The Furniture Transporter

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Monthly news digest of important developments in the fields of packaging, shipping and transportation affecting the furniture and allied products industries.

To receive this publication, you must be a member of the International Furniture Transportation and Logistics Council. For more information, contact Ray Bohman at (508) 945-2272

Sample Copy

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The Furniture Transporter

April 19, 2004

THIS ISSUE OF THE TRANSPORTER IS SENT TO YOU AS ONE

OF THE BENEFITS OF YOUR MEMBERSHIP IN THE

"INTERNATIONAL FURNITURE TRANSPORTATION AND

LOGISTICS COUNCIL"

INDUSTRY MEETING NEWS

OPENING SESSION AT IFTLC’S CONFERENCE IN NAPLES, FLA. NEXT MONTH WILL LOOK AT THE IMPACT ON OUR INDUSTRY OF NEWLY REVISED FEDERAL REGULATIONS GOVERNING DRIVER HOURS-OF-SERVICE. A panel, made up of a cross-section of specialized furniture carriers and a representative from a major furniture retailer will discuss what changes these new regulations have already had on their companies and what steps they have taken or are planning to take to lessen the impact. The session will be moderated by Ken Miller, executive director of the Office Furniture Distribution Association. Serving on the panel will be:

T.J. Alfuth, Milwaukee Delivery Service

Crystal Cheney, Buel Inc.

Martin Goor, Contract Furniture Transport

Gill Mitchell, R.C. Willey Home Furnishings

Joe Wade, Shelba D. Johnson Trucking

There are already 93 registered for the meetings, plus 34 spouses/traveling companions and guests. We expect well over 100 will be attending the sessions as registrations continue to come in every day.

THREE EDUCATIONAL SEMINARS AT THE UPCOMING HIGH POINT FURNITURE MARKET WILL DEAL WITH TRANSPORTATION/LOGISTICS . The seminars, at this month’s International Home Furnishings Market, will run from Thursday, April 22 to Tuesday, April 27. Included will be sessions on the following topics:

"The Road to Better Home Delivery: 10 Things You Can Do Now To Improve". Presenter: Patrick Cory, Cory 1st Choice Delivery. He will present 10 power methods of improving your existing home delivery operation so that you can boost your bottom line and improve customer service. This session will be held on Friday, April 23 from 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM.

"The How To’s of Delivering Furniture to Your Customers, Complaint-Free and at Minimal Cost". Presenter: David Duff Warehousing Consulting. A session dealing with the basics, including loading defective-free goods; being on time; the importance of delivery crews appearing and sounding like the pros, and making efficient and professional deliveries. The session will be held on Saturday, April 24 from 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM.

"Take Control of Your Import Supply Chain and Reduce Your Landed Costs". Presenter: Bill Smith, Globe Express Services. A session devoted to learning import best practices. It will cover how retailers can take control of their supply chain and reduce overall landed costs by switching terms of sale from CIF to FOB origin, increasing in transit visibility via Web-based tracking and reporting, and how to develop direct contacts for global sourcing. This session will be held on Sunday, April 25 from 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM.

LTL GENERAL COMMODITY CARRIER PRICING NEWS

PACIFIC INLAND TARIFF BUREAU WILL BE FIRST RATE BUREAU TO RAISE ITS RATES IN 2004 . The bureau, based in Portland, Oregon, has approved and published to become effective on May 31, an across-the-board general rate increase on LTL shipments amounting to 5.99%. PITB represents carriers operating in the Pacific Northwest.

TWO MORE MOTOR CARRIER RATE BUREAUS HAVE DOCKETED PROPOSALS FOR GENERAL RATE INCREASES. Both the Southern Motor Carriers Rate Conference (SMC 3) and the Middlewest Motor Freight Bureau (MWMFB) have scheduled meetings of their General Rate Committees to consider increasing all class, commodity and column commodity rates; minimum charges; accessorial charges; accessorial rates; arbitraries and pickup delivery charges. The meeting dates are:

SMC3 - April 14

MWMFB - April 29

At this writing, no proposals for GRI’s have been docketed by the:

Rocky Mountain Motor Tariff Bureau

EC-MAC Motor Carriers Service

North American Transportation Council

(formerly the Niagara Frontier Tariff Bureau)

We will be reporting further developments with these bureaus in our next issue.

