Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in a speech to American business leaders in New York on September 19 said this: “Japan and the US must each obtain domestic approval of the TPP as soon as possible. Success or failure will sway the direction of the global free trade system, and the strategic environment in the Asia-Pacific.” His words echo those of other Asian government signatories to the 12-nation free trade pact known as the Trans-Pacific […]
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Logically enough, the majority of Logistics Viewpoints (LV) readers work in the logistics field. And LV is a logistics industry blog, not a political op-ed site. However, I believe the issue of global trade is both a core logistics topic and a hot political one. Furthermore, the presidential candidates from both major parties have been denouncing international trade as of late. I actually believe both candidates are supporters of free trade, whether it be domestic or international. […]
Read More →Air freight is not as competitive as it could or should be. There has been a modal shift; roughly 400,000 tons have been lost to ocean each year since 2000. Part of this is beyond the control of the industry. But it is partly due to the fact that air is just not as fast, seller’s shipping dock to the customer, as it should be.
Read More →Fall is officially here. The autumnal equinox, which happens the moment the sun crosses the celestial equator, occurred yesterday at 10:21 am EDT. On this day, we see almost equal amounts of daylight and darkness. From here on out, the days (by daylight that is) will get shorter until the Winter Solstice, which is the shortest day of the year. This also means that it is time for crispness in the air, baseball playoffs, the […]
Read More →The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) Electronic Logging Device (ELD) mandate, created to improve safety within the transportation industry, is currently the hot topic on everyone’s mind. ELDs synchronize with a vehicle’s engine to automatically record driving time for easier, more accurate hours of service (HOS) logging, which translates to greater safety on the road. Carriers and drivers who are subject to the rule must install and use ELDs by the appropriate deadline – […]
Read More →The U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) is, step by step, implementing new rules based on the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). The goal of these efforts is “to protect foods from farm to table.” The rules fall most heavily on food manufacturers, but they also impact truckers. The deadline for the section of the regulations known as the Preventive Controls for Human Food began this week. I turned to Jon Sampson to explain these […]
Read More →While robust parcel solutions offer workflow designed to prevent paying too much for a particular shipment, the workflows in the retail multicarrier solutions can be both more extensive and much more interesting. The Descartes Systems Group acquired a company called Oz DEVELOPMENT that is designed for small and medium sized retailers. Ken Wood, the Executive Vice President of Product Management at Descartes, explained that small and medium sized business may need to “touch multiple ecommerce […]
Read More →This week I traveled to New Orleans for the annual MercuryGate User Conference. As always, I find these conferences to be fantastic opportunities to learn, network, and think about how companies are solving problems in new ways. And this one was no exception. Next week, in my Wednesday column, I will have some takeaways from the conference. This year’s conference also marked the first time I have been to New Orleans since I was a […]
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Supply Chain Brief
Omni-Channel’s Ripple Effect on Transportation
When Transportation Optimization and New Shopping Behaviors Collide One needs to go back to the early 2000s to see green shoots of modern omni-channel retail. While web-based e-commerce began in the late 90s, consumer and retailer appetites didn’t get whetted for omni-channel experiences until the early part of the last decade. Indeed, by 2002, Best Buy was saying more than half of its customers were checking its website before coming to the store. It was […]
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