Anyone in the business of manufacturing automobiles, trucks and automotive components back in the tumultuous years of 2008 and 2009 might be tempted to put their metaphorical transmission into neutral, reveling just a little bit in the success that surrounds an industry that is experiencing something akin to a rebirth. But as sweet as that might seem in the short term, there are significant challenges facing automotive suppliers despite the improving production outlook.

Cargo volumes dropped steadily at Frankfurt Airport during the first half of 2012, Fraport Group traffic figures show. In addition to recording a 9.9-percent, year-over-year, drop in domestic freight volumes, the airport saw an overall tonnage stall of 9 percent from the first six months of 2011. The declines were "strengthened" by the night-flight ban imposed last fall.

By leveraging truck drivers' cell phone connectivity and location-based applications, Open Mile claims to have become the first freight brokerage to provide accurate and precise information on a truck's location at every point from pickup to delivery. CEO Evan Schumacher says this capability gives shippers a level of confidence in service reliability that previously has been absent from the brokerage industry.

The U.S. Department of Commerce says it will impose tariffs on some imported appliances from South Korea and Mexico after it determined that some products are being dumped on the U.S. market.

MeadWestvaco, a global packaging solutions provider, has identified a number of new markets in which it sees the potential for profitable growth, says Brian McClure, director of global procurement and supply chain. As the company moves into these new markets, it is faced with a lot of decisions about whether to make or buy goods and services.

The logistics group of Crowley Maritime Corp. has expanded its service to include less-than-containerload (LCL) ocean and air-cargo lifts, as well as customs brokerage services, to Cartagena, Colombia from key points within the U.S. and Latin America.

FirstCarbon Solutions, a provider of software and consulting services to enhance the environmental sustainability of business, has expanded its partnership with the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP). FirstCarbon will score companies' submissions on their greenhouse gas emissions and carbon-management strategies to CDP Supply Chain. The latter works with global companies to measure and understand the impact of climate change across supply chains. An independent, non-profit organization, CDP helps companies and cities to measure, disclose, manage and share information on environmental risk and opportunity.