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Digest ( MEED ) reported that the US ’ Hill International , in a joint venture with Italy ’ s Italferr and Spain ’ s Sener , had been awarded the management services contract for the project . “ The estimated $ 7 billion railway project will connect the east and west coasts of the kingdom and is one of the region ’ s largest infrastructure schemes ,” MEED said . The project has been seen in the past as too expensive to finance . “ That ’ s true , but that is in cases where the UAE is regarded as the base for regional logistics ,” said Hashim Mak , a Riyadhbased freight forwarder . “ If you make Saudi Arabia the regional base , and Dammam and Jeddah become the new major ports , things could change

fast .” With container capacity constrained to feeder vessels , ocean rates have soared , with an FEU shipment from Dubai to the west coast of Saudi Arabia , which cost $ 450 before Red Sea ship diversions , now at $ 1,850 , according to a Dubai-based freight forwarder who requested anonymity . However , industry insiders say the UAE-Saudi border is now getting congested as more shippers turn to the two-day trucking transit , excluding delays at the Al Sila Ghuweifat crossing in Abu Dhabi . Jeddah-based LogiPoint said clients with shipments bound for the UAE , Qatar , Kuwait , Oman and Bahrain , could discharge containers at Jeddah Port for eastward truck transit .

J . B . Hunt taps Shelley Simpson as next CEO

Shelley Simpson will become CEO of J . B . Hunt Transport Services , effective July 1 , marking a rise to the top of the largest asset-owning intermodal provider in North America where she began her career almost 30 years ago . Simpson , 52 , will also join J . B . Hunt ’ s Board of Directors . She ’ s been president since August 2022 and will retain that role after she becomes CEO , the company said in a Feb . 29 statement . Having a woman lead J . B . Hunt is not surprising as the company ’ s co-founders were Johnnie Bryan Hunt and his wife Johnelle , both of whom had an active role in the business . Johnelle Hunt remains the company ’ s largest shareholder . Simpson , who joined J . B . Hunt in 1994 , has been at the forefront of many initiatives at the company . In 2007 , she was a critical part of launching J . B . Hunt ’ s truckload brokerage division . In 2017 , Simpson led the effort to create J . B . Hunt 360 , a freight matching platform that shippers can use to tender freight digitally and drivers can use to choose loads to haul . Last year , she led the effort to launch the new Quantum product , a joint effort with BNSF Railway to provide a mixture of intermodal and truckload services with a guarantee to shippers of 95 % on-time performance .

J . B . Hunt

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