Customs and Border Protection

US border agents finding more marijuana in trucks from Canada

A U.S. Customs and Border Protection dog with a marijuana found as part of a surge of drug seizures from truck shipments coming from Canada.

When U.S. border officers inspected a Canadian truck at the Peace Bridge near Buffalo, New York, last Saturday, they found 3,100 pounds of marijuana hidden in a shipment of peat moss. The $5 million haul, while unusually large, is part of a surge in drug seizures at the Canada-U.S. border, officials said.

Less than two weeks earlier, at the same bridge, U.S. border officers found $3 million worth of marijuana hidden in crates of coffee grounds. The drivers in both cases were arrested on federal...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/us-border-agents-finding-more-marijuana-in-trucks-from-canada

Cracking the case of the containerized cocaine

cocaine

The drug bust aboard the container-ship MSC Gayane on June 17, 2019, was spectacular in every sense: the largest drug seizure in U.S. history, over a billion dollars’ worth of cocaine, a ship operated by one of the world’s largest carriers and owned by one of America’s largest banks, a conspiracy among the crew, nighttime liaisons off the South American coast, a globe-spanning trafficking network … it sounded like a maritime version of “Scarface.”

A year later, the saga continues to unfold.

The...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/cracking-the-case-of-the-containerized-coke

Port Tampa Bay slices warehouse operator’s payments

The coronavirus pandemic has spoiled a chunk of the fruit import business in the United States. Because of that decline, Port Tampa Bay’s board this week took a big slice out of a refrigerated warehouse tenant’s monthly payments. 

The board on Tuesday agreed to defer a $25,000 monthly loan payment for seven years and drop rent from $31,000 a month to 5% of revenues once those hit $5 million annually.

Port Logistics Tampa Bay leases 13.7 acres of land with a 140,000-square-foot refrigerated...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/port-tampa-bay-slices-warehouse-operators-payments

Ready or not, COVID-19 forced organizations deeper into digital logistics

BiTA Blockchain in Trucking Alliance design on white background

The state of the blockchain ecosystem, like everything else in logistics, has been impacted by the disruptions of COVID-19, necessitating companies to increase collaboration, question standard implementations and optimize digital logistics. 

During the BiTA @HOME Symposium, Alisa DiCaprio, head of trade and supply chain at R3, provided an overview of Corda, R3’s blockchain platform. Corda was built for the financial sector, but has been diversified to the automotive sector, working with...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/ready-or-not-covid-19-forced-organizations-deeper-into-digital-logistics

How artificial intelligence is keeping time-critical shipments on track during pandemic

Consumers are seeing and feeling the impact of COVID-19 supply chain interruptions and delays in their everyday lives, from shortages of paper goods and cleaning supplies in grocery stores, to rising prices for beef and poultry.

For specialized industries such as health care and aerospace, however, the stakes of supply chain interruptions and service failures have perhaps never been higher. So far the traditional hub-and-spoke time-critical logistics industry has largely struggled to adapt,...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/how-artificial-intelligence-is-keeping-time-critical-shipments-on-track-during-pandemic

Borderlands: CBP beefs up border security; Kenworth restarts truck factory in Mexico

Borderlands is a weekly rundown of developments in the world of United States-Mexico cross-border trucking and trade. This week: CBP beefs up security at US-Mexico border; Kenworth restarts truck factory in Mexico; Love’s Travel Stops opens new location in Laredo; Port of Brownsville ranks third for “financial resilience.”

CBP beefs up scanning security technology at US-Mexico border

Several United States-Mexico ports of entry will soon have new tools to help stop concealed drugs, weapons, cash,...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/borderlands-cbp-beefs-up-border-security-kenworth-restarts-truck-factory-in-mexico

Shipping group promotes standardized e-bill of lading

The Digital Container Shipping Association (DCSA) said the COVID-19 pandemic has made the need for a standardized industry e-bill of lading (eBL) greater than ever.

Cargo in ports sometimes can’t be gated out because paper bills of lading simply are getting stuck in a supply chain mucked up by the pandemic, according to DCSA, which argues that eliminating paper from the shipping transaction will make every aspect of container shipping better, faster, cheaper, more secure and environmentally...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/shipping-group-promotes-standardized-e-bill-of-lading

Borderlands: Cross-border trade key to growth; US-Mexico border truck crossings down 8% through April

Restarting supply chains critical for economic growth, analysts say

Cross-border trade will be critical for economies to succeed, but whether the coronavirus reverses globalization and creates more regional supply chains is hard to predict, according to experts.

“I think we are headed for more regionalism,” according to Pia Orrenius, vice president and senior economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. 

Orrenius was part of a webinar on Wednesday, “The Effect of the Coronavirus Pandemic on...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/borderlands-cross-border-trade-key-to-growth-us-mexico-border-truck-crossings-down-8-through-april

New trade center aims to help private sector navigate USMCA deal

U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced Monday it has opened the USMCA Center in Washington, D.C., to work with the private sector to coordinate implementation of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which enters into force on July 1.

“We’re going to be gathering together all of CBP’s experts on the USMCA in a coordinated center,” said John Leonard, U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s executive director for trade policies and programs. “It will be a group of about 10...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/new-trade-center-aims-to-help-private-sector-navigate-usmca-deal

Congress mulls Jones Act changes that could affect offshore energy operations

Congress is considering changes in federal law that could affect how the Jones Act is applied to vessels working in the offshore oil and gas and offshore wind industries.

At issue are provisions in the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2019 that passed the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on June 26.

The Jones Act restricts domestic maritime commerce — including that occurring beyond the U.S. territorial limits offshore —  to qualified U.S.-flag vessels that are built, owned and...

https://www.workboat.com/news/offshore/congress-mulls-jones-act-changes-that-could-affect-offshore-energy-operations/

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