U.S. ports plan to spend more than $46bn over the next five years in anticipation of fierce global competition for exports and imports, a report by the American Association of Port Authorities shows.

Northeastern U.S. states are sometimes depicted as not particularly business friendly. But that hasn't deterred some major companies from locating in the Keystone State recently, not least of which is Volvo Construction Equipment Americas. For one thing, Pennsylvania's location makes it very attractive for companies that must get product to customers in a huge portion of the country within a day. And a pocket in Franklin County, in the south central part of the state, is helping them do just that.

Descartes Systems Group has acquired the assets of Infodis B.V., a Netherlands-based vendor of transportation-management system (TMS) software.

University College, the college of professional and continuing studies at the University of Denver, is offering a new major in global commerce and transportation, as part of its Bachelor of Arts Completion Program (BACP).

Total U.S. business logistics costs in 2011 rose to $1.28tr, a 6.6-percent increase from the previous year, accounting for 8.5 percent of the country's gross domestic product, according to the 23rd Annual State of Logistics Report, presented by the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals and Penske Logistics.

The British International Freight Association is seeking entries for its annual Freight Service Awards competition, celebrating 24 years of recognising the best in the UK freight forwarding industry.

International trade data indicates that U.S. import shipment volume for May, measured in TEUs, increased 5.6 percent from April and 3.5 percent from May 2011.

After grounding its fleet of six Boeing 747-400ERFs on Dec. 31 due to depressed demand, Jade Cargo International has officially shut down. The liquidation of the Chinese carrier - of which Shenzhen Airlines, Lufthansa Cargo and German investment firm DEG hold a 51-percent, 25-percent and 24-percent stake, respectively - comes on the heels of numerous capacity cuts in the Asia-Pacific region.

In international trade news, import cargo volume at the nation's major retail container ports is expected to increase 4.8 percent in June compared with the same month last year, and year-over-year increases are expected to continue into the holiday season shipping cycle, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.