Logistics innovation enables merging of e-commerce, store supply chains as retailers race to implement omni-channel strategy. By Eric Kulisch The globalization of the Internet spawned electronic commerce and simplified shopping for consumers, but it has made life more complicated for big box retailers, department stores and other large merchandisers. In response to market pressure from […]
Deadly Canadian accident may lead to more regulatory scrutiny of industry. By Jon Ross In the early morning hours of July 6, a Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway train carrying crude oil derailed, causing one of the deadliest rail accidents in Canadian history. More than 45 people died, and in the weeks after the […]
Some of the most startling images in shipping publications this summer were those of the MOL Comfort, a containership that split in half during a storm on June 17 off the coast of Yemen. The crew escaped unharmed, but both halves eventually sank, the fore section after catching fire. The casualty is confounding […]
The top two integrators are facing a sea change brought on by international shippers choosing to delay express shipments by one or two days to save money. While this trade-down of shipment priority isn’t hurting the overall shipment volumes at UPS or FedEx, declining revenue per package is forcing both carriers to reconsider […]
When Emirates SkyCargo announced it was changing the way cargo surcharges are calculated — moving from a system that charges for actual weight to the new plan of applying chargable weight to the calculation — on Sept. 1, it joined a growing list of airlines who are also experimenting with new rates. Lufthansa […]
Gemini’s joint venture with logistics partner built on long-time trust. By Chris Dupin Gemini Shippers Association has forged a joint venture with Vizion Logistics to provide transport for smaller shipments and other services for its members. “Gemini is able to provide contracts for full container shipments for our members, but there are many other […]
The TIGER grant program is very popular among freight transportation advocates and at various levels of government because it provides funding for multimodal, cross-jurisdictional projects with good economic benefits that aren’t eligible for federal transportation dollars, most of which are funneled to states through blunt formulas for highway restoration and construction. TIGER gives […]
The U.S. International Trade Commission has voted to institute an investigation of certain wireless devices, including mobile phones and tablets. The products at issue include mobile phones and tablets with features and hardware, such as transmitters and receivers, which may allow these products to be geographically located on a map and tracked. […]
In the 2013 edition of American Shipper’s annual Transportation Payment Benchmark Study, released in March, we asked respondents if they were seeing consistent improvement in audits from their freight payment system. About half of shipper respondents said yes, but less than 20 percent said their rate of catching errors was improving significantly year-on-year. […]
The retirement of Al Gina, assistant commissioner for international trade, was among several personnel moves announced Aug. 7 by U.S. Customs and Border Protection Deputy Commissioner (and de facto acting commissioner) Thomas Winkowski at the quarterly meeting of a federal advisory committee.
The accepted jargon for products among software vendors in the IT world is “solutions.” It’s easy to scoff at the term as abstract and overly “PR.” Is it a system, an application, a platform, a program, a module, a capability, a tool, a managed service, or just a standard thing-a-ma-jig? A pervasive […]
Liner carriers and their alliances grapple with the largest containerships. By Chris Dupin The container shipping industry has shown steady drive toward bigger ships over the past five decades. That trend, if anything, has accelerated in recent years, culminating in the past year with the delivery of CMA CGM’s three 16,022-TEU “Explorer class” […]
So, you’re a shipper who wants to tap into the burgeoning export markets you’ve heard so much about. And, oh yeah, you’re not exactly Apple or Pepsi. What are your options? Sell your stuff to a U.S.-based distributor that aggregates products and sends it to your chosen overseas markets. Work with a foreign […]
By Walter Kemmsies, chief economist, Moffatt & Nichol Recent statements by the Federal Reserve indicate it believes the economy has improved sufficiently and it’s about time to start disengaging from the extreme measures it used to help bring about the recovery…
As Thomas Edison is to the light bulb, Henry Ford to automobile manufacturing, Fred Smith to express shipping, and Jeffrey Straubel to electric cars, Jeff Bezos’ lasting impact may be supply chain innovation. The media-shy Bezos has always had an interest in the way things work and how to make them better. His […]
Survey finds Europe ahead of U.S. shippers and carriers on embracing sustainability. By Chris Dupin While environmental sustainability is becoming an increasingly significant issue for customers and senior management, “cost still trumps environmental impact as a driver of behavior,” according to a summary prepared by AlixPartners of a recent survey it conducted among shipper and […]
Geodis Wilson, the freight forwarding and heavy-lift shipping division of Geodis Group, has begun moving the giant gates that will be used in the new, third set of locks being built for the Panama Canal. The first four of the 16 gates were scheduled to arrive in Cristobal, Panama in late August, having […]
By Alan Spear, U.S. director of cargo security loss control for AIG Global Marine In his remarks, Nightingale talks about the critical relationship between sales and operations in “creating” and “keeping” customers; in the ongoing matriculation of that relationship and the need to respond flexibly to systemic changes to keep those relationships viable and […]
Office Depot’s hybrid, omni-channel supply chain balances demand cues, logistics factors. By Eric Kulisch Office supply stores are at the forefront of the omni-channel trend in retail to create a single inventory and customer view of products across all sales channels because they have a long history of direct fulfillment through mail-order catalogs and telephone sales […]
American, US Airways merger approved by EU, rejected by U.S. By Jon Ross In early August, it looked like an $11 billion merger deal between AMR Corp., the parent of American Airlines, and US Airways was finally in sight and a new American Airlines was underway. The carriers agreed to a deal after months […]
