Did You Know?

Poorly maintained roads contributed to more than 11,000 of the 34,000 U.S. highway fatalities in 2009.

Source: American Society of Civil Engineers

Container Ship Charter Rate Surge Pushes into August

Container ship charter rates are still climbing through the summer as ocean carriers compete for increasingly scarce tonnage to keep pace with surging cargo volume on key routes from Asia to North America and Europe.

Panama Canal Transits, Tonnage Drop in Third Quarter

Vessel traffic and total tonnage declined at the Panama Canal during the quarter ending June 30, the Panama Canal Authority recently stated in a rare report of slowdown in the maritime industry's year of recovery.

North Dakota intermodal port accepts first containers

Advocates for an intermodal facility to ship agricultural products from Minot, N.D., saw their vision realized August 23, reports the Minot Daily News. The Port of North Dakota began unloading containers from a BNSF train that morning with plans to fill them this week with commodities.

New Orleans container volume grows 60 percent

The Port of New Orleans saw a 60 percent increase in containerized volume in the first half of 2010, the port reported on August 23. The port handled more than 200,000 TEUs through June and said it is on pace to top 400,000 TEUs for the year at the Napoleon Avenue Container Terminal in 2010.

BNSF, UP post double-digit ROI

Recovering from the worst business downturn in nearly 80 years, U.S. Class I railroads earned an average rate of return on net investment of 9.6 percent in the 12 months ended June 30, 2010, compared with a year-ago ROI of 9.47 percent.