Tim Voulopos grew up around transportation, majored in logistics and then worked his way up to an executive position at Cardinal Logistics Management. Today there is more technology and fewer drivers, which presents a real challenge, but the basics of trucking really haven't changed, he says.

BNSF will spend $5bn on infrastructure this year, topping its record $4bn investment last year, says Steve Bobb, chief marketing officer. In addition to maintaining and improving service and capacity, BNSF will invest in logistics hubs and other future-focused infrastructure.

Hanna Ubl is a generational expert at BridgeWorks, a company that studies and consults on generational differences and the way those differences play out in the workplace. Ubl discusses Boomers, Xers and Millennials and says the Edge Generation, still in high school, will bring even more changes.

When Jim Bowes established the National Logistics & Distribution Conference 10 years ago his aim was to provide a small, non-sales oriented conference for senior supply chain executives. Bowes discusses how NLDC has evolved and what he thinks the future holds.

Leadership comes down to relationships and having a connection with employees, says Kurt Kravchuk, director of distribution at Cabela's. Spending time each day on the floor, focusing on collaboration and maintaining a positive approach are three of his suggestions.

Bill Ferrell, professor of industrial engineering at Clemson and one of the authors of the newly published Material Handling and Logistics Roadmap, discusses the findings of this comprehensive study and what they mean for the industry's future.

While retailers are facing challenges in delivering the reporting functionality that business users need to enable data-driven decision-making, they are optimistic about Big Data's ability to provide breakthroughs in analysis capabilities across a number of retail processes, says a study by 1010data Inc. In fact, almost all surveyed executives (96 percent) agreed that Big Data initiatives are important in helping retailers stay competitive. They said Big Data insights are most beneficial for merchandising (53 percent) and marketing (48 percent), followed by store operations (42 percent), e-commerce (42 percent), supply chain (27 percent), finance (23 percent), and loss prevention (21 percent).