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Ports-to-Plains Corridor: A Pipeline for Progress
Stretching from Texas’ U.S.-Mexico border to Alberta, Canada, the Ports-to-Plains Corridor represents a vital trade conduit for North America’s energy and agriculture heartland.
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Have You Seen That 584-Page ‘Map’ Yet?
If you are reading this magazine, you are likely either directly or indirectly involved in the $700 billion domestic freight industry. So you know that to be successful, every logistics organization must overcome hurdles that challenge profitability, on-time service and, most importantly, safety. One of these hurdles should not be a marketplace that tolerates carriers, […]
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Cross-border Trade Secrets
When moving shipments into and out of Canada, what you don’t know can hurt you. Specialized logistics providers can help you capitalize on opportunities, ensure compliance, and keep you safe from harm.
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Using Big Data to Build Tomorrow’s Supply Chain Today
Q: How can transportation and logistics companies use big data to differentiate themselves? A: Supply chain professionals in all industries and government sectors must transform their supply chain process to meet organizational strategies and goals. Information fusion breaks down the barriers spanning all demand-supply enterprises. A critical requirement is real-time, high-quality, reliable data and information […]
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The Case for Transportation Management Software
Q: What innovative technology initiatives help increase supply chain efficiencies? A: The number one return on investment (ROI) that will provide continuous process improvement, and at the same time keep freight costs under control, is integrating a transportation management system (TMS) with a shipper’s existing systems, such as an ERP solution, warehouse or order management […]
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Meeting the Challenges of the Ever-Evolving Compliance Environment
Q: Even though developing markets are growing rapidly, many companies are reluctant to expand operations overseas because they do not have relationships there, are unsure of the infrastructure, or are not familiar with local demands and requirements. What options are open to them? A: Looking for the right place to expand overseas is more important […]
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Making a Business Case for GTM
Q: What is the role of global trade management (GTM) in organizations today? A: In today’s world, GTM is more than compliance. GTM practitioners should think of GTM as standing on three equal pillars: compliance, supply chain finance, and global logistics. A holistic approach is necessary given the growing complexity—both in regulations and geography—of international […]
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Collaborative Freight Strategies Offer Lower-Cost Alternative to LTL
Q: Why is it important for small and mid-sized consumer packaged goods (CPG) shippers to collaborate on freight strategies to remain competitive? A: If they don’t, they will continue to pay more than their larger competitors, who have the volume to ship more economical full truckloads. For years, smaller shippers have accepted the higher cost […]
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Trading Partner Collaboration Yields Supply Chain Value
Q: How can value chain partners collaborate to create and share efficiencies? A: Retailers and manufacturers have made progress in improving the effectiveness and efficiency of their individual supply chains. They have found savings and efficiencies, and implemented new processes. Now, trading partners must collaborate to find new avenues for improvement. The competitive retail landscape […]
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Intermodal Transportation’s Strategic Advantage
Q: Why are shippers making intermodal more integral to their logistics strategies? A: Shippers are using intermodal for a variety of reasons. In many rail corridors, intermodal provides a much better value proposition than highway. Rail transportation is often more energy efficient, so “going green” in intermodal means moving freight costs less. With the driver […]
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TMS or 3PL: Which Suits Your Business Best?
Q: How does implementing a transportation management system (TMS) compare to engaging a third-party logistics (3PL) service provider? A: A TMS provider’s core business is offering software solutions that solve customer transportation requirements. Companies that implement TMS solutions are looking for certain capabilities: maintaining relationships with carriers; improving supply chain management and effectiveness; streamlining operations; […]
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Extended LEAN™ Increases Speed to Competitive Advantage. Continuous Improvement Method Takes Companies from Surviving to Thriving
Most operations and logistics leaders have spent at least part of their careers implementing LEAN principles within companies to improve quality, cost and delivery performance. The majority likely learned basic LEAN methods in week-long doses of kaizen ("good change" in Japanese) events trying to reduce wastes. Today many of those early adopters—and new LEAN thinkers […]
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Mobility Solutions That Improve Field Productivity
The freight and logistics industry is truly a mobile world. People, products, and packages are constantly on the move from one location to another, and employees are increasingly using smartphones in their daily lives—with all the benefits of continuous, high-bandwidth connectivity, stronger device capabilities, and more targeted applications. So how can the industry take advantage […]
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Transportation Payment—Bank on a Better Way
The definition of "carrier" is pretty straightforward: an entity that transports freight. Carriers are in the transportation business, plain and simple. Actually, not so simple. Carriers are also in the credit business. Unintentionally, to be sure, but they are. When carriers set payment terms of 45 days, they are essentially extending credit to the shipper […]
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Natural Gas For Long-Haul Trucking: Working Together to Get It Right
Q: The trucking industry is poised to increase its use of natural gas for heavy-duty, long-haul freight. Is this a good idea? A: Natural gas sounds like a dream proposition. It’s cheap, domestic, and, when it burns, it emits a quarter of the carbon dioxide (CO2) of diesel fuel—and few other pollutants. So it potentially […]
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The Natural Gas Factor: New Market for Providers, New Competition for Capacity
The boom in natural gas and shale exploration in North America holds both good news and bad news for chemical companies. The natural gas being extracted from shale plays across the United States and in Canada has emerged as a low-cost alternative source for powering industrial facilities. As a result, some chemical manufacturers are reshoring […]
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Latin American Logistics: Keeping Up With the Latin Beat
The region’s improving infrastructure and trade policies offer companies supply chain expansion opportunities
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Complex Products, Complex Logistics Needs
By their very nature, chemicals make for complicated logistics. Transporting, storing, and distributing flammable, corrosive, highly reactive and carcinogenic materials is not an easy task. And when things go wrong, it’s not just a late or missing shipment at hand—there are economic, environmental, and emotional consequences. The deadly fertilizer plant explosion that occurred in April […]
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No Shortage of Challenges
Lack of capacity is one of the biggest challenges chemical shippers are currently grappling with. The culprits? The ongoing truck driver shortage, and changes to the Hours of Service rules, which take effect in July 2013 and will limit drivers’ time on the roads. While capacity issues are impacting all shippers, chemical companies feel the […]
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Outsourcing for Optimum Supply Chain Effectiveness
MORE TO THE STORY: An Industry in Flux The chemical industry’s complex logistics needs, safety and security concerns, and regulatory issues make outsourced logistics, transportation, distribution, and warehouse services an important part of its supply chain. Third-party logistics (3PL) providers working with the chemical industry offer a wide range of services in different levels of […]
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