10


NEWS


ISSUE 4 2010


‘Fresh air fiend’ shipping lines costing Scottish exporters dear, claims FTA


Logistics costs for Scottish exporters are higher than they need to be because of shipping lines’ current container logistics practices, says the Freight Transport Association. Containers discharged after bringing imported goods into the Midlands are often returned south to their port of entry, rather than continuing their journey north to be reloaded with Scottish exports, explains FTA’s head of policy for Scotland, Chris MacRae. “Currently, most containers are returned to their port


carrying nothing but fresh air,” he said. “It would make sense to capitalise on the fact that these containers are already halfway to a potential Scottish distribution point,” he said. While the problem affects


exporters in many parts of the UK, Scotland is one of the major exporters of high value containerised goods including whisky, and the issue is causing increasing concern. FTA’s Scottish Supply Chain Forum (SSCF) has set up a working group including shippers, lines and road and rail logistics companies to tackle


the issue, although solutions to the problem are not necessarily straightforward, said MacRae. He added that while shipping


company logistics managers contacted by FTA were aware of the issue, they often said that it was outside their direct control. Often the globalised container control policies operated by the shipping lines didn’t lend themselves to such a degree of flexibility. However, MacRae agreed that


sophisticated routing software of the sort used by the supermarkets to minimise empty running could


Stormont ‘mislays’ O-licence legislation


The Northern Ireland Assembly appears to be dragging its feet over new laws to introduce an Operator Licensing system into the province and bring it into line with the rest of the UK. When the Goods Vehicle (Operator Licensing) Bill went through Stormont in January, hopes were high that secondary legislation would be in place by mid-2010, but there has been no sign of any programme being put in place to implement it, says the Freight Transport Association’s head of policy for Northern Ireland, Tom Wilson. While Minister for the Environment, Edwin Poots, confirmed that “a programme was in place to implement the provisions of the Act”, FTA said there was as yet no definitive legislative timetable. Tom Wilson added: “We


believe that the delay is due to lack of civil service resources. But I have spoken to several politicians and they can’t understand what has happened.” He said that he had asked assembly members to take what action they could to persuade the civil service to take action. Much legislation in Northern


Ireland is currently running behind schedule, but in almost all other cases this is due to the province’s tangled politics and the Operating Licensing Bill enjoyed wide cross-party support, points out Tom Wilson. Moreover, there has yet been no evidence that any of the


be adapted to solve the problem. He added that another possibility might be to look at utilising the space in containers being moved from the Midlands to Scotland to move domestic freight, although the fact that retailer distribution centres were not all set up to handle containers could be an issue. Another possible solution would


be for retailers in Scotland to take delivery of more containerised cargo, perhaps through concepts such as port centric logistics. The latter concept is being used by a number of retailers, although


Chris MacRae said he doubted that it could completely replace inland distribution centres. A NYK Logistics UK spokesman


said however that shipping lines were “very mindful of the cost and environmental impact of empty positioning” and that shipping lines have the empty stock availability to position empties from inland areas, supplemented by empty stock in the marine port area, to Scotland. He claimed that “a significantly


higher percentage of import empties are used for export cargo in the area they were first


delivered with some lines making good use of triangulation linking the import container to an export collection, minimising empty running. Where empties are moved back to the marine or feeder port, environmentally friendly modal choices are made when this is financially feasible.” A spokesman for Maersk


Line said: “As members of the FTA Maersk Line is happy to contribute to the SSCF discussion as we consistently look to innovate and find new ways of improving our environmental performance.”


Airlines fined€800m for freight-rate fixing


The European Commission slapped fines totalling nearly €800 million on 11 airlines for colluding to fix airfreight rates in Europe. The announcement, on 9 November, followed four years of evidence- gathering in connection with the offences, which took place between December 1999 and February 2006. It follows similar action against four carriers in the US in Canada and Australia in 2008/09. The carriers are Air Canada, Air France-KLM,


estimated 25-30 enforcement officers needed for the new O-licensing system had yet been recruited. With training expected to take a year to complete, there could be further delays in getting the system into operation. While there is a general freeze on civil service recruitment, FTA was given to understand that the programme would be exempted. Failure to enact the legislation


is deeply frustrating for compliant Northern Ireland operators, because vehicles from the province are disproportionately targeted by enforcement operators on the mainland because of the perceived lack of quality standards. FTA said that in a joint exercise by enforcement agencies earlier this year in ports such as Birkenhead, “an amazing 69% of all vehicles examined were from Northern Ireland.”


FTA takes on water role


Water freight promotional body Freight by Water (FbW) has joined the Freight Transport Association (FTA). The UK’s largest trade association will henceforce work to promote increased use of UK waterways, coastal routes and short sea shipping for the transportation of freight. FTA will create a distinct membership category for companies wishing to support the development of water freight and the FbW brand will be retained for FTA’s work in this area. FbW executive director Peter Ward will remain with the organisation in a consulting capacity and to help with the transfer of FbW activities to FTA.


British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Cargolux, Japan Airlines, LAN Chile, Martinair, SAS, Singapore Airlines and Qantas. However Lufthansa (and its subsidiary Swiss) received full immunity in return for giving evidence. The charges related to fuel and security surcharges but charges that the carriers colluded on freight rates and other surcharges were dropped, as were allegations against 11 other carriers and a consultancy firm. Air-France-KLM received the heaviest fine of


almost€340m -€183m for Air France,€127m for KLM and €29.5m million for the latter’s Martinair subsidiary. However, Air France-KLM said that it would appeal the decision in the EU General Court, arguing that the fines were disproportionate. It said that the analyses carried out as part of the investigation showed demonstrated that the carriers’ actions had not harmed shippers or freight forwarders. Nevertheless, EU Competition Commissioner


Joaquín Almunia felt moved to comment: “It is deplorable that so many major airlines coordinated their pricing to the detriment of European businesses and European consumers. The Commission is sending a clear message that it


will not tolerate cartel behaviour.” Cargolux, which was fined €80m, said that the


fine “did not seem to reflect a discount to take into account the financial turbulence that recently affected cargo carriers and Cargolux in particular.” However, the airline had made provision in its accounts and the fines would only have a minor impact on its financial results in 2010. Cargolux is consulting with its lawyers on whether to launch an appeal. SAS, fined €70m, also said it would appeal the


decision to the EU’s Court of First Instance, warning that the process “may take several years”. The European Shippers’ Council welcomed the


announcement. Secretary general Nicolette van der Jagt, commented: “The Commission has confirmed that the decision is binding proof that the illegal conduct has occurred, which now opens the way for compensation claims to proceed through the courts by those shippers that choose to. There are hundreds of shippers that have already signed up with various legal firms to pursue such claims on their behalf, and cases have already been filed in the UK and Dutch courts. I anticipate many more shippers joining such action as these cases now proceed following the Commission’s decision.” l Earlier, a Miami Grand Jury indicted Cargolux


Airlines president and CEO Ulrich Ogiermann, and senior VP sales and marketing Robert van de Weg, for conspiring to fix surcharges on air cargo shipments to and from the US. Ogiermann has since stepped down from his post to become a special advisor to the airline. His place will be taken by Frank Reimen from January 2011.


Panalpina settles corruption case


Panalpina said on 4 November that it had finally resolved corruption claims with the US Department of Justice (DOJ) and US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and would pay about $81.9m in fines and other penalties. The case was for violations of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). Panalpina,pleaded guilty plea to the charges and to pay a $70.6m fine in four instalments and a further $11.3m to the SEC, subject to court approval.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32