For the EMO family 2005 has been an exciting and eventful year. Founded in Stuttgart in 1965, EMO Trans has marked it's 40th anniversary and amidst a strong business development we created a number of new offices in the USA as well as in China and additional offices in Chile and Germany.

In order to further strengthen our organization and allow me more time to ensure continuous growth of the company, Olen Wood was promoted to President & COO of EMO USA. The EMO Group with its own offices in Australia, Canada, Chile, China, Germany, Japan and the USA now employs nearly 500 transportation and logistics experts worldwide and produced a revenue of close to US $300,000,000.00. The group has consolidated itself through a global development fund and will create a joint EMO holding to ensure combined future stability. We cover all international markets in close co-operation with our worldwide partners

Our plans for 2006 include a stronger development in the logistics sector. In addition to our forwarding activities, customs brokerage and project services many of our offices already operate large warehouse facilities and are able to offer existing and prospective customers professional logistics services on a larger scale. We will further concentrate on markets to invest in such as Peru, with our good partner Geotrans. We will open more offices domestically as well as globally and are always looking for good people to join our team.

We will continue investments in our IT systems to help us maintain and improve our interface service levels continuously and to sustain our high security standards in close co-operation with TSA and US customs.

We also have not forgotten the less fortunate people in this world who have suffered from natural disasters. EMO Trans and its employees have made substantial donations to a variety of relief organization to assist the victims.

We thank our customers and vendors who have helped us to grow and thank our employees who make our company.

I wish all of you Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and a healthy and successful New Year.

Jo Frigger
Chairman & CEO

Labor tension is brewing at the new US Airways. Pilots for the former America West Airlines may ask for an arbitrator to help decide seniority issues. America West mechanics and ramp agents fear pay cuts and want to retain their union contract. Executives at the combined company acknowledged the labor strife. “There is nothing right now, in my estimation, that we’re seeing that is really any cause for alarm, that isn’t the course of a normal negotiated process”, Chief Administration Officer Jeff McClelland said.

Overheard at the airport the other day: “The federal government is pledging $337 million to expand Chicago’s O’Hare airport. O’Hare needs more space to accommodate the growing number of airline bankruptcy attorneys flying to meet clients across the country”

A proposal that would give US carriers access to London’s Heathrow Airport does not explain how the US will relax restrictions on foreign ownership, European transport ministers say. Lawmakers are expected in January to review foreign ownership rules, which now limit foreign ownership of a US carrier to 49% and voting rights to 25%. Separately, Continental Airlines said it could take two years before a judge would rule on any challenge to changing the ownership rules.

A US Air Marshal for the first time shot and killed a passenger yesterday in Miami after the 44-year-old citizen threatened that he had a bomb and put his hand inside the bag he was carrying. The shooting occurred on a boarding bridge connected to an American Airlines Boeing 757 that was on a layover after arriving from Medellin and before departing for Orlando. There was no evidence of a bomb on the aircraft or when luggage was later searched. First reports indicate the man was mentally ill, and not a terrorist.

Air Cargo traffic through Thailand’s five major airports increased to 1.06 million tons in the first eight months of the year, a 7.7% increase from the same period in 2004. The tonnage at Bangkok airport rose by 8.26% in the same period, while the Thai gateway showing the highest cargo growth was Hat Yai which climbed by 18.1%.

will make it’s first appearance in the Middle East at the Dubai Air Show this month. Emirates, which has ordered 45 A380 aircraft (including two firm orders for 150-tons payload freighter versions) is scheduled to take delivery of its first A380 in the second quarter of 2007. Elsewhere in the Gulf, Etihad Airways has four A380’s on order and Qatar Airways has two firm commitments.

For a larger photo click here

Our partner, Dubai-headquartered multimodal supply chain company GAC, has been appointed logistics services provider for the 15th Asian Games Doha 2006, being held from 1-15 December 2006.

The company will handle Customs procedures and clearance in the Qatari capital, final delivery of shipments within Doha, and then the coordination of return shipments to the home countries of the 45 participating countries when the Games have ended. GAC will also schedule the logistics activities at over 50 venues providing logistics resources including manpower, material handling equipment, trucks and vehicles.

A special logistics task force has been set up at GAC to plan and execute the entire exercise which is being led by project manager Stafford Hayes, who commented: “There are complex requirements; to move everything with the greatest care and precision from the smallest and most delicate chess piece to the parallel bars for gymnastics.”

Every state in the USA has different rules on the weight limits on highways. In California a permit is required for tractor/semi-trailer loads on most, but not all, vehicles which exceed 20,000 lbs per any fixed axle, 10,500 lbs per single side of a fixed axle, 34,000 lbs per group of two axles, or 12,500 lbs per front steering axle. In addition, the combination of the total number of axles and the distance from the front axle to the the rear-most axle will determine the maximum GVW (Gross Vehicle Weight) for a particular vehicle.

For example, in California a tractor/trailer vehicle with a total of five axles and 50 feet from the front to rear-most axle may not exceed 79,000 lbs without a special permit. Once the GVW limit of the vehicle has been determined, based on its configuration, the net allowable cargo weight (i.e. weight with fuel/fluids) of the tractor bogies and trailers or inter modal containers/chassis. Care must also be taken not to distribute the cargo weight not to overload any inpidual axle.

Our staff at Emo Trans is well trained to help you with information on weight limitations for California roads. It is very important to realize that overweight containers entering California ports will have to be offloaded within the pier facilities before being allowed to be taken onto California roads. This will certainly increase the costs for such containers plus cause delays. Therefore, we highly suggest to contact us before sending heavy loaded containers to us.

Port officials in Hong Kong are testing a strategy that electronically scrutinizes every container passing into the port. Over the past year, the Hong Kong Terminal Operators Association, which includes several private companies has deployed scanning machines supplied by Science Applications International Corp. of San Diego. Two of the giant scanners scrutinize containers passing through the port on trucks. One scanner checks for nuclear radiation, while the other uses gamma rays to seek out any dense, suspicious object made of steel or lead inside the containers which could shield a bomb from the nuclear detector. Adherents of the operation say it offers stepped-up security for the global shipping system without unduly slowing the flow of cargo.

The Port of Oakland is deepening its berths and harbor to -50 feet. The dredging project will enable the Port to serve the newest generation of container ships. The interim depths of -46 feet has been completed. Work is immediately continuing into 2006-07 to reach -50 feet. The port has installed 19 super post-Panamax cranes, bringing its total to 37. The port is also developing newly acquired land at the former Oakland Army base to capture more efficiency in its intermodal capabilities.

The port’s $ 1,2 billion, 10-year capital improvement program has added two new container terminals and 1.2 million TEU’s of container handling capacity, an 85-acre near-dock Joint Intermodal Terminal facility for two Class 1 railroads with expanded cross-dock and transload facilities near the railhead. The two mega-terminals can work up to five ships concurrently with 10 high-speed, long-reach cranes that can load and discharge more than 30 containers per hour.

BA World Cargo added five weekly belly services from London, Heathrow to Bangalore. Bangalore is a key market for BA. Kamal Kikani, BA commercial manager, feels that the new flights complement the existing schedule and road feeder service, with Bangalore becoming the fifth destination to be served directly from London. “The new services accommodate the growing volumes of cargo in the southern region.

The $25.00 fuel card is going to Julie Wyatt. Congratulations!!!
Next month we will give away a gift certificate from Barnes & Noble. Please let us handle many of your shipments. As always, each one will be entered into our monthly draws.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your support during 2005. We sincerely hope for your continuation of your support during 2006 and wish you and your family a very pleasant holiday season.