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]]> http://juancoll.wordpress.com/?p=75 Fri, 25 Jul 2008 17:31:37 +0000 Juan Coll http://juancoll.wordpress.com/?p=75

A la fi! 10 mesos d'espera per poder tornar a entrar-hi, a moure's a 100km/h de manera segura (això diuen ara) per unes infraestructures reformades, amb més senyals, semàfors i amb elements que faciliten l'accés als discapacitats/ades. El metro de Palma ressussitarà dia 28 juliol de 2008 i treballarà cada dia, amb una freqüència mitjana de 15 minuts en dies feiners i de 30 en cap de setmana i festius. En 13 minuts serà d'un cap a l'altre, tot i que ara en l'estiu segurament tendrà pocs usuaris. Serà el metro amb el bitllet senzill més barat dels suburbans espanyols (i no el metro més barat, perquè tots coneixem el resultat pressupostari que ha sortit a la llum). Tot indica que els estudiants universitaris ja podran fer ús d'aquest mitjà de transport el nou curs 2008-2009, si no hi ha res de nou. Els joves menors de 26 anys i també els majors de 65 tendran descompte del 50% (0.45€) mostrant la seva targeta intermodal. I qui la tengui carregada, pagarà 0.48 per viatge (bono T40) o 0.60 (bono T20). Tenc entès que es podrà fer transbordament gratuït entre el tren i el metro a l'aturada de Jacint Verdaguer i a l'Estació Intermodal de Palma, tot i que ningú ha confirmat res oficialment. Recordem que estam a l'espera dels acords entre el Consorci de Transports i totes les companyies d'autobusos TIB i també amb la EMT de Palma perquè la targeta intermodal pugui desenvolupar realment la seva funció, és a dir, que amb ella poguem fer els transbordaments corresponents sense problemes. I, per cert, l'estació d'autobusos soterrada de Palma... quan? Per altra banda, satisfacció a les Illes per l'aprovació del Govern central de destinar 440 milions d'euros en matèria ferroviària a Mallorca. D'aquí uns quants mesos, començarem a veure projectes més detallats de les noves linies de tren que permetran connectar una punta de l'illa amb l'altra (de Palma a Alcúdia i a Artà).

A part de tot això, llarga i tranquil·la vida per al metro de Palma!

Per a més informació del metro de Palma clicau aquí

Our top questions these days are all about how to respond to high oil prices. Even the most respected and well-heeled global supply chain leaders are wondering how quickly everyone else can flex their supply network designs to offset the risks and challenges posed by $150-a-barrel oil. The answer: not quickly enough, unfortunately.

Oil has been ridiculously cheap for almost 20 years, coinciding nicely with the development of supply chain management as a widely recognized discipline in business. Not until 2005 did our current steep climb begin. Certain sensible principles like leaning inventory, outsourcing low value-added work, and rationalizing suppliers have gotten out of hand as we have chased cheap labor and just-in-time deliveries around the world.

We have thoughts on a fix: Railroads. Rail is dramatically cheaper per mile than truck transport, and yet, according to the American Association of Railroads freight traffic is down from last year. Carload traffic, which handles bulk shipments of stuff like coal, was down 3.6% in June 2008 compared to June 2007. More telling is that intermodal traffic (containers that fit onto trucks for their “last mile”) was down 4% in the same period. So, containers full of toys and furniture shipped from China are still rumbling eastward on Interstate 80 despite $5.00 per gallon diesel. Why?

You can subscribe to the Chain Reaction companion newsletter here. What do you think? What other fixes might there be for high oil prices (which aren’t likely to go away)? Let us know here.

He de avisaros queridos amigos de varias cosas... NO HAY PANELES DE INFORMACIÓN. NO HAY SEÑALES. y por supuesto... antes de entrar en la Intermodal hay 4 semáforos.

Las rayas rojas indican la situación de los semáforos y todavía me dejo olvidado uno un poco mas arriba que es el de entrada de la intermodal con Avenida de Navarra.

Saqué una foto del desastre mientras (no lo véis) el semáforo en rojo. Eso si, este semáforo he de decir que yo apenas lo vi y como yo otros 4 vehículos más osados que cruzaron con buena suerte la autovia. No hay nada! nada! que te diga donde tienes que ir... y como yo estaban los demás vehículos e incluso la gente que trabajaba en intermodal... No es por nada pero la Intermodal da pena.

Dios mio esto es una cagada!!.

