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 Table of Contents |
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Limits of Liability (Cargo Claims)
By Sea - Hague Visby Rules
SDR 2 per kilo or
SDR 666.64 per package
By Road - CMR
SDR 8.33 per kilo
By Air - Warsaw/Montreal
SDR 17 per kilo
IIFA Standard Trading Conditions
SDR 2 per kilo
The SDR rate on 18/09/2009
according to the
International Monetary Fund was
1 SDR = 0.9280690000 Euro |
IIFA FIATA Diploma by Blended Learning 2009 - 2010 Course Announced
Notification was sent to members of IIFA at the start of September detailing the launch of the IIFA FIATA Dipoma by Blended Learning 2009 - 2010.
The course will commence at an earlier stage this year, 14th October 2009, and will continue over a series of monthly mid-week evenings until the final examination on 29th June 2009.
Full details of the course are available on www.iifa.ie and anyone interested in the course is urged to register their details at the earliest possible opportunity.
Depending on the number of participants we would look at the possibility of running an additional course in Shannon or Cork. If you have staff interested in such arrangements please contact us directly.
The cost of the course is €1, 950.00 per applicant but a sliding scale does apply for members wishing to register two or more for the course. Please contact us directly if you are interested in this arrangement.
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New Container Service Introduced by IWT
On Wednesday 19th August IWT launched a new Container Rail Freight service between Dublin Port & Ballina, operating twice weekly.
This is the first rail service servicing Dublin Port in 6 years and is a new option for shipping companies to link the west of Ireland with Dublin Port. It is estimated that up to 2, 000 Truck movements annually will be removed from the roads thanks to this service.
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Happy Birthday British Airways
So you thought flying only started after the second world war? We did!!
Read on...
British Airways celebrated its 90th birthday on 25 August. The company, operating under the name of Air Transport & Travel Ltd, launched the world's first regular scheduled flights on that day in 1919. The aircraft flew from London to Paris. In the meantime British Airways has transport more than 1.2 billion customers and has established itself as a global premium airline. The carrier marked the occasion with various special events.
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UPS Faces Overtime Lawsuit
California class-action case claims sales managers faced unpaid time
A class-action lawsuit filed against UPS last week claims the delivery giant has been withholding as much as $100 million in overtime wages from account managers throughout the United States.
Filed with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California by Sanford Wittels & Heisler, the lawsuit says UPS requires account managers to work up to 60 hours a week but claims these workers do not deserve to get overtime pay.
Laura Meza, a UPS account manager in Fullerton, Calif., brought the action that alleges violations of the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act and Californias wage and hour laws. She aims to represent thousands of other UPS account managers, said a statement from the law firm.
According to Meza, UPS fails to pay its account managers overtime wages for work in excess of 40 hours a week and eight hours a day; fails to provide these workers with mandatory meal period and rest breaks, and fails to keep accurate records of the hours these employees work.
When it comes to treating its workers fairly, UPS just doesnt deliver, said attorney Jeremy Heisler, of the law firms New York office.
A UPS spokesperson said, "We value the account manager role in our sales organization. There is a defined sales compensation structure and we believe these employees are classified as exempt."
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Iveco Promoting Longer Trailer Concept in the UK
The Italian commercial vehicle manufacturer Iveco has thrown its weight behind the adoption of longer semi-trailers with the launch of a UK focus group to examine the potential of the new designs. So far two operators - Chamberlain Transport and DHL - are involved, along with trailer manufacturer Montracon and the FTA.
Representatives from the four members in the group attended a meeting in Turin (Italy) earlier in the year where they heard the experience of German firms that have been engaged in a widespread trial since 2007. They were also told about a similar scheme that the Italian truck manufacturer has launched in its home country. There, Progetto Diciotto (Project Eighteen), has seen six logistics operators conducting on-road trials of eight semi-trailers, each with an overall length of 18 m, since May. It is being undertaken with the permission of the Italian government, support from ANFIA (an Italian association of motor manufacturers and traders) and is being monitored by the consultancy CSST, which will compile a database of the longer trailers' performance against standard 16.5 m units.
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Only Way is up as Irish Ro-Ro Hits Bottom
Shipping volumes in Ireland have increased over the first six months of 2009 but still lag behind last year, according to the Irish Maritime Development Office (IMDO).
The IMDOs analysis of sea freight traffic showed that between January and March, four out of five key shipping markets recorded the lowest levels of volume for the last 30 months.
However, since March the ro-ro and lo-lo sectors have seen small positive monthly increases in volumes.
Lo-lo traffic fell 24% year-on-year to 525,000teu, with imports down 30% and export traffic up 11%.
