NEWS\\\ News Roundup


Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. and MLB have announced that Old Dominion will be the “Official Freight Carrier for Major League Baseball.” As part of the partnership, Old Dominion will run advertising and promotions across MLB Network, MLB Advanced Media’s digital properties including MLB.com, and across MLB’s official accounts on a variety of social media platforms. Old Dominion will also showcase its brand and connect with baseball fans at MLB Jewel Events including the MLB All-Star Game and World Series.


Road & Rail


PITT OHIO was selected for the first time as the 2016 Northeast LTL Carrier of the Year by Worldwide Express, a Dallas-based global package and freight-shipping firm. This year’s award winners were selected through a survey of Worldwide Express sales and operations teams, which measured those carriers who best exemplified the Worldwide Express commitment to exceptional customer service.


CRST International Inc announced the next step in its succession plan. Current President and CEO Dave Rusch informed the company’s board of directors of his plans to retire in the next few years. Current COO/Group President Hugh Ekberg has been named to succeed Rusch as CEO. Ekberg joined CRST International in September 2016 as COO/Group President, bringing over 25 years of strategic business leadership to the CRST family of companies. He last served as President – Kitchen & Bath Americas for Kohler Company. Prior to Kohler he was Division President and a Board Member at Weitz Company, a full-service general construction and design build firm. Prior to Weitz, Ekberg was with Hirsh Industries, a manufacturer of consumer and commercial storage products, and served in various progressive roles, including EVP of Operations, COO and President.


Chicago-based Echo Global Logistics has named Estes its National LTL Carrier of the Year for 2016. This is an organizational award that goes to the LTL carrier that best measures up to the company’s quality standards, according to Mark Redini, Vice President of Pricing at Echo. “This award reflects how much the Echo team nationwide enjoys doing business with Estes,” Redini said. “Their service and communication make them a trusted carrier partner, and we are proud to recognize Estes as National LTL Carrier of the Year.”


CSX recently was named to Corporate Responsibility Magazine’s list of Best Corporate Citizens for 2017. The company ranked 55th in its fiſth appearance on the list and was the only railroad within the top 100. As a part of this year’s ranking, CSX highlighted its latest fuel efficiency, which helps lower emissions and minimize the carbon footprint of customers’ supply chains. In 2016, CSX moved a ton of freight 474 miles on a single gallon of fuel on average.


Canadian Pacific commends Canada’s Transport Minister for his commitment to safety with the announcement regarding proactive usage of Locomotive Voice and Video Recorders (LVVR), also known as inward-facing cameras. “Having the ability to use this technology in a proactive manner will allow us to prevent incidents and improve rail safety – further protecting the public, our employees and the goods we transport for our customers,” said CP’s President/ CEO Keith Creel. According to the documents released by Transport Canada, the Transportation Modernization Act proposes to amend the Railway Safety Act to mandate the installation of LVVR in locomotive cabs to further enhance the safety of the rail transportation system in Canada, including allowing for federally-regulated companies to conduct analysis via random sampling in order to identify safety concerns as part of ongoing safety management; to determine the cause of a reportable accident/incident not being investigated by the TSB; and to address a prescribed safety threat.


Port Manatee has extended its agreement with World Direct Shipping to maintain its swiſt weekly service between the Florida Gulf Coast port from the Mexican state of Veracruz for as many as five more years. Under a lengthened pact


approved on April 20 by the Manatee County Port Authority, World Direct Shipping has committed to bring refrigerated produce and other goods into Port Manatee from the Port of Coatzacoalcos through at least Dec. 31, 2019, with a pair of one-


Issue 5 2017 - FBJNA


11


Port Manatee extends agreement with World Direct Shipping


recycled materials and oversized cargos. World Direct Shipping has


moved nearly 300,000 tons of cargo through Port Manatee since April. Last July it deployed the 430-foot-long M/V Queen B to accommodate steadily growing trade. “Extension of the agreement


year options extending through the end of 2021. Since begun in November 2014, the weekly World Direct Shipping


India’s Changing Retail Landscape


South Asia’s largest economy is the world’s next retail frontier, reports the Hong Kong Trade Development Council


(HKTDC). India’s retail


sector is projected to be worth US$1 trillion by 2020, with the country’s 13 million outlets being the largest number for any country. With 5,200 outlets in India,


