Topic: SMC3

“Collaborative contracts start with collaborative behavior in negotiations—and these negotiations start with full disclosure.”

With all the moving parts in the trucking sector these days, in the form of things like carrier pricing power, tight capacity, and the secular driver shortage, things like trucking regulations can get overlooked. But at this week’s SMC3 Connections event at The Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, that was far from the case in a session that featured Larry Minor, associate administrator for policy at the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), and Dan Horvath, director...

The session’s panelists included: Suzanne Grimes, Senior Strategic Consultant, PROS; Chris Gordon, VP & Product Lead SC Navigator, AIMMS Technology; and Jason Dillavou, director of pricing and yield management for YRC Freight.

When looking at the last three-to-four years in the logistics and freight transportation sectors, it is clear that there has been an “unusual and high level of activity” occurring. That was a key theme of a keynote speech at this week’s SMC3 Connections conference held at The Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia by John Wiehoff, CEO of global logistics services provider and freight forwarder C.H. Robinson. In a wide-ranging speech, Wiehoff categorized some of the bigger...

In the freight transportation, supply chain, and logistics sectors, there may not be a single more important thing to ensure success than strong relationships. To be sure, there is always going to the upmost focus on operational efficiencies, throughput, productivity, and, of course, turning a profit, but again, at the end of the day, is relationships drive all of that and more.

While this week’s SMC3 Connections conference in Palm Beach, Florida primarily focused on all things supply chain, freight transportation and logistics, the opening keynote of the event given by Mike Walsh, CEO of Tomorrow, a global consultancy, offered up a bit of a different perspective, with themes largely applicable to the business and commerce world we live in on a daily basis.

During this webcast we'll examine the competing strategies and cost effectiveness for completing the 'final mile' for residential and smaller deliveries. From automating communication to customer service and reliability we'll identify hot points critical to the final mile.

Throughout logistics and the supply chain the conversation is the same. Organizations globally continue to struggle with the options – fully integrated systems or best-of-breed software integrations. During this session our experts in transportation software will explore best of breed integrations versus one-size fits all.

Less-than-truckload and transit technology services provider SMC3 said it has acquired Transportation Costing Group (TCG), a provider of activity-based cost modeling software and other profitability management tools for LTL and truckload shippers.

American businesses are on track to double exports by 2014, meaning million of new U.S. jobs that are fueling the overall economic recovery, according to a top Commerce Department official.

As the calendar turns to 2012, along with it comes another year of reconnecting with old friends and meeting new ones, and, of course, learning things about our multi-faceted logistics sector. And one of the primary ways of doing this is attending the various trade shows and conferences within the industry. Unless my calendar is playing tricks on me, that begins next week, when I head down to Atlanta for the SMC3 “Jump Start 2012” conference for the third straight year.

What I am about to tell you is not new but at the same time it bears repeating: the federal gasoline tax has not increased from its current levels of 23.4 cents for diesel and 18.4 cents per gallon of gasoline since 1994.

In a wide-ranging speech at the SMC3 Winter Conference in Atlanta this week United States Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood provided an overview of various elements of the domestic transportation landscape from the White House’s perspective.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told shippers at the SMC3 annual winter meeting in Atlanta yesterday that cross-border trucking would be revived “as soon as possible.”

A study designed to examine current less-than-truckload (LTL) transportation pricing practices conducted by the supply chain management department at Auburn University—and sponsored by SMC3 is scheduled to kick off later this year.