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 […]
On a stormy February night in 2009, Colgan Air Flight 3407 crashed on a flight from Newark to Buffalo. The Colgan aircraft, flying under a code share arrangement with Continental Airlines, went into an aerodynamic stall from which it could not recover and crashed into a house, killing the crew, the passengers, and one person […]
This month, after 146 years of featuring the “Greatest Show on Earth”, Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus is giving its last performance. As with some of those things many of us have enjoyed over the years, changing tastes, higher operating costs, and in this case, animal rights activists, have forced the drop of the […]
There has been so much written about the over- the- road truck driver shortage that everyone in the industry is, or should be aware of the issue, its reasons, and consequences. The American Trucking Associations (ATA) has predicted that by 2024, the shortage will be 175,000 drivers, about four times the current shortfall. This does […]
One of the first campaign promises that President Trump made was the renegotiation or outright termination of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). First conceived in 1987, during the Reagan administration it was signed into law in 1994, by president Bill Clinton. Simply stated, NAFTA eliminated most tariffs among the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, […]
Two years ago, several LTL and parcel carriers urged Congress to pass legislation that would have allowed the use of 33 foot twin trailers on the nation’s highways. Although the proposal had a fair amount of backing in Congress, the legislation did not make it to the President’s desk. The new law, had it been […]
Prior to President Trump’s speech to Congress, many of us were looking forward to hearing more about his plans for improving the infrastructure. Unfortunately, he simply restated what he had said before, “I will be asking Congress to approve legislation that produces a $1 trillion investment in the infrastructure of the United States – financed […]
Just the other day, I learned of a startup company that was developing a vehicle for trading derivatives and futures in the domestic transportation market. A similar idea was advanced ten years ago when capacity was short in the industry, and the presumption then was that a firm could lock in future pricing and capacity. […]