Ready to take the quiz?

How much do you know about the logistics game? Match wits with the leading logistics minds in the U.S. and find out.

By Staff -- Logistics Management, 12/1/2005

Remember the old "College Bowl" and "It's Academic" game shows on TV? They pitted the smartest kids in school against teams from other high schools, colleges, and universities. Students were quizzed on a wide range of academic subjects, and the competition was as intense as it was on the high-stakes, prime-time game shows.

Now suppose there were a logistics and transportation game show. Would you qualify as a contestant? Would you be able to answer most of the questions correctly and advance to the next round?

There's only one way to find out: Take our test and rate yourself against your peers. If you can correctly answer all of the questions below, then you're on top of the logistics profession.

And if that describes you, let us know! We've posted a copy of this quiz on our website at www.logisticsmgmt.com/quiz. Fill it out and submit it online, and you may qualify to win an Apple iPod nano digital music player. We'll conduct a random drawing for one winner from among entrants who score 100 percent. The deadline for entries is January 6, 2006.

By the way, all of the answers can be found in the January through November 2005 issues of Logistics Management. So search our website—www.logisticsmgmt.com—and look for the answers in our next issue.

The Logistics Game

1. Total logistics costs in the United States last year were estimated to have exceeded:

A. $800 billion

B. $1 trillion

C. $2 trillion

D. $3 trillion

2. Last year, the Washington, D.C., City Council tried to ban all:

A. Hazmat shipments in the nation's capital

B. Truck shipments in the nation's capital

C. Rail shipments in the nation's capital

D. Cargo flights over the nation's capital

3. Transloading is a shipping practice that involves:

A. Transferring cargo between an airplane and a ship

B. Transferring cargo between an elephant and a truck

C. Transferring cargo between a 3PL and a shipper

D. Transferring cargo between truck and rail transportation

4. To drive adoption of radio frequency identification (RFID) technology, the standards body EPCglobal adopted which new standard?

A. Star Trek 4

B. Star Wars 3

C. Gen 2

D. New Age 1

5. Last year, which railroad was the first to begin assessing fuel surcharges on a mileage basis?

A. CSX

B. Conrail

C. BNSF

D. Norfolk Southern

6. The acronym "EMS" stands for which kind of logistics software?

A. Event Master Systems

B. Event Management Systems

C. Easy Management Systems

D. Easy Mastery Systems

7. Yellow Roadway Corp. acquired which motor carrier last year?

A. J.B. Hunt

B. Schneider

C. Acme Trucking

D. USF Corp.

8. According to Logistics Management's 2004 Salary Survey, the average salary for logistics managers was:

A. $90,000

B. $85,790

C. $83,790

D. $75,790

9. UPS entered the less-than-truckload (LTL) sector when it purchased:

A. Yellow Roadway

B. The Teamsters

C. USF Corp.

D. Overnite Transportation

10. DHL's parent company is:

A. Deutsche Post World Net

B. The CIA

C. The German government

D. The Dutch government

11. U.S. domestic surface freight forwarders are required by federal regulations to have:

A. A cargo insurance policy with a "BMC 32" endorsement

B. Trucks to move freight

C. Derivative insurance

D. Escrow funds in pesos to cover losses in Mexico

12. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration's ergonomic standards:

A. Require warehouses to set weight limits for lifting

B. Require warehouse workers to wear back-support belts

C. Require warehouses to have detailed plans for handling pallets

D. Were repealed by Congress in 2001

13. Low-sulfur diesel fuel is slated to debut at the pump on:

A. January 1, 2006

B. March 1, 2006

C. September 1, 2006

D. October 1, 2006

14. "GRI" stands for:

A. General rate increase

B. Gargantuan rate increase

C. Guaranteed rate increase

D. Gratuitous rate increase

15. Terminal operators at LA/Long Beach instituted the PierPass program to:

A. Divert more cargo pickups and deliveries to off-peak hours

B. Charge shippers more money

C. Discourage shipping of refrigerated containers

D. Promote roll-on/roll-off (Ro/Ro) shipments

16. ACS refers to the:

A. Automated Commercial System

B. Automated Carrier System

C. Automated Customs System

D. Automated Carriage System

17. Users of import/export software should worry about a company that claims to hold the "business method" patent for:

A. Filing freight claims over the Internet

B. Enabling international trade processes over the Internet

C. Hiring logistics managers over the Internet

D. Choosing a third-party logistics provider over the Internet

18. Respondents to a Logistics Management survey said they're holding more inventory than ever. The most frequently cited reason was:

A. Increase in number of SKUs

B. Increased risk of delays

C. Fear of natural disasters

D. Customers' requirements

19. As of Oct. 1, the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach had succeeded in shifting what percentage of their container traffic to nights and weekends?

A. 65 percent

B. 34 percent

C. 10 percent

D. 28 percent

20. An airfreight executive warned importers not to "put all their eggs in the China basket" because:

A. Manufacturing growth there is slowing

B. Governments are planning protective tariffs against Chinese goods

C. China's remarkable growth cannot last

D. All of the above

21. When filing overcharge claims, shippers must contest the carrier's bill:

A. Within six months after the carrier issues the bill

B. Within four weeks of shipment pick-up

C. Within 180 days after receipt of the bill

D. Within five days after writing a check for payment

22. When demand on a trade lane is strong and capacity is tight, airlines typically:

A. Stop serving that trade lane

B. Charge higher rates

C. Cut prices to attract more business

D. Tell shippers to use another airline

23. A recent survey found that shippers are shifting some of their transportation spending:

A. From trucking to rail and intermodal

B. From intermodal to air freight

C. From air freight to private automobiles

D. From ocean shipping to private fleets

24. Shippers can expect to see which new features added to transportation management systems (TMS) in the future?

A. Ability to manage across transportation modes

B. Ability to link operational and financial metrics

C. Better visibility into purchase order status

D. All of the above

25. Which company bought the North Pole Delivery Service?

A. UPS

B. DHL

C. FedEx

D. You've got to be kidding

Enter to win an iPod nano!

We've posted a copy of this quiz on our website at www.logisticsmgmt.com/quiz.

Fill it out and submit it online, and you may qualify to win an Apple iPod nano digital music player. We'll conduct a random drawing for one winner from among entrants who score 100 percent.

The deadline for entries is January 6, 2006.