short takes
Invata Intralogistics, a global provider of supply chain and facilities optimization
solutions, software, and controls, has acquired the intellectual property and other
assets of Cape Systems. Cape Systems provided management software and picking
technologies. ... International logistics service provider Seko Worldwide is expanding ownership of the company to include its strategic partners (owners of its 50-plus
U.S. offices and 50 international offices) as well as its senior managers. … A good
sign of a recovering economy: Ryder System is
expanding and refreshing its North American
rental fleet with 6,700 new trucks, tractors,
trailers, and vans to meet accelerating demand.
… RockTenn Co. is acquiring Smurfit-Stone
Container Group Corp. for about $3.5 billion, creating North America’s second-largest provider of container-board packaging. … Crowley Maritime Corp. has
acquired Jarvis International Freight Inc., a Houston-based freight forwarding and
logistics company that primarily serves the energy and mining sectors.
RYDER SYSTEM
AUTOMATED
Spiking oil prices put fuel surcharges in spotlight
WAREHOUSE
What does one get for a penny nowadays? If you’re a shipper or a carrier
struggling with soaring diesel fuel
prices, plenty of aggravation.
The national average price of a gallon
of diesel fuel rose as of March 21 to
$3.907 cents a gallon, according to
weekly data published by the
Department of Energy’s Energy
Information Administration (EIA). While
the price actually dropped a penny a
gallon from levels reported the prior
week, it is up 96 cents a gallon from the
same period in 2010. The increase has
been triggered by the ongoing civil
unrest in Libya as well as by worries that
disturbances could spread to other
Middle East and North African countries
and potentially disrupt oil supplies.
The spike in prices has, in turn, put
fuel surcharges at the front and center
of discussions between shippers and
freight haulers. Many shipper contracts
that include language governing fuel
surcharges set them at one penny per
mile for either every five- or every six-
cent-a-gallon increase in the price of
diesel as calculated by the EIA. Given
the recent spike in oil prices, many car-
riers who use six cents as the trigger
point will be looking to modify existing
contracts to allow them to raise the sur-
charge a penny for every five-cent
increase in diesel prices.
SYSTEMS
