Although we have heard and read about a shortage of over-the-road (OTR) drivers for several years, the recession and slow recovery have minimized the problem somewhat. The situation is changing quickly however, and at the recent management conference of the American Trucking Associations (ATA), the driver shortage was once again identified as the most critical […]
As we reported here in March of this year, early in his campaign, President Trump advocated the renegotiation or complete dissolution of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and has continued to push that idea since the election. First conceived in 1987, NAFTA was finally signed into law in 1994, and has been very […]
On September 24-27, the annual conference of the Council of Logistics Management Professionals (CSCMP) was held in Atlanta. The conference, now called CSCMP Edge, has grown from what was strictly an educational symposium to a much larger event, still heavy on education, but now including an exhibition of the products of equipment, software, solutions, and […]
This week, there are two major transportation events that deserve mention. One involves the long road to ELD implementation, and the other a perceived serious breakdown in rail service on a major eastern railroad. ELDs REDUX In our last blog, we mentioned that Representative Brian Babin (R-Texas) was not giving up easily and had proposed […]
After several years of debate and courtroom challenges, it appears that electronic logging devices (ELDs) will be standard trucking equipment by the end of the year. The final regulation, which was initiated by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and mandated by Congress in the 2012 Map-21 highway funding bill, will become effective on […]
With the introduction of mega-ships into international trade, it is often possible for a fully loaded container vessel to call at more than one U.S. port. When they do so (for example, offloading containers at Long Beach and sailing on to Oakland to offload others), ships create excess capacity between the two ports that can […]
As Amazon continues to squeeze its competition, retailers such as Walmart are pulling out all the stops in an effort to maintain their position in the industry. The recent purchase of Whole Foods by Amazon will greatly strengthen its position in the grocery products market, an area to which Walmart has devoted considerable resources over […]
In the several decades I have been in this industry I cannot recall a time when the supply chain and the political environment were so closely entwined. For the past few years, and particularly since the last election, every month or so we have read about some new piece of supply chain legislation either contemplated […]
The next time someone comes to your door holding a suspicious-looking package, look carefully before you call the police. If he or she is wearing a blue vest, it may be a Walmart store employee delivering your online purchase on their way home from work. Walmart has just announced a pilot program in one Arkansas […]
Industry watchers have been sitting on the edges of their seats waiting to see how the administration plans to fund the huge infrastructure investment the president has promised; and the fiscal 2018 budget request has given us some insight into their plans. And it comes as no surprise that the White House and DOT see […]