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Truckers protests continue at the port of Oakland for the 4th day. Protesting groups are much smaller today. The UP embargo will be lifted at noon. The terminals are working. Gates opened at 7:00. Trucker traffic and gate transactions have improved. The gates are opened and free time will not be extended by the port terminal.
Please be advised that due to an independent trucker work stoppage, effective
immediately, the UPRR has placed an embargo on inbound intermodal shipments that
are moving into UPRR’s Lathrop, CA or Oakland, CA facilities.
Effective 1130 CST on May 6, 2008, the UPRR is no longer accepting any shipments at any UPRR terminal that are destined for the Lathrop or Oakland terminals.
As of this writing, CSX will continue to accept in-gates at CSX terminals for westbound
shipments that are to be steel-wheel interchanged to Lathrop or Oakland. Depending
upon the duration of the work stoppage in Northern California, the ability to tender
shipments in this manner at CSX origins could be revised at any given time.
Also at this time, eastbound shipments out of Lathrop or Oakland will be accepted for
in-gate at UPRR terminals in a normal manner, however normal service may be
negatively impacted due to low origin volumes.
UPRR has initiated a “permit process” whereby Pacer Stacktrain and other customers
will have to petition for grants to tender shipments destined to the Lathrop or Oakland
terminals. No permits are being granted at this time. The UPRR will review the situation
on May 7 to determine the number of grants that may be awarded to each customer.
Pacer Stacktrain will be providing extended per diem relief to its Customers due to this
UPRR Embargo involving westbound shipments to Lathrop and Oakland.
Pacer Stacktrain will grant additional free days at origin on westbound units that could
not be in-gated due to the embargo. The additional free days will include all days from
the date of the embargo, May 6, 2008, until the date the embargo is lifted, plus three
additional days to allow for potential ramp congestion. This relief will only apply to
containers that have been billed to either Lathrop or Oakland from UPRR origins.
As an alternative for your 53’-110” or 53’-107” container shipments, please consider
using our BNSF service into and out of the BNSF Stockton ramp. This ramp is not
currently affected by the independent trucker work stoppage. Customers should provide
rail billing utilizing their existing customer quote codes, in conjunction with BNSF routing
instructions and ramp codes, (e.g., BN CHI to BN SCK). Our systems and Customer
Service will handle the changeover. Service on the BNSF will be billed at our current
BNSF FAK published rates. The current FAK rates are available at
www.pacerstack.com.
After delivery of westbound shipment via BNSF, Pacer Stacktrain equipment may be
street turned and loaded with an eastbound Pacer/BNSF routing or returned empty to
the Pacer Container Yard at 10736 South Harlan Road, French Camp, California
(phone: 209-983-2750). Inbound loads via Pacer/BNSF service under this temporary
program may not be street turned for a Pacer/UPRR eastbound service routing.
Please contact your Pacer Stacktrain Business Development Representative for the
latest updates regarding this situation.
The Agriculture Transportation Coalition have issued the following notice answering many questions regarding the port fees adopted at the Ports of LA and Long Beach.
Click here to view the notice in PDF.
USL have issued the following announcement regarding a major realignment to the service structure in three key trade lanes.
Click here to view the announcement in PDF.
The Port Authority of NY and NJ have issued the following notice regarding their plans for forthcoming growth and projected initiatives.
Click here to view the notice in PDF.
The
following is a link to a very interesting website, www.oceanschedules.com.
The website, although limited to Inttra carriers, provides
ocean schedules world wide, port pairs, transit times,
etc. It can be searched via an origin or destination,
departure or arrival date and can be researched upto six
weeks in advance.
Click
here to be directed to the website www.Oceanschedules.com
The
following is a link to another very interesting website,
www.sailwx.info. The website provides current statistical
data pertaining to weather conditions, wave heights, tides,
currents, air temperatures etc. The website also
provides a facility in which one is able to track the
current location of any ship at sea by indicating the
ship by name or call sign.
Click
here to be directed to the website www.Sailwx.info
WSSA has
contracts with service between the following continents:
- Europe/US
(includes Scandinavia, Baltic, Continental Europe,
UK, Ireland, and
Mediterranean countries)
- South
America/US (Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Uruguay)
- Australia/US
- New
Zealand/US
- US/North
Europe
- South
Africa/US
- Central
America/USWC
- Japan/USWC
View
Shipping Chart
(Excel document)
Rate
savings are our business!
