Faster handling of reefer containers 
The Port of Rotterdam Authority, the port’s customs authorities, GroentenFruit Huis and Portbase have joined forces to speed up the handling of reefer containers, which currently account for more than 15% of the containers shipped via the Port of Rotterdam. The cooperation... more
XPO Logistics names executives for spin-off
XPO has appointed Eduardo Pelleissone president for the Americas and Asia Pacific regions and Neil Shelton chief strategy officer of GXO Logistics. Their positions will become effective when XPO’s intended spin-off comes on stream in Q3/2021, creating two pure-play industry... more
Renovating automation
The VVA (Vereinigte Verlagsauslieferung) Group, an affiliate of Arvato Supply Chain Solutions, has reshaped its distribution centre in Guetersloh in Germany. SSI Schäfer has built an automated shuttle warehouse with order picking system in the existing facility on a limited... more
CSX to serve new agriculture hub
Northwest Grains International is breaking ground on an agricultural transload operation in Dillon County (USA) to serve agricultural producers. The operation will handle containerised soybeans, lumber, logs, peanuts, cotton, cotton seed and yellow peas for export through... more
Pfizer partners with Zipline
USA-based drone services provider Zipline is partnering with Pfizer to test and develop an end-to-end distribution solution for Covid-19 vaccines. As part of the collaboration, a system has been developed that can be used to safely distribute any vaccine. Zipline’s on-demand... more
All hands on deck! 
May saw a depressing new record set in India, with more than 28 million cases of a new variant of Sars CoV 2 reported. Bringing the foreign relief available to India and its health system is quite a logistics challenge. The ITJ spoke to Mukesh Aghi, president of the US-India... more
Oslo – Haifa in 14 instead of 30 days
An interesting new rail alliance has been formed: Loconi, which operates five weekly container trains between Gdynia and Wrocław (both in Poland), and Baltic Rail, which runs three – five weekly trains between Wrocław and Koper (Slovenia), have launched a combined intermodal... more
Jan de Rijk Logistics shifts focus
In its recently published results for 2020, Roosendaal (Netherlands)-based Jan de Rijk Logistics is in the black, with profits before tax of EUR 6 million for 2020 compared to EUR 5.5 million in 2019, while turnover moved sidewards to EUR 228.6 million (2019: EUR 230.4 million).... more
Port of Los Angeles sets handling record
In a time of backlog, the Port of Los Angeles has announced that its terminals processed 10 million container units in a 12 month period. A ceremony took place at the Port’s Fenix Marine Services container terminal to watch the 10 millionth container being loaded onto the... more