I’ve been on the road these past two weeks, so it’s been a bit difficult keeping up with everything that’s been going on. But here are a few items, from this week and last, that escaped my delete button:

• Transplace Provides Retailers Efficient Supply Chain Operations for Fixtures and Displays
• Retail Container Traffic to be Up 25 Percent First Half of 2010
• January Retail Sales Continue Slow Road to Recovery, According to NRF
• Accellos Announces Version 6.2 of Accellos One Warehouse
• Secretary LaHood Announces Funding for Over 50 Innovative, Strategic Transportation Projects through Landmark Competitive TIGER Program
• World Economic Forum’s Logistics & Transport Group agrees guidelines for Consignment-Level Carbon Reporting
• Conoco, Caterpillar, BP Quit Climate Group (from Wall Street Journal)

2009 was a very challenging year for the retail industry and many 3PLs and software vendors focused on this industry shared in the pain as well. But the winds seem to be blowing in the right direction these days, underscored by the latest press releases from the National Retail Federation. Retail-related announcements from Transplace and Ryder (highlighted in last week’s news roundup) show that 3PLs are optimistic (cautiously?) that retail will bear sweeter fruit for them in 2010.

The transportation infrastructure in the United States is long overdue for a facelift, so the news from the U.S. Department of Transportation is encouraging. But as I commented last February in “The Politics of Transportation Infrastructure Funding,” many infrastructure projects are repair and maintenance related, which are long overdue. But my concern is that in the rush to create jobs, the federal government and the states will fail to take a strategic and holistic view of our country’s transportation infrastructure requirements. A few years from now, we could have new bridges, roads, rail lines, and ports, but if each project is treated independently (and each state acts independently), we may have solved nothing from a long-term perspective.

Finally, the ‘green’ movement continues to take two steps forward and one step back—or is it the other way around? I’ll write more on this topic down the road.

On the lighter side: Actually, this is more on the surreal side. The letter below arrived at my house this morning:

Junk Mail or A Useful Reminder?

It is from United of Omaha Life Insurance Company and it is addressed to my father who never lived at my address. The outside of the envelope proclaims, “Here’s That Second Chance You Hoped For Jose Gonzalez.” Unfortunately, my dad died in August 2008 from lung cancer. A reminder that there isn’t always a second chance, and sometimes second chances come too late, so do something this weekend that you’ve been putting off for some time. Write a letter to a family member or a friend, or give them a call and share a laugh or two.

This is one piece of ‘junk mail’ that’s worth keeping.