Volumes were approaching the 100,000teu mark in June compared to a low of 80,000teu recorded in April.
IMDO put the year-on-year decreases down to underlying weakness in consumer demand.
Ro-ro traffic for the first six months fell 13% year-on-year to 753,000 freight units but volumes bottomed out in February when 117,600 units were shipped.
Since then volumes have increased by around 4% a month to reach 135,000 units in June.
The IMDO added that traffic on direct services from mainland Europe increased by 48% during the first six months to 17,000 units.
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Ireland: Stricter Rules for Haulage Licences
Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey has announced plans to tighten up the issuing of licences for truck drivers.
From 10 September, anyone who has received a serious criminal conviction within the previous five years could be banned from holding such a licence. The rule will apply to people who have been convicted of crimes such as murder, manslaughter, serious assault, drug trafficking, people trafficking, money laundering, sex and firearms offences. As many as 20 road hauliers with criminal records may now be forced off the road.
The new legislation follows the publication of the Farrelly Report, which deals with the department of transport's issuing of road transport haulage operators' licences. It covers events surrounding the issuing of licences to Kieran Boylan, a convicted drug dealer from Co Louth, in 2003 and 2008. The Irish Road Haulage Association welcomed the introduction of stricter measures.
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Aer Lingus Puts Brakes on Deliveries
Aer Lingus and the European aircraft manufacturer Airbus have agreed to postpone the delivery of five new units until 2013. The delivery of only one new long-haul aircraft in 2010 will help lighten Aer Lingus' capital commitment over the next three years. The remaining five planes will be delivered between 2013 and 2015.
Aer Lingus also announced a reduction in its long-haul fleet when it ends lease agreements on two aircraft. The delivery deferral caps Aer Lingus' long-haul fleet at eight until 2013.
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Study: Air Cargo Security Lacking
A report from the International Transfer Center for Logistics and the Technische University of Berlin states there are serious shortcomings in global air cargo security measures.
In particular, a survey of third-party distribution companies and freight handlers revealed a lack of standardized regulations in air and freight security are at the root of many of the problems. Approximately 56 percent of companies surveyed said the lack of consistency in this area is their biggest security challenge. Furthermore, 61 percent of freight handlers cited a lack of security awareness among their staff and the staff of their service providers as a problem.
Other areas of weakness cited in the report are technology and buildings. Roughly 24 percent of logistics service providers and 39 percent of freight handlers believe that surveillance technology in airfreight centers is inadequate. Moreover, about 56 percent of freight handlers found fault with entrance controls to freight centers.
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California Man Sentenced for Cheating Truckers
Double brokering scheme that reaped $2.7 million lands second of two men 4 1/2-year sentence.
The second of two California men who used information gleaned from federal Web sites to con trucking companies and brokers out of $2.7 million was sent to prison August 10.
U.S. District Judge John F. Walter sentenced Viacheslav Berkovich, 34, of Los Angeles, to four and a half years in federal prison for his part in a scheme that defrauded approximately 300 victims, mostly motor carriers and brokerage firms.
In addition to the jail term, the judge ordered Berkovich to pay restitution to the victims of the scheme, imposing a tentative restitution order of $2,773,074.
The government already has recovered $1.4 million from co-defendant Nicholas Lakes of Glendale, Calif., who received a six-year prison term in June.
Lakes and Berkovich pleaded guilty in February to computer fraud and mail fraud charges. Using bogus identities, they registered fake brokerage businesses with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administrations Safety and Fitness Electronic Records System.
They then went to commercial loadboards and bid on trucking jobs from legitimate brokerages and double brokered the jobs to legitimate trucking companies, according to the the U.S. District Attorneys Office for the Central District of California.
Those trucking companies were never paid for their work, while Lakes and Berkovich received payment from the legitimate brokers.
They ran their scheme from about January 2007 until September 2008, using such names as Cargoland Brokerage, Progressive Trucking, Vega Trucking and Barkfelt Transport.
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Aer Lingus Adding Third Heathrow Flight
Ireland's national carrier Aer Lingus is adding a third daily flight between Shannon and London Heathrow on 25 October, thus augmenting its morning and evening services.
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WTO Victory in U.S. Case Against China
A ruling this week by the WTO will make it easier for U.S. publishing and audio-visual industries to export and distribute copyrighted products such as CDs and DVDs in China -- and possibly even to gain a foothold against the country's massive counterfeit industry, reports BusinessWeek.
Specifically, the WTO found that import barriers on products like DVDs and reading materials violate WTO protocols, as do restrictions that prevent foreign suppliers from distributing their own products in China. To date, China has required U.S. creative works to be distributed through state-owned companies.
