Articles
Commentary
Infrastructure Triage 101
The U.S. logistics system is the nation’s life and supply line and deserves our highest attention. A sobering assessment of our regard for America’s infrastructure is found in the American Society of Civil Engineers’ (ASCE) most recent report card. Here are the grades: Rail: C- Aviation: D+ Roads: D Bridges: C Navigable Waterways: D- It’s […]
Read MoreChoosing a 3PL: Safety First
When negotiating transportation services with a third-party logistics provider (3PL), you may find that they emphasize efficiency, customer service, competitive pricing, and timeliness. Safety is rarely a selling point and may go unmentioned during discussions. When shopping for 3PL services, however, a good safety record should be at the top of your checklist. Contracting with […]
Read MoreLocation-Based Services Put Efficiency on the Map
Enhanced productivity. Cost savings. Revenue increases. Improved customer relations. These are among the most important – and most widely acknowledged – benefits of deploying location-based service (LBS) tools such as geographic positioning systems (GPS) and street-level routing (SLR). Add one more benefit of emerging importance that will have significant impact over time: reduced emissions. Corporations, […]
Read MoreCan We Create a Viable National Transportation Policy?
State and federal transportation departments, the White House, and Congress have failed to promote and fund a coherent and dynamic national transportation policy to meet the infrastructure demands of our 21st century global business environment. Today’s overburdened and congested infrastructure cannot meet the economic and energy demands of a population that has doubled since 1950. […]
Read MoreUp and Atom
Some thought leaders, visionaries, and business gurus claim the United States is transforming from an “industrial” to a “post-industrial” economy. More guru-speak: “Wealth in the United States will be created more and more by electrons, and less and less by atoms.” In English, that means our information and service businesses will continue to grow (electrons) […]
Read MoreHamilton on Wry
One misty day, I wandered about the graveyard at Trinity Church in lower Manhattan. I spotted a figure sitting on the steps of a square granite box with four urns at its corners and a truncated pyramid in its center. It was the tomb of Alexander Hamilton (1755-1804), who for many Americans is merely the […]
Read MoreCommunity Developers: Take the Intermodal Initiative
My Sears vacuum cleaner, made by Panasonic in Japan a decade ago, quit working recently. Replacing the original relay with a part now made in Indonesia fixed the problem. Clearly, it’s not just America that is outsourcing. Manufacturing worldwide has morphed into production sharing, where companies assemble and sell products made from subassemblies sourced around […]
Read MoreWith SaaS, You Make the Rules
Most companies spend 40 to 80 percent of their annual transportation budget on moving inbound shipments from suppliers. Despite these whopping costs, businesses boast relatively little control over their selection of inbound carriers or their service levels. Instead, most depend on suppliers to correctly assign carriers, then provide tracking information to the buying organization. This […]
Read MoreReverse Logistics: It Pays to Do It Right
Returns management and reverse logistics represent a significant source of untapped profitability for many organizations. Specifically, reverse logistics is rapidly emerging as a core driver of competitive advantage and financial performance among leading manufacturers, according to a recent Aberdeen Group report, Revisiting Reverse Logistics in the Customer-Centric Service Chain. Optimizing reverse logistics operations also can […]
Read MoreTraining Daze
The importance of logistics education is often overlooked and underrated, not only here in the United States, but abroad as well. A reader alerted me to a Financial Times article skewering the state of logistics training in the United Kingdom: “Poor productivity and high staff turnover in the UK’s logistics industry are undermining the competitiveness […]
Read MoreThe Perils of Trucking: It Takes a Thief
Q: I am expanding into Central and South America and need trucking insurance to cover my cargo. Can you help me? A: This is a common question from shippers who cannot obtain cargo insurance, from forwarders who are unable to get liability insurance, and even from truckers who are required to secure cover before any […]
Read MoreLogistics Managers Earn Job Security
As recently as a decade ago, most U.S.-based companies’ supply chains were predominantly domestic, and providing manufacturing support to U.S. factories was a booming business. Today, however, global supply chains dominate and the number of U.S. plants to support is dwindling. As a result, many North American supply chain professionals are concerned about how their […]
Read MoreCombating Congestion: Consider Moving Out
Americans have seen tremendous technological advancement in the past 50 years. We operate and communicate at a faster pace, with one glaring exception: the physical movement of people and products. We still move goods on the same transportation infrastructure that President Eisenhower created in the 1950s. Back then, infrastructure was created to accommodate the growth […]
Read MoreShipping Perishables Without Going Bananas
Perishables. It’s a word that can make any shipping manager or logistics provider cringe. The loss of perishable goods in transit means lost revenue. But a host of technologies and new solutions take the fear out of shipping perishable goods such as pharmaceuticals, food, and plants. Choosing the right type of packaging and testing it […]
Read MoreTracing the Genealogy of a Food Recall
Anyone who has ever tried to trace their roots back more than a few generations knows how challenging that task can be. Unless you’re of royal lineage, the path back through history tends to be lined with false leads and dead ends. If you do find any information, it’s often on handwritten notes that you […]
Read MoreWho Ruined the Inventory?
If you got a call from a customer complaining that the temperature-sensitive goods you shipped were ruined, would you be able to track down where and how it happened? If the problem was on their end, could you prove it? What if a supplier sent your company decayed goods? Nobody needs disputes like this wreaking […]
Read MoreProper Hazmat Training Needs to Catch Fire
Hazmat shipments are a common feature of U.S. supply chains. Yet for many businesses, training does not match the frequency with which these products are moving. In 1996, 800,000 movements of hazardous material were made daily in the United States, according to U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) estimates. Conservative estimates today put that number closer […]
Read MoreThe Case for a Global Trading Partner Network
America’s appetite for imports continues to grow—in 2006, the United States imported a record $1.6 trillion of goods, according to U.S. Customs. But today’s global trade practices are highly fragmented. A typical overseas purchase, for example, requires the various parties in the logistics process to trade more than 60 different documents across partners, countries, languages, […]
Read MoreThe Best Companies Hire the Best People
In today’s complex business environment, nothing is more important than justifying dollar impact. In sports, when a team wants to win a championship, the least expensive option is never considered. Managers want to ensure a win, regardless of cost. They are looking at Return on Investment (ROI). Likewise, all business functions ranging from sales and […]
Read MoreOne Small Victory
What were the legislators in Michigan thinking? What started out three years ago as a grass roots voter initiative to simplify tax procedures ended up as a six-percent state tax on warehousing and logistics activities. Clearly an anti-labor, anti-business, and anti-economic development move by Michigan lawmakers who forgot they preside over the state with the […]
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