Last-Mile Solutions: Delivering the Future

Last-Mile Solutions: Delivering the Future

New technologies are transforming last-mile delivery from a cost center into a strategic differentiator. Drones, robots, intelligent routing, and other innovations are reshaping how goods move and how brands win loyalty.

Random Stow or the Disorganized Warehouse?

Random Stow or the Disorganized Warehouse?

Random Stow is a warehouse putaway method driven by an algorithm developed by Coupang, an ecommerce monster and formidable Amazon competitor. For the Korean market, Coupang uses this counterintuitive warehouse management method, which stores items wherever there is open shelf space, rather than grouping similar SKUs together. The warehouse might look disorganized. But it is […]

John Deere Bolsters U.S. Supply Chain With New Distribution Hub, Doubling Down on Domestic Manufacturing

John Deere Bolsters U.S. Supply Chain With New Distribution Hub, Doubling Down on Domestic Manufacturing

John Deere is expanding its U.S. industrial footprint with a major investment in a new distribution center near Hebron, Indiana, positioning the agricultural and construction equipment maker to sharpen parts logistics and reinforce its supply chain resilience. The facility, announced alongside a new excavator manufacturing plant in Kernersville, North Carolina, underscores Deere’s strategy to bring […]

Riding the 2026 Wave

Riding the 2026 Wave

While doom-scrolling through Facebook late one night, I saw a painting by a friend that captured something I hadn’t quite been able to put into words—so much so that I reached out and asked if we could use it for our January cover. It perfectly reflects a good way to look at the year ahead. […]

10 Tips for Improving Yard Visibility

10 Tips for Improving Yard Visibility

Transportation and warehouse activities may be well tracked, but once a trailer enters the yard, visibility breaks down. Improving visibility is not a data problem but an operating model problem, requiring a system governing how work is planned, executed, measured, and improved—making visibility actionable rather than merely descriptive.

Top 10 Limousine Service Companies in Europe 2026

Top 10 Limousine Service Companies in Europe 2026

Expectations for premium transportation have long gone beyond simple comfort when it comes to moving around European megacities. It has long been known that the market often offers only a beautiful wrapper, but in 2026, logistics for business and VIP travel require far more. It is not just punctuality but also flawless coordination, which becomes […]

What’s Your Supply Chain Acronym for 2026?

What’s Your Supply Chain Acronym for 2026?

SIPOC will remain the king acronym in supply chain. It serves as an organizing framework to design material flows and to explain basic supply chain concepts to the uninitiated. While it papers over a lot of detail, process, and difficulty of course, it remains a powerful concept for its simplicity, accuracy, and functionality.

–Joe Adamski
Senior Director
ProcureAbility

Why a Profitable 3PL Will Matter More Than Ever in 2026

Why a Profitable 3PL Will Matter More Than Ever in 2026

Q. Why does profitability matter more when choosing a 3PL in 2026? A. Over the past few years, there has been a noticeable shift, not just in the 3PL space, but across industries. Profitability took a backseat to market share for a while. That worked fine when capital was cheap, but that’s no longer the […]

Navigating GRI and Surcharge Changes

Navigating GRI and Surcharge Changes

Understanding the 2026 GRI requires clarity into how those changes behave across real shipment data and how pricing strategy is evolving beneath the headlines. This guide will help.

6 Ways to Reclaim Margin

6 Ways to Reclaim Margin

For many mid-size companies, freight costs have quietly become a dangerous threat to profit margins. These six strategies offer actionable starting points to reclaim margin and build more resilient logistics operations.

NOTED: Supply Chain Highlights

NOTED: Supply Chain Highlights

Two Lufthansa Cargo subsidiaries—CB Customs Broker and heyworld—will merge into a single company effective January 2026. The goal of the merger is to unite complementary capabilities and create a unique one-stop offering for cross-border logistics solutions at parcel level.

Info Snacks: Bite Sized Supply Chain Information

Info Snacks: Bite Sized Supply Chain Information

LEO Satellites: A New Frontier for Supply Chain Resilience In a move set to redefine supply chain connectivity, Crane Worldwide Logistics announced a partnership to integrate low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite technology from Amazon LEO across its global operations, beginning in 2027. The primary impact is on business continuity and resilience: As climate events and […]

AI in Supply Chain Management: How Useful Will It Be in 2026?

AI in Supply Chain Management: How Useful Will It Be in 2026?

Rating Highly Readers rated AI’s expected usefulness on a scale of 1 to 10 (with 10 being transformative). Note: Fractions were rounded up. Average rating: 8 Range of answers: 3 to 10 Artificial intelligence will be transformative—driving forecasting, inventory optimization, and decision-making. It’s also powering digital twin roadmaps by connecting AI-driven forecasts to simulation models […]

IN BRIEF: New Services and Solutions

IN BRIEF: New Services and Solutions

DHL Global Forwarding launched DHL Consolidated Clearance Service for U.S. imports. DHL’s new service offers a customs clearance process that consolidates multiple shipments under a single entry. It is designed to support businesses, particularly with high-volume operations, that are transitioning from de minimis clearance for their U.S. imports to clearance via formal and informal entry.

