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.

SDV, a global leader in supply chain, is about to complete a "green" four-story, ramp-up warehouse that is in compliance with the highest environmental standards, the company says.

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.

U.S. rail shippers don't appear to be heeding the warnings of a national economic slowdown. Intermodal volume in May on the major U.S. railroads hit the highest level in history for that month, according to the Association of American Railroads. Intermodal traffic last month was 3.5 percent higher than the same month a year ago. Although carload volume was down 2.8 percent year-over-year in the same period, the big losses were because of slumps in the major commodities of coal and grain.

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.

Mojix Inc. has made generally available a new version of its STAR 300 System, offering real-time tracking capabilities for supply chains.