Eurotunnel provided access to the first freight train composed entirely of 30 refrigerated containers one night recently, in line with its programme to develop cross-Channel Railfreight operations. The train, organised by the Stobart Group, carried fruit and vegetables from Valencia (Spain) to Dagenham (England). The new service will initially run on a weekly basis. Stobart Rail envisages raising the frequency to five trains a week by the end of 2010.

Irish International Freight Association full trading member, Ace Express Freight, reports that it has recently signed an exclusive partnership /distribution agreement with Group H. Essers. The Belgium Company Essers is wildly recognised as the number one express groupage operator in Belgium. Essers currently have a turnover in excess of 280 million, staff of over 2,500 and operate 8 branches in Freight and transport services.
 
Commenting on the new partnership agreement, Commercial Director Mark Tracey said this partnership fits in perfectly with the overall strategic plans of Ace Express in developing a very strong European service.

He continued Group H. Esser is recognised throughout the freight industry as a world class player in the groupage market not just in Belgium but Europe wide, where they currently operate daily groupage services to a large part of Mainland Europe to include but not limited to the Benelux countries, Germany, Luxemburg, France and as far afield as Romania and Turkey. To give an idea of the scale that Essers work at, they currently dispatch two complete trains each containing in the region of one hundred trailers to Romania every week.

British Airways (BA) has pleaded guilty to taking part in an airfreight cartel in Canada. The carrier has now been fined CAD 4.5 million (USD 4.1 million). BA admitted to fixing surcharges on the sale and supply of international air cargo exported on certain routes from Canada between April 2002 and February 2006. The Canadian anti-trust authorities said that BA had fully cooperated with the investigation. BA's fine brings the total fines levied by the Canadian air cargo inquiry to more than CAD 14.6 million (USD 13.5 million). Previously, Air France, KLM, Martinair and Qantas had all pleaded guilty to fixing air cargo surcharges for shipments on certain routes from Canada. The bureau's investigation into the alleged conduct of other air cargo carriers continues.

Air Cargo News reports that Australias competition regulator the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) will widen its net and attempt to prosecute even more airlines for their alleged part in airfreight cartel behaviour.
 
The latest airline, the 11th, to be targeted is Thai Airways. The ACCC says that at a federal hearing on 26 November it will allege that the airline fixed airfreight fuel and security surcharges between 2001 and 2006.
 
The ACCC has so far managed to bring successful prosecutions against six airlines, netting it a generous A$41 million (US$37.1 million) in paid fines. It also has ongoing cases against Cathay Pacific, Emirates Airline, Garuda and Singapore Airlines.
 
The commission's barrister, Cameron Moore, said that the ACCC will begin ''more proceedings in the very near future'' against other airlines, although other than Thai, the other airlines have not yet been revealed.

The voluntary code of Good Distribution Practice (GDP) for Life Science Products (pharmaceuticals, chemicals, diagnostics, medical devices and biotechnology) was launched by the Irish Exporters Association (IEA) on October 23, 2009 in Dublin. It is the culmination of two years of development work between the IEA, Irish life sciences manufacturers, the Irish Medicines Board (IMB) and logistics companies providing services to the sector. The GDP standard recognizes an increased need for further compliance and regulatory requirements in the international supply chain; logistics companies that comply with a set of defined criteria may be awarded the Life Sciences Ireland GDP Passport.
 
Kuehne + Nagel is the first company to complete all phases of the GDP compliance training and to have met the criteria necessary to become a GDP Passport holder.
 
Measures that the company has taken to achieve this include: the appointment and certification of a GDP champion at senior management level within the organisation; training and certification of all operational, sales and key account staff involved in the movement of pharmaceutical and healthcare products to GDP approved standards; training and certification of transport subcontractors and their drivers who are involved in the transportation of pharmaceutical and healthcare products to GDP approved standards; premises (storage), equipment (transportation) and processes (quality systems) meet the criteria specified under GDP EU Guidelines 94/C 6303 and applicable IMB regulations.
 
