Most in the industry are aware that most over the road trucks and buses are now required to be equipped with electronic logging devices (ELDs); but like many major changes in the industry, the journey to get there has been tortuous. Since 1938, bus and truck drivers have been required to keep logs of their […]
Unless he or she just returned from Mars, every supply chain manager has encountered, or certainly heard of the “Amazon Effect”. Driven by the aggressive customer techniques of Amazon, the term has come to stand for rapid and dependable service, often same day deliveries, free shipping, and instant visibility. To accomplish this, Amazon has established […]
As we wrote last month, negotiations for a new North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) are not going well. President Trump has criticized the agreement repeatedly and succeeded in antagonizing both Mexico and Canada through the U.S. negotiating team. In spite of overwhelming support among U.S. businesses, we have delayed negotiations long enough that any […]
On June 16, the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) released the “29th Annual State of Logistics Report”. This year’s report was entitled Steep Grade Ahead .The SOL report was launched in 1988, by the late Bob Delaney, one of the leading supply chain experts of that time; and after his death carried on […]
Those of us who followed the presidential election campaign will recall that one of President Trump’s commitments, if elected, was to pull the United States out of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). First proposed during the Reagan administration, NAFTA was signed into law by President Clinton in 1993. It is an agreement among […]
As we continue to read about the impact of Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, Autonomous Vehicles, Robots, Drones. The Amazon Effect, and other technological advances on the supply chain, some supply chain managers are becoming increasingly nervous about the amount of change with which they are being confronted. Some of us are inherently nervous about any kind […]
I am sure it won’t come as any great surprise to anyone that we will not be seeing infrastructure legislation coming out of Washington this year. With the mid-term elections coming up in November, members of Congress are far more interested in campaigning and working on legislation that will make them more popular with their […]
For over fifty years, firms have outsourced the audit and payment of transportation freight bills. While not at the top of the list of outsourced functions in the supply chain industry, one third of the North American respondents in the 2018 Third Party Logistics Study indicated that they outsource the activity. There are significant advantages […]
There has been a considerable amount of discussion lately about what appears to be a pending trade war with China. In an effort to “protect American business”, President Trump has announced his intention to levy a 25% duty on over 1300 hundred products currently imported from China. China immediately called the bluff and promised a […]
For over a year, industry pundits have predicted that in 2018, we would experience a significant increase in rates for both truckload and LTL shipments. Many were predicting another “perfect storm”. While I think the storm might have been somewhat overstated, it appears that basically, they were correct. ACT Research has said “Clearly, truckers are […]