The brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB) is an exotic pest of biosecurity concern to Australia’s agriculture industry. Given an increase in occurrences of the pest arriving Australia in break-bulk shipments from the United States the Australian Department of Agriculture has issued new requirements to address these concerns.   Effective immediately all containerized and break-bulk cargo; including machinery, vehicles, boats, vessels, automotive parts, and tires, originating from any USA port must meet the following treatment requirements.   Mandatory treatments must be applied to:   All break-bulk cargo to include machinery, vehicles, vessels, boats, automotive parts, and tires within 72 hours prior…

FMCS, Cabinet Secretaries Played Key Roles SAN FRANCISCO (Feb. 20, 2015) – The Pacific Maritime Association and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union today announced a tentative agreement on a new five-year contract covering workers at all 29 West Coast ports. The deal was reached with assistance from U.S. Secretary of Labor Tom Perez and Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service Deputy Director Scot Beckenbaugh. The parties will not be releasing details of the agreement at this time. The agreement is subject to ratification by both parties. “After more than nine months of negotiations, we are pleased to have reached an…

Mardi Gras Holiday Office Schedule Please be advised that our office will close on Monday, February 16th at 3:00 p.m. USCDT and will remain closed through Tuesday, February 17th in observance of the local Mardi Gras holiday.　 Our office will reopen Wednesday morning, February 18, 2015 at 8:30 a.m. USCDT. Should you require assistance in our absence, emergency contact information is located under the "Contact Us" heading on our website or can be accessed by clicking Here. Happy Mardi Gras!

Yard, Gate and Rail Operations Will Continue on "Premium Pay" Work Dates SAN FRANCISCO (Feb. 11, 2015) – In light of ongoing and costly ILWU slowdowns, PMA members will temporarily suspend premium-pay weekend and holiday vessel operations on four upcoming dates, while yard, gate and rail operations will continue at terminal operators’ discretion. In Southern California, terminal operators will expand daytime vessel operations on non-holiday weekdays. Weekend and holiday pay rates command a premium of at least 50% of the basic longshore wage rate. As a result, working hours on those days would be paid at between $54 and $75…

West Coast Ports ~ Negotiation Update On the heels of what the PMA termed as a 'best offer' to which the ILWU responded saying the sides are 'extremely close' and urging a continuation in negotiations, the PMA suspended vessel loading and unloading operations this past weekend. "In light of ongoing union slowdowns up and down the coast which have brought the ports almost to a standstill, PMA member companies finally have concluded that they will no longer continue to pay workers premium pay for diminished productivity. After three months of union slowdowns, it makes no sense to pay extra for…

ILWU’s Choice: Continued Slowdowns or Gold-Standard Wages & Benefits SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (February 4, 2015) – Seeking to break the deadlock in stalled West Coast longshore negotiations, the Pacific Maritime Association has made an "all-in" contract offer that would significantly increase compensation to members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union. Full-time ILWU workers already earn an average of $147,000 per year, and would see their wages rise roughly 3 percent per year, along with fully paid health care that costs employers $35,000 per worker per year. The maximum ILWU pension would rise to $88,800 per year as part of…

Effective July 1, 2016 For many years overweight containers have been the subject of trade, industry, insurance, and government concern, and at times to the general public as well after negative occurrences have taken place involving such containers on our streets and highways. In severe cases ocean carriers report overweight or incorrectly declared container weights involve as much as 10% of the total cargo aboard a vessel.  Some carriers report it’s not uncommon for actual cargo weight to be 3-7% greater than declared by the shipper. The term “overweight” carries with it different connotations depending on context which are not…

Following is an overview of the birthdays, anniversaries, holidays and other events taking place within our company this month. February Birthday’s Please join us in wishing the following family member(s) a Happy Birthday: February 9 - Kristi App February 9 - Gretchen Groom   February Anniversaries Please join us in wishing the following family member(s) a Happy Anniversary: February 3 - Leticia 'Leti' Rodriguez – 1 Year!   February Holidays February 14 - Happy Valentine's Day! February 16 - President's Day (Office closes at 3:00 p.m.) February 17 - Mardi Gras Holiday!  (Office Closed) February 18 - Ash Wednesday  

