Helping NW PA Businesses Navigate Changing Import Tariffs

Helping NW PA Businesses Navigate Changing Import Tariffs

Logistics Plus appeared again in November’s edition of the Lake Erie Lifestyles magazine, a monthly publication circulated by Erie Times-News and GoErie.com. The theme of the entire issue is “Buy Local.” In the article, Gretchen Blough, Customs Brokerage Manager for Logistics Plus, discusses the recent tariff changes and how they might impact local businesses. “It’s our job to guide customers through every complex step of the customs process,” Blough said. A reprint of the story is shown below (and will later appear online at www.goerie.com/lifestyle/lake-erie-lifestyle.)

You can click the image below to view a PDF version.

 

Year-End Message From Logistics Plus Chicago

Year-End Message From Logistics Plus Chicago

LP Chicago TrucksAs this year ends, 2019 is poised to be a banner year for the Logistics Plus Chicago office.  Christian Marz has been holding down the fort for LP in Chicagoland for the past few years; but this past July, the LP Chicago office added a new member to its Business Development team … Rob Boissevain.  Together, Christian and Rob are proving to be a force to be reckoned with in the Midwest.  Rob has closed new deals in Chicago, and new business for our Los Angeles, New Jersey, North Carolina and New York warehouses.

In this past month, LP Chicago has also been implementing services for one of our new, premiere global clients – a Chicago-based leading financial investments company; and our new Elk Grove Village, IL warehouse (recently expanded to include 175,000 sq. ft.) will serve as its U.S. distribution center.

LP Elk Grove Village Warehouse

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Christian and Rob are celebrating their new offices and warehouse in Elk Grove Village.  Please feel free to connect with them with any referrals or client needs in Chicago or the Midwest. You can reach them at christian.marz@logisticsplus.com or rob.boissevain@logisticsplus.com.

Christian and Rob

Gretchen Blough Featured on WPSE Radio Business Spotlight

Gretchen Blough Featured on WPSE Radio Business Spotlight

customs brokerageIn case you missed it, Gretchen Blough, Customs Brokerage Manager for Logistics Plus, was featured in a recent airing of Business Spotlight on WPSE AM 1450/FM 107.1 Radio. Business Spotlight is a 30-minute program airing Fridays at noon. Each segment focuses on a business or organization that is making an impact across the region.

In this segment, Gretchen discusses her role with the company, revisions to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS), the importance of correct product classification, and more. You can listen to a replay of the interview on the Logistics Plus YouTube Channel below.

 

Logistics Plus Employee Spotlight Featuring Suraj Joshi

Logistics Plus Employee Spotlight Featuring Suraj Joshi

As a certified Great Place to Work®, we have some of the best employees in the industry. One of those employees is Suraj Joshi, Director of Trade Lane Development who works from the Logistics Plus Global Headquarters in Erie, PA.

This video is included in a series of new “Employee Spotlight” interviews over the coming weeks and months that will showcase many of our diverse employees from around the world. We hope you enjoy getting to know a little more about us and the “people who power the plus” at Logistics Plus.

A special thanks to Suraj for his participation in this interview. Stay tuned in the coming weeks to learn more about the employees at Logistics Plus.

100th Anniversary of Armistice Day

100th Anniversary of Armistice Day

Armistice DayNovember 11th, 2018: 100th anniversary of Armistice Day
100 years ago on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, the armistice was signed in Compiegne that marked the end of the “Great War”. The armistice stopped the madness of the first world war that saw up to 15 million people, originating from no less than 24 countries and territories, killed and many more wounded for life. In Germany, this date is remembered as Volkstrauertag (national day of grieving), and the date is observed in many other countries as Armistice Day or Remembrance Day.

Armistice Day holds special importance in Belgium, where many of the most cruel battles were fought, specifically in Flanders Fields. To date, farmers near Ypres and Passchendaele find no less than 150 ton of unexploded ordnance per year. If the ordnance are unstable they are detonated in the field, but most are brought to Poelkapelle, where they are detonated in a special detonation chamber.

Last month, Logistics Plus employee Irmela Florin of our Antwerp office assisted with the delivery of a replacement detonation chamber. The cylinder of special grade steel measured 646 x 260 x 280cm, weighing 38 metric tons. The chamber came from Japan and Irmela arranged the port handling and delivery by special trailer to Poelkapelle. She previously arranged the delivery of its predecessor a few years earlier, but the chamber needs replaced every few years. Usually, we love repeat business, but in this case we do hope that this deadly harvest ends soon and that we do not need to replace the chamber again.

As a final thought, we give you the most famous poem named, In Flanders Fields, along with pictures of the detonation chamber and statues of “The Grieving Parents” to remind us about the most important message of Remembrance Day: No more war.

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

— By Canadian soldier/doctor, Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae

LP Belgium Employee Celebrates 25 Years

LP Belgium Employee Celebrates 25 Years

Hilde 25th Anniversary GIFOn November 6th, the Logistics Plus Belgium team held a special dinner party in honor of long-time employee Hilde Van De Woestyne. In 1993, Hilde joined Ivo Van Mechelen at what was then called Cantabrico Belgium, to “help out with a little bit of this and that.” Helping with “this and that” quickly turned into doing a little bit of everything, ranging from human resources, to accounting, to every aspect of freight forwarding.

We are extremely happy that now, 25 years later, and with Cantabrico having long since become part of the LP family, Hilde is still going strong and she continues to do a “little bit of this and that.” The Logistics Plus Belgium team calls Hilde the backbone of the Antwerp office. Jim Berlin, CEO of Logistics Plus said, “Hilde represents the true spirit of Logistics Plus. She does whatever it takes to ensure our success and we are grateful for her many years of service to us, and to our dear friend Ivo.

Dr. -Ing. Patric Drewes, CEO of Logistics Plus Europe added, “People are the greatest asset of our company. Hilde’s loyalty and dedication over the past 25 years has set the culture of a resourceful, team-driven attitude toward problem-solving. We are humbled by her outstanding support and hard work and we look forward to the future.”

At the celebration, the Belgium team gave Hilde a commemorative frame signed by many colleagues from the Logistics Plus Global Headquarters and our Antwerp and Bremen offices. This frame was a small token of appreciation from the many people who know and value Hilde for everything she’s done over the past 25 years.

A huge congratulations to Hilde Van De Woestyne on an amazing 25 years and counting!