For the past year, there has been a considerable amount of discussion about blockchain and its applicability to the supply chain. New supply chain management concepts pop up all the time, but it has been a while since we have seen a subject so often discussed, yet so poorly understood. The most common questions seem […]

For over a year, carriers have warned us of pending capacity issues and increases in rates occurring in 2018. We are a month into the New Year, and early indications are that those predictions are going to be on target, particularly in the LTL sector.  If the economy continues to improve as most expect it […]

There are several trucking legislation issues carrying forward into 2018, but there is one in particular I think will be resolved this year, provided Congress passes an infrastructure bill. Three years ago, several LTL and parcel carriers urged Congress to pass legislation that would have allowed the use of 33 foot twin trailers on the […]

Many of our readers will remember the dire predictions of massive computer failures that were to occur on January 1, 2000. The Y2K problem, as it was called, was expected to arise because most software at the time, represented a four-digit year with only the last two digits. For example, the year 1999 would be […]

In the several decades I have been in the supply chain industry, I have seen a number of changes in almost every aspect of the industry. Up until recently, I have suggested three that have been the most important – globalization, technology, and Walmart. All three have influenced supply chain managers to adopt new mindsets […]

We continue to read and hear that this winter may be the most frustrating shippers have experienced in several years. Capacity issues and higher spot market rates are expected to continue into the new year. And with the higher spot markets, we can expect to see contract rates follow the same path. As might be […]

Last week, a confidential source leaked the fact that one of the latest U.S. demands in the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) negotiations was the prevention of long-haul Mexican truckers from operating in the United States. In early 2015, then Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx announced that after years of debate and controversy, Mexican […]

Although we have heard and read about a shortage of over-the-road (OTR) drivers for several years, the recession and slow recovery have minimized the problem somewhat. The situation is changing quickly however, and at the recent management conference of the American Trucking Associations (ATA), the driver shortage was once again identified as the most critical […]

As we reported here in March of this year, early in his campaign, President Trump advocated the renegotiation or complete dissolution of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and has continued to push that idea since the election. First conceived in 1987, NAFTA was finally signed into law in 1994, and has been very […]

On September 24-27, the annual conference of the Council of Logistics Management Professionals (CSCMP) was held in Atlanta. The conference, now called CSCMP Edge, has grown from what was strictly an educational symposium to a much larger event, still heavy on education, but now including an exhibition of the products of equipment, software, solutions, and […]