The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced receipt of petitions for decisions that nonconforming 2012 Porsche GT3RS, 2010 BMW Z4 and 2007 Ford Escape Multi-Purpose passenger cars that were not originally manufactured to comply with all applicable Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards are eligible for import in the U.S. because: (1) they are substantially similar to vehicles that were originally manufactured for sale in the U.S. and that were certified by their manufacturer as complying with the safety standards, and (2) they are capable of being readily altered to conform to the standards. Comments are due May 4.
President Barack Obama designated Mario Cordero as chairman of the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC), said an April 2 FMC press release. Cordero has been a commissioner since June 2011. Prior to his appointment, he was an attorney in private practice and served eight years on the Board of Harbor Commissioners for the Port of Long Beach. Cordero said he looks forward to continued work on fostering a “fair, efficient and reliable international ocean transportation system” and protecting the public from unfair and deceptive practices.
The U.S. Department of Transportation has received the following applications for certificates of public convenience and necessity and foreign air carrier permits under Subpart B (formerly Subpart Q) of DOT Procedural Regulations (14 CFR 301.201 et seq.), according to a Federal Register notice for publication April 4:
The Federal Maritime Commission said the following have filed applications for a license as a Non-Vessel-Operating Common Carrier (NVO) and/or Ocean Freight Forwarder (OFF)-Ocean Transportation Intermediary (OTI) pursuant to section 19 of the Shipping Act of 1984. The FMC also gave notice of the filing of applications to amend an existing OTI license or the qualifying individual for a license. Interested persons may contact the Office of Transportation Intermediaries, Federal Maritime Commission, Washington, D.C. 20573, at 202-523-5843 or at OTI@fmc.gov.
The Transportation Department's Bureau of Transportation Statistics will include data for air and sea cargo in its monthly trans-border statistical releases, it said in a March 27 press release. The releases previously included categories for truck, rail, pipeline, other and unknown modes. The category for other and unknown modes will now be grouped with surface transportation, said BTS.
The Agricultural Marketing Service released the Ocean Shipping Container Availability Report (OSCAR) for the week of March 27 - April 2. The weekly report contains data on container availability for westbound transpacific traffic at 18 intermodal locations in the U.S.1 from the eight member carriers of the Westbound Transpacific Stabilization Agreement (WTSA).2 Although the report is compiled by AMS, it covers container availability for all merchandise, not just agricultural products.
The International Federal of Freight Forwarders Associations (FIATA) and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) approved the multilateral electronic Air Waybill (e-AWB) standard, allowing for airlines to use a single agreement with IATA to use e-AWBs, the associations said in a press release. Final consent was reached with the approval by the IATA Cargo Services Conference March, the release said.
UPS extended its preferred less-than container load ocean freight service to Western Europe, the company said in a press release. Additional port access for the service will now open in Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and the United Kingdom, it said.
The United Arab Shipping Company (UASC) and Inttra reached a multi-year agreement that will allow UASC to make use of Inttra's e-commerce network, said Inttra in a press release. Inttra, a multi-carrier e-commerce network for the shipping industry, said the new agreement will all also help UASC to grow in the Middle East and globally. Inttra will work closely to build UASC's e-commerce strategy, said UASC.
Shippers and carriers of hazardous materials want electronic shipping to be flexible, performance-based and not mandatory, according to draft working papers released March 25 by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. The comments stem from workshops held last year on the administration’s pilot project to allow paperless e-shipping for hazardous materials shipments, titled HM-ACCESS (Hazardous Materials -- Automated Cargo Communication for Effective and Safe Shipments).