Spot market freight volumes reported by the DAT North American Freight Index rose 2.2 percent in June, compared to May. The month-over-month increase fell slightly short of seasonal norms; while freight volume increased from May to June in eight of the past ten years, the average increase was 10 percent.

Although the overall freight forwarding market grew by 3.1 percent to $125.85bn in 2012, Transport Intelligence's report, Global Freight Forwarding 2013, suggests this figure is misleading as the positive growth was entirely attributed to the sea freight sector.

Among the biggest things that will affect the freight markets this year are the return of pricing power to carriers and the re-shoring/nearshoring phenomenon, according to CarrierDirect's semi-annual forecast on the state of the domestic freight industry.

Jaguar Land Rover and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), along with four of the UK's leading universities, have announced a £10m virtual engineering research programme designed to improve the quality and capabilities of simulation, using sights, sounds and even smells to make virtual simulation more realistic.

We live in a world rife with the daily experience (and expectation) of instant gratification. Nowhere is that demand greater than in the relationship between a business and its suppliers. From a delayed order confirmation email, to a missed delivery time, to a damaged or incorrect order"”these are the make-or-break occurrences that represent the distinction between happy customers and a suddenly precarious customer-supplier dynamic.