French firm CMA CGM, the world's third-largest container shipping operator, signed a significant cooperation agreement Thursday with Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL).

Drones. Trucks. Cars. Worldwide brick and mortar fulfillment centers. Delivery in 30 to 60 minutes. And, now talk about leasing cargo planes. These sound like strings of strategy planning discussions from UPS, FedEx, and the likes of other logistics companies, right.

In the Superman comics, the Bizarro World is a planet where normal people and events become strangely inverted. Which, in the world of global trade and supply chain, appears to be happening with increasing regularity.

An ultrasonic system to locate track defects and use of unmanned aerial vehicles for inspection of track, bridge and other freight rail infrastructure are among the technologies being explored by the railroad industry, according to a report from the Association of American Railroads.

Last week, the U.S. Postal Service announced an increase on several shipping products used by online retailers, including Flat-Rate Priority boxes. On average, rates increased 9.5 percent in the first price hike on commercial Priority Mail in three years.

Industrial and supply chain real estate occupiers and investors alike experienced a record-breaking year in 2015 and should expect this trend to continue well into 2016, according to a JLL logistics survey report. Strong demand for logistics facilities is expected to remain consistent globally during 2016. Rental growth is projected to continue across all markets of the world in 2016 and through 2017.

CargoSmart Limited, a provider of global shipment-management software, has added features to Big Schedules, its sailing-schedule search engine.