Guide to Plumbing Inventory Software: How to Track Tools & Cut Costs

Guide to Plumbing Inventory Software: How to Track Tools & Cut Costs

Plumbing Inventory Software: Track Parts & Cut Costs Ever sent a technician to a job site only to discover the part you swear was in the truck isn’t there? Or realized you’ve been sitting on $15K of pipe that’s been gathering dust in your warehouse for six months? These aren’t just annoying mistakes, they’re profit […]

What Supply Chain Tool or Strategy Is Your Most Valuable Player?

What Supply Chain Tool or Strategy Is Your Most Valuable Player?

Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) are the unsung MVP of the modern supply chain. They connect transportation, insurance, compliance, and analytics into one real-time system. –Johnny McCord CEO and Founder Loadsure AI-powered process intelligence. By using data to map the flow of supply chain processes, organizations can uncover bottlenecks and delays, automate tasks, and measure performance […]

What Are the Top Bookkeeping Services for Transportation?

What Are the Top Bookkeeping Services for Transportation?

The top bookkeeping services for transportation give carriers the structure they need to manage tight margins and timely billing, especially as daily operations shift across lanes and customer demands. A trucking company that hauls refrigerated goods often reconciles fuel card data every week to monitor rising diesel prices and confirms each trip meets its target […]

4 CX Winning Moves in Supply Chain

4 CX Winning Moves in Supply Chain

As demands for speed, visibility, and convenience intensify, customer experience has moved from a nice-to-have to a defining market advantage. Here’s how to boost your CX score.

5 Supply Chain Developments That Defined 2025

5 Supply Chain Developments That Defined 2025

As we closed our last edition of 2025, I looked back at reader emails and conversations and saw a clear pattern: This was a year of fundamental transformation. Evolving technology, geopolitical events, and demanding customers created constant pressure on your supply chains and drove five strategic developments. 1. Tariffs redefine the cost and complexity of […]

How to Conquer Seasonal Surges

How to Conquer Seasonal Surges

Here are three actionable strategies that retailers can implement to help overcome peak season inventory challenges while building a more robust, agile, and profitable supply chain for the future.

Heartland Express Finalizes CFI Integration, Rebrands Operations

Heartland Express Finalizes CFI Integration, Rebrands Operations

By Felecia Stratton | December 10, 2025 Heartland Express, Inc. has announced that it will fully integrate the U.S. operations of Contract Freighters, Inc. (CFI) into its broader fleet, effective December 31, 2025. The move brings to a close CFI’s run as a separate operating unit, as its operations are absorbed into Heartland Express. The […]

CBP Opens CTPAT Pilot to Freight Brokers and Non-Asset 3PLs

CBP Opens CTPAT Pilot to Freight Brokers and Non-Asset 3PLs

By Amy Roach | December 9, 2025 U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has unveiled a five-year pilot program that, for the first time, allows freight brokers and warehouse-based third-party logistics providers (3PLs) to apply for membership in Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (CTPAT). The program, which launched earlier this month, marks a significant expansion of […]

AI Chip Demand Creates New Global Supply Chain Strains

AI Chip Demand Creates New Global Supply Chain Strains

By Felecia Stratton | December 3, 2025 Global supply chains are facing a fresh challenge: surging demand for advanced memory chips used in artificial intelligence data centers. A new report from Reuters shows demand for advanced high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips used to power AI data centers has boomed so sharply that manufacturers are diverting production […]

Somewhere Henry Ford is Smiling

Somewhere Henry Ford is Smiling

Henry Ford revolutionized car manufacturing by inventing the moving assembly line. Besides saving time and money, that new process made the Model T affordable and ubiquitous. Today, thousands of vehicle plants around the world still use that method. Using Ford’s method, modern vehicle assembly lines are a moving and sequential process where a car’s frame—called […]

Will AI Replace Freight Brokers? Understanding the Future of Brokerage in a Tech-Driven Supply Chain

Will AI Replace Freight Brokers? Understanding the Future of Brokerage in a Tech-Driven Supply Chain

As artificial intelligence (AI), automation, and machine learning advance across the supply chain, one question has moved to the forefront of logistics conversations: Will AI replace freight brokers? The short answer: Total replacement is unlikely, but transformation is inevitable. AI is already reshaping how brokers quote freight, match loads, communicate with carriers, and manage data. […]

Supply-Chain Shorts: UPS and Caterpillar News, Tequila Cargo Theft & More

Supply-Chain Shorts: UPS and Caterpillar News, Tequila Cargo Theft & More

Return to Sender UPS is reportedly “disposing” of some packages unable to clear U.S. Customs following regulatory changes that ended the long-standing “de minimis” exemption, which had allowed duty-free entry for goods valued under $800. The change imposed new tariffs and fees on more than 1 billion packages annually. UPS officials told NBC News that […]

Future-Proofing Florida

Future-Proofing Florida

Florida’s strong transportation infrastructure has long made it a key U.S. logistics hub. Now, the state is looking ahead, investing to meet growing supply chain demands.

