U.S. CUSTOMS AUTOMATED COMMERCIAL ENVIRONMENT (ACE)

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is mandating the use of the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE). There are two deadlines to be aware of: 

1. November 1, 2015 is the beginning of the transition period for using ACE for all electronic cargo release and related entry summary filing.
2. February  28, 2016 is the mandatory use date of ACE for all remaining electronic portions of the CBP cargo process, as ACS will no longer be available.

ACE will provide a single access point for the trade community to report imports and exports to the U.S. government. Visit our website to learn more.

MIQ LOGISTICS EARNS TOP 3PL HONORS

MIQ Logistics once again is selected as a Top 100 Third-Party LogisticsProvider by Inbound Logistics magazine. This is the fourth consecutive year the company has been recognized for excellence by the publisher. 

MIQ LOGISTICS ONE OF AMERICA’S LEADING 3PLS

MIQ Logistics has  been selected as one of America’s Leading 3PLs for 2015 by Global Trade Magazine editors in partnership with Armstrong & Associates. Read more in the Global Trade Magazine (bio on page 72).

U.S. ECONOMIC UPDATE

“The U.S. LEI fell slightly in July, after four months of strong gains. Despite a sharp drop in housing permits, the U.S. LEI is still pointing to moderate economic growth through the remainder of the year,” said Ataman Ozyildrium, Director of Business Cycles and Growth Research at The Conference Board. “Current conditions, measured by the coincident economic index, have been rising moderately but steadily, driven by rising employment and income, and even industrial production has improved in recent months.” 

TRANSPORTATION MARKET UPDATE

“After several soft months starting in February, tonnage really snapped back in July,”said ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello. “July was the single best monthly gain since November 2013.” Costello said a few factors added to July’s strength, including better retail sales, factory output, and housing starts. “However, I remain concerned in the near term about the high level of inventories throughout the supply chain. This could have a negative impact on truck freight volumes over the next few months.”

• ATA Truck Tonnage Index Jumped 2.8% in July 
• Cass Freight Index Showed July Shipment Volume And Payments Trained Downward

GLOBAL MARKET UPDATE

• Tianjin Port Update: Activity to remain slow as clean up continues
• Imports Up As Retailers Look Toward Holiday Season
• Transpacific Eastbound General Rate Increase (GRI), and Bunker Fuel Adjustments

DELIVERING SOLUTIONS: NEW ERA CAP

The Challenge: New Era Cap’s International Supply Chain was fragmented, not controlled at origin, and often incurred additional costs. New Era had limited visibility of their product movement without consolidation or equipment utilization resulting in high transportation spend.

The Strategy: MIQ Logistics quickly deployed a project team enabling us to facilitate New Era’s requirements with the global MIQ Logistics offices in Asia, our core service provider such as airlines, shipping lines, and contracted 3rd party suppliers.

The Solution: MIQ Logistics identified a ‘drop ship’ solution to speed up time to market, lower transportation costs, and reduce warehouse handling.

The Results: Shipments now have a 10-14 day shorter transit time as a result of ‘drop shipping’ directly to final destinations. ‘Drop shipping’ also decreased inbound logistics and handling by 30%. MIQ Logisticsreduced air freight to 10% of the overall volume, meaning 90% of the volume is shipped by ocean resulting in significant costs savings.

EVENTS MIQ IS ATTENDING

• Breakbulk Americas 2015, 10/05 – 10/08/15, Houston, TX, Booth#401