Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) will start a standalone service on the North Europe - Montreal route effective date is February 2006. when its two current partners P&O Nedlloyd and Maersk Sealand amalgamate to become Maersk Line. Vessel capacity is still to be announced, but ports of call would become (just) Antwerp, Liverpool and Montreal.

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FOR ALL THE TALK ABOUT GLOBALIZATION over the past decades, it’s only recently that supply chains have become truly global. It’s not that companies didn’t have foreign operations in the past; they did. But only rarely did their logistics activities extend much beyond a single country’s borders.

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Following a thorough strategic review of its operations, Dutch mail, express and logistics operator TNT has concluded that it is necessary to re-focus its business. It is has announced that it is to concentrate on its fast growing European Mail Networks (EMN) division as well as its Express network (on track for 10% operating margin this year) by divesting most of the Logistics ?non-network? based part of its business. This follows on from the recent sale of the French Logistics business to Norbert Dentressangle.

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Two leading logistics providers have announced that they are to develop a new joint venture. Global logistics provider, APL Logistics (APLL), owned by Singapore based NOL, and European logistics specialist Christian Salvesen are to combine in an integrated end-to-end offering for selected customers. The name and structure of the JV will be announced in the coming weeks. It will not affect the existing relationships that APLL and Christian Salvesen have with their current customers.

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Two separate studies have bee tracking the third-party logistics industry for the past ten years, and both show the industry entering full maturity.

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In addition to capacity constraints, companies are facing rising fuel and energy costs. In a recent survey by market research firm Industry Directions, more than three-fourths of manufacturing executives indicated that their companies were taking a closer look at their supply chain strategies as a result of higher fuel costs.

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ET China’s commercial center finally has what it has long coveted, a deep-water port. Shanghai was to launch operations Saturday at the Yangshan port, a mammoth facility more than 20 miles offshore in the East China Sea. The 100 billion yuan ($12 billion) port, constructed on offshore islands and linked by a 20-mile bridge to the mainland, is expected to eventually have an annual handling capacity of 20 million TEUs (20-foot equivalent units) of containers.

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China International Marine Containers (Group) Co. said it plans to halt production of dry cargo containers early next year to ensure that there isn’t a big gap between manufacturing capacity and market demand.

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Last month I moderated a panel at the annual National Industrial Transportation League (NITL) show in Anaheim. I mention this because one of the advantages to being a moderator is that I can “prime the pump” ahead of time by encouraging the speakers to address the topics that are of most interest to all of you, based on the questions and comments you pass along to us.

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Incorporating current scientific research on driver fatigue, says Transport Canada in Ottawa, new rules will change Canada?s Commercial Vehicle Drivers Hours of Service (HOS) Regulations. They will result in a reduction of the maximum daily driving time for drivers (reducing it by 19%, from 16 to 13 hours in a 24-hour period) and an increase in minimum off-duty time (up 25%, from 8 to 10 hours). Daily on-duty time will be reduced 12%, from 16 to 14 hours.

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