Supply chain

India’s trade officials this week underscored that logistics reforms are designed to speed cargo and boost trade, and that the reforms are not without dislocation for selected stakeholders.

Innovations in the global transportation management system space are happening around the fringes, incorporating things like in-app messaging, better user interfaces, or applying AI layers to existing optimization tools.

Logistics companies view digitization as an opportunity rather than a threat.

China is increasing pressure on US exporters, creating costly delays.

Should CEVA receive a takeover offer that is accepted by the board, CMA CGM will be obliged to either sell or make a superior offer to acquire the logistics provider.

Cost pressures and consumer preferences can change vehicle demand in a hurry. However, there’s another variable that can change it — and harm it — even faster.

With cool cargo volumes increasing, sensors are performing a function beyond temperature monitoring for product quality’s sake.

BCOs fear imposing indirect source pollution restrictions on warehouses and distribution centers on top of LA-LB clean-air restrictions will raise the cost of shipping through the Southern California gateway.

Air cargo is changing — no longer is tonnage the sole, ultimate metric. Air cargo companies and the airports that serve them must be entrepreneurial-minded to meet the needs of transit-time, cost-sensitive shippers with their high-value cargo, and so far, three key Canadian hubs are meeting the bill.

It was President John F. Kennedy who said, “I appreciate candor, almost as much as I appreciate good news.” Place this point in the category of utmost candor: if you thought it was difficult to find a truck in the United States in the first quarter, just wait.

Change, and technological change, is occurring in logistics, but the analysis that argues ocean carriers are trying to put logistics providers out of business is a stretch. The more likely scenario is more diverse — and one that will ultimately benefit the customer.

It is an ambitious goal, but port officials, environmental experts, and other stakeholders at a summit offered substantial evidence that the commercially-feasible, zero-emissions, cargo-handling system will arrive sooner than many expect.

The stronger European economy with its rising container volumes and next-generation technology has exposed a weakness in the continent’s supply chain — and it’s one that will likely require the input of all stakeholders to eliminate.

INTTRA doesn’t see its rate management pilot as directly competitive to those of its partners, but multiple current and former executives involved in the rate management software space have a different evaluation of the pilot’s launch last week.

Beneficial cargo owners are commending the US Customs and Border Protection's one-stop cargo processing offices, but they also have a few tips for overall service improvement.

The technology that has enabled the birth and growth of the surging e-commerce sector has also introduced new requirements and demands for customs brokers and shippers.

In that debate, Flexport's CEO underscored the company's performance to date, and how he sees 2018.

Port managers want to re-brand the locale in a new, distinct role, with an eye toward two key markets.

The refinement is the latest time-saver from DP World, which has been at the forefront of automation and trade service improvements at Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, with direct port delivery being a prime example.

FedEx Corp. has tapped John A. Smith to run its FedEx Freight division as president effective Aug. 16, succeeding the retiring Michael Ducker. Smith, 56, has been with FedEx since 2000 but is unrelated to the company’s founder Fred Smith.

Shippers were surprised by the severity of price increases demanded by US truckers in the first quarter. Logistics executives at the NASSTRAC Shipper Conference said they’re going beyond being “shippers of choice” and thinking outside the box — looking for new ways to create capacity.

Is the decision by CMA CGM to take a 25 percent stake in CEVA the beginning of a wave in which ocean carriers seek to become one-stop shipper shops?

With US truckload capacity tight, shippers are investigating any alternative method possible to get their freight off the docks.

The rate hike may be just the beginning of additional, larger Federal Anti-Monopoly Service fee increases, as part of Russia's response to the West’s latest package of sanctions, imposed by the United States, and supported by many European allies.

Intel CEO Andrew Grove observed that the need for transformation could arise with the introduction of a different regulatory environment. Change is unavoidable, but strategic points of inflection are not always obvious in real-time. In the future, it’s likely that April 1, 2018 — the date electronic logging device enforcement “went live” — will be enshrined as a red-letter day for the industry.

Among other benefits, automating the management system for contract rates will reduce invoice errors that add to administrative functions, project administrators argue.

The Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation sent the nominations of Patrick Fuchs and Michelle Schultz to the full floor. If confirmed by the full Senate, they would join Ann Begeman and Deb Miller on the agency’s board.

Shippers and logistics providers seeking warehouse space in the Port of New York and New Jersey area amid rising rents and declining vacancy rates are unlikely to see near-term relief, even as more than a dozen projects will add more than 12 million square feet to the market, real estate brokers say.

The ban on imports of recycled waste by China that has hurt shippers in the major markets is also affecting forwarders.

Some said it could not be done, but Bradley Jacobs is forging new shipper services by integrating assets and resources from across XPO Logistics’ diverse operating network.

A survey of more than 600 owner-operators and small carriers shows little change in detention practices at shipper docks, despite electronic logging and market pressures.

The end of Grupo Libra operations at the Port of Santos would cause problems for shippers, freight forwarders, and non-vessel operating common carriers, as it would reduce their options and could lead to a rise in terminal handling charges, as well as fewer deepsea services.

The federal agency declined to elaborate on the identity of the beneficial cargo owners that issued these complaints or which ocean carriers received letters sent out on April 20.

Beneficial cargo owners looking for industrial space face one of the tightest US real estate markets in years, especially in large seaport and inland cities, as growth in traditional import logistics and e-commerce is creating especially strong demand in large population centers.

The immediate goal may be end-to-end tracking, but greater gains may come as shippers use data to manage capacity.

It is no exaggeration to say that literally every container ship is a catastrophe waiting to happen, given how little carriers know about cargo loaded onto their ships, among other risk factors. But there has been little momentum to address the menace of container ship fires despite the fires killing crew members and causing tens of millions of dollars of cargo losses and supply chain disruption annually. Something needs to change.

Manufacturers and shippers of autos and other vehicles have some of the most detailed contingency plans in the transportation industry for adjusting to weather, port congestion, rail disruptions, and truck capacity issues. And the need to have a resilient plan in place will only be magnified by the climate change era’s increased severe weather events.

In the US trucking sector, smaller carriers are gravitating toward shorter-haul freight, Zipline Logistics has found. That could put more pressure on longer-haul capacity.

An explosion of e-commerce business is driving up rents at last-mile/last-touch fulfillment centers in urban core locations, and entrepreneurial truckers are finding ways to participate in this growing market. But the end result is a plus for beneficial cargo owners and consumers, as these developments enhance customer service and prevent final delivered costs from getting out of hand.

Cargo can now make the East Russia-Europe trip in about six to seven days, as opposed to 10 to 11 days previously, owing to railway improvements that enable higher speeds.