Ja que parlam de transport públic a Mallorca, no podem oblidar el nostre metro-submarí ni l'estació Intermodal de Palma. Sóc usuari habitual del tren de SFM i darrerament veig molt de moviment per les andanes de Palma. Avui mateix he vist com, per primer cop, el tren feia la seva arribada a l'andana 6, fins ara inactiva. He vist també personal tècnic donant explicacions a gent ben vestida, que pareix que té un cert poder de decisions sobre tot allò. I pel que fa al metro, a les parades soterrades de Palma s'ha instal·lat una bastida metàl·lica, segurament per reparar alguns detalls; l'altre dia els vagons del metropolità estaven en marxa; uns obrers milloraven no fa molt el trispol de les andanes de les vies 2-3; les dones de la neteja fan esforços perquè les andanes exclusives del metro brillin... Aquests petits detalls me fan pensar que la reobertura del metro és pròxima. I de la nova estació d'autobusos, no sé què dir-vos... Estarem a l'espera de noves noticies del Govern.

Some truckers who haul containers in and out of the Port of Oakland shut down this week to protest the fact that their pay has not gone up enough to counter punishing fuel costs. Diesel has been about $4.57 per gallon in California’s Bay area this week.

Protest organizer Ajit Singh Gill has been traveling back and forth from the Port of Oakland and the Lathrop and Stockton rail yards to meet with truckers who have shut down because they can’t afford to fill up their trucks. Some are left with only $54 a day – after paying for fuel – to cover operating expenses and their wages.

“We really don’t consider this a shutdown. It’s just that these drivers can’t afford to drive anymore,” Gill said. “People should understand that they are not making enough money to pay for their trucks, their insurance and everything else they need.”

Gill told Land Line on Thursday, May 8, that some drivers are hauling loads from Stockton to Gilroy for a flat rate of $210 per round-trip, plus a $24 fuel surcharge. With fuel costs running them around $180 per trip, Gill said they are left with just $54 per round trip. Because of traffic and wait times at weigh scales and at docks, he said these truckers are only able to make one round-trip a day.

Some drivers on the West Coast are paying as much as $1,500 each week for fuel, according to one source Land Line spoke to on Thursday, May 8.

more from Landline Magazine:

http://urlet.com/australian.judgment

La Estación Intermodal de Zaragoza al lado de la 'Rotonda AVE'. La linea amarilla representa el corrido que hay que seguir si eres autobús o turismo. La línea azul representa el territorio comanche dedicado exclusivamente para taxistas.

Y digo territorio comanche porque si vas el domingo a buscar a tu hijo/a/hermano a la Estación Intermodal y cometes el error de aparcar en cualqueira de los tres carriles pintados de color azul en la foto no saldrás vivo de ahí. Casi literalmente. Quedarás encerrado por los taxistas los cuales no se moveran porque tienen concertado esos tres carriles con el Consistorio. A mi, personalmente me parece una verguenza. Puedo admitir que no se pueda estacionar pero si te equivocas de carril porque la señalización es pésima puedes quedar atrapado cerca de una hora porque al colectivo insolidario de taxistas (ole su poca verguenza la de algunos) no les dará la gana moversi ni un centímetro de ahí.

De hecho, no se movieron ni cuando quedó atrapado un vehículo de policia nacional. Ahora entiendo porque solicitaban cobrar 2€ de más por la bajada de bandera desde la intermodal. A estos señoritos habría que acostumbrarles a que por lo menos, cuando circularan lo hicieran hechando los intermitentes.

Si vas a buscar a un pariente armate de paciencia. ¿Dónde aparco? si no hay sitio... y, además es posible y probable que el tren venga con retraso.

La otra verguenza desde mi punto de vista es el estacionamiento. El parking que existe subterráneo permite un estacionamiento gratuito durante 15 minutos. Creo que podría ser algo mas, de sobras sabes que como mínimo vas a estar esperando al viajero durante media hora por lo menos. Me pregunto que harán con los terrenos marcados en rojo. Dicen que una plaza, un andador.. algo peatonal.

Lo cual me trae mayor dolor de cabeza porque de ser asi, seguro que pondrán mas y mas semáforos para que crucen los peatones por la Avenida de Navarra y tampoco sé que harán los peatones en frente de la Estación, cuando los viajeros salen por los lados...

Lo veo absurdo. Aunque no tan absurdo como el semáforo del Puente de Santiago. Esta semana se llevan en punto negativo el colectivo de taxistas y nuestro Alcalde.

Meeeeeeec!!.

