On June 16, the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) released the “29th Annual State of Logistics Report”. This year’s report was entitled Steep Grade Ahead .The SOL report was launched in 1988, by the late Bob Delaney, one of the leading supply chain experts of that time; and after his death carried on […]
Those of us who followed the presidential election campaign will recall that one of President Trump’s commitments, if elected, was to pull the United States out of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). First proposed during the Reagan administration, NAFTA was signed into law by President Clinton in 1993. It is an agreement among […]
As we continue to read about the impact of Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, Autonomous Vehicles, Robots, Drones. The Amazon Effect, and other technological advances on the supply chain, some supply chain managers are becoming increasingly nervous about the amount of change with which they are being confronted. Some of us are inherently nervous about any kind […]
I am sure it won’t come as any great surprise to anyone that we will not be seeing infrastructure legislation coming out of Washington this year. With the mid-term elections coming up in November, members of Congress are far more interested in campaigning and working on legislation that will make them more popular with their […]
For over fifty years, firms have outsourced the audit and payment of transportation freight bills. While not at the top of the list of outsourced functions in the supply chain industry, one third of the North American respondents in the 2018 Third Party Logistics Study indicated that they outsource the activity. There are significant advantages […]
There has been a considerable amount of discussion lately about what appears to be a pending trade war with China. In an effort to “protect American business”, President Trump has announced his intention to levy a 25% duty on over 1300 hundred products currently imported from China. China immediately called the bluff and promised a […]
For over a year, industry pundits have predicted that in 2018, we would experience a significant increase in rates for both truckload and LTL shipments. Many were predicting another “perfect storm”. While I think the storm might have been somewhat overstated, it appears that basically, they were correct. ACT Research has said “Clearly, truckers are […]
Several years ago, I wrote that the three major impacts on the supply chain during my career were technology, globalization, and Wal-Mart. Recently, a colleague asked me if I was ready to add a fourth, which of course would be Amazon. A good question, but at this point, I am not so sure. Let’s take […]
For those supply chain managers working for firms that engage in foreign trade, one of the major concerns is likely to be the delivery arrangements – in particular, the potential for confusion surrounding the responsibility for freight, insurance, customs charges, and damage in transit. To assist in understanding, the International Chamber of Commerce has published […]
On February 12, President Trump sent to Congress his long awaited plan for repairing the nation’s infrastructure. The plan was first mentioned during his campaign when he promised that $1.0 trillion would be spent on the repair and/or construction of bridges and roadways. Even before the plan was formally presented however, it became clear that […]