January 2015  - The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has amended the Safety of Life at Sea Convention (SOLAS) to require, as a condition for loading a packed container onto a ship for export, that the container has a verified weight. The shipper is responsible for the verification of the packed container’s weight. This requirement will become legally effective on July 1, 2016. After that date, it would be a violation of SOLAS to load a packed container onto a vessel if the vessel operator and marine terminal operator do not have a verified container weight. The SOLAS amendments provide that…

PMA Warns: “Complete gridlock is on the horizon” The Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) released the following statement, “backups at the five largest West Coast ports have reached levels that are no longer sustainable as a result of staged slowdowns by the ILWU.  Operations are approaching complete gridlock.”  The number of ships at anchor in Los Angeles / Long Beach, CA has grown to approximately 10 with backups expected to worsen in light of the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday in the Far East which begins on February 19th. Punctuating the pace of negotiations which have just reached the eight month mark…

Following is an overview of the birthdays, anniversaries, holidays and other events taking place within our company this month. January Birthday’s  Please join us in wishing the following family member(s) a Happy Birthday:  January 2 - Monica 'Taty' Hamburger  January 25 - Debbie Janusa   January Anniversaries  Please join us in wishing the following family member(s) a Happy Anniversary:  January 2 - Denise Parker – 1 Year! January 5 - Cathy Alvarez - 20 Years!   January Holidays  January 1 - Happy New Year!

On the heels of a recent exchange of contract proposals between the PMA and the ILWU one thing is clear; rumors of negotiations being close to a final contract are untrue. The posturing escalated on Friday with the PMA's decision to reduce the number of gangs (work crews) typically unloading vessels in Long Beach and Los Angeles from three to one to allow port terminals to reduce the number of containers clogging their facilities. In response to the PMA's actions ILWU spokesman for the Local 13 Adana Ortega said "the time needed to work a ship in the two ports…

As West Coast port congestion and ongoing labor challenges continue to stress port terminal and ocean carrier operations, no one is immune from the effects. Citing difficulties in maintaining normal port and vessel operations under present shipping conditions, ocean carriers are stating that maintaining normal business operations is not possible as extraordinary costs are being incurred at every step of cargo movement. The unfortunate result of the congestion is that carriers are enforcing Port Congestion Surcharges previously filed in their respective tariffs in 2012 in anticipation of possible labor action / port disruption. Ocean carriers are announcing the surcharge will…

Board OKs Extra Storage to Relieve Congestion Port Moves to Provide Equipment to Move Cargo Faster Nov. 14, 2014 – Acting to relieve cargo delivery delays, the Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners on Thursday approved the use of Port of Long Beach property as a temporary site for the storage of empty containers, which will help to free up needed equipment to move cargo out of shipping terminals faster. The “Temporary Empty Container Depot” will be operated on 30 acres of a vacant, undeveloped area on Pier S on Terminal Island. The temporary depot will help put back into…

As the West Coast Ports Turn… Like sands through the hour glass, the west coast port congestion continues to linger and in many respects worsen. Importers and exporters nationwide fear the potential for crippling gridlock is upon us as the trade industry enters the peak holiday shipping season. Vessels waiting at anchor in Los Angeles and Long Beach paints a not too rosy picture for Southern California ports while work slow downs at Seattle / Tacoma ports has resulted in terminal operators opting to send labor home after only two hours on the clock. An unusually low crane productivity level…

Frustration with west coast port congestion and resulting delays continues to grow as importers and exporters watch helplessly and express concern as the status quo lingers. With cargo taking over 2 weeks to get off west coast docks, the trade community finds itself in the midst of the worst gridlock to hit west coast ports in over a decade. Labor negotiations between the ILWU and PMA while still unresolved are not the greatest contributing factor to the congestion. The logjam is attributed to a mix of factors including a lack of chassis, a lack of truck drivers who are pursuing…

