Contract

Several Indian Ocean Lines are competing for a 20 year contract with the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) which is owned by the state. The deal is expected to be worth 1.2 billion dollars, and has been indicated to be rewarded at the end of the year. ONGC currently has a fleet of 13 vessels, and they feel that they need to outsource some it its logistics to outsiders due to demands. The ONGC is, however, implementing some strict requirements such as requiring all vessels to be under the Indian flag with an all Indian crew. This of course is deterring foreign bidders.

2. India Upgrading Storage Facilities

India is upgrading several of its storage facilities and turning them into logistics parks. Throughout the country, logistics and other industries are going through a great period of modernization. As opposed to your standard storage facility or godown, the upgraded facilities provide several value added services like warehousing, multimodal transport and also inland container depots or freight stations. There are a few factors that are making India more attractive in the field of global logistics for key industries such as pharmaceuticals and retail. These factors include favorable taxation, stronger infrastructure, and growth.

3. Ocean Carriers Exploring New Fees

Major ocean carriers are now exploring new charges and fees out of India. Currently, Hapag Lloyd has committed to charging several new booking cancellation fees out of India. These fees should take effect on May 15th. In the past not showing up for a booking would not result in a penalty – just like when you are cancelling a dinner reservation you wouldn’t be penalized. However, Hapag Lloyd is now seeking to move toward the model of airlines where not showing up would result in either rebooking fees or lost tickets. There are several fees outlined in this India logistics proposition, but one example is a charge of 25 dollars per cancellation that applies if you are cancelling after the documentation cut off times.  Considering the environment in India, this is an unusual move by the ocean line. Historically Maersk had attempted to charge container booking cancellation fees, but had a difficult time administering these fees. It will be interesting to see if these fees can stick, and if they do will other ocean lines follow suit?

The CSA program started in 2011 and has been gradually implemented since then. CSA stands for compliance, safety, accountability; and was created in order to improve the trucking industry’s safety by identifying truck drivers that are high risk. The plan to decrease truck-related accidents through this safety program is a worthy cause; however, the CSA program has already made many changes to its processes making it seem unstable and questionable.

CSA Program Evaluates with BASICS

The CSA program currently has a system in place that evaluates carriers with the Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories (BASICS). The BASICS are unsafe driving, driver fitness, alcohol and drugs, fatigued driving, crash history, cargo security, and vehicle maintenance. These seven categories result in a score for each carrier – the higher the score, the worse the performance.

Criticism of the Safety Program

The criticism that has come with the implementation of this government program is that there has been a lot of confusion and lack of clarity in regards to these important matters. A large complaint has been that the BASICS scores have been made public. Carriers are concerned about the inability of the BASICS scores to tell the whole story, and feel that shippers are choosing carriers based on incomplete data even though the CSA states that the scores should not be used to determine overall safety of a carrier.

Examples of potential inaccuracy include:

• Small carriers often do not have enough data points to be present in the system at all
• Hazmat offenses are all lumped together. Spilling a can of paint is very different than having an accident while carrying Class 1 hazmat (explosives).
• Truckers that operate regularly in certain states may have skewed scores since some states issues certain types of tickets more often than others.
• An accident is considered the same way whether the driver was at fault or not.

Truck Drivers in Demand

The trucking industry is urging the FMCSA (Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration) to smooth out the details of the safety programs because any errors could be devastating to an industry that is already understaffed. Most carriers are struggling to find enough drivers to meet the market demand, and the CSA threatens to decrease the number of drivers even more. If this decrease truly increases safety, than it will be worthwhile to limit risk and increase productivity; however, the means of limiting the pool of truck drivers needs to be accurate and fair.

The CSA program admits that it is a new safety program that is going to have to adjust and make changes until it finds an optimal route. Safety is such an important issue in the trucking industry, and CSA shows promise in improving safety considering there has already been a 12% drop in driver violation rates since the CSA began.

Andrew Tunis

Position: International Operations Manager

Role at PNG Logistics

As International Operations Manager, I supervise a team of international logistics specialists that handle every aspect of international freight to service our customers’ needs.  We pride ourselves in offering a high level of customer service. Whether their need relates to exports, imports, filing customs entry, duties and taxes, or preparation of international freight related documents, we strive to keep our customers well informed.

