Topic: Events

By this time next week, I will be very tired. Why? Because I will be recovering from the hustle and bustle of the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) Annual Conference, which is in Atlanta this year.

The heading of the July Cass Freight Index Report from Cass Information Systems, “Slow growth in freight; slow growth in the economy,” aptly sums up the current freight environment, which continues to flatten out and lack true signs of growth.

Second quarter intermodal loadings—at 3,716,321—were up 5.2 percent annually and IANA officials said it marks the best quarterly result in a year, with the annual growth rate topping the first quarter’s 2.9 percent gain.

The logistics industry has yet to climb back to the profitability it hit in 2007–the precipice from which it dropped during the recession. According to the report’s author and industry analysts, it may be a while until the overall industry hits full stride again.

The growing number of supply chain certification programs now available opens up new opportunities for managers looking to advance their careers. But before embarking on any program, the experts advise, make sure that it has value to current and potential employers.

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.

U.S. logistics costs rose 6.6 percent last year to $1.28 trillion, up $79 billion from 2010, according to the newest State of Logistics report.

When you reflect about the people whose ideas, work, and stature have advanced the art and science of supply chain management, certain names come readily to mind. Bill Copacino was one of those names.

Despite ongoing uncertainty in Europe, exports are expected to remain a driving force of Germany's economic strength

Schneider National and BNSF Railway have inked a new, multi-year agreement in which BNSF will continue to serve as one of Schneider’s primary rail providers for intermodal service.

In its quarterly Intermodal Market Trends & Statistics report, IANA reported that first quarter intermodal loadings—at 3,476,500—were up 5.8 percent annually and represent the best first quarter output for loadings ever recorded by the Intermodal Association of North America.

When it comes to intermodal growth and the momentum this mode has, it is more than clear that the numbers don't lie.

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.

The most recent edition of the Ceridian-UCLA Pulse of Commerce Index (PCI) brought home about the only consistent theme regarding the stalled economy of recent months: not much seems to be changing.

Diesel prices headed down for the fifth straight week, falling 2.8 cents to $3.721 per gallon, according to the Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration.

At a time when capacity tightness in some ways has become the new normal, the differences between fixed and variable capacity are different than they used to be in some ways, according to FTR Associates Partner Noel Perry.

A consensus that has been oft-repeated lately is that Peak Season is likely to fall short of previously promising expectations. That was one of the main takeaways from a recent report published by the Tompkins Supply Chain Consortium, entitled Peak Season Trends and Strategies Survey Report.

Cloud supply chain technology services provider GT Nexus and Capgemini recently announced they inked a joint go-to market BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) initiative to enable what it described as “Supply Chain Orchestration.”

Despite sequential gains in shipments and expenditures, the September 2011 edition of the Cass Freight Index points to less than smooth sailing for the economy through the remainder of the year.

As shippers supply chain needs continue to evolve over time, so do the capabilities of those providing third-party logistics (3javascript:promptTag("link");PL) services. This was a major takeaway of the recently released 2012 Third-Party Logistics Study: The State of Logistics Outsourcing.