(Omaha World-Herald (NE) (KRT) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) May 8--Some customers of Union Pacific Railroad have not been able to ship goods for two days to Oakland, Calif., because independent truckers protesting rates they are paid in the face of record fuel prices have slowed work at the major seaport.

The truckers are not Union Pacific employees or contractors, limiting the Omaha-based railroad's influence in the situation. Motor carrier firms acting as brokers often pay the truckers.

Bob Morgan, a manager for short line Iowa Interstate Railroad in Council Bluffs, said about 30 containers bound for Oakland that Iowa Interstate normally would load onto Union Pacific cars were not shipped Tuesday. Those containers, which hold a variety of goods that could include tractor parts, soybeans and other agricultural products, remained in Council Bluffs, Morgan said.

Customers did not try to deliver goods to the Council Bluffs yard Wednesday because they knew Union Pacific had stopped shipping items there to Oakland. About 30 to 40 containers are shipped out each day, Morgan said.

....{snip}....

West Coast ports have seen other protests over the past week, including thousands of dock workers taking the day off May 1 in what the Longshore and Warehouse Union called a protest of the war in Iraq. The union also is in contract negotiations with the Pacific Maritime Association, a group that includes cargo carriers and terminal operators.

more:  http://urlet.com/amortized.ix

This is a excerpt from my manuscript on 2004/2005 Intermodal trucker organizing in the Stockton area. It is still rough. Below are the sections on the Central Valley. I'm really interested in the question of how might we charactorize a place like the Central Valley. The stats on poverty in the area- making it one of the most impoverished region in the US- are shocking. You can read an earlier draft of the introduction in one of the older posts below.

2. Gritty Realities: Intermodal Truckers in the Central Valley

“We’re getting paid the same as 10 years ago, but everything else keeps going up. Insurance goes up. Everything goes up. And now gas. We make no money”

 -Jatinder Singh, Oakland port trucker

            What struck me hardest in organizing with the truckers in Stockton was the convinced resolution of the truckers of the need to fight their companies. Even the reluctant or scared drivers would not deny the reality of the conditions they faced. It didn’t seem anything like what might be called the trade union consciousness that urban workers I had previously organized with might develop. Perhaps owning, or at least mortgaging, their own trucks gave them a greater attachment to the industry as would any skilled worker who owned the tools that their employer depended upon. I would describe it as more of a gritty class consciousness than anything else, a consciousness that understood the daily necessity of the trucking companies to squeeze the truckers for profit and to maintain their competitiveness in relation to the logistics brokers.

            The city of Stockton could be described as gritty as well. With a poverty rate comparable to the similarly sized Birmingham, Alabama[1] of the deep South and sharing with nearby Modesto a listing in the top five US cities for auto theft.[2] Though Stockton is a far cry from the metropolitan centers of wealth in the Bay Area, less than two hours away, the Stockton Intermodal truckers move the products and goods to the warehouses that supply the Bay Area’s consumer markets. More than anything I was reminded of Franz Fanon’s discussion in The Wretched of the Earth of the divide between the consciousness of the privileged urban proletariat, who rubbed shoulders with the elites, in relation to the rural population excluded from the wealth and culture of the metropolitan centers.[3] While Fanon provides us with an examination of the psyche and consciousness of the dominated and colonized, which may lend its use to a region such as the Central Valley, a more material explanation is needed in characterizing the political economy of the region, which is clearly not colonial. Here I think that most useful analysis would be Immanuel Wallerstein’s  concept of core and periphery production processes which creates a “constant flow of surplus-value from the producers of peripheral products to the producers of core-like products.”[4] This is a situation which allows what Richard Walker describes in the Central Valley as akin to the “primitive accumulation” of Adam Smith.[5] Just as the global south relates to the north, or the southern states of the US relate to the industry of the Midwest, so does the Central Valley to the metropolitan areas of the Bay Area and Los Angeles- as the periphery feeding wealth of labor and resources into the core.

Intermodal Trucking: Contingent Labor in a Global Economy

            Intermodal truckers working out of port and rail yards are models of itinerant workers in the global economy. They are a key link in the global supply line of a “just in time” economy, whereby ships, Intermodal yards and trucks have become the mobile warehouses of large corporations. The push towards this economy is driven primarily by large retailers such as Costco, IKEA, Target and Wal-Mart moving imported and shipped goods from the nation’s ports to warehouses and distribution centers in the interior of the country.[6] Working without the benefits of a formal employment relationship, the truckers are classified by the trucking companies not as workers, but as “independent contractors.” They work on an on-call basis, receiving a piece rate and taking on the risks of employers by owning their truck while paying fluctuating fuel prices and maintenance costs out of pocket.