"Kuehne + Nagel has been providing logistics services to the life sciences industry in Ireland for ten years, and we pride ourselves on our commitment to the highest standards of compliance and quality," said Marcus Bennett, Managing Director for Kuehne + Nagel in Ireland.

 

"The achievement of this new accreditation allows us to be well positioned to continue supporting the sector which is extremely important for the Irish economy."

 

Link www.kn-portal.com

The Interim Statement covers the period from July 1st 2009.

Group revenue for the nine months to 30th September 2009 was 197.8 million (2008: 265.5 million). EBITDA for the nine months was 41.7 million (2008: 55.9 million), while operating profit for the nine months was 24.1 million compared with 37.5 million in the same period in 2008. As at 30 June 2009, ICG had reported operating profit for the six months of 7.1 million versus 17.3 million in the same period in 2008. The comparative results in 2008 include 3.8 million profit in respect of the sale of the MV Normandy.

Net debt at 30 September 2009, was 30.0 million, down from 48.5 million at 30 June 2009. This is the lowest level of net debt since 1993, reflecting the Groups very strong cash flow characteristics.

In the period from 1 July 2009 to 31 October 2009, passenger numbers are up 1% at 643,000, cars carried are up 2% at 171,000, RoRo freight volumes are down 16% at 66,000 units. Container freight volumes for the same period are down 19% at 143,000 teu, while units lifted at our ports are down 18% at 59,000.

 

In the year to date (to 31 October 2009), passengers carried are down 4% at 1,264,000, while car numbers are down 2% at 330,000.

 

RoRo freight volumes in the same period are down 20% on last year at 165,000 units partly reflecting additional competitive freight capacity. Container freight volumes are 27% lower than the previous year at 330,000 teu, while units handled at our port terminals are down by 25% at 137,000.

 

The economic environment remains challenging and the weakness of Sterling against the Euro remains an issue for the Group. Freight volumes continue to reflect subdued trading activity while passenger and car volumes have remained more resilient and have responded favourably to our marketing initiatives.

 

Seeing as its Christmas we have a slightly extended Last Word.
 
Dreads under the bed

 

Ever since I was a child I have always had a fear of someone under my bed at night. So I went to a shrink and told him, 'I've got problems. Every time I go to bed I think there's somebody under it. I'm scared. I think I'm going crazy.'

 

'Just put yourself in my hands for one year,' said the shrink. 'Come talk to me three times a week and we should be able to get rid of those fears.'

'How much do you charge?' 'Eighty dollars per visit,' replied the doctor
'I'll sleep on it,' I said.

 

Six months later the doctor met me on the street. 'Why didn't you come to see me about those fears you were having?' he asked.

 

'Well, Eighty bucks a visit three times a week for a year is an awful lot of money! A bartender cured me for $10. I was so happy to have saved all that money that I went and bought me a new pickup!'

 

'Is that so!' With a bit of an attitude he said, 'and how, may I ask, did a bartender cure you?'

 

'He told me to cut the legs off the bed! - Ain't nobody under there now!!!

 

The Los Angeles Police Department, the FBI, and the CIA want to see who is best at catching perps (perpetrators)*. So a rabbit is released into the forest, and each of them has to catch it.

 

The CIA goes in. They place animal informants throughout the forest. They question all plant and mineral witnesses. After months of extensive investigation, they conclude that rabbits do not exist.

 

The FBI goes in. After two weeks with no leads, they burn the forest, killing everything in it, including the rabbit.

 

The LAPD goes in. They come out two hours later, dragging a bruised mountain lion behind them. The mountain lion's yelling, "Okay! Okay! I'm a rabbit! I'm a rabbit!"

 

* http://www.stopcovertwar.com/perps.html

-if you want to know more about perps.

 

Have a Happy Christmas.