PERSONAL NEWS

BLACKHAWK FURNITURE HAS A NEW TRAFFIC MANAGER. The Riverside, California, bedroom resource has named Gil Duarte to this post. He has had more than 20 years of experience in logistics. According to Bruce Marterson, vice president and chief operating officer, "Gill will help us meet our goals as well as provide support in all our traffic processes."

INDUSTRY SHIPMENT NEWS

JANUARY SHIPMENTS OF U.S. RESIDENTIAL FURNITURE WERE UP 1% FROM JANUARY 2003 . That figure was compiled by BDO Furniture Industry Services and reported in its monthly newsletter - FURNITURE INSIGHTS. The report stated that only 37% of the survey participants experienced an increase in shipments over the same month last year. BDO, however, expects the months of February and March to show stronger increases as orders during January jumped by 11%. One other note: shipments during January were down by 8% over the previous month - December, 2003 - but that is a usual pattern.

FURNITURE WAREHOUSE-DISTRIBUTION CENTER NEWS

FURNITURE OUTLETS USA WILL OPEN THREE DISTRIBUTION CENTERS IN THE MINNEAPOLIS AREA IN JULY . The Sioux Falls, S.D.-based furniture retailer is expanding in the Minneapolis/St. Paul market in a big way, with five new stores, including four operating under the name Ashley Furniture HomeStores. In the Minneapolis suburb of Shakopee, it will open two stores - one Ashley and one Furniture Outlets - in July, including 18,000 feet of warehouse space. And in the northern Minneapolis suburb of Fridley, it will be opening another Ashley store that will be attached to a 150,000 square foot distribution center. Furniture Outlets will also be converting a former Wickes warehouse and showroom in Fridley, adding another 50,000 square feet of warehouse space.

HOME DELIVERY NEWS

UNITED FURNITURE INDS. HAS INTRODUCED A LINE OF MODULAR SOFAS ENABLING ONE DELIVERY PERSON TO DELIVER IT TO A CUSTOMER’S HOME . Upholstery manufacturer United Furniture Ind’s. new 92 to 94 inch sofas feature a locking system allowing individual seats to be taken apart and shipped separately. Not only do these new sofas conserve warehouse space, but make it easier to deliver them to the consumer’s home.

The sofas are shipped in three-cube-sized cartons. Once inside the customer’s house, the seats can be locked together with a new locking mechanism. Other advantages are the ease at which delivery personnel can navigate small doorways, stairways and narrow hallways. The units are being built at United’s factory in Sulligent, Alabama, southeast of Tupelo. The company is headquartered in Tupelo, Mississippi.

IMPORT NEWS

MEMBER LINES OF THE TRANS-ATLANTIC CONFERENCE WILL BE INCREASING THEIR INTERMODAL RATES ON MAY 10 . A 10 percent increase will be imposed to offset higher costs stemming from the newly revised federal truck driver hours-of-service regulations. Member lines of TACA are:

Atlantic Container Line NYK Line

Hapag-Lloyd Orient Overseas

Mediterranean Shipping Co. Container Line

Maersk Sealand P&O Nedlloyd

These increases will apply on imports from the Northern Europe to inland U.S. destinations in intermodal service.

EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES

FURNITURE TRANSPORTATION COMPANY IS LOOKING FOR A "FURNITURE HOME DELIVERY MANAGER" . A HELP WANTED ad appearing in the April 5, 2004 edition of FURNITURE/TODAY magazine, reads:

"Leader in the furniture transportation industry seeks experienced individual to manage its home delivery, warehousing and distribution operating in the New York/New Jersey metro area. Must posses HS degree, Associates of BS degree a plus 5-10 years experience in furniture home delivery and warehouse management. Organizational, motivational and interpersonal skills, able to handle multiple priorities. EOE. Resume and salary history Attn: CT 2232 to swhittle@reedbusiness.com.

LATEST LIST OF CO-SPONSORS

OF TUESDAY EVENING, MAY 4, 2004

WELCOMING RECEPTION

APPIAN LOGISTICS SOFTWARE

BUEL INC.

CONTRACT FURN. TRANSPORT/L&D INSTALLER

HOME DIRECT

MATSON INTEGRATED LOGISTICS

MURROW’S TRANSFER, INC.

PALMER TRANSPORT CORP.

RPL ASSOCIATES

REALISTIC TRANSPORT

RIDOL, INC.

SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND HOME DELIVERY

SPIRIT DELIVERY & DISTRIBUTION SERVICES, INC.

VANCO WAREHOUSE INC./VANCO TRUCKING CO.