            The industry is also structured in several layers through a contractor system. The starting point in the chain begins with customers ranging from small businesses, warehouses, processing plants or increasingly large retailers who need containers moved over long distances. These customers sub-contract this task through Intermodal logistics firms who organize and manage the movement of the containers. In port trucking these firms are referred to as “shippers” and are large, international firms moving container ships across the globe. In Intermodal rail these firms are referred to as “brokers,” whom are sometimes firms or sometimes individual agents working on a commission basis. Large retailers or manufacturers will either develop their own logistics operations in the case of Wal-Mart, create subsidiary logistical firms or exclusively contract with a single logistics firm. The shippers and logistics firms then coordinate container movement with rail shippers and arrange the sub-contracting of trucking firms who dispatch the individual container movements to independent contractor truckers who are also referred to as ‘owner-operators.’

            Outlining this shift in the economy and the advent of what is known as the ‘logistics revolution’ in the movement of goods and production is Edna Bonacich’s piece “Pulling the Plug: Labor and the Global Supply Chain.” Here she describes the paradigm shift in the methods of supply chain management, whereby firms manage the flow of the goods from the producer to the consumer. This shift is rooted in the decline of the mass standardization of goods, known as the Fordist mode of production, and the emergence of what is called flexible specialization, aiming to directly link production and supply, which is referred to as the Post-Fordist model of production. This mode of production aims to produce only those goods that consumers actually purchase, specialize them directly to the needs of consumer markets and attempts to overcome problems of overproduction inherent in a market economy. She argues that while many of the shifts in supply management are ostensibly for the purpose of increasing efficiency, the use of “‘flexible’ employee relations, such as piece rate, independent contracting, and part-time and temporary status for their workers” reflects the ultimate goal of firms to reduce labor costs and stem unionization. She further frames this shift within the development of what is referred to as the global sweatshop and the ‘race to the bottom’ of globalization. For Bonacich, “of all the global trade related logistics workers, port truckers are the most oppressed”[7] with rail Intermodal truckers facing largely similar conditions.

            The shift within the US economy towards flexible specialization also has to be seen as integrally linked to a shift from an industrial and producing economy to a largely service based economy relying on imported goods within the last several decades.[8] This increasingly makes Intermodal trucking a key link in the logistics supply chain and in the growing movement of goods imported into the US economy. As discussed in trade journal Inbound Logistics, “The U.S. logistics industry is in the midst of a growth spurt, as we shift from a producing economy to an importing economy. This adjustment means import containers will continue to come into the country, regardless of whether oil hits $100 per barrel or we experience a ‘flat’ economy.”[9]

            The turn towards these conditions for Intermodal truckers began with the introduction of deregulation in the trucking industry by the passing of the Motor Carrier Act of 1980, which lowered barriers to entry within the industry and eliminated restrictions on carriers, the rates they could charge, the type of freight that they could carry and destinations to which they could deliver.[10] Consequently this worked to steadily erode the influence of unions, largely the Teamsters, within port and rail Intermodal trucking. “By 1985 only 28 percent of [port] truckers were organized, down from 60 percent in the 1970’s … And since 1985 the competitive squeeze has lowered rates and wages on the least powerful competitors, [Intermodal] truckers.”[11] No specific statistics could be found on rates of unionization among Intermodal rail truckers prior or following deregulation, but I believe it can be assumed to be a largely similar trajectory to that of port Intermodal truckers.

            But this network of transportation, especially within California, has grown overstretched and fragile. West coast port traffic has exploded as well with “the number of trailers and containers on rail cars nationwide grew by more than 60 percent between 1990 and 2003.”[12] Jennifer Bronson, an employee of shipping company APL said “[w]ith everything so inter-dependant, any little wrinkle can screw up the entire chain.”[13] And this is exactly what happened in the ‘summer 2004 meltdown’ where a combination of labor shortages and faulty projections by the railroads caused the adjacent ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, the nation’s main entry point for goods based in Asia, to come to a halt. Estimates of effects on the economy for the “11 days of idling ships and trucks, cargo back-ups and empty railroad tracks was $70 billion.”[14]

            Similar to the conditions of the Intermodal truckers working out of the rail yards of Stockton are the approximately 10,000 Intermodal port truckers working out of the bustling ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. One of these truckers in the Los Angeles area for over 25 years is Chicho, who fled Nicaragua in the 1980’s to escape the violent political conflict that engulfed the country. Similar to the fate of many Intermodal trucker’s daily struggle to earn a living in a precarious piece rate system, a press account describes his experience:

