Shipping and Cargo

Your morning transportation speed-read:

A man accused of plotting to blow up a New York City subway train has pleaded not guilty.

Salt Lake City International Airport had the most "on-time" flights in America in 2012.

Chrysler is adding apps to its cars' onboard "infotainment" system.

A freight train in Texas collided with a truck carrying a Rolls-Royce.

Unionized dockworkers and their employers reached a deal Friday to avert a strike that could have cost the economy billions.

Your morning transportation speed-read: Read more...

The U.S. Postal Service, with just over a week left until Christmas, had its busiest day of the year on Monday.

The cash-strapped agency said it expected some 658 million cards, packages or other pieces of mail to be shipped on Monday – or about 25 percent more than the average day. 

Federal mediators will attempt to resolve a strike that has halted shipments at West Coast ports, the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service Tuesday.

FMCS Director George Cohen said the service will mediate talks between the AFL-CIO-affiliated International Longshoremen and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and the Los Angeles/Long Beach Harbor Employers Association group that represents port managers in southern California.

Negotiations between the union and the ports on a new labor contract have stalled, resulting in a week-long strike port officials say has closed 10 of 14 terminals in the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports.

Cohen said the federal mediation was sought by both sides.

"Based on a joint request from the parties, negotiations between the International Longshoremen and Warehouse Union Office Clerical Workers and the Harbor Employers Association will be conducted under FMCS auspices," he said in a statement. "I and Deputy Director Scot L. Beckenbaugh will convene the parties for an initial meeting at a date and location to be determined."

The National Retail Federation (NRF) renewed its call on Monday for President Obama to intervene in a strike that has halted shipments at West Coast ports.

The NRF called last week for Obama to step in to resolve a breakdown in labor negotiations between the AFL-CIO-affiliated International Longshoremen and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and the Los Angeles/Long Beach Harbor Employers Association group that represents port managers in southern California.

The Washington-based group reiterated the call Monday, saying that the nearly week-long strike has gone on too long.

“As we enter Day 6 of the strike, NRF is renewing its call for President Obama to intervene and end this work stoppage," NRF President Matthew Shay said in a statement.

"The shutdown is already having a significant negative economic impact on retailers trying to bring in merchandise for their final push for holiday sales and will soon have an impact on consumers," Shay continued. "The work stoppage not only impacts retailers, but is also affecting their product vendors — many of which are small businesses — and other industries like manufacturers and agricultural exporters that rely on the ports."

The National Retail Federation is calling for President Obama to get involved in a labor dispute at West Coast ports that has resulted in a work stoppage.

Negotiations between the AFL-CIO-affiliated International Longshoremen and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and the Los Angeles/Long Beach Harbor Employers Association group that represents port managers in southern California have broken down to the point of the union moving to strike, the NRF said in a letter of Obama.

The Washington, D.C.-based retail association wants Obama to step in to resolve the impasse because "a prolonged strike at the nation’s largest ports would have a devastating impact on the U.S. economy."

"A 10-day lockout at the West Coast ports as a result of stalled negotiations in 2002 led to lingering supply chain disruptions and cost the U.S. economy $1 billion for each day of the lockout," NRF President Matthew Shay wrote to Obama on Thursday.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) waived restrictions Tuesday that enable biofuel deliveries to New Jersey to relieve a gasoline supply shortage.

New Jersey’s Democratic Sens. Frank Lautenberg and Robert Menendez on Monday asked EPA to allow fuel shipments to New Jersey terminals not normally permitted to handle biofuel. EPA’s decision to honor that request will allow 17.6 million gallons of fuel to enter New Jersey.

“We need to get fuel flowing into New Jersey, and the EPA’s decision to allow fuel to be rerouted to New Jersey is an important step toward getting our state moving again. The fuel shortage and power outages at gas stations are holding our state back from a full recovery. We will continue working to do everything possible to get our first responders and all New Jerseyans moving again,” the senators said in a statement Tuesday.

DHS Secretary Napolitano said "this waiver will remove a potential obstacle to bringing additional fuel to the storm damaged region."

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) this week encouraged the Obama administration to use the results of his committee's work to aggressively prosecute companies that he says over-charge people and hide the true costs of moving services.

Rockefeller's committee last month completed a study on "Internet moving brokers," which sell services to people moving across state lines. That report said these brokers often charge an "exorbitant markup" to complete the move, often after the carrier doing the work has already picked up the consumer's furniture and other personal items.