Topic: Blogs

As e-commerce has gotten bigger and bigger in recent years, consumers have become more comfortable shopping online, whether it be out of necessity or convenience. The numbers bear that out, too, as the percentage of goods ordered online has made major strides, especially in recent years.

While the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) have arrived at a tentative agreement on a new five-year contract covering workers at all 29 West Coast ports, questions still remain about productivity.

In 2002, I spoke at a supply chain forum for Presidents and CEOs. Since there was a labor dispute going on at the ports on the west coast at the time, I asked a hypothetical question: “What would happen if the west coast ports shut down, and you were not able to get products delivered in a timely manner?” Thirteen years later, this hypothetical question has become a reality for many companies.

Port of Oakland cargo volume declined dramatically in January, the result of an ongoing West Coast waterfront labor dispute.

Appearing ever more desperate, International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) President Robert McEllrath has issued a video pleading with his membership to “remain united and remain strong.”

EDF Senior Manager, Supply Chain Logistics Jason Mathers said that these proposed standards for new regulations for fuel-efficient standards make sense on multiple levels on a societal basis for things like protecting health and infrastructure, as well as from a commerce-based perspective, as EDF believes these standards will provide a clear business value, with shippers saving money and carriers lowering business costs.

I recently had the pleasure of participating in Logistics Management’s 2015 Rate Outlook webcast. During the 45 minute discussion our panel of top economic and transportation market analysts examined the current state of transportation rate structures, and where we are likely to see them head in 2015.

While both sides are doing what they feel is best for their members, the impasse between the Pacific Maritime Association and the International Longshore Warehouse and Union is severely impacting West Coast port operations, and, to a larger extent, the supply chain in more than a few ways. The impasse between the parties has been well-documented in both the trade and mainstream press, and at time that is no easy task, given the many starts and (mostly) stops this situation...

Looking at the planned $29 million in projected 2015 spending, the AAR said that equates to roughly $79 million a day, while bringing the total investment made by freight railroads going back to 1980 to $575 billion.

Judging by the follow-up questions we received, we’ve hit only the tip of the ice berg. John Larkin of Stifel Nicolaus answers attendees questions relating to the Truckload and Less-Than-Truckload sector.

The tired cliché of “Perfect Storm,” is probably lost on East Coast shippers now weathering fierce winter winds and snow, but the expression still has currency on the Pacific Rim.

When it comes to Congress actually getting its act together on a new long-term federal transportation bill, things remain as status quo as it gets, with the big takeaway being nothing really ever gets done, when it comes to passing a badly overdue and needed bill, rather than these band-aid extensions Congress keeps signing off on.

With lower energy prices sparking domestic economic gains, coupled with solid manufacturing and industrial production activity, improving jobs numbers, and a GDP number that shows progress, there is, or there should be, much to be enthused about when it comes to the economy and the economic recovery, which has been raised and discussed and dissected from basically every angle possible, it seems. But that enthusiasm regarding the economy needs to be tempered, because big headline themes seldom tell the full...

The Pacific Maritime Association (PMA), representing employers at 29 ports, and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU), which represents 20,000 dockworkers, have come to a tentative agreement on a key issue in ongoing contract negotiations.

A global logistics hub envisioned for Oakland's decommissioned army base takes a big step forward beginning today. The Port of Oakland and Union Pacific Railroad start construction to link the site with UP’s main line.

Holiday package deliveries faced a far less bumpy road in 2014 compared to 2013.

A Reuters report issued last week noted that the U.S. transportation and shipping network faced its “first big test of the winter” last week, which saw very cold and low wind chill-based conditions throughout muck of the country, with Midwest temperatures were sub-zero but feeling more like 20-to-40 below, due to the wind.

Federal mediators will begin working with the Pacific Maritime Association and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union to ratify a new contract.

The ISM reported that the PMI, the report’s key index to measure growth, dropped 3.2 percent to 55.5 (a PMI of 50 or greater represents growth). Even with this decline, the PMI remains in a decent spot over all. December’s PMI is 0.3 percent below the 12-month average of 55.8 and 3.6 percent below its highest reading, going back to the 59.1 recorded in March 2011.

The dubiously dubbed “Grand Canal of Nicaragua” bears a troubling resemblance to the phantom “Argentine Canal,” proposed in the 19th century. By all evidence, both ideas are frauds.