If port truckers like Chicho … are lucky, they can squeeze in two or three loads a day, at anywhere from $70 to $180 each, depending on the shipper and the route. … At most, a driver earns about $300 a day, including the fee for returning the empty container. Working 50 weeks a year, he can gross close to $80,000. But since drivers work as independent contractors – or “independent owner-operators” according to industry euphemism – they pay their own fees, taxes, insurance and fuel. These expenses, combined with monthly payments on that $69,000 truck, easily whittle a trucker’s salary down to around $30,000.[15]

Central Valley Stockton: “The Beautiful and the Damned”

            The Intermodal truckers of this story work in the rail yards just south of the city of Stockton, one of the major urban areas of the San Joaquin Valley and part of California’s Greater Central Valley. “California- the Beautiful and the Damned” was a slogan of 1910’s IWW organizers working among the farm laborers of the Central Valley- and it still speaks to today’s realities in describing the regions contrasting abundance of wealth and massive disparities.[16] The San Joaquin Valley stands unique in both the billions of dollars worth of crops produced annually in one of the most productive agricultural regions in the world, and also as one of the most economically depressed regions of the United States. Dominated by a small elite of land owners, the region has always relied upon a massive low-wage labor force composed of successive waves of immigrant groups.[17]

            Geographically defined, the San Joaquin Valley is the southern region of the Great Central Valley of California stretching from Mt. Shasta in the north to the Tehachapis of the south, at 450 miles long and averaging 50 miles wide through the center of California.[18] The San Joaquin Valley is defined as encompassing the eight counties of Merced, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera and Tulare, covering a land mass of 27,280 miles and with a population of 3.3 million at 10% of California’s population.[19]

                Important to understanding the San Joaquin Valley region is the role of the dominant industry of agriculture and by all accounts the industry is framed by “the glaring disparity between the bounty of the agricultural industry and the conditions and wages of its workers [which] remains as painfully evident as it has been for the past hundred years”[20] Part of “the most prosperous agricultural region in of the advanced industrial nations”[21] the San Joaquin Valley produced over $15 billion worth of agricultural products in 2002, which averaged at about half the state’s $30 billion total agricultural output.[22] In contrast, the mean wage in the agricultural industry averaged between the northern and southern counties of the San Joaquin Valley is $8.24 with an annual income of $17,155 and stands at roughly 13% of the regions workforce.[23] Throughout California the shifting workforce of 200,000 to 250,000 field workers as a whole is composed of up to 80% undocumented workers largely from Mexico, though a recently growing one-fourth originate from Miztecan indigenous communities in the southern state of Oaxaca, Mexico. Also present are thousands of refugee population Southeast Asians, including Vietnamese, Hmong, and Cambodians.[24] Similar to Intermodal trucking, the workforce is managed predominantly through a contractor system of intermediaries working on behalf of the growers[25] and has maintained “flexible production before flexibility became a buzz word of the New Economy.”[26]

            In a massive study produced by the Congressional Research Service, which is the public policy research arm of Congress and an agency within the Library of Congress, the region of San Joaquin Valley is demographically analyzed and compared to another, though well known, impoverished region of the US: Central Appalachia. While the greater Appalachia has improved as a region over a period of four decades of federal intervention, the report lays the San Joaquin Valley region in such stark contrast that an at length quotation of the summary is helpful:

In 2000, the SJV [San Joaquin Valley] … had substantially higher rates of poverty than California or the United States. Poverty rates were also significantly higher in the SJV than in the ARC region [Appalachia Regional Commission, the area spanning several states designated by the federal government for economic development of the Appalachia region], although the rate is somewhat lower than that of the Central Appalachian subregion [the most impoverished core area of Appalachia]. Unemployment rates in the SJV were higher in California or the United States and the ARC area. Per capita income and average family income were higher in the SJV than in Central Appalachia, but per capita income in the SJV was lower than in the ARC region as a whole. SJV households also had higher rates of public assistance income than did Central Appalachian households.[27]

            This availability of low cost labor and land in the area of San Joaquin County has also shaped the region to serving a growing role as the hub of distribution operations for major retailers and warehouses that were once located in the San Francisco Bay Area. Notably the same major retail corporations leading the shift in the economy towards the supply chain management model- Costco, IKEA, Target and Wal-Mart- all have major warehouses in the San Joaquin County or the broader San Joaquin Valley area.  Statistically we can see this shift where between 1990 and 2004 in San Joaquin County, “[t]ransportation and warehousing employment increased by 137 percent, from 5,100 to 12,100 jobs, led by a 1,367 percent increase in warehousing and storage from 300 to 4,400 jobs.”[28] In sum the region of San Joaquin Valley lies at the intersection of the forces in the global economy and its sweatshop inducing race to the bottom in wages and conditions; and this is where this narrative takes place.

