Current Affairs
July 22, 2021
Fall PFA Meeting Moved to Charlotte
Polyurethane Foam Association Will Hold November Conference in
Charlotte
COVID-19 International Travel Restrictions Necessitated Relocation
LOUDON, TN (July 22, 2021)—The Polyurethane Foam Association (PFA) has decided to
move is November 3-4, 2021 meeting from the Omni King Edward Hotel in Toronto, Ontario to
the Omni Charlotte, in Charlotte, NC.
This was done because of ongoing international travel restrictions imposed due to COVID-19.
“Since there is still uncertainty about travel between the U.S. and Canada this fall, members
preferred a U.S. location for this meeting,” said Russ Batson, Executive Director of PFA. “We’re
grateful to Omni Hotels and Resorts for helping us relocate to their Charlotte property so our
meeting can go forward at a first-class facility with robust attendance.”
PFA returned to in-person meetings in May, hosting its spring meeting at the Vinoy Renaissance
in St. Petersburg. About 40 people participated remotely, in part due to company travel
restrictions.
Batson predicted that in-person attendance in November will move toward pre-pandemic levels,
and noted that CertiPUR-US ® will hold its sessions live in conjunction with PFA’s November
conference. “We’ll maintain the online option for attending, but we’re eager to welcome most of
our colleagues back for food, drink and networking.”
PFA’s twice-a-year meetings include flexible polyurethane foam manufacturers, chemical
suppliers, equipment makers, and other companies supporting the industry. Discussions cover
EHS best practices, legal and regulatory activity, developments in end-user markets, and
technical innovations. A Call for Papers for the November 4 Technical Session will be sent out
shortly.
The Polyurethane Foam Association is a trade association founded in 1980 to help educate foam
users, allied industries, and other stakeholders. PFA provides facts on environmental, health and safety issues and technical information on the performance of FPF in consumer and industrial
products. FPF is used as a key comfort component in most upholstered furniture and mattress
products, along with automotive seating, carpet cushion, packaging, and numerous other
applications.
To learn more, visit www.pfa.org.
July 22, 2021
Fall PFA Meeting Moved to Charlotte
Polyurethane Foam Association Will Hold November Conference in
Charlotte
COVID-19 International Travel Restrictions Necessitated Relocation
LOUDON, TN (July 22, 2021)—The Polyurethane Foam Association (PFA) has decided to
move is November 3-4, 2021 meeting from the Omni King Edward Hotel in Toronto, Ontario to
the Omni Charlotte, in Charlotte, NC.
This was done because of ongoing international travel restrictions imposed due to COVID-19.
“Since there is still uncertainty about travel between the U.S. and Canada this fall, members
preferred a U.S. location for this meeting,” said Russ Batson, Executive Director of PFA. “We’re
grateful to Omni Hotels and Resorts for helping us relocate to their Charlotte property so our
meeting can go forward at a first-class facility with robust attendance.”
PFA returned to in-person meetings in May, hosting its spring meeting at the Vinoy Renaissance
in St. Petersburg. About 40 people participated remotely, in part due to company travel
restrictions.
Batson predicted that in-person attendance in November will move toward pre-pandemic levels,
and noted that CertiPUR-US ® will hold its sessions live in conjunction with PFA’s November
conference. “We’ll maintain the online option for attending, but we’re eager to welcome most of
our colleagues back for food, drink and networking.”
PFA’s twice-a-year meetings include flexible polyurethane foam manufacturers, chemical
suppliers, equipment makers, and other companies supporting the industry. Discussions cover
EHS best practices, legal and regulatory activity, developments in end-user markets, and
technical innovations. A Call for Papers for the November 4 Technical Session will be sent out
shortly.
The Polyurethane Foam Association is a trade association founded in 1980 to help educate foam
users, allied industries, and other stakeholders. PFA provides facts on environmental, health and safety issues and technical information on the performance of FPF in consumer and industrial
products. FPF is used as a key comfort component in most upholstered furniture and mattress
products, along with automotive seating, carpet cushion, packaging, and numerous other
applications.
To learn more, visit www.pfa.org.
July 21, 2021
Last Week’s Foam Expo
July 21, 2021
Last Week’s Foam Expo
July 16, 2021
More Congestion
Union Pacific Halts Shipments From West Coast To Chicago To Ease “Significant Congestion”
by Tyler DurdenFriday, Jul 16, 2021 – 12:17 PM
Brace for even more shortages.
Union Pacific is temporarily suspending eastbound service from West Coast port terminals to its Global IV intermodal facility in Chicago to help ease “significant congestion” at inland terminals, especially Chicago, and at the ports, Freight Waves reports. The suspension is aimed at helping ocean carriers reduce backlogs.Union Pacific plans to temporarily suspend eastbound service from West Coast ports to its Global IV intermodal facility in Chicago. (Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves)
UP hopes this suspension, which will start on Sunday and last for about seven days, will not only help relieve port backlogs for Chicago-bound container traffic but also ultimately help address backlogs for containers destined to other markets. The suspension applies to UP-served terminals at the ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach and Oakland, California, and Tacoma, Washington.
FreightWaves has been told that the suspension reportedly entails customers shipping IPI 20-foot or 40-foot equipment, not customers using domestic 53-foot equipment.
“This week we reached out to the ocean carriers to take more positive steps to improve fluidity and throughput in the Los Angeles Basin and our Global IV facility in Chicago. … We believe this change will allow the transportation supply chain to begin working off the backlog of Global IV-destined trains while freeing up railcar assets to support import loading needs on the West Coast,” UP said in an advisory provided to FreightWaves.
“We are working closely with the ocean carriers and collaborating wherever possible to improve the health of the supply chain.”
UP, along with other supply chain partners including Class I railroads, have been grappling with congestion at the West Coast ports as the economic recovery and robust e-commerce activity have kept U.S. import levels brisk.
Container processing at Southern California port terminals has increased while UP’s rail shipments to and from the ports “are near record highs,” UP said.
FreightWaves SONAR shows that intermodal outbound tender rejections, or outbound intermodal tender transactions rejected in the last seven days, grew in June after dipping to lows in March through mid-May.
Some shippers have expressed concern anecdotally about how the supply chain will handle fall peak, especially amid reports that containers have been waiting to move to multiple destinations for weeks, if not months. The reasons given for the congestion at the ports have ranged from chassis and labor shortages to railcar shortages. As a result of complete supply-chain collapse, container shipping rates have soared to record highs, and this last week hit a new all time high.
UP said it recently held a symposium with ocean carriers in order to determine how to gate out boxes at inland terminals more quickly. From those efforts, UP has capped its storage fees at the Global IV facility for loaded units that are stacked and awaiting out-gate to help ocean carriers and drayage companies, and UP has opened its Global III facility as an interim import container storage location.
“We believe these positive steps will alleviate some of the considerable challenges supply chain participants are facing,” UP said, much to the imminent fury of Chicago residents.
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