Best Part of Working at PNG Logistics

International shipping can often be a very complicated and confusing process. We strive to transform it into a language that makes sense.  The best part about being in my position is the close daily interaction with our customers, and in seeing how appreciative they are for the services we provide.

Professional Affiliations

Lancaster Chamber of Commerce

Education

B.S. in Finance, Minor in Business Law at Pennsylvania State University

Hobbies/Interests

Golf, Remodeling our 100 year old house, Traveling.

Interesting Fact

My fiancé and I were asked to be a in a Home Depot / Behr Paint “how to” video. This summer our video will be in over 2,000 in-store kiosks throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

PNGLC has been able to help engineers, pump and hydraulic manufacturers, as well as distributors in the hydraulics industry. We have the experience to identify proper freight class, to recognize which products require additional insurance due to their high value, and to manage various shipping methods (such as drop shipments and inbound shipments). Transit times are crucial in this industry since the products that are being shipped are usually needed to keep production going or are necessary for completing a critical project.

Below we have listed some common items in the hydraulics industry and their current classifications.

Item 128000 Class-85

Pumps, Power, NOI - loose or in packages

Power pump parts, NOI - in packages or on skids

Item 125820 Class-77.5
Motors or Pumps – hydraulic, rotary gear or piston type

Item 119260 Class-70
Hydraulic or Pneumatic Cylinders – other than rotary, steel

Item 122750 Class-70
Heads – hydraulic cylinder, steel, in boxes

Item 184975
Jacks – hydraulic, other than cantilever, not wheeled:

Sub-01 Class-65

In packages other than boxes or crates, or loose if weighing each 25 pounds or over

Sub-02 Class-60
In boxes or crates

Item 186590 Class-85
Tools – electric, hydraulic, pneumatic

Reducing shipping costs has become a growing concern for various industries as a result of the down economy.  Many customers are trying to find ways to reduce costs, whether freight or parcel shipping, without sacrificing service or options. One way customers can save on shipping is to outsource a parcel audit.

What Does a Parcel Audit Entail?

An employee or parcel auditing company will look through carrier invoices to check for any mistakes between the carrier’s invoice and your initial shipment. This can be done manually but due to advances in technology is often automated. Outsourcing is often a better option for this process since the companies offering this service have specialized technology and experience in handling these matters efficiently.

The point of a parcel audit would be to catch costly mistakes that otherwise would be overlooked. An example of an error would be if there was a service failure on a guaranteed parcel shipment. Many companies overlook recouping these funds for several possible reasons, including accounting being  unaware that service failure occurred.

Parcel Auditing Considerations

There are a few things to keep in mind when considering parcel auditing.

• What is the amount of money spent on parcel shipments annually? It may or may not be worthwhile to audit your parcel if you’re spending only $10,000 on small parcel a year, but if you are spending $100,000  or more you should definitely consider a parcel audit.
• Reach out to parcel auditing experts in an effort to reduce your shipping costs. In-house parcel auditing often will not bring you the type of savings, of both time and money, that outsourcing could bring you.
• Parcel audits do not affect your rates or discounts with your small parcel carriers. There is virtually no risk to parcel auditing.

Recoup Costs

Even though carriers like FedEx and UPS have invested in advanced technology to try to automate the shipping process, mistakes and billing errors still occur. If you have a high volume of parcel shipments, it would be worthwhile to look into the services of a parcel auditing partner who could uncover hidden savings without sacrificing service.

Port container traffic is a way to evaluate the amount of product being imported and exported, and is therefore a good indicator of import and export volume as a whole. In addition, LA area ports work with around 40% of all port container traffic in the nation meaning that it is a strong indicator of the market as a whole.

Last year imports and exports started stalling or even declining when evaluated from a rolling 12 month basis. The good news is that there have been gradual increases in port traffic. Outbound traffic was up .2% from February 2011, and inbound traffic was up .9%.

March 2012 brought more drastic increases in port container volumes as compared to March 2011. Outbound port traffic was up 2.6%, and inbound port traffic was up 12.8%.

These increases bring port traffic volumes to above the pre-recession peak and set a new record for exports.