AS A BIT of a change from all of these British updates, I thought I'd spend a few days updating the European wagon section of this website. The ten vehicles on show here include intermodal stock, a few German vehicles which are used for carrying more general purpose items, and a Sitfa car carrier.

68 AAE Ahaus-Alstätter Eisenbahnen (German private operator)

AAE 33 68 4556 693

80 DB German Railways-registered

DB 31 80 3937 187

DB 31 80 3948 379

DB 31 80 4863 708

83 FS Italian Railways-registered

Sitfa 43 83 4254 347

85 CH Swiss Railways-registered

Hupac 33 85 4511 074

Hupac 33 85 4576 040

Hupac 33 85 4576 053

Hupac 83 85 4933 330 (Unit A)

Hupac 83 85 4933 330 (Unit B)

All photographs by Gareth Bayer

El conseller de Mobilitat del Govern Balear, Gabriel Vicenç, ha anunciat aquests dies tot un seguit d'aspectes referents al transport públic de Mallorca, el qual volen convertir en l'eina indispensable i de referència a l'hora de moure's per l'illa. Molt bé. Com tots sabem, Zapatero segueix governant Espanya i ara Gobierno i Govern comparteixen les mateixes sigles: PSOE. Se suposa que ho tendrem bé per rebre totes les ajudes econòmiques que l'home de celles famoses té pendents d'enviar a la nostra comunitat. Idò si realment ho fa així, podrem començar a estar orgullosos de la nova xarxa ferroviària que tendrem. I si, a més, s'afanyen en les obres del metro i ens l'obren, ja serà massa. El gran projecte d'aquesta legislatura és la nova linia de tren que arribarà a Alcúdia, Ca'n Picafort, Capdepera o Artà. Serà un recorregut electrificat. I la línia ja existent, en la qual hi circulen combois a gasoil, s'anirà electrificant, de manera que d'aquí a dos anys el recorregut Inca-Palma ja funcioni d'aquesta manera, amb electricitat. Això suposarà més rapidesa i més prestacions per al viatger (això va dir el Sr. Vicenç), supòs que deu ser perquè, a més del nou sistema tan modern de targeta intermodal que ja s'ha implantat, s'hauran d'adquirir unitats noves de tren que pugui funcionar amb corrent. Així, es podria anar d'Inca a Palma en 30 minuts, i no en uns 40, que són els que s'usen ara (les aturades i arrancades serien més ràpides i la velocitat, millor). Per altra banda, i per això no haurem d'esperar tant (esper), el Conseller balear de Mobilitat explicava que d'aquí a poc té l'esperança de poder anunciar noves freqüències per a les linies existents (Sa Pobla/Manacor - Palma), sobretot en hores punta, que van plens. Diu, però, que és complicat fer-ho. Complicat? Un tren a tal hora i l'altra 20 minuts més tard. Punt. Tant complicat és això? Que es posin menys combois a cada viatge, i llestos. A més, que algú m'ho expliqui. Que fan amb 7 vies per a tren (perquè n'hi ha tres per al metro) en l'estació Intermodal de Palma? Algun dia les usaran totes? Fins ara només han estat actives les vies 2 i 3 per al metro, en aquells temps; i les 7, 8 i 9 per al tren. Veig que la 10 l'han habilitada amb catenària per al metro, perquè en aquella mateixa via han construit el taller de reparacions del suburbà. Però què passa amb les altres vies? Són per a tenir-hi aquella unitat de tren de vapor tota la vida, allà exposada? Per res més? I què és això que un tren hagi d'esperar a l'altra per partir? Si el que arriba fa tard, l'altra ha de partir tard. Anam bé, senyors del SFM. A veure si acabam d'optimitzar quatre aspectes del voltre servei per poder començar a aplaudir-vos. I mira que jo vos he aplaudit, perquè des de petit m'han encantat els trens. Per això sóc tan exigent, pot ser. Bé, ja que deman coses, també voldria saber si pensen llevar algun dia aquella veu del tren que ningú soporta, la de... " Pròxima parada: (amb veu de recent desperta) Santa Mariiiiia; Próxima parada: Santa Mariiiiia;  Next Stop!!!!!! (amb veu d'enfotre-se del sant i de la festa): Santa Mariiiiia". La veu corporativa del metro m'agradava més. Ho deia tot amb més convicció i no es feia pesat. Se veu que en el tren no estau tan convençuts de les coses. Pot ser quan els socialistes vos posin definitivament una mà en tot allò que voleu fer, llavors sí que anireu confiats que tot pot tirar endavant i acabeu posant una megafonia guapa, guapa i guapa. Bé, me quet esperant amb optimisme les millores per al tren, la reobertura "pròxima" (segons Vicenç) del metro de Palma i la obertura (ja és hora, no?) de l'estació de busos a la Intermodal. Per cert, vigilau els nivells dels gasos CO i NO2 per allà baix, per les andanes, perquè he vist que els indicadors vermells de nivells màxims no deixen de parpadejar, en aquelles columnes gegants. No me vull imaginar què passarà a l'estació de autobusos, si a la de tren ja està així la cosa i n'arriba o en parteix un cada mitja hora aprox. La de busos no deixarà de tenir activitat durant tot el dia... Algun dia hauran de fletar un bus del TIB per anar directes a Son Dureta, per exemple! Però vaja, que els governants ho tenen controlat. Els ventiladors no deixen de girar i tothom està bé. I si ells ho diuen, tots hem de dir que sí, i així ZP i Antich estaran més contents que un pasco. Srs/Sres. del Govern i del transport públic a Mallorca, no s'enfadin pels meus comentaris... Si jo només escric per ajudar!

