Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

newsworthy

Commissioners at ports of Seattle, Tacoma bless first-ever joint port compact in North America

Port development authority to manage key assets at both ports.

The heads of the Washington state ports of Seattle and Tacoma formally adopted yesterday the integration of the ports' marine terminal investments, operations, planning, and marketing, the first joint agreement of its kind in North America.

The action came less than two weeks after the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) approved the partnership established by the two ports, which will be known as the "Northwest Seaport Alliance." The ports will remain separate organizations and retain ownership of their respective assets. Under a port development authority, the ports will manage the container, breakbulk, auto, and some bulk terminals in Seattle and Tacoma. The two ports will be marketed as one entity by a joint team composed of executives that had previously worked for the individual ports.


In January 2014, the ports petitioned the FMC for authority to gather and share information about each other's operations, facilities, and rates, subject to appropriate legal oversight. A merger or any other "change in governance" would not be part of any talks, the ports told the agency.

In March 2014, the FMC ruled that port executives could begin discussions aimed at developing a partnership. Over the next 16 months, several agreements were filed with the FMC as the partnership plan evolved. It culminated with the FMC's July 23 ruling approving the model of a port development authority managing key aspects of the two ports' businesses.

By unifying key capabilities, the ports said they would be better able to compete in a rapidly changing world of megacarrier alliances and increased competition from West Coast ports in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. Combined, the two ports handled more than 3.45 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) containers in 2014, making them the fourth busiest containerport behind the ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach, and New York and New Jersey.

The commissioners also hired John Wolfe, current CEO at the Port of Tacoma, as the Alliance's CEO. He will retain his current title, and lead both organizations for up to five years, the commissioners said.

The Latest

More Stories

Stampin’ Up!’s Riverton, Utah, distribution center

Stampin’ Up!’s Riverton, Utah, distribution center

Picking reimagined

What happens when your warehouse technology upgrade turns into a complete process overhaul? That may sound like a headache to some, but for leaders at paper crafting company Stampin’ Up! it’s been a golden opportunity—especially when it comes to boosting productivity. The Utah-based direct marketing company has increased its average pick rate by more than 70% in the past year and a half. And it’s all due to a warehouse management system (WMS) implementation that opened the door to process changes and new technologies that are speeding its high-velocity, high-SKU (stock-keeping unit) order fulfillment operations.

The bottom line: Stampin’ Up! is filling orders faster than ever before, with less manpower, since it shifted to an easy-to-use voice picking system that makes adapting to seasonal product changes and promotions a piece of cake. Here’s how.

Keep ReadingShow less

Featured

autostore AS/RS at toyota materal handling site

New AutoStore AS/RS at Toyota Material Handling’s DC will increase parts volume and fulfillment speed

With its new AutoStore automated storage and retrieval (AS/RS) system, Toyota Material Handling Inc.’s parts distribution center, located at its U.S. headquarters campus in Columbus, Indiana, will be able to store more forklift and other parts and move them more quickly. The new system represents a major step toward achieving TMH’s goal of next-day parts delivery to 98% of its customers in the U.S. and Canada by 2030, said TMH North America President and CEO Brett Wood at the launch event on October 28. The upgrade to the DC was designed, built, and installed through a close collaboration between TMH, AutoStore, and Bastian Solutions, the Toyota-owned material handling automation designer and systems integrator that is a cornerstone of the forklift maker’s Toyota Automated Logistics business unit. The AS/RS is Bastian’s 100th AutoStore installation in North America.

TMH’s AutoStore system deploys 28 energy-efficient robotic shuttles to retrieve and deliver totes from within a vertical storage grid. To expedite processing, artificial intelligence (AI)-enhanced software determines optimal storage locations based on whether parts are high- or low-demand items. The shuttles, each independently controlled and selected based on shortest distance to the stored tote, swiftly deliver the ordered parts to four picking ports. Each port can process up to 175 totes per hour; the company’s initial goal is 150 totes per hour, with room to grow. The AS/RS also eliminates the need for order pickers to walk up to 10 miles per day, saving time, boosting picking accuracy, and improving ergonomics for associates.

Keep ReadingShow less
US Bank truck shipments Q3

U.S. Bank: truck freight shipments and spending slow their decline

Truck freight shipments and spending continued to contract in the third quarter, albeit at a slower pace than earlier this year, according to the latest U.S. Bank Freight Payment Index.

“The latest data continues to show some positive developments for the freight market. However, there remain sequential declines nationwide, and in most regions,” Bobby Holland, U.S. Bank director of freight business analytics, said in a release. “Over the last two quarters, volume and spend contractions have lessened, but we’re waiting for clear evidence that the market has reached the bottom.”

Keep ReadingShow less
nimble smart robots for fedex

FedEx picks Nimble for fulfillment automation

Parcel giant FedEx Corp. is automating its fulfillment flows by investing in the AI robotics and autonomous e-commerce fulfillment technology firm Nimble, and announcing plans to use the San Francisco-based startup’s tech in its own returns network.

The size of FedEx’s investment wasn’t disclosed, but the company was the lead investor of Nimble’s $106 million “series C” funding round, announced last week. The round was co-led by existing shareholder Cedar Pine LLC.

Keep ReadingShow less

Logistics gives back: October 2024

For the past seven years, third-party service provider ODW Logistics has provided logistics support for the Pelotonia Ride Weekend, a campaign to raise funds for cancer research at The Ohio State University’s Comprehensive Cancer Center–Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute. As in the past, ODW provided inventory management services and transportation for the riders’ bicycles at this year’s event. In all, some 7,000 riders and 3,000 volunteers participated in the ride weekend.


Keep ReadingShow less