The Port Community
Five sustainable trends for 2010

By Diane Mettler

It would be impossible to keep up on every sustainable trend affecting the cargo industry. But each month we will be bringing you five sustainable trends that may have an impact on you and your business.

Oakland says “no” to old trucks: On January 1, 2010, the Oakland Port Commission will impose a strict ban on trucks not meeting new emission standards.

The up side is that the port’s clean-truck program will reduce pollution generated by old, polluting trucks. On the down side, the ban will leave scores of independent owner-operators effectively out of work.

Greening up computers: PCs and servers are a vital to a company, but the power they pull and the toxic substances they add to landfills makes them environmentally unfriendly.

A new ABI Research (www.ABIresearch.com) study is now available that examines the evolving technology, economic, and market factors supporting the growth of environmentally friendly computer and server products. The report also examines the records and current activities of computer vendors striving to make their products more energy efficient and recyclable.

Reusable packaging: Recently the Reusable Packaging Association (RPA) and the Automotive Industry Action Group (AIAG) held events that promoted the environmental, economical and supply chain efficiency benefits of using reusable packaging and asset
tracking systems.

Attendees were interested to learn that reusable packaging (as well as tracking) could reduce a variety of costs. Companies discovered they could reduce overall packaging costs, deliver rapid ROI, reduce costly product damage, reduce labor costs as well as reduce inventory and require less space. www.choosereusables.org

Web-based invoicing: If you’re still invoicing with paper, you might want to check out the web-based alternatives. (See this issue’s tech trends review.) Web-based invoicing provides not only a green solution — less paper, toner and energy used in producing and mailing invoices — but offers other benefits to companies as well.

Companies can expect reduced processing costs, decreased manual effort, increased accuracy, improved timeliness, elimination of lost items and reduced storage space for source documents. In short, they can expect increased productivity and ROI.

Ultra-clean diesel locomotive: Union Pacific Railroad and Progress Rail Services announced that the ultra-clean diesel PR30C-LoNOx locomotive being tested in intermediate line haul service has successfully achieved more than 500 operational hours.

The prototype intermediate line haul locomotive —powered by a 3516 Caterpillar engine — was retrofitted with a state-of-the-art after-treatment system, making it one of the cleanest locomotives operating in the United States. It has more power than the typical 2000 HP 4-axle Genset “switching” locomotive used around terminals, but is less powerful than the 4400-HP 6-axle “line haul” locomotives used for transcontinental freight service. Union Pacific plans to operate these locomotives in typical regional service in the Midwest and in California. www.uprr.com

 

 

 

In This Issue

Up Front

News, Trends & Analysis
New Items

Transport Economics: Don’t be so gloomy

Capitol Watch: From cargo screening to
roadability equipment

Trade Tools: A different world of trade in 2010

Supply Chain
Chris Steele: The corner and what’s around it

Compliance Corner: Hot trade compliance issues for 2010

Tech Trends: Five trends for 2010

Commentary
David Bennett: Five predictions for 2010

Gateway Glance
Georgia

Vietnam

The Port Community
East Coast Ports 2010: Five things to watch for

West Coast Ports 2010: The future of West Coast port productitivy?

The Shipping Environment: Five sustainable trends for 2010

Product Review: Cranes

Casualties
Triple-deck trailer barge snaps towline, tankers leak,
Coast Guard ice breaker runs aground ... and much more

Final Say
Your supply chain dynamics: 2010 crisis? Or oppotrunities?