30/03/2008

Fuarda ise güncel ürün, teknoloji ve hizmetler sektörle buluşturulacak.

As part of a long-standing plan to revitalise the rail industry in the European Community, from January 2007 all European Union (EU) rail freight lines were opened up to competition. Up until then only international freight services, which represented approximately half of the total market for the rail transport of goods in Europe, were liberalised. The European Commission is hoping as a result of this change that rail freight will now attract new investors and customers by offering services that are more adapted to the needs of the market. The main hope is that the railways will steadily increase their market shares. Freight movement within Western Europe has been a growing market for many years. Although there has been a substantial decline in traditional rail freight markets, especially the movement of heavy goods such as coal and steel, the overall growth of  freight shipments has enabled the rail freight market to maintain its volumes in recent years, despite losing market share.

Although facing considerable resistance from some quarters, the liberalisation of the rail freight industry represents a huge opportunity to  energise a sector which has been in the doldrums for many years.

As well as all C-level executives. It is especially appropriate to:

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En un principio ya sabía de la existencia del proyecto, pero no pensaba que para levantar una estación supuestamente enterrada, hiciera falta llevarse un buen trozo de parque, habiendo un aparcamiento casi sin uso al lado.

En los árboles de Portal de Foronda, ya se pueden leer unas pancartas colocadas por los ecologistas  que dicen "NO A LA TALA, NADA DE PISOS", y es que el proyecto incluiría al parecer viviendas u hotel y una  zona comercial.

Con esto no voy en contra de una infraestructura necesaria para la capital vasca, pero creo que hay otras parcelas y también otras formas de gestionar la obra sin tener que dañar uno de los pulmones verdes de la ciudad que se vende al mundo entero con su anillo de parques.

Ohio's World Class Logistics Industry Gets Major Boost with Opening of International Shipping Hub

State expands logistics industry to meet increased business growth, allow existing and future companies to better reach global market

COLUMBUS, Ohio, March 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Ohio is expanding its global reach in the logistics industry with the dedication of Norfolk Southern Corp.'s new intermodal cargo terminal near Rickenbacker International Airport on March 10, 2008. The terminal is the next big step forward in dramatically increasing capacity of the international shipping business in Ohio, according to the Ohio Business Development Coalition (OBDC), the nonprofit organization that markets the state for capital investment....Norfolk Southern's $68.5 million investment in the new international shipping facility will open with capacity for 250,000 cargo container transfers from train to truck a year and can be expanded to move 400,000 cargo transfers annually. According to an independent study, within 10 years the new intermodal facility will generate $660 million in transportation cost savings to shippers, and over the next 30 years, will generate 9,500 direct jobs and 10,900 indirect jobs.

"Growth in rail capacity is a key driver of enhanced distribution solutions, and Rickenbacker is about to increase truck to train lift capacity by almost 400 percent," said Jolene Molitoris, chairwoman of the Ohio Rail Development Commission. "The synergy of Ohio's location advantage to 60 percent of Americans and 50 percent of Canadians within 600 miles in conjunction with improved rail and international shipping access in the center of the state is definitely a boon for our logistics industry. In conjunction with the additional air cargo capabilities, the sky is the limit for increased distribution of goods in Central Ohio and throughout the rest of the state."

