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Summer of 2008′s fuel prices outlook

T&LPro — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 18:42:18 +0000

The entire supply chain is under great financial stress as the spot price of WTI crude oil rose steadily to over US$110 per barrel, on March 13th of 2008 — a record-setting price.

While the price for WTI crude oil is expected to average near $100 per barrel through the rest of this year, transport companies and everybody else getting their supply through their services are bracing for the effects of higher fuel prices during the summer season, defined as the period from April 1st to September 30th.

Pricewise, let’s start with the regular grade gasoline retail prices, which averaged $2.93 per gallon last summer (of 2007) and are projected to average $3.54 per gallon during the current driving season.

The trucking business is going to be hit even harder as diesel fuel prices, which averaged $2.85 per gallon last summer, are projected to average $3.73 this summer.

In fact, the monthly average gasoline price at the pump is projected to peak at just over $3.60 per gallon in June while the monthly average diesel price is expected to peak at just over $3.90 per gallon in April.

These rather scary retail price projections reflect higher prices for the refiners’ average acquisition cost of crude oil, projected to average close to $97 per barrel, up from about $67 per barrel last summer which account for a hefty $30 price hike, per barrel. Furthermore, strong world distillate demand growth, especially in Europe and Asia, will do nothing to help the situation domestically, in America.

It is important to note, however, that even if the US national average monthly gasoline price comes to peak around $3.60 per gallon this summer, it’s entirely possible that prices, at some point, will cross the $4 per gallon threshold, severely hurting the transport industry and those who depend on it.

Countless consumers may be forced to reconsider driving their cars at all and the same kind of dilemma may happen for transport operators of all sizes as well as petroleum-based product manufacturers.

Transportation and logistics companies, especially in America, need to plan (and provision lots of “emergency money”) right now for this summer’s potential fuel price explosion.

Tags: gas, fuel, wti crude oil, oil, diesel, petroleum, pump, america, usa, transport, logistics, summer

US high-tech solution for freight efficiency

T&LPro — Fri, 07 Jul 2006 01:38:02 +0000

The May / June 2006 Edition of the excellent Public Roads magazine includes a wonderful article on how the highways trucks use could take a hint from the information superhighway.

“According to the Federal Highway Administration‘s (FHWA) recently released report Freight Facts and Figures 2005 (FHWA-HOP-05-071), international trade is growing faster than the overall U.S. economy. Between 1980 and 2003, the U.S. economy, measured by gross domestic product (GDP), doubled, while foreign trade quadrupled in real value, reflecting unprecedented global connectivity. Ocean, rail, and air carriers use trucks and highways for some component of almost every shipment. Already tight infrastructure capacity will be stressed further by limited new construction and the growing demand from freight transportation. In fact, the FHWA Freight Analysis Framework indicates that by 2020 freight volumes will increase by 70 percent from 1998 totals, and freight volumes through the Nation’s primary gateway ports could more than double. Finding ways to improve the operational efficiency of moving this freight is critical to the Nation’s economic vitality and global connectivity.

Officials at the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) recognize that moving freight involves moving information as well as the goods themselves. Although excellent information management can increase freight efficiency, poor information management can add costs, slow handoffs, open security gaps, create delays at gates, and even lead to erroneous freight movements.

Given the important and growing role that goods movement plays in the U.S. economy and the impact that it has on the transportation network, USDOT’s ITS Joint Program Office and FHWA recently launched the Electronic Freight Management (EFM) project. EFM aims to improve the “information highway” that moves critical business information and facilitates the multimodal movement of airfreight, generating benefits for both private and public stakeholders. In particular, the project addresses weaknesses in freight data exchange processes that add costs, create security gaps, and, over time, contribute to congestion.

“It is well accepted that technology systems and electronic data represent one of the few remaining tools for improving both productivity and security,” says Margaret Irwin, director of customs and cross-border operations for the American Trucking Associations. “In addition, regulatory costs can be successfully managed in the long term only by replacing labor-intensive paperwork with electronic systems. Given that international trade now represents 25 percent of our country’s GDP, it is particularly important for ports and borders to operate more efficiently.”

