YUSEN LOGISTICS EXPANDS LCL CONSOLIDATION SERVICE IN ASIA

Yusen Logistics is adding a weekly service from Cambodia to Osaka to its Asian LCL network. The service, which began on Nov. 1, 2013, is part of the company’s long-term strategy to grow business on key Asia trade lanes. It continues to strengthen its LCL network in Asia, having added export lanes from Japan to Vietnam, the Philippines and Malaysia in 2012, and import lanes from the Philippines and Taiwan to Japan this past June. The addition of the Cambodia lane brings Yusen Logistics to a total of 222 lanes.

CONSTRUCTION COMPLETE ON OAKLAND’S SHORE POWER INFRASTRUCTURE

The Port of Oakland marked completion of its shore power infrastructure on Nov. 8, 2013. In 2008, the Oakland Board of Port Commissioners committed to reducing health-risk from seaport-related diesel emissions by 85 percent by 2020 from a 2005 baseline.

Shore power at the Port of Oakland is a two-phase, multi-year program covering 11 berths. The Port has completed construction of its new electrical infrastructure system (Phases 1 and 2). Final testing of the new system was scheduled to be finished in December. The Port’s estimated project cost is approximately $60 million; the Port and private sector combined estimated cost for just the shoreside infrastructure is approximately $70 million.

MOLTO EXPAND GROUP-WIDE LOGISTICS SERVICES

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL) plans to further expand its group-wide logistics services. In recent years, the group has aggressively developed its networks to provide a wide variety of competitive service options in Thailand and Vietnam. Currently the group companies are working in complete solidarity with others under the leadership of MOL by further sharing information, knowledge, technologies and experience that each company has accumulated. It is driving forward to strengthen collaboration and synergy, focusing on winning more plant project business, kaizen (small changes for the better) in trucking and warehousing operations, and aggressively expanding business in Southeast Asia. MOL Logistics Co., Ltd. has global networks in 22 nations around the world, expanding forwarding services.

JAXPORT SET TO HANDLE BIG PROJECT CARGOES

Following an 18-month, $12.4 million reconstruction project, the heavy lift cargo berth at JAXPORT’s Blount Island Marine Terminal is stronger than ever and now ranks as one of the nation’s highest-weight-bearing-capacity docks. The recently completed infrastructure project more than doubled the pounds-per-square-foot capability of JAXPORT’s Berth 31 to 1,800 and increased its pounds-per-axle rating, or kips, to 78. Strategically located at the southeastern corner of the United States, Jacksonville, Fla., boasts having the best intermodal connections in the South Atlantic. Jacksonville offers more than 36 daily trains via two Class I railroads—Jacksonville-based CSX Corp. and Norfolk Southern—and one regional railroad, Florida East Coast Railway.

DUPRÉ LOGISTICS’ PLATINUM EFFECT

When researching Global Trade’s list of the world’s best 3PLs, we couldn’t help but notice the exceptional growth of one our 2013 honorees: Dupré Logistics. The Louisiana-based Dupré—recognized on the list as being one of the best in domestic transportation management—was founded in 1980 by service station owner Reggie Dupré with two trucks, only one of which was actually driven (the other was used purely for parts).
Today, Dupré has more than 500 trucks, 1,200 drivers, a network of 2,000 preferred carriers and a 64 percent growth rate over the past three years. Ask Dupré COO Tom Voelkel, who’s been with the company since 1983, for a reason and he’s likely to mention the company has been fortunate to have “hooked our wagon to growth engines: energy and chemicals.” But he’s sure to soon credit the people driving those wagons.
“We have grown from nothing to this because of our company culture and that culture is based on our people,” he says. “We have an entirely driven workforce [pun unintended, but appropriate] that is tied into our vision. We see our development as sustainable because we hire the best people available.”
And keeping those people safe has long been a pillar of the company, borne in some ways out of its darkest days, during a horrific 61-day period in 1997 when Dupré experienced three driver fatalities.
“We had always been compliant with the rules, but what we found is that those rules don’t necessarily make you safe,” Voelkel says. “We were probably just 25 percent of what we are now and [the fatalities] had a devastating effect on us. We went to wives to tell them what had happened; we picked up their kids from school because the moms were too distraught. It rocked our world, but it also galvanized our resolve to truly be safe.”
The company instituted numerous initiatives including regular driver evaluations, direct monitoring and observation. In 2001, the company began a wide-ranging program to battle driver fatigue that not only encompassed life inside the cab, but when and how drivers were scheduled to drive.
Those measures have brought the company a steady stream of recognition. In 2013, the American Trucking Association presented Dupré with three awards at its annual Safety & Human Resources National Conference. The National Tank Truck Carriers Association awarded the company its Grand Award for Personnel Safety.
The reinvigorated commitment to safety has also been great for business. While many companies view safety as a way to maintain business and avoid disaster, Dupré has found it a key element in driving its growth. “Safety helps you improve quality because it overflows to a lot of other things that you do,” Voelkel explains. “Discipline in safety leads to discipline in operations and other areas.”
All of which is nice but, ultimately, not why Dupré remains so committed.
“We believe in the golden rule—you know, treating people the way you’d want to be treated,” Voelkel says. “But we also believe in the platinum rule, which is treat people beyond what they’d expect. And that means doing everything we can to make sure they get home to their families.”