READ FULL ARTICLE

Related Circleville Herald coverage:
Intermodal opens with big dreams
Ohio Christian University to launch logistics program

Il n’y aura pas de marche arrière sur le vélo ! Le VLS (vélo libre-service) est l’arbre qui cache la forêt. Il a révélé une demande latente et puissante débordant le phénomène de mode. L’abondance de sites Web associatifs cyclistes montre que la société civile a un temps d’avance sur l’exécutif des villes. L’opinion des usagers est tournée vers le vélo. Il suffisait pour l'admettre de lire les commentaires des lecteurs faits à la suite de l’édito "anti-Vélib’" du monde.

(Voir Vélib’ contre Le Monde grincheux)

Les élus vont probablement s’apercevoir que leur politique vélo est faible, anecdotique. Car il ne s’agit pas seulement "d’offrir" un système de VLS à sa ville. Il faudra rapidement résoudre les questions de monopole et d’intéropérabilité des VLS, parce que le vélo ne se pense pas en "monomode" : il redéfinit aussi l’articulation des modes doux (voir les propositions des usagers à la SNCF) . La demande existe et elle s'exprime. Il faudra aussi faire de la place aux vélos particuliers, favoriser l’intermodalité, etc. Le stationnement vélo cristallise d’ailleurs ce phénomène. A Grenoble, des listes d’attentes de cyclistes qui veulent disposer d’un parking vélo en gare se forment… Ils sont déjà 150 ! Pédaler à reculons est impossible !

ONCE COMMON ON the British railway network as the bedrock of Freightliner's intermodal network, the BR-built FFA and FGA 60ft container flats have been undergoing steady withdrawal over the past couple of decades as new container vehicles have replaced them, the most recent type being the now ubiquitous FEA flat.

I couldn't help but notice that Wagons on the Web was somewhat light on these historic container carriers, so here is a selection of 25 images covering the vehicles in their latter years.

FFA Freightliner container flat (inner)

FFA 602332 BR blue [2005]

FFA 602514 BR blue [2005]

FFA 602683 BR blue [2004]

FFA 603054 BR blue [2004]

FFA 603054 BR blue [2005] Martyn Read

FFA 603182 BR blue [2005] Martyn Read

FFA 603197 BR blue [2004]

FFA 603228 BR blue [2005] Martyn Read

FGA Freightliner container flat (outer)

FGA 601057 BR blue [2005]

FGA 601057 BR blue [2005]

FGA 601057 BR blue [2005]

FGA 601057 BR blue [2005]

FGA 601086 BR blue [2004]

FGA 601127 BR blue [2001]

FGA 601166 BR blue [2004]

FGA 601167 BR blue [2005] Martyn Read

FGA 601328 BR blue [2005]

FGA 601328 BR blue [2005]

FGA 601328 BR blue [2005]

FGA 601342 BR blue [2005] Martyn Read

FGA 601594 BR blue [2004]

FGA 601606 BR blue [2004]

FGA 601646 BR blue [2005] Martyn Read

FGA 601840 BR blue [2005] Martyn Read

FGA 601846 BR blue [2004]

Photographs by Gareth Bayer unless otherwise stated.

OTHER THAN THE usual TTX Co. well and spine vehicles, an important component of any present day intermodal service is the large Florida East Coast 53ft well car fleet. Built to carry both containers and trailers, these useful units are essentially a longer version of the original 48ft wells built by Greenbrier (now Gunderson).

Oddly, though, despite their flexibility, the only operator to purchase them has been Florida East Coast.

FEC 70019 Single-unit 53ft all-purpose well car [2007]

FEC 70297 Single-unit 53ft all-purpose well car [2005]

FEC 70404 Single-unit 53ft all-purpose well car [2005]

FEC 70746 Single-unit 53ft all-purpose well car [2007]

FEC 70958 Single-unit 53ft all-purpose well car [2005]

FEC 71366 Single-unit 53ft all-purpose well car [2007]

FEC 72011 Single-unit 53ft all-purpose well car [2006]

FEC 72361 Single-unit 53ft all-purpose well car [2007]

FEC 72413 Single-unit 53ft all-purpose well car [2007]

FEC 72612 Single-unit 53ft all-purpose well car [2006]

All photographs by Gareth Bayer.