Hopes for an imminent agreement on a new contract for US west coast dockworkers appear to have been dashed as employers have warned that the two sides remain far apart.The Pacific Maritime Association, which represents terminal operators, shipping lines, and stevedores that employ longshore workers, issued a brief statement on Wednesday that dismissed speculation that a deal was close.“Statements and rumors that our negotiations are ‘close’ to a final contract are not true,” the PMA stated. The PMA continued by adding, “Even after seven months of negotiations, we remain far apart on several issues, and the union...

Those reading this might have recently received a message about “Boutique Logistics Networking”. For some people this might sound strange. It is something that should be different and unfamiliar.Why?It sounds unfamiliar and different because it has not been used to describe a logistics networking conference. However, in January 2015 we will see that X2 Logistics networks will be offering what we have termed as a “boutique logistics networking” experience.Why create a “boutique” experience?We want to create it because it doesn’t exist. The logistics networking conference experience has largely been th...

Perhaps some members have seen that we recently sent out to all registered attendees a brief checklist of items that can be done to ensure a pleasant and stress free transition from traveling logistics networking conference attendee to happy guest on a secluded and private getaway near Phuket, Thailand.There are a total of 6 items on the checklist and none of the 6 items are particularly difficult to accomplish and all are for the benefits of the individual attendees.PaymentThis should be the first taken and is a basic responsibility. As an attendee you have made your commitment through a booking. We must receive payment to completely secure ...

Over the past week X2 Logistics Networks has been publishing news about the dockworkers’ slowdown that has caused a bottleneck at some American west coast ports. Much of the timely information we have received has been courtesy of X2 Elite members American Worldwide Agencies (AWA) International Freight Transport (IFT).What the updates haven’t included, is news that at this time of year Christmas trees are exported out of the United States throughout the world. However, the current slowdown has been beneficial to those in the US wanting a Christmas tree for their home. Why? Christmas trees are now cheaper due to the backup of shi...

Researchers have recently concluded an in-depth study and have come to the conclusion that globalization is recovering and has nearly reached the same state as it had been prior to the Global Economic Crisis. Researchers measured data related to cross-border trade flows, capital, the transfer of information, and the movement of people, Protectionism was also a factor, however it was determined that it affected the depth of trade and not the interconnectedness of trade.Although the connections and movement of people and goods in comparison to results from a year ago show momentum, the depth of trade has been limited due to protectionist polici...

There has been a lot happening over the past week here in the X2 offices. We have rolled out the Tier System, had a visit from 3 of our X2 Elite members, and we have developed a member promotion program and are in the midst of creating a reward program for members that requires contribution to the network.The Tier System is something that every member should be aware of and now that it is in effect, you might have noticed already, but if not, look at the upper right hand corner of your profile page to find a list of the criteria that is needed to progress from Tier 3 to Tier 1. Please remember that the items can be completed in any order.Tier...

This might be something that many, if not all of our X2 members from the Asia-Pacific region are aware of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia-Pacific and that one of the body’s emphasis is the development of transportation infrastructure within the region, which is not limited to only roadways but also includes railways and maritime transportation.The mandate of the transportation section of this UN commission is to take every aspect of the Asia-Pacific culturally, economically, historically, and many other ways and combine these factors into a frame work for the region and guided by the pursuit of the United Nat...

Claims were made at the Air Cargo Handling Conference that was held in Milan that companies have tried to cut as much as 48 hours off of transit times for air freight shipments, but find efforts futile due to forwarders sit on cargo for several days.David Ambridge, a member of IATA’s Cargo Operations Advisory Group, or COAG, claimed that IATA and COAG within the group has done everything possible to reduce complexity, because it is at the heart of a simple business.He then continued to say, “We really need to change if we want to be successful; we need to talk to our customers, we need to embrace e-commerce companies like Alibaba...

It looks like Amazon isn’t the only company that is using drones for order fulfillment. DHL recently announced that it will be delivering medicine by drone to a German island in the North Sea. Although Amazon may have pulled a successful publicity stunt with it’s “delivery by drone”, DHL has gone beyond the idea and will be making the first routine delivery by drone.The experimental delivery plan is a part of a year long feasibility project that will begin by “airlifting” medicine from the town of Norddeich, which lies on the coast of a harbor to the German island of Juist. The drones will not be controll...

It’s now past the deadline for the submission of content for our Q3 Newsletter. We have received content from some members and we’re pleased to see members taking advantage of the free promotion that is made available through the media channels of X2 Logistics Networks.Submitting content to be included in the Quarterly Newsletter is one of the best ways to promote your business both within the group and externally to those who enjoy viewing our magazine. For those who may not be aware of this, our X2 Quarterly Newsletter is included in the signature of all emails sent by the X2 Team. This allows our members to gain exposure beyo...

The end of quarter 3 is drawing close and if you have not receive done already, you should be receiving an email that details the current status of your company’s membership file. There are some of our members that are on top of their membership file and have everything covered. All of the forms that have been provided to them have come back completed and they have shown themselves to be models for newer members to the group. However, we still have some members that have incomplete membership files. Although what might have been seemingly unimportant to members before, will become very important for driving business to their ports thro...

Over the span of less than a year from the 1st X2 Conference and as we approach the 2nd X2 Conference, we have looked back through our communications and taken a look at the X2 Interview Series on X2 TV and past statements made by members about X2 Logistics Networks, the X2 Team, the X2 membership, and the 1st X2 Conference that was held last February 2014. Just within the past 7 months of looking back we have found a lot of support from our members and some excellent encouragement to keep pushing ahead and doing things differently than other logistic networks.From most members we started off the year with messages expressing an air of excite...