All Entries

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Getting to know your customers is key to keeping the retail supply chain tight, say industry experts. That entails tactical and strategic reverse logistics planning designed for long-term relationships and sustainable revenue generation.

Tech-savvy private fleet operators are able to justify the cost of their complex operations through high service levels, smart maintenance programs, and revenue generating backhaul opportunities that can make even the toughest CFO smile.

Fifteen months ago USA Cycling decided to trade in its manual inventory management system and roll into an On-Demand Software-as-a-Service Warehouse Management System. Today, this fluid organization is now tracking the movement of all of its equipment, clothing, and nutritional goods around the world.

Like in previous months, stagnant freight volumes, especially on the trucking side, appear to be the norm., according to the most recent Ceridian-UCLA Pulse of Commerce Index (PCI), which reported a 0.6 percent decline in October. This decline follows a 0.5 percent and 1.0 percent declines in September and August, respectively, marking the PCI’s first three-month decline since January 2009.

FedEx subsidiary FedEx Trade Networks, the company’s global trade arm, is continuing its global expansion efforts, with this week’s announcement that it has opened five new offices in the Europe, Middle East, and Asia (EMEA) region. The company said the new offices are in: Budapest, Hungary; Prague, Czech Republic; Madrid, Spain; Milan, Italy; and Antwerp, Belgium.

Third-party logistics (3PL) services provider Mallory Alexander International Logistics announced this week that it has acquired Tradesource Inc., an international freight forwarder based in Charleston, S.C., from Atlantic Services Group Inc.

On the eve of the G-20 Summit in Seoul this week, the International Finance Corporation and the World Bank have noted that small- to medium-sized U.S. shippers may have an easier time of “going global” in the future.

Tuesday, November 09, 2010

Law 154, which imposes a discriminatory tax on multinational companies operating in Puerto Rico, may pose serious consequences for shippers, said The National Association of Manufacturers

Like preceding months, October rail volumes were up and down when compared to the last two years, according to data released by the Association of American Railroads (AAR). The AAR reported that monthly rail carloads for October—at 1,196, 432—were up 8.7 percent from October 2009 and down 7.9 percent from October 2008. And the weekly October average of 299,108 carloads was the highest since October 2008, topping September’s 297, 502 weekly carload average.

Metro Atlanta-based dedicated short-haul truckload carrier James Brown Contracting Inc. (Brown Trucking) recently announced it has acquired West Brothers’ Companies, a Durham, N.C.-based provider of transportation, logistics, and leasing of commercial fleet services in the southeast.