As capacity constraints, driver shortages, government regulations and robust economic conditions continue to drive up logistics spending, companies are seeking new ways to cut costs.

Traditional shipping processes are disappearing by the wayside.

Teachers’ protests in the central state of Michoacan in Mexico have virtually detained all shipping by railroad in some parts of the country.

Germany’s Rhine river slowdown is the latest sign of how even advanced industrial economies are increasingly fighting the effects of global warming.

Air pollution from cars and factories has been regulated in much of the world since the 1970s. When it comes to the smoke-belching ships that carry global trade, the rules have been a lot looser.

FedEx is testing delivery of bulky products, a $9bn market that couriers had left to more traditional trucking companies because large items don’t fit well in their sorting operations.

MJIC says its superhighway will create the infrastructure to legally transport, distribute and sell marijuana amid a thicket of regulations that hamper the industry supply chain.