Accountability - the ability of people to understand what is expected of them, exercise authority, and take responsibility for delivering results - is an important dimension of organizational health. Of course, some companies are better at fostering it than others.
Import cargo volume at the nation's major retail container ports has begun its annual climb toward summer levels but is expected to be largely flat when compared with last year's record high numbers, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released today by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.
A group of logistics entrepreneurs is launching a Silicon Valley-style accelerator for supply-chain technology start-ups, aiming to draw new investment and talent to the freight business.
TRAC Intermodal has completed its acquisition of Interstar Fleet Services, a provider of emergency road service repair for the intermodal and commercial trucking industries.
Analyst Insight: The impact of the omnichannel revolution is being felt across every element of business today, including transportation and distribution, which can impact network planning. Customers today are more connected, more informed, and more demanding than ever before, and as a consequence, firms are forced to reevaluate their fulfillment strategies to meet ever-increasing demand for fast, accurate, and low-cost delivery of product to the customer. - John Santagate, Research Manager, IDC
Analyst Insight: The distribution center is taking on greater importance as a driver of growth and profitability. Top companies are investing in distribution operations to drive competitive advantage and gain market share. Many are leveraging today's technology to prepare for the distribution center of the future. But there is a next wave of technologies on the horizon - from wearables to mobile manufacturing to the Internet of Things. And the tipping point for these technologies is near. - Nikko Pianetto, Group VP of Integrated Technology Solutions, Fortna Inc.
Spending by U.S. shippers fell to a two-year low in January, reflecting plunging fuel costs and a sluggish freight market, according to a survey by Cass Information Systems Inc.
For many major B2B enterprises, logistics networks have never been more complex. The increasing prevalence of operations that are global - with growing numbers of production sites and clients that could be anywhere on earth - has introduced challenges that didn't exist to the same degree at an earlier time. The good news is that there has also never before been a moment when there were more tools and more opportunities to optimize logistics costs than now.
The International Air Transport Association released its air freight market analysis for December 2015, showing a slight (0.8 percent) year-over-year increase in worldwide cargo traffic (in freight tonne kilometers flown). This 0.8-percent overall gain was the result of a 0.7-percent decrease in international traffic and a 1.4-percent increase in domestic traffic.
If you have been following the news from the express and e-commerce industries lately, you could be forgiven for thinking that the big U.S. integrators are in serious trouble, trembling at the thought of Amazon not only pulling its business from UPS and FedEx, but also competing for their remaining business.