J.W. Allen & Company Visits Capitol Hill Pictured (L to R): John Hyatt, Senator David Vitter, Jerry Becnel, J.W. Allen President and Kristi App, J.W. Allen Vice President Each September members of the National Customs Brokers & Freight Forwarders Association of America (NCBFAA) convene in Washington, D.C. for the association’s annual Government Affairs Conference (GAC). The GAC enables attendees to directly engage U.S. agency representatives in the discussion of trade related issues and gain firsthand insights into legislation impacting the trade community. Armed with an in-depth knowledge of critical issues gained during conference sessions, members hit Capitol Hill in force…

Attention Importers ~ Special Updates!!! FDA Food Facility Registration Renewal Requirement The Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) requires domestic and foreign facilities that manufacture, process, pack or hold food for human or animal consumption in the U.S. to register with FDA. Under FSMA, all food facilities that are required to register with FDA under Section 415 of the FD&C Act must renew their registrations with FDA, every other year, during the period of time beginning on October 1 and ending on December 31 of each even-numbered year. Beginning on January 1, 2015, if a foreign…

ECCN. In a world of acronyms this is one whose purpose is often misunderstood by the less experienced exporter and even by more experienced exporters hearing the term for the first time. However, it is also a process and procedure if not followed and applied correctly can lead to significant challenges and costs, as well as potentially severe government penalties for the exporter. We often get calls asking, “Do you know what an ECCN is and do I need one?”, or, “I’ve got a truckload of 10, 000 balls of string to send to Thailand and I’m told I can’t…

It’s September and we’re at the peak of hurricane season on the Gulf Coast and the question we’re asked most often is what has J.W. Allen done to maintain operations in the event of a storm. Simply stated since Hurricane Katrina [1] J.W. Allen has invested significant resources in an effort to ensure to the best of our ability operations continue with as short a delay as is possible. The major step taken was to position our network servers out of the immediate area of our offices into a hardened data center capable of withstanding a category 5 hurricane. This…

Birthdays: Please join us in wishing the following J.W. Allen & Company employee Happy Birthday: September 12 – Erin Clancey Anniversaries: Please join us in wishing our fearless leader Happy Anniversary: September 5 – Billy App ~ Proudly Celebrating 51 Years! Congratulations Billy!!! The J.W. Allen Family Holidays: September 1 – Labor Day

No secret trucking capacity has been very tight this year. The industry has seen an increase in demand with intermodal tonnages increasing year over year 1.3% in June and 3.6% in July, and with other trucking opportunities more lucrative than handling intermodal traffic being available have all combined to create this capacity issue. Given these conditions industry pricing has already rose at a 4% rate year over year. To exacerbate the situation is the outright loss of trucking capacity. During 1Q2014, 390 trucking companies with approximately 10,600 tractors closed the doors, which followed 335 companies with about 7,750 tractors shutting…

Progress Cited in ILWU / PMA Negotiations Almost two months past the contractual deadline progress is cited in ILWU and PMA negotiations offering hope that a new master contract is close to completion. Following is an official press release as issued by the PMA. PMA and ILWU Update on Contract Talks: Tentative Agreement Reached on Health Benefits Negotiations Continue on Other Issues (August 26, 2014, SAN FRANCISCO, CA ) – The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) announced today that they have reached a tentative agreement on terms for health benefits, subject to agreement…

Birthdays: Please join us in wishing the following J.W. Allen & Company employee Happy Birthday: July 23 – Terry Grisamore Anniversaries: Please join us in wishing the following J.W. Allen & Company employees Happy Anniversary: July 11 – Terry Grisamore ~ 15 Years July 16 – Kristi App ~ 13 Years July 25 – Gretchen Groom ~ 3 Years Holidays: July 4 – Independence Day

(July 7, 2014) SAN FRANCISCO The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) today issued the following statement: The parties have agreed to take a 72-hour break from negotiations on a new coast-wide contract while the ILWU attends to an unrelated negotiation taking place in the Pacific Northwest. During this break, starting at 8 a.m. on Tuesday, July 8, through 8 a.m. on Friday, July 11, the parties have agreed to extend the previous six-year contract, which expired last week. The PMA and ILWU are negotiating a new contract covering nearly 20,000 longshore workers at…