Articles

Transportation

Jim Syfan
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A National Standard for Hiring ‘Safe’ Motor Carriers

Q: Is there confusion over what constitutes a safe carrier when screening and contracting for shipments? A: Most definitely. Unfortunately, the courts are deciding safety standards for carriers, and their opinions vary widely from state to state. This puts contractors—shippers, brokers, forwarders, and receivers—in an awkward position, particularly when something goes wrong, such as a […]

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John W. Wallace
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Panama: Leveraging Opportunities Beyond the Canal

It’s not only shipping lines, railroads, logistics service providers, and multinational firms that want to know to what extent the Panama Canal expansion project will affect business. Every company will be affected plenty, and must be prepared to modify existing distribution operations to reflect the changing world. Why will the Panama Canal expansion have such […]

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Luther Brown
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Getting a Handle on Loss and Damage Claims

Q: Why are loss and damage claims a challenge for shippers? A: Global shippers face many challenges when it comes to managing loss and damage claims. The top three are a lack of knowledge about claims preparation and filing requirements (including documentation and time frames); a lack of resources to follow through on outstanding claims; […]

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Dr. Matthew Waller
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Innovation in Business Processes from Northwest Arkansas

Northwest Arkansas is a hotbed for innovations in supply chain management, the effects of which span the globe. Although some argue that various aspects of these innovations started elsewhere, they have, at the very least, been perfected and rolled out broadly in Northwest Arkansas. Though these innovations have been in areas of data science and […]

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Bud Snodgrass: Oils Well That Ends Well
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Bud Snodgrass: Oils Well That Ends Well

Bud Snodgrass is director of logistics at Universal Lubricants in Wichita, Kansas. He joined the company in 2013. Responsibilities: Distribution, including warehousing and customer service at 17 distribution centers; all inbound and outbound transportation. Experience: Several positions in marine claims, scheduling and distribution, sales, and other areas, Koch Industries; account executive, Trane – Asset Management […]

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Sue Delve
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How the Hub-and-Spoke Model Transformed the Transportation Industry

In the past, the transportation and distribution industry was guided by the principles of point-to-point or direct-route operations. Transportation networks were disorganized, and shipping, aviation, and transit companies were losing money. As technology has developed, the logistics sector has found faster and more cost-effective ways of shipping freight. The hub-and-spoke model was born from industry’s […]

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Donn Deffebach
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Plan Better Truck Routes: Long-range Itinerary Generation Enhances Operations

Not so long ago, route planning, fleet optimization, and driver allocation relied almost exclusively on the guile, instincts, and experience of operations managers and dispatch personnel. Long-range forecasting was theoretical at best. The tools used static data, and couldn’t handle the inevitable adjustments required by the dynamics of day-to-day operations. This is changing fast. While […]

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Rick Erickson
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Accessible Capital, Trustworthy Partners Key to Managing Freight Costs

Q: What is the key to managing freight spend in today’s environment? A: In addition to the slow growth economy, the transportation industry has been hit with significant economic and industry challenges, including increasing regulations, driver shortages, fluctuating fuel costs, and a tight credit environment. Carrier costs are going up—costs that will likely get passed […]

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