Topic: Blogs

With a transportation and warehouse employment growth rate of 3.5% for nearly a decade, and 10 new freight-based companies that have brought nearly 1,000 jobs to the region, it’s clear that Kansas City is becoming a key business destination for many logistics managers.

The oft-debated relationship between digital technology and economic growth was elevated to the global platform when China’s Luohan Academy presented its research paper at the 2019 World Economic Forum in Davos two months ago.

With true signs of momentum for a new, and badly needed, federal transportation infrastructure bill seemingly forever stuck in neutral, it is refreshing to see the nation’s top trucking lobbyist, American Trucking Associations (ATA) President and CEO Chris Spear continue to ring the bell (loudly) for federal action to get the wheels on new legislation moving.

Top of mind for U.S. shippers doing business in the EU will be the current state of BREXIT. Theresa May will update Members of Parliament on Tuesday about recent Brexit talks as she continues to seek support for her deal.

NRF said 2019 retail sales are expected to come in between 3.8%-to-4.4% to more than $3.8 trillion. $3.82 trillion. While that falls short of the NRF’s call for a minimum increase of 4.5% from 2017 to 2018, it is still pretty good.

While Chinese Vice-President Wang Qishan may have been trying to persuade the global business elites gathered last week at the World Economic Forum in Davos that his nation’s economy remains resiliant, U.S. shippers may not be buying his outlook.

Even though the survey's results show that close to seven out of ten shippers were not impacted, that does not mean pain points during the shutdown's 35 days were not felt.

The theme regarding the economy a year ago at this time may very well have been “Happy days are hear again, given solid GDP growth, buoyed by high levels of consumer confidence, manufacturing output, and strong import volumes, among other factors. But move ahead to the present, and the theme could be something along the lines of “Where have all the good times gone?” The shift in economic themes, while jarring, to a degree, has been underway for a little...

Record container throughput at Port of Oakland may lead to bullish forecast, but some industry experts feel this might be unsound.

While reading newspapers and watching television news, the topic of the shutdown is always above the fold and the lead story of the program. How can it not be, right? That got me thinking what it means for freight transportation, supply chain and logistics planning operations.

While driver turnover and the ongoing driver shortage tend to go hand in hand and, more often than not, with a typically negative connotation, data issued by the American Trucking Associations (ATA) is on the positive side.

As we usher in 2019, many industry analysts are telling logistics managers to begin planning for a major transformational event coming into play for the ocean cargo sector a year from now.

For the first three weeks of the holiday shipping season, ShipMatrix data shows that the on-time delivery performance of FedEx, UPS, and USPS is strong, coming in at 95.1%, 97.6%, and 97.8%, respectively.

While California’s two mega ports in San Pedro Bay have reported record inbound container throughput this fall, the state’s third largest ocean cargo gateway has been no slouch in the department, either.

Freight transportation-related infrastructure projects were front and center this week in regards to funding awarded by the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) for the first round of the fiscal year 2018 Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD) discretionary grant program.

With this week’s release of A.T. Kearney’s Global Business Policy Council predictions for the coming year, one particular forecast is especially prescient, the trade war “truce” with China.

There appears to be a collective sigh relief among freight railroad industry stakeholders, regardless of the agreement’s new name.

A potential U.S.-China tit-for-tat over tariffs hasn’t dampened cargo volume growth at California’s third largest ocean cargo gateway so far. In fact, the Port of Oakland is on track for its third straight year of record container volume in 2018.

With the election now concluded, it is time for members of Congress on both sides of the aisle to truly roll up their sleeves and make some inroads on the transportation infrastructure front.

In an industry first, the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM) announced new membership requirements to advance the sustainability performance of the mining sector, committing members to implement the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.