EFM advances several concepts, but the single key concept is to promote electronic data exchanges along a supply chain in an end-to-end manner more robustly than is currently being done.

Typically, freight movements are supported by point-to-point communications, either paper-based or electronic, between parties who agree to such communications. Using the Internet to make data available broadly to any authorized and authenticated user in near real time is key to enabling freight transportation networks to operate more efficiently and securely. This type of data exchange provides buyers and other authorized parties with open visibility into supply chains. Program officials expect that these improvements will help to reduce unnecessary traffic on the transportation network and mitigate congestion.”

For more insight on EFM, please read the original article which goes about covering important themes like the best approach to have, the international data standards to observe, the public and private sector benefits as well as the added security.

This initiative is already bearing fruit and the transports and logistics industry should continue supporting such bold attempts to help our freight flow from the sending point to its destination, as fast and as efficiently as possible.

Tags: freight efficiency, freight flow, transit, highways, transport, logistics, destination

Interesting space web sites

T&LPro — Sun, 09 Apr 2006 02:16:19 +0000

The following links should truly help you envision at least part of the future of space travel and general transport.

The transports and logistics industry will come to a point where space will grab a lot more attention in the media and in the boardroom, thus the importance of looking into the latest space-related developments.

Have fun visiting these well built, very informative and entertaining web sites:

News Sources

Astronomy Links

Museums and Centers

Online Space Resources

Space Societies

Government Space Agencies

Space Ports

New Space Ventures

Most of these links come from the excellent see.com web site which you can visit for even more information… and links!

If you know about other interesting space links, especially linked to the transports and logistics world, please submit them in your comments.

Tags: space, explorers, orbital, earth, stars, nasa, united nations, discoveries, logistics, composites

Already 10 years?

T&LPro — Mon, 06 Feb 2006 21:13:49 +0000

Happy birthday Transport Canada!

Or, should we say “http://www.tc.gc.ca/” to be more precise — this abundant and resourceful public web site has celebrated its 10th year on the web on January 15th, 2006.

The full story is available here.

It’s one thing to create a web site of this scope but it’s another to maintain it daily. More than 8 million visitors came to TC’s web site in 2005 alone.

In their own words, TC looks into the future with these objectives in mind:

“As more Canadians turn to the Internet as a source of information, Transport Canada remains committed to providing accurate, timely, relevant information, tools and services that support business objectives and meet requirements under all relevant policies and standards.”

Let’s hope TC has many more successful years ahead with their web site destined primarily to the general public but also to the T&L industry specialists.

Tags: transport canada, 10th anniversary, celebration, successful years, transport, logistics

Nova Containers – in Montreal

T&LPro — Sat, 04 Feb 2006 03:42:59 +0000

Located in La Prairie, on Montreal’s South Shore (15 minutes from downtown), Nova Containers are specialists in materials handling, blocking and bracing. They also offer extensive customs warehouse services as well as transport, logistics and storage.

Increasingly popular are the freight forwarding and customs brokering services which help customers save time and money.

The services are offered individually or as an “A to Z” package to answer all the T&L needs of their customers who usually transit, fully or in part, by the Port of Montreal.

As their name implies, they repair, store and sell empty maritime containers.

The company has started its operations back in 1982 and the current President is Ms Diane Sirois. Her reputation for providing complete satisfaction and peace of mind to her customers is already very well known by companies using Nova Containers’ services, when going through Montreal.

For more information, you can visit the web site.

Tags: nova containers, freight, logistics, maritime containers, storage, montreal, quebec, canada

T&L has a new voice, at NavSite!

T&LPro — Sat, 31 Dec 2005 22:16:01 +0000

If you’re reading these lines, chances are you’re all about transports & logistics.

This blog is intended to be accessible by everyone while still being relevant for industry professionals who need to make choices, in regards to their T&L management.

Since this is the very first post in this blog, please let me invite you to participate by leaving comments on any subject discussed. Shed new light and add value to postings. NavSite will be even more interesting if you’re active, within your fields of interest.

To all visitors to NavSite, let me extend my warmest welcome!

Tags: navsite, welcome, new blog, subjects discussed, postings, fields of interest, t&l, transports, logistics