Here
are some examples of rate savings:
Europe
- USA
The
regular TACA tariff rate from North Europe for a 40' dry
container of wine or spirits to US East Coast base ports
is well over $2,800.
WSSA
offers its customers contract rates with a savings upward
of $400 for a 40' container shipment. Moreover,
WSSA contracts are protected from many interim tariff
increases and other assessorial charges that may be introduced
on an ad-hoc basis (such as currency fluctuations).
Australia
- USA
The
regular tariff rate is well over $2,200 for a 20' dry
container to US West Coast base ports. WSSA offers
its customers contract rates with a savings upward of
$400 for a 20' container in this trade lane.
Fixed Terms and Conditions
Contract
rates are frozen for extended time periods (usually 12
months or longer) and additional terms are negotiated.
Some of these include:
- credit
facilities
- extra
free time
- fixed
in-land rates
- special
port provisions
This
shows that rate savings on the shipment of one container
can make up for the modest membership dues which have
not increased in many years!
Many
ocean carriers that WSSA does business with have extensive
websites providing a multitude of e-commerce capabilities.
The
links listed below provide you a quick guide to track
your cargo. Unless otherwise noted, you can go directly
to a carrier's website and by inputting either a container
or Bill of Lading number, receive an immediate status
on your shipment.
Some
carriers provide the ability to e-mail them with your
Bill of Lading number or container number and then respond
providing you with a status of the container.
WSSA allows members to track
the status of their orders online as well. This
can be accomplished by signing in at the Member Log-in
and then selecting the Order Tracking function. Login
to Members Area
International
Trade Terms
The
International Trade Data Systems has a website explaining
a very large list of International
Trade Terms in alphabetical order. This list
also includes Inco
Terms which you may want to explore.
Harmonized
Codes
The
US International Trade Commission provides extensive information
on the Harmonized
Tariff Schedule of the United States (2007).
Chapter
22 for Beverages,
Spirits and Vinegar Tariffs is viewable by
means of Adobe Acrobat Reader.
You
may also view General
International Business/Commerce Information.
Get
up-to-date Currency
Exchange Rates and Conversions or sign
up for a free, automatic subscription that will be
e-mailed to you daily.
Another
source for an automatic and free subscription e-mailed
to you daily is xe.com.
Convert Rates
of Exchange, Measurements and Others.
Containers
are standardized in size; the most commonly used containers
are:
- 20'
General Purpose Container
- 40'
General Purpose Container
- 40'
Refrigerated Container (Temperature Controlled Container)
VIEW
ALL CONTAINER SPECIFICATIONS HERE
General
purpose containers are also referred to as "dry" containers,
whereas refrigerated containers are commonly called "reefers"
or TCCs (Temperature Controlled Containers).
The
following general rule applies for container loading:
| |
20'
dry |
40'
dry |
| #
of pallets |
10-11 |
20-21
|
| #
of cases - on pallets |
800 |
1,200 |
| #
cases
- no pallets |
1,000 |
n/a |
| Payload
weight |
37,000
lbs |
44,000
lbs |
Above
"general" rules apply only when "normal
standard" size bottles (750 ml) and cases (12 bottles
per case) are used.
Access
Global
Sailing Schedules.
Computer
Hoaxes
Business
and Personal Listings
Zipcodes
Time
Zones
Travel
Is
Your Freight Properly Insured?
In
order to provide safe and reliable service, WSSA requires
that motor carriers providing service on behalf of a member,
WSSA directly, maintain minimum insurance standards.
These standards are in line with current industry levels.
In
the same vein, we suggest if you control the delivery
of your freight, that you or your broker contact the carriers
you use and have them name you as "additional insured"
on their policy. Overall, proof of insurance should
indicate:
- Commercial Liability with combined coverage and a
limit of $1 million per occurrence
- Trailer Interchange Coverage $20,000 (more if you
ship in refrigerated containers)
- Motor Truck Cargo (amount varies)
Protect yourselves
and your cargo - don't count on someone else to make sure
your cargo is being hauled by a trucker who is properly
insured - have yourselves named as an "additional
insured" and by having your name included as an insured,
you will automatically receive notice of renewal and/or
cancellation of the policy!
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