We wish all our customers, partners, and team members a Happy Canada Day!
June 29, 2018 – Amazon announced yesterday a new program called Delivery Service Partners — a program designed to let entrepreneurs run their own local delivery networks of up to 40 vans emblazoned with Prime logos. Each Delivery Service Partner can start a business with as little as a $10,000 investment. The partner is vetted by Amazon, and once accepted, will lease Prime-branded vehicles from Amazon, but the entrepreneur will be in charge of recruiting and hiring drivers. Amazon will offer discounts for costs incurred to run the business on expenses like fuel, insurance and benefit programs. The company says the program is set up so successful delivery partners can make profit each year. Each delivery unit will start their day at one of 75 current Amazon stations in the U.S. where parcels ordered from Amazon.com are picked up by drivers wearing blue-collared shirts with an Amazon logo and black hats. Algorithms will determine which packages are sent to these delivery stations, and which are sent to other delivery partners, like FedEx and UPS. Canaan Transport urges caution as these new delivery service partners will need to be properly vetted. If not properly managed, customer’s private information may be at risk. At worst, it may allow criminals to access homes on a legitimate basis.
June 27, 2018 – A special meeting of the House of Commons committee on international trade was held Tuesday, during which discussion took place about Canada’s array of retaliatory tariffs, slated to take effect Sunday over the Canada Day weekend.
Representatives from industry urged Ottawa to take steps to protect and support affected companies and workers. The United Steelworkers union, for example, expressed its support of the government of Canada’s announced intention to impose tariffs on imports of steel, aluminum and other products. But alarming testimony at the meeting also suggested that, without government assistance, previously healthy businesses will go under within weeks, said a National Post report.
Transborder cargo could be reduced in both directions. Canaan Transport advises our customers that shipments may carry higher tariffs and duty payments.
June 25, 2018 – Maersk Line has started a weekly all-water service from the Middle East, India and Pakistan to Montreal and Halifax. Transit times are 33 days to Montreal from Jebel Ali and 31 days from Jawaharlal Nehru.
June 22, 2018 – Transpacific and Japanese shippers are still facing a significant shortage of air freight capacity this week after 11 747 freighters from Nippon Cargo Airlines were grounded on Saturday June 16.
Japanese airline Nippon Cargo Airlines (NCA) suspended all operations after government inspectors uncovered “inappropriate” maintenance records at its Narita hub. In a statement, NCA said it expected the suspension to be in place for “at least another week” while inspections are conducted.
“In an abundance of caution, and to ensure the safety of our operation, we decided to temporarily ground all aircraft until all maintenance records have been confirmed appropriate.”On June 3, the carrier had told customers that “several NCA aircraft are currently on the ground, in order to confirm healthiness of the aircraft, which [is] causing a number of flight cancellations and delays.” The carrier expected approximately 15% of flights being cancelled and 20% delayed, “for the time being”. It added: “We will make our best efforts to recover the flight schedule. Further information regarding flight cancellations and delays will be provided to our valued customers from our sales department. We deeply regret and apologise for any inconvenience.” One air cargo source told The Loadstar the problem was likely the result of “cost-cutting” at the carrier.
The airline has extensive transpacific operations to the US, as well as calls in Europe at Amsterdam, Milan, Frankfurt-Hahn and Luxembourg. The groundings follow news that the carrier faces an investigation for repeated negligent reporting of damage to its aircraft. In the first quarter, NCA incorrectly identified damage caused by a bird strike as “minor” rather than “major”, following this with “bungled treatment” of a dent found during a pre-departure check. Reports claim that it was during the investigation into these incidents that inspectors uncovered the “inappropriate” maintenance records. The carrier could also find itself facing future disciplinary measures for violating international safety standards. The suspension comes a little over two months after the launch of a codeshare agreement between NCA and All Nippon Airways for cargo services into the US. It also launched a codeshare agreement with Cargolux in March. It is as yet unclear whether customers’ shipments will be redirected on to NCA’s partner carriers. Source: The Loadstar
June 20, 2018 – The Port of Prince Rupert and DP World have agreed on terms of a project development plan that outlines the next phase of expansion for the DP World Prince Rupert Fairview Container Terminal. The Phase 2B expansion will increase annual throughput capacity at Canada’s second largest container terminal to 1.8 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) when complete in 2022.
June 18, 2018 – Italy’s incoming government has given notice that it intends to not ratify the much heralded CETA agreement. If Italy is allowed to follow through with this threat then this would derail the CETA agreement in its entirety as it is currently still a provisional agreement. We will keep our customers informed of the latest information on this front.
June 13, 2018 – Maersk Line is launching a weekly all-water service from the Far East to Montreal and Halifax.
The AE6 service will connect ports in China and Southeast Asia to Maersk’s new Med/ Montreal Express (“MMX”) at its terminal in Algeciras. Maersk’s facility at Tanjung Pelapas, from which the AE6 sails non-stop to Algeciras, will receive cargo from the widest southeast Asia scope. From Algeciras, the MMX sails to Montreal, followed by Halifax. At Montreal, Maersk Line is using the Cast terminal.
June 9, 2018 – The Trudeau government has told U.S. President Donald Trump he needs to get rid of the U.S. tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum if there is any hope of successfully renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Finance Minister Bill Morneau said that message was communicated clearly to Trump during his meetings at the G7 leaders’ summit, which wrapped up Saturday. Trudeau said he told Trump directly that Canadians "particularly did not take lightly the fact that it’s based on a national security reason" and held firm to the government’s threat of retaliation. But Trump appeared to take Trudeau’s criticism personally, and denounced the prime minister hours after he departed the G7 summit on Saturday. Canaan Transport urges both countries to work together to ensure that a mutually beneficial trading relationship will continue.
June 4, 2018 – Canada has officially responded to the US tariffs imposed on Canadian steel and aluminum by crafting its own list of retaliatory measures. A partial list of these items can be found in this insightful article. http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/steel-tariff-maple-syrup-toilet-paper-1.4686833.