Author Archives: just2bruce

Ohio train derailment spurs rail safety advisory on hot box detectors

Posted on March 2, 2023 | 1 comment

The big derailment of a train carrying hazardous chemicals in East Palatine, OH has gotten new attention for hotbox detectors (HBDs.) These are electronic boxes placed along a railway that scan the wheels of cars as they go by to see if the wheels are getting too hot. Overheating is a symptom of failing bearings or other maladies in the wheels. At least 5 accidents since 2021 have been related to burnt journal bearings, which the HBD is supposed to detect.

But these detectors have to be maintained. There is always the possibility of a mistaken reading, or of no reading at all. And someone has to check these detectors frequently to ensure they are functioning.

Accidents on rail lines are not common, which speaks to the care being taken. But even one big accident with hazardous waste can destroy a town. So any failure in the maintenance or observation of the hot box monitors is quite serious.

One question unions have raised is whether there are enough qualified workers to inspect the hot box detectors often enough. Perhaps this will come out in the case of Norfolk Southern and this accident. It would be awful if major rail lines were not following through on careful inspection of their monitoring devices.

Joanna Marsh·Wednesday, March 01, 2023

Ohio train derailment spurs rail safety advisory on hot box detectors – FreightWaves

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Posted in Logistics, Production Operations, Rail

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Cyprus seeking EU support for shipping industry sanctions impact

Posted on February 21, 2023 | 1 comment

Sanctions have made many ocean carriers change the registry of their ships to countries that are not involved in enforcing them.

Cyprus is one such flag state. As a member of the EU, Cyprus follows their policies on sanctions, which are among the strongest. So ships registered in Cyprus may not carry Russian cargoes.

Shipowners who want to trade Russian or Iranian goods, such as oil, can’t do it with Cyprus-registered ships. So they flag them elsewhere.

The Cypriot registry has lost about one-fifth of its tanker registry since sanctions were imposed on Russia. According to 2021 registry figures, Cyprus was 11th in dead weight tons (DWT) registered among the registries of the world, with over 1000 ships registered (not all tankers). This is a significant loss of revenue.

Cyprus is going to apply to the EU for compensation for the loss of registrants.

I’m not sure this is how to deal with the problem. There’s plenty of evidence that flag states are not dealing very well with environmental, social, and governance (ESG) problems in their own countries. By World Bank measures, there has been little improvement on many of their 68 ESG measures in Cyprus and other countries. They are thus less likely to be good enforcers of cooperative goals such as sanctions or emissions. Paying them for losses doesn’t seem like a good strategy.

There are already requirements for Cyprus to follow EU sanctions rules. As a flag state Cyprus needs to get approval from the EU for such rules as a tonnage tax discount. I think this is just following the rules they agreed to when Cyprus joined the EU.

Seatrade logo

David Glass | Feb 20, 2023

Cyprus seeking EU support for shipping industry sanctions impact

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Posted in Logistics, Shipping

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Not enough SAF for air cargo to hit net zero – carriers must find other routes

Posted on February 20, 2023 | Leave a comment

It’s becoming obvious that there’s no way that enough sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) can be produced to meet the needs of air traffic.

Carriers are already suggesting they will need to play a little use in their path to ‘Net-Zero’ emissions. They plan to take advantage of strategies which allow them to keep emitting but using offsets with technologies that have been declared legitimate to shelter fuel use.

Such technologies concern purchasing carbon credits and developing carbon capture sources. But those do not actually reduce the emissions from air traffic.

I’m interested by what Glen Hughes, the director general of The International Air Cargo Forum (TIACA) said for the article below.

“What’s important is the capacity to monitor a company’s total ESG impact and activities in a manner that fulfils audit requirements and has a direct impact on investment decisions by equity firms and banks.”

Source: Loadstar Article

Clearly this sidesteps serious ESG improvement for the industry and promotes a form of gaming the rules.

Promoting watered-down audit requirements and shaping how investment decisions are made by large investors clearly takes precedence over actually improving emissions. The premise that investment firms and auditors are to determine the world’s response to environmental improvement is patently ridiculous. TIACA is promoting a specious response. A harsh judge could call it a form of greenwashing.

To be fair, I will quote Mr Hughes again, from the same article, citing six questions to answer for supply chain officials:

 “Am I being as environmentally responsible as I can? Am I using recyclable materials? Am I optimising transport? Am I using sustainable energy or compensating for emissions? Am I supporting global prosperity and economic growth? And how can I, my partners and supply chain stakeholders continually improve?”

Source: Loadstar Article

Compensating for emissions is a big loophole. And if you use the loophole, are you being as environmentally responsible as you can be?

Leaving it to investors and politicians to decide does not seem like a wise course.

By Alex Whiteman 20/02/2023

Not enough SAF for air cargo to hit net zero – carriers must find other routes – The Loadstar

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Posted in Air, Logistics, Supply Chains, Sustainability

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