Board Directs Staff to Increase Chassis Supply
Port of Long Beach / http://www.polb.com/news/displaynews.asp?NewsID=1366&TargetID=1
Plan aimed at easing peak period terminal congestion
Watch a video news release about Port truck chassis.
In its ongoing efforts to provide congestion relief to customers and stakeholders, the Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners, at its Oct. 13 weekly meeting, directed Port of Long Beach staff to develop plans for purchasing and providing thousands of truck chassis for congestion relief during peak periods.
“We’ve been facilitating discussions about chassis issues for some time,” said Port of Long Beach Chief Executive Jon Slangerup. “Working with the Harbor Commission’s port efficiency subcommittee, we determined that the root cause of the current congestion crisis is the lack of chassis to support peak-level volumes – and no one else was stepping up to address this critical problem.”
The Board of Harbor Commissioners has established a subcommittee chaired by Commission Vice President Rich Dines, working with Commissioner Lori Ann Farrell, to focus on port efficiency.
At the Oct. 13 meeting, Port staff was directed by the full Harbor Commission at the urging of Slangerup to come up with a proposal within 30 days to obtain additional chassis. If needed, the Port would prepare to establish an organization to purchase, service and manage a pool of supplemental chassis to provide relief whenever there is a shortage of privately owned chassis.
One of the key issues identified by the Harbor Commission subcommittee and Port staff is a mismatch between supply and demand. Some privately operated terminals have an adequate supply of chassis while others are critically short. This imbalance is causing severe congestion at some terminals, particularly during peak shipping periods.
“This current peak congestion crisis is something that was avoidable,” said Slangerup, “and we are taking the necessary steps to prevent any such problems from happening again.”
CBP Indianapolis Seizes Threatening "Date Rape" Chemical
U.S. Customs & Border Protection / http://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/local-media-release/2014-10-06-000000/cbp-indianapolis-seizes-threatening-date-rape
INDIANAPOLIS, IN.— U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers working express consignment operations at the Indianapolis International Airport have had a busy month, seizing 27 gallons of Gamma-Butyrolactone (GBL), a strong intoxicant used as a precursor of Gamma-Hydroxybutyrate (GHB) a Schedule I Controlled Substance.
“These are significant interceptions by our CBP officers during the month of September,” said Ted Thomas, Acing Port Director in Indianapolis. “CBP is on the frontline at our nation's ports of entry, targeting and stopping illegal shipments containing dangerous substances that threaten the health and safety of our communities.”
The GBL seized during this time frame originated from various countries and in most cases the destinations included locations in the United States and others throughout the world. Misleading invoice descriptions were attached to shipments in an attempt to disguise illicit contents.
When consumed, the human body converts GBL to GHB. Popularized in recent years as a recreational drug among young adults at dance clubs, GBLhas also been used to render a victim incapable of resisting advances, which is why it is commonly referred to as a “date-rape” drug.
According to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), GBL is an industrial solvent commonly used to produce polyurethane, pesticides, elastic fibers, pharmaceuticals, coating on metal or plastic, and other products. GBL is also sold illicitly as a supplement for bodybuilding, fat loss, reversal of baldness, improved eyesight, and to combat aging, depression, drug addiction, and insomnia. The sale of GBL is illegal for any purpose other than intended industrial and legitimate applications.
The estimated street value of the seized GBL is approximately $35,000.
CBP Discovers Destructive Wireworm on Imported Taro
U.S. Customs & Border Protection / http://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/local-media-release/2014-10-09-000000/cbp-discovers-destructive-wireworm-imported-taro
First Time Interception of Click Beetle Larvae at the Port of Honolulu
HONOLULU— U.S. Customs and Border Protection agriculture specialists (CBPAS) working at Honolulu seaport discovered live wireworms while inspecting a shipment of pink taro from Fiji. The insects were found crawling on the crown of one of the tubers.
The shipment of taro, weighing close to 19,000 pounds, was immediately placed on hold until the pest could be positively identified. Some of the larvae were collected and submitted to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Plant Inspection Station in Honolulu.
USDA confirmed that the specimen was the larvae of Agriotes sp. (Elateridae), commonly known as the click beetle. The beetle larvae, called “wireworms”, feed on seeds, seedlings, and the underground portions of a wide variety of agriculture products. They can be particularly harmful to edible root plants, such as taro.
“The interception of these potentially harmful insects is just one example of the work our CBP agriculture specialists do every day,” said Bruce Murley, CBP’s Honolulu Port Director.
Due to the potentially destructive nature of the pest, CBP refused entry of the shipment and ordered it to be re-exported.
