The Rack Manufacturers Institute (RMI) recently elected Jeff Andrews, vice president of sales for Elite Storage Solutions, as president and CEO of RMI.
The RMI is an international member association overseeing the engineering, manufacturing and installation guidelines for the pallet rack industry. RMI is a multi-billion dollar manufacturing association where products supply distribution and warehousing companies with various pallet racks, cantilever racks pick modules and rack decking.

Despite slowing U.S. economy, the industrial real estate sector in 2016 will experience disciplined but broad-based expansion as retailers seek quality warehouse and distribution space for both their brick-and-mortar and e-commerce fulfillment needs, according to developer Prologis.
“We’re seeing good diversity by customer type and by size category,” said Chris Caton, vice president of research, in commenting upon the Prologis Industrial Business Indicator report for the fourth quarter of 2015.
Demand for industrial space nationwide was quite strong last year, with net absorption totaling 240 million square feet, including 64 million square feet in the fourth quarter. That was the third consecutive year of net absorption in excess of 200 million square feet and extends a market that has been growing since 2013.

Camso, formerly Camoplast Solideal, has been honoured as Supplier of the Year 2015 by Toyota Material Handling Europe in the “Counterbalanced Trucks” category after collaborating on a new range of Toyota forklifts.

Linde Material Handling will be launching two new models from its innovative Linde-MATIC robotic truck series in time for the LogiMAT trade fair. The Linde T-MATIC pallet truck and the Linde L-MATIC AC counterbalance pallet stacker will complement the current range on offer. Linde’s goal for the medium term is to offer one robotic version for each of its major product series, in cooperation with French robotic specialist Balyo. Further models are to be presented as early as next May at the manufacturer’s World of Material Handling (WoMH) customer event which lasts for two and a half weeks.

India Warehousing Show (IWS) is the leading exhibition and conference for warehousing, logistics, material handling and supply chain industry. Running in its 6th annual edition, the event is attended by over 6,841 Trade visitors, 165+ exhibitors, 377 hosted buyers, 305 conferences delegates during each year representing high level decision-makers and buyers from across the globe. IWS is a complete supply chain event you cannot afford to miss in 2016!

Truckload, intermodal and logistics services provider Schneider announced this week it has opened up a new 147,500 square-foot warehouse in Port Reading, New Jersey.
Green Bay, Wis.-based Schneider said that this facility will allow it to serve shippers that use Northeast-based ports in conjunction with its current warehouse, transload, and port drayage services in the Southeast, Mid-Atlantic, and West Coast regions. And it added that it will help shippers secure ample drayage, transloading, and warehousing services to better meet demand, due to record levels of freight arriving via the Port of New York and New Jersey.

The Rotherham-based logistics provider chose the GP25N machines for their reliability and to replace four older trucks as part of a fleet update. All four machines have been fitted with load weight indicators, keypad ignition systems and transmission protection systems which decreases tyre wear by preventing high speed direction changes and excessive acceleration.

Following the public storage REIT group is about as exciting as watching paint dry, except for the fact that the group has outperformed the S&P 500 for more than a decade. In fact, the largest name in the group, Public Storage (PSA), has returned 17% annually for the last 20 years.
Last July, I was very bullish on Extra Storage Space (EXE). Extra Storage is the second-largest publicly traded self-storage REIT and the stock has been an absolute monster.  
Public Storage is the largest self-storage REIT in the United States, and the stock has hardly slowed down since the company went public.

Leading Yorkshire developers Sterling Capitol and the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA), advised by Indigo Planning, have been given unanimous approval for a large-scale employment and distribution hub in Goole by the East Riding of Yorkshire planning committee. The planning consent could create up to 3,000 new jobs.

Florida’s Port Everglades and the US-based marine terminal operator King Ocean Services Limited have renewed their 20-year lease agreement.