Articles

February 2012 Employee of the Year 2011
Pam Bowen - Winner of Employee of the Year Award
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January 2012 GKN FREIGHT SERVICES STEP UP TO THE CHALLENGE TO CYCLE MADAGASCAR!
GKN Freight Services are taking on the “Cycle Madagascar” challenge, 15th – 23rd June 2012.
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December 2011 GKN FREIGHT SERVICES APPOINT NEW GROUP COMMERCIAL DIRECTOR
GKN Freight Services Group has appointed Mark Pycroft as Group Commercial Director.
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June 2011 Vice President – America’s
GKN Freight Services Inc are pleased to announce the appointment of Brian K Daniels as Vice President – America’s.
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April 2011 Carrier liability versus cargo insurance
All shippers want their cargo to arrive safely at the destination designated. However, accidents do happen. Whatever the mode of transport, carriers are responsible for the shipper’s cargo whilst it is in their care and control.
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April 2011 Japanese port conditions
In the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami, the main Japanese ports of Nagoya, Yokohama, Kobe, Osaka and Tokyo are currently operating normally.
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April 2011 Crude oil becoming a scarce commodity
The IMF recently warned that Global economies were entering a period where oil prices could be driven up rapidly due to demand outstripping supply.
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January 2011 BIFA Finalists
GKN Freight Services has been nominated as one of the finalists in the Staff Development and Supply chain Development categories of the British International Freight Association Awards 2010, held in London during January 2011.
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January 2011 United Kingdom VAT changes
From the 4th January 2011 there are a number of significant changes to United Kingdom HMRC Rules. The first major change is Value Added Tax (VAT) which will increase from 17.5% to 20% with effect from the 4th January 2011.
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January 2011 Customs support for GKN Driveline Vigo
During 2010 GKN Freight Services extended its service offer to include the provision of Spanish customs services to GKN Driveline Vigo.
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January 2011 Price reductions delivered to GKN Zumaya
By proposing alternative service options for shipments from India to GKN Driveline Zumaya, GKN Freight Services were able to deliver significant transport costs savings and improved transit times.
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January 2011 Incoterms 2010
The revised Incoterms 2010 contain a number of changes from Incoterms 2000.
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January 2011 Slow steaming: hit or miss for shippers
Over a period of time slow steaming strategies have changed from seldom used to an industry wide strategy.
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January 2011 Iranian Sanctions
Following stricter trade restrictions by the European Union, HDSL, Iran’s largest operator of container liner services, has withdrawn from Middle East/Northern Europe trade.
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January 2011 Piracy continues to increase
In the period January to November 2010 a record number of ships were hijacked by pirates, despite increased efforts to police high risk regions of the global waterways.
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January 2011 Freight Rates
Shipping lines continued to increase freight rates during Q3 2010 with the highest increases being achieved in the Trans Pacific trade lane.
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January 2011 European Union motorway tolls set to rise by 20-30%
New legislation has been agreed by EU ministers to allow member states to charge heavy vehicles for using their infrastructure and in addition to cover the costs of air and noise pollution.
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October 2011 IFW Finalists
GKN Freight Services Limited was nominated one of the finalists in the prestigious 2010 IFW awards held in London.
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July 2010 New edition of Incoterms
At the end of this year the latest edition of Incoterms 2010 will be published, this will be a revision to the current Incoterms 2000.
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July 2010 EU bans Iranian cargo operators
The European Union has approved new sanctions banning Iranian shipping companies and airlines from operating in member states.
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July 2010 Slow steaming
During the economic downturn shipping lines introduced slow steaming to reduce fuel costs. This enabled shipping lines to use some ships that were laid up, as slow steaming requires more ships to be added to maintain the port rotations.
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April 2010 Importer Security Filing ("10+2")
The one-year period of delayed enforcement of the Importer Security Filing (ISF) ended on January 26, 2010 when enforced compliance began. US Customs & Border Protection (CBP) has now unveiled its strategy for graduated enforcement of the ISF progressively over 2010. Enforcement will be tightened up in phases during the year.
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April 2010 US Aircraft belly hold screening
August 2010 is the deadline to implement the screening of belly hold cargo on passenger aircraft to and from the US.
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April 2010 Scanning US inbound ocean container shipments
The deadline for scanning all US inbound ocean-shipping containers has been extended by the US Department of Homeland security.
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April 2010 Slow steaming gains momentum
A number of shipping lines have implemented slow steaming initiatives in an attempt to reduce costs and absorb overcapacity.
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April 2010 Transatlantic carrying capacity reduced
As in many regions shipping lines have been bringing the Transatlantic supply in line with plummeting demand. The action is to facilitate a so-called “rate restoration programme”. It is believed that shipping lines have removed as much as 22% to 27% of capacity from the market.
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April 2010 Asia – Europe freight rates head back to pre-recession levels
Freight rates on certain routes ended last year at levels above the 2008 average after more than doubling in 2009.
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December 2009 GKN Freight Services achieves AEO recognition
GKN Freight Services Limited has been awarded Approved Economic Operator Status (AEO) with effect from 23 November 2009, demonstrating that the company is considered reliable in customs and security operations. AEO status allows the company easier access to customs simplification processes and confers a similar status to that of C-TPAT in the USA.