USITC: News Releases
U.S. International Trade Commssion / http://www.usitc.gov/press_room/news_release/2014/er0930mm1.htm
Commission Vote -- Steel Concrete Reinforcing Bar from Mexico and Turkey [10/14/2014]
Commission Vote -- Boltless Steel Shelving Units [10/10/2014]
Commission Vote -- Chlorinated Isocyanurates [10/9/2014]
ITA: Press Releases
International Trade Administration / http://www.trade.gov/press/press-releases/
10/15/2014 Commerce Finds Dumping and Countervailable Subsidization of Imports of 1,1,1,2-Tetrafluoroethane from the People’s Republic of China
Enhanced Ebola Screening to Start at Five U.S. Airports and New Tracking Program for all People Entering U.S. from Ebola-affected Countries
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/ http://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2014/p1008-ebola-screening.html
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Department of Homeland Security's Customs & Border Protection (CBP) this week will begin new layers of entry screening at five U.S. airports that receive over 94 percent of travelers from the Ebola-affected nations of Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.
New York's JFK International Airport will begin the new screening on Saturday. In the 12 months ending July 2014, JFK received nearly half of travelers from the three West African nations. The enhanced entry screening at Washington-Dulles, Newark, Chicago-O'Hare, and Atlanta international airports will be implemented next week.
"We work to continuously increase the safety of Americans," said CDC Director Tom Frieden, M.D., M.P.H. "We believe these new measures will further protect the health of Americans, understanding that nothing we can do will get us to absolute zero risk until we end the Ebola epidemic in West Africa."
"CBP personnel will continue to observe all travelers entering the United States for general overt signs of illnesses at all U.S. ports of entry and these expanded screening measures will provide an additional layer of protection to help ensure the risk of Ebola in the United States is minimized," said Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson. "CBP, working closely with CDC, will continue to assess the risk of the spread of Ebola into the United States, and take additional measures, as necessary, to protect the American people."
CDC is sending additional staff to each of the five airports. After passport review:
- Travelers from Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone will be escorted by CBP to an area of the airport set aside for screening.
- Trained CBP staff will observe them for signs of illness, ask them a series of health and exposure questions and provide health information for Ebola and reminders to monitor themselves for symptoms. Trained medical staff will take their temperature with a non-contact thermometer.
- If the travelers have fever, symptoms or the health questionnaire reveals possible Ebola exposure, they will be evaluated by a CDC quarantine station public health officer. The public health officer will again take a temperature reading and make a public health assessment. Travelers, who after this assessment, are determined to require further evaluation or monitoring will be referred to the appropriate public health authority.
- Travelers from these countries who have neither symptoms/fever nor a known history of exposure will receive health information for self-monitoring.
Entry screening is part of a layered process that includes exit screening and standard public health practices such as patient isolation and contact tracing in countries with Ebola outbreaks. Successful containment of the recent Ebola outbreak in Nigeria demonstrates the effectiveness of this approach.
These measures complement the exit screening protocols that have already been implemented in the affected West African countries, and CDC experts have worked closely with local authorities to implement these measures. Since the beginning of August, CDC has been working with airlines, airports, ministries of health, and other partners to provide technical assistance for the development of exit screening and travel restrictions in countries affected by Ebola. This includes:
- Assessing the capacity to conduct exit screening at international airports;
- Assisting countries with procuring supplies needed to conduct exit screening;
- Supporting with development of exit screening protocols;
- Developing tools such as posters, screening forms, and job-aids; and
- Training staff on exit screening protocols and appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE)
Today, all outbound passengers are screened for Ebola symptoms in the affected countries. Such primary exit screening involves travelers responding to a travel health questionnaire, being visually assessed for potential illness, and having their body temperature measured. In the last two months since exit screening began in the three countries, of 36,000 people screened, 77 people were denied boarding a flight because of the health screening process. None of the 77 passengers were diagnosed with Ebola and many were diagnosed as ill with malaria, a disease common in West Africa, transmitted by mosquitoes and not contagious from one person to another.
Exit screening at airports in countries affected by Ebola remains the principal means of keeping travelers from spreading Ebola to other nations. All three of these nations have asked for, and continue to receive, CDC assistance in strengthening exit screening.
Buy a Stamp; Save a Tiger, an Elephant and Other Imperiled Species
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service / http://www.fws.gov/
After almost a year, the public can again purchase the Save Vanishing Species Stamp at post offices and online. The stamp functions as a regular postal mail stamp that sells at a small premium. The additional money goes to the Service's Multinational Species Conservation Funds, directly funding conservation of elephants, rhinoceros, tigers, great apes and marine turtles.
Learn more
AT&T Mobile Customers May be Eligible for Refunds
Federal Trade Commission / http://www.ftc.gov/enforcement/cases-proceedings/refunds/att-mobility-llc
AT&T Mobility, LLC, has agreed to settle allegations that it charged mobile customers without their permission for third-party services like ringtones, wallpapers, and text message subscriptions for horoscopes, flirting tips, and celebrity gossip. Current and former AT&T customers who paid for unauthorized third-party charges after January 1, 2009 may apply for refunds
The FTC has hired Epiq Systems to process refund requests for this case. You should not expect to receive your refund for at least 9 months.
If you have questions, call 1-877-819-9692. Claims can't be taken over the phone, but you can request a paper claim form. Or use the link below to apply online.
FTC v. AT&T Settlement