Jim Burleigh, chief executive officer of SmartTurn, talks about the challenges faced by small and medium-sized companies in a time of tight budgets, slow demand and stricter government regulations.

Those specialized sectors, with their need for strict regulatory compliance and product control, have lagged other industries in the use of third-party service providers. But the picture is beginning to change, says Angela Watson, UPS's vice president of enterprise sales for the healthcare sector.

Rod Derifield, chief executive officer of Envirocooler LLC, outlines some of the new ideas and technology that providers are deploying to boost efficiencies in the movement of temperature-controlled pharmaceuticals.

These competitive modes have at least two things in common: Each took a drubbing in the past year or so, and each is cautiously optimistic that things are looking up.

There are three basic reasons why supply chain managers should pay attention to sustainability initiatives, says Kevin Smith, president and CEO of Sustainable Supply Chain Consulting.

The Georgia Center of Innovation for Logistics is unique in that it is a state-led and state-funded organization, created to foster logistics as a strategic resource for fueling competitiveness and economic development in the state. The Center is hosted by the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Activity-based costing (ABC) enables motor carriers to analyze different segments of their business for profitability, says Ken Manning, president of Transportation Costing Group. But pinning profitability down precisely can be very difficult in an industry where daily changes in the weather or road conditions or traffic congestion can push a shipment into the red.

The company searches for a lead logistics provider that can meet the needs of the highly regulated medical equipment industry. James Matney, global logistics manager, reports on the results.

Truckload motor carriers see demand picking up and are optimistic that 2010 will mark a strong recovery for the sector, says Kevin Burch, chairman of the Truckload Carriers Association and president of Jet Express.

Activity-based costing (ABC) is an important financial tool for trucking companies, says Paul Dugent, vice president of pricing and traffic at Estes Express Lines. The cost elements allocated to customers through ABC are used to help determine the price of services, though pricing "is more art than science."