U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk called the findings "an important step toward ensuring market access for U.S. exporters and distributors of those products."
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New Valencia-UK Rail Link
Stobart Rail and DB Schenker Rail (UK) have announced the launch of a temperature-controlled intermodal service from Valencia (Spain) to the UK. The service, which will run through the Channel Tunnel, will transport goods for multiple customers moving chilled goods. Traction will be provided by DB via subsidiaries Euro Cargo Rail in France and Euro Cargo Rail in Spain.
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Container Truckers Tackle Empty Run Problem
In order to prevent empty truck runs, five large container trucking companies from the Rotterdam Rijnmond region (NL) have established the company Truck Load Match Rotterdam. All transport bookings are reported to the automated planning system Paris, which is also used by the ECT container terminal. The system calculates, in cooperation with the planners of the five companies the best fit of incoming and outgoing boxes. The participants hope to reduce empty truck runs by around 30%.
Talks on cooperation have been going on for years but the economic crisis provided the decisive push. The five participating companies are Van den Bogerd, GTO, JGT, Van der Most and G. van der Heijden & Zn. They operate around 300 trucks together.
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India, EU at Odds Over Pharmaceutical Trade
India plans to file a complaint with the World Trade Organization over charges that the EU allowed big pharmaceutical companies to use the bloc's tough patent laws to have national customs agencies detain generic drugs in transit to developing countries, reports The Wall Street Journal.
On more than 20 occasions since late last year, border inspectors in the Netherlands and Germany held up Indian drug shipments, saying they violated patent laws in the EU even though the drugs weren't intended for sale there, according to EU and Dutch customs officials and lawyers for Indian pharmaceutical companies.
Furthermore, generic drug manufacturers in India say they've had to divert shipments at higher costs to transit hubs outside the EU.
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Rice a Sticky Issue in Proposed Japan-U.S. FTA
Some lawmakers in Japan are planning to revise a proposed free trade agreement (FTA) with the U.S. over concerns about a backlash from farmers over rice imports and other agricultural goods.
Specifically, lawmakers want to change the pact to prevent a lowering of tariffs on imported rice, fearing that U.S. imports of rice and other farm products would disrupt the domestic market.
However, not all interested parties are agreeable to changing the proposed pact. One Japanese farm cooperative, for instance, said it did not support the lawmakers' attempts to change the text of the FTA.
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New Railfreight Centre Opens in England
UK manufacturers, importers and retailers are showing ever more interest in railfreight, so the opening of the Telford international railfreight park (TIRP), 60km west of Birmingham, is good news for the England's Midlands.
Managed by the specialist railfreight company John G Russell, TIRP provides direct access to the UK rail network and Europe (via the Channel Tunnel). The development of TIRP was initiated by the Telford local council and government departments in 2001. The project reinstated approximately 3 km of railway line and constructed freight handling and storage facilities.
The project has been part-funded by the European regional development fund and West Midlands authorities.
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Ancient Roman Shipwrecks Found
Underwater archaeologists in Italy have discovered the wrecks of five ancient Roman ships in the Mediterranean, with their cargo still largely intact.
The ships are lying in up to 150 metres (500 feet) of water off the tiny island of Ventotene, between Rome and Naples.
They are between 1,600 and 1,900 years old, and were laden with - among other things - jars for carrying wine, olive oil and fish sauce.
One expert said: "It is like an underwater museum."
Also on board were kitchen tools, and certain metal and glass objects which have not yet been identified.
The discovery of wrecked ships is not unusual - there are said to be thousands dotted around the Mediterranean.
But Annalisa Zarattini, from the Italian Culture Ministry, said the latest to be found are much better preserved than usual because they sank in deeper water, which protected them from destructive currents.
The ships also sank without capsizing, she said, allowing examination of the cargo in almost the form it had been loaded.
Officials say the latest finds are the result of a new drive by archaeologists to scan deeper waters, organised by the culture ministry and the Aurora Trust, a maritime research group.
The plan was prompted in part by a desire to prevent the looting of treasures.
Because of improving technology, looters are now able to dive to greater depths than in the past.
"It's important that we arrive there first," said Ms Zarattini.
The team of archaeologists and deep sea divers used sonar technology and miniature robotic submarines in their latest operation.
The biggest of the ships discovered is about 20 metres long (60 feet).
The area they were found in was on a major route for trade between Rome and its North African territories.
Some of the objects are being put on display on Ventotene.
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Agus an Focail Scoir - the Last Word....
"A man who has never gone to school may steal from a freight car; but if he has a university education, he may steal the whole railroad."
-Theodore Roosevelt
"I took a speed reading course and read War & Peace in twenty minutes. It's about Russia."
-Woody Allen
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