Future Retail Ltd is India’s leading retailer. Rakesh Biyani, Joint Managing Director of Future Retail Ltd, leads the management and expansion of the company’s flagship formats, including Central, Big Bazaar and Food Bazaar. Biyani offered his insights on the Indian retail scene at an HKTDC seminar in March. According to Biyani, in the few years, India has done


last


extremely well. “Economic growth has picked up,” he said. “We are now the world’s fastest-growing economy, with more than 7% growth.” As a result, consumer confidence is at an all-time high and ranks No. 2 in the world. “We’re transitioning to a new tax


regime later this year, when the cost of imports will substantially decrease. So the overall trend is extremely positive,” he added. While over the last seven


decades India has been consuming essential commodities, rising income levels have led to demand for aspirational products such as up-to-date on fashion trends and the latest in mobile phones. This trend towards


consumerism is fueled by the fact India is on the verge of crossing the US$2,000 per-capita income level.


the typical behavior we have seen anywhere else is that the category consumption basket tends to evolve,” Biyani explained. “Categories like fashion and accessories, footwear, personal care, beauty care, health products -- these are the types that grow two to three times compared to essential products. So in the next year or so, the need and demand for more products in those categories, which are mainly imported, will become larger.” According to Biyani, Indian


consumers may be as brand- conscious as the Chinese, but are a more value-conscious. “They’re looking for the trends, but not necessarily that you’ll have so many consumers trying to buy THE brand,” he said. “They’re quite happy as long as the trendy product can come at a value price. They will substitute the product for a little unknown brand.” Despite the opportunities, Biyani


admits that India is a challenging market. “India is a market more for the long term,” he said. “If you show that commitment and have the patience, you will ultimately be successful as the market also scales up. We have a large young population in which 50% is under the age 40. By 2020, the average age will be 29.” That said, he


sees three “And when that happens,


categories of opportunities for companies interested in partnering with Future Retail: fashion, food and home. “Clearly in fashion footwear and accessory, there’s a lot we can work on together with designers and companies out here


service has carried increasing volumes of refrigerated produce from Mexico while returning from Port Manatee with paper,


and look at how to get the latest trend, cut the lead time around that and take it back to India,” he said. “Or we could work on collaborating with the design part and produce it back in India. On accessories and footwear, we can do a lot of sourcing in this part of the world and take it back to India.” When it comes to food,


palates and food trends are more local-specific. “So it’s more about partnering on technology,


with World Direct Shipping ensures continuation of a positive relationship with a valued partner of Port Manatee,” said Vanessa Baugh, chairwoman of the Manatee County Port Authority.


As for what’s ahead for Future


Retail, Biyani reveals the company has close to 20 million square feet of retail space in operation in India. “We’re looking at expanding our network about 14 to 15% per annum,” he said. “So that’s adding about another two to three million square feet of new retail space every year. For us,


it’s a lot of


expansion.” Regarding product categories,


Rakesh Biyani


packaging and presentation,” Biyani explains. “When it comes to home in the next four to five years, we will see a lot of demand in terms of more consumers decorating their homes and making


them trendier. That’s


where larger consumption of innovative products, technology products, is going to happen. In many urban areas, many people have homes that are smaller, similar to Hong Kong. So Hong Kong manufacturers understand the art of using small space in the most optimum manner. And that product knowledge can go back to some of the urban cities of India.”


Biyani reports that the company is always working towards creating a price ladder in a good-to-best kind of product profile. “Our focus is to increase the share of better and better products in our assortment as time goes by,” he maintained. “That’s where we are constantly looking for partners with whom we can work, where we could fill the gap in the better-and-best and offer differentiator products, trendier products to our consumers more in real time based and that’s where our biggest investment is going to happen. What we’re trying to build a robust international sourcing operation and evolve our supply chain in the right manner where we can use these products and deliver them to our stores. Hong Kong hopes to capitalize


on this trend since the Asian city typically tends to be trendy and quality-oriented. “Hong Kong is really the place for sourcing entry- level, good-priced products in the better-and-best category,” he said. “Hong Kong is treated as a sourcing hub and companies like us always come to the trade fairs in Hong Kong to source vendors and suppliers. At times, it can be less cost-effective. But when it comes to quality, when you have a Hong Kong vendor, you don’t have to worry about quality.” – HKTDC article edited by Karen E. Thuermer.


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