The Highest-Paying Logistics and Supply Chain Jobs for 2026

The Highest-Paying Logistics and Supply Chain Jobs for 2026

As companies prepare for another year of supply chain complexity—including unpredictable freight markets, geopolitical risk, and rapid automation—demand for skilled logistics and supply chain professionals is set to surge in 2026. Organizations across tech, manufacturing, energy, biotech, and defense are paying top dollar to secure leaders who can build resilient, efficient, data-driven supply chains.  A […]

FASTER D2C: Unpacking Fast Fulfillment and Delivery

FASTER D2C: Unpacking Fast Fulfillment and Delivery

As same-day delivery becomes the norm, businesses harness supply chain visibility, strategic inventory placement, and AI to master the intricate balance between expedited fulfillment and shipping and ever-tightening customer expectations.

What New Job Will AI Create in Logistics/Supply Chain Management?

What New Job Will AI Create in Logistics/Supply Chain Management?

AUDIT AI risk auditor. As artificial intelligence takes over routine planning, we’ll need experts who audit the decisions it makes. This role will interrogate AI-driven forecasts, sourcing choices, and risk models. –Lisa Montague Commercial Director (South), AGI Global Logistics Ethics and governance director. This position drives the safe and ethical adoption of AI across all […]

Shining a Light on Dark Factories

Shining a Light on Dark Factories

A manufacturing revolution is underway in factories around the world. “Lights-out” manufacturing is finally being realized in a few highly automated and roboticized locations. This dramatic shift—also known as the “dark factory”—is the ultimate objective of industrial automation: a factory so automated that it requires little or no human presence. Humans need the lights, machines […]

NOTED: Supply Chain Highlights

NOTED: Supply Chain Highlights

GREEN SEEDS: MSC and OOCL emerged as the most efficient carriers on the Asia-Northern Europe trade lane in OceanScore’s Scope 3 at Sea report, thanks to their combination of below-average carbon intensity, steadier speed profiles, and consistent vessel utilization.

Intermodal:  A Smart Way to Ship (and Save)

Intermodal: A Smart Way to Ship (and Save)

Rail mergers, cutting-edge technology, and nearshoring continue to transform intermodal and multimodal transportation, slashing costs and boosting sustainability. Here’s how to navigate this dynamic landscape for maximum efficiency and resilience.

New Video: Turning Pallets Into Supply Chain Data Engines

Story and Interview by Amy Roach | November 3, 2025 What was once a simple piece of warehouse equipment is now becoming a data source for supply chain intelligence. That’s the takeaway from Inbound Logistics’ recent video podcast, “Pallets as Supply Chain Intelligence Tools,” featuring Jonathan Parks, Senior Vice President of Supply Chain at iGPS. […]

What is FIFO? First In, First Out: Benefits and How to Calculate

What is FIFO? First In, First Out: Benefits and How to Calculate

FIFO stands for “first in, first out.” It is an inventory accounting method and stock rotation strategy. Businesses use it to sell or use the oldest inventory first. If you are a business owner, FIFO is especially useful for managing inventory efficiently and ensuring accurate financial reporting. The FIFO method is used for accounting purposes, […]

3PL vs. 4PL vs. 5PL: Their Key Differences

3PL vs. 4PL vs. 5PL: Their Key Differences

Growing global demand and rising customer expectations have pushed many businesses to rethink how they manage logistics. Instead of handling everything in-house, outsourced logistics services have become a practical and scalable choice, especially for companies aiming to streamline their company’s operations and boost supply chain efficiency. Understanding the difference between 3PL vs 4PL vs 5PL […]

Macy’s Bets Big on Automation to Reinvent Its Supply Chain

Macy’s Bets Big on Automation to Reinvent Its Supply Chain

By Amy Roach | October 30, 2025 When Macy’s Inc. cut the ribbon on its new automated fulfillment center in China Grove, North Carolina earlier this month, it signaled something more than a real estate expansion: it marked a strategic reset for one of America’s oldest retail brands. At 2.5 million square feet and with […]

IN BRIEF: New Services and Solutions

IN BRIEF: New Services and Solutions

Sallaum Lines debuted its first LNG dual-fuel newbuilding, the Ocean Breeze, with a ceremony in the port of Antwerp. The Ocean Breeze is the first of six LNG dual-fuel pure car and truck carriers (PCTCs) to join the Sallaum Lines fleet by 2027, providing substantial reductions in CO2, NO2, and particulate emissions and boosting the RoRo carrier’s capacity.

Just in Case (JIC) Manufacturing: What It Is, Benefits, and Drawbacks

Just in Case (JIC) Manufacturing: What It Is, Benefits, and Drawbacks

JIC manufacturing focuses on keeping extra stock to prepare for unexpected changes in customer demand or supplier delays. This inventory strategy aims to avoid production delays and ensure smooth manufacturing processes by holding more raw materials and finished goods than usual. Companies rely on just-in-case inventory to protect against supply chain disruptions and maintain supply […]