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December 2009 GKN Freight Services finalists of the BIFA Freight Service Awards 2009
We are pleased to announce that GKN Freight Services is a finalist in the Staff Development Award category of the British International Freight Association Freight Service Awards 2009.
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December 2009 GKN Freight Services retains its Investors in People recognition
We are pleased to announce that GKN Freight Services Limited has retained, following a recent assessment, its Investor in People recognition.
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December 2009 Movement of hydraulic machine from Taiwan to GKN OffHighway Telford
In the summer GKN Freight Services was contracted to organise the transport of an abnormal load from Taiwan to Telford for GKN OffHighway.
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December 2009 Rotterdam rules signed by 20 countries
Sixteen countries, including the USA, signed the Rotterdam Rules at the official signing ceremony on 23rd September, since when a further four countries have signed. Signing indicates an intention to ratify, approve or accept the convention in due course.
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December 2009 France to introduce carbon tax
If the French Government successfully introduces a general tax to combat road pollution as announced, it could add a minimum of 1% to transport costs, according to the shippers group AUTF.
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August 2009 China introduces 24-hour rule
The beginning of the year saw the introduction of a 24-hour advance manifest rule in China.
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August 2009 New Convention for the International Carriage of Goods by Sea
On 23rd September 2009, in Rotterdam, under the auspices of the United Nations, a new convention for the carriage of goods by sea is to be formally commended for signature.
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August 2009 Habitat for Humanity receives donation from GKN Freight Services, Inc.
Through the generosity of a donation from the GKN Foundation, representatives from GKN Freight Services presented a check for $4,000.00 to Glen Jenkins, Secretary/Treasurer for Habitat for Humanity for Van Wert County.
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August 2009 Goods vehicle movements from UK to Europe falls
The number of goods vehicles travelling to Europe from the UK fell by 19% during the first quarter of 2009.
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August 2009 Incoterms revision
Various national committees are currently considering the first draft of the next revision to INCOTERMS.
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August 2009 Stowaways increase
Compared to last year the number of stowaways found in UK bound trucks at French ports has increased by 65%.
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August 2009 European road congestion tax
Industry and shipper Associations attacked the recent European Parliament decision to support the so called Euro vignette 111 for lorries. This would allow member countries to levy a congestion charge on lorries travelling at peak times on heavily used routes.
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February 2009 GKN Freight Services Award Winners
GKN Freight Services has received the 2008 GKN Driveline Driveshafts award in the category “Performance Improvement through Production and Business Process Excellence” for effective deployment of Business Process Excellence Tools and is also a finalist in the 2008 BIFA Award in the category of “People Development”.
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February 2009 European Liner Conference System Ends
For more than 130 years shipping companies had been able to organise themselves into so called “Liner Conferences” to decide the conduct of their business agreeing, amongst other things, how much capacity they should make available, the schedules they would offer and the prices they would charge.
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February 2009 Container volumes slide as demand weakens on most trade lanes
Container shipping’s slump is accelerating with even the largest lines not safe from the risk of collapse.
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February 2009 GKN Freight Services provides support for ATV Transfer Project
In support of a global manufacturing strategy objective, GKN Freight Services collaborated with GKN Driveline Celaya to bring half-shaft assembly and supply closer to the customer base. An intra-regional cross-functional team was deployed to manage the ATV transfer project.
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February 2009 Piracy, myth or reality!
Piracy conjures up images of Johnny Depp or Errol Flynn in swashbuckling adventures in the Caribbean, a problem long since passed away and just a faded memory of once what was.
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February 2009 New wood packaging regulations for imports to Taiwan
Taiwan has passed new regulations on wood packaging for imported commodities which came into effect at the beginning of 2009.
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July 2008 US Customs continue to be committed to 100% scanning by 2012 - despite growing concerns!
The US government department responsible for border protection and security, US Customs and Border Protection, confirmed their commitment to its Secure Freight Initiative (SFI) even though there are growing concerns that the measure will backfire and bring significant delays to world trade. SFI envisages 100% scanning of all US bound containers by 2012.
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July 2008 Shipping Conference system for European trades ends 17th October 2008
The last day of the Liner Conference Block Exception under European Union regulation is 17th October 2008. From 18th October the liner industry will be exposed to full competition law.
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June 2008 GKN Freight Services finalists for Environmental Award
Following a highly competitive selection process, GKN Freight Services is proud to announce that it has been selected, by the International Freighting Weekly (IFW), as a finalist in the Environmental Award category in their annual award programme. The IFW awards are seen as the U.K. industry “Oscars”, attracting all major transport and logistics service providers.
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September 2007 US security plans for containers
President George Bush has signed into law a bill requiring the blanket screening of all containers entering the US by 2012.
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September 2007 GKN Freight Services recommended for ISO14001 status
GKN Freight Services offices and warehouse facilities in the UK were recently audited by BSI and recommended for accreditation under the Environmental Standard ISO14001
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June 2007 GKN Freight Services recognised for Supply Chain Excellence
GKN Freight Services was a finalist in the prestigious IFW Annual Awards Programme.
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