Commentary

Commentary

Identifying unreasonable detention charges still a work in progress

Lori Fellmer, vice president of logistics and carrier management, BassTech International | Sep 7, 2023

These are issues with a myriad of complexity, but they are not beyond the ability of the talented individuals at the FMC and in our industry, who know intuitively and through their experience what is reasonable and just, writes an executive for BassTech International.
Container shippingTransport, trade and regulation
Commentary

Knowing Incoterms rules

By Dennis Mottola | Sep 3, 2023

Not knowing how to navigate Incoterms rules can create true vulnerability for sellers and buyers of breakbulk and project cargo.
Breakbulk shippingBreakbulk carriers
Commentary

Proposed emissions rule would cap LA-LB port volumes

By John McLaurin, President, Pacific Merchant Shipping Association | Aug 10, 2023

The South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) is pushing an indirect source emissions rule that would hold the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach responsible for emissions they do not control, potentially forcing them to reduce cargo volumes.
Commentary

Dear Teamsters: A strike could make UPS union-free

Satish Jindel, president, SJC/ShipMatrix | Jul 19, 2023

Teamsters members contemplating a strike at UPS would be well advised to rethink that strategy given that the company’s competitors can provide a huge pool of non-union workers for UPS to hire, warns industry executive and consultant Satish Jindel.
Commentary

Shippers need more diverse, resilient trucking networks to avoid next capacity crunch

Jeff Tucker, CEO, Tucker Company Worldwide | Jul 13, 2023

The timing of the next capacity challenge remains uncertain, but is approaching steadily. By preparing now, shippers will be better positioned to win the next capacity crisis.
TruckingTrucking labor
Commentary

FMC rulemaking on detention and demurrage billing will boost supply chain efficiency

Lisa Yakomin, president, Association of Bi-State Motor Carriers; Matt Schrap, CEO, Harbor Trucking Association; Jonathan Eisen, executive director, Intermodal Motor Carriers Conference | Jun 12, 2023

The FMC proposed rulemaking to restrict billing to only those parties that have entered into a contractual agreement is sound policy, and one that is welcomed by the vast majority of the supply chain community, say the heads of three motor carrier groups.
Container shippingTrucking
Commentary

Congress should allow FedEx, UPS to deliver small parcels to mailboxes

Satish Jindel, president, SJC/ShipMatrix | Jun 8, 2023

For decades, the US Postal Service has been the only parcel carrier with rates for parcels weighing in ounces, partly a result of it having a monopoly on delivering those lightweight and small-size parcels to mailboxes.
Commentary

Proposal prohibiting billing truckers at odds with detention rule’s intent

Lori Fellmer, VP of logistics and carrier management, BassTech International | May 22, 2023

A proposed change to the billable party for detention fees would simply pass the burden from the trucker, which controls a container’s movements and is directly witness to the circumstances that can disqualify detention charges, to the cargo owner, who has no such control or visibility.
Container shippingTruckingTransport, trade and regulation
Commentary

Small, mid-sized truck carriers can successfully navigate market downturn

Christopher Thornycroft, executive vice president, Redwood Logistics | Apr 21, 2023

Shifting capacity landscapes have caused several changes in the US freight industry — owner-operators have become company drivers or shut down, while small carriers with 10 or fewer trucks have begun exiting the market, says the executive vice president of 3PL Redwood Logistics.
Commentary

Let the party paying for the chassis select the chassis provider: NACPC

David Manning, CEO, North American Chassis Pool Cooperative | Apr 12, 2023

The head of the NACPC says the group believes the open market — not a chassis provider’s contract with an ocean carrier — should determine the best chassis model to employ.
Commentary

‘Modern’ forwarders must navigate uncertainty of ocean container rates

Robert Khachatryan, founder and CEO, Freight Right | Mar 27, 2023

A forwarder's ability to adapt and offer valuable expertise in this uncertain environment will be a crucial factor in ensuring the success of shippers and the shipping industry as a whole, writes the CEO of Freight Right.
Commentary

Avoid ‘one-size-fits-all’ business model for chassis use in US: DCLI CEO

Bill Shea, CEO, DCLI | Mar 20, 2023

Any effort to dictate chassis pool models would reduce competition, innovation, and capital investment, making intermodal networks less resilient for the shippers and consumers who rely on them, writes the CEO of chassis provider DCLI.
Supply Chain
Commentary

North American intermodal unlikely to rebound after 'disappointing' 2022

Lawrence Gross, president, Gross Transportation Consulting, and Journal of Commerce analyst | Feb 23, 2023

As we come to the end of a surge of historic proportions in terms of both scope and longevity, the only place for volumes to go, at least in the near term, is down.
Annual Review and Outlook
Commentary

Pandemic disruption unlikely to prompt 'structural change' in supply chains

Theodore Prince, chief strategy officer, Tiger Cool Express | Feb 23, 2023

There can be no improvement in supply chain resilience if fundamental behaviors do not change, and there is little appetite for the increased expense and reduced margins of such an approach.
Annual Review and Outlook
Commentary

Changing liability regime could make shippers targets

Ryan B. Schreiber, vice president of industry and growth, Metafora | Feb 23, 2023

The logistics industry should prepare itself for more lawsuits such as Miller v. C.H. Robinson, and for plaintiff’s attorneys to look for the deepest pockets possible — potentially including cargo owners — to satisfy judgements.
Annual Review and Outlook
Commentary

Resilience the new 'holy grail' for supply chains

Jeff Tucker, CEO, Tucker Company Worldwide | Feb 21, 2023

The COVID-19 pandemic, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s aggression in Ukraine, and issues surrounding China’s claim to the Taiwan Strait have brought the need for resilient and durable supply chains into sharp focus.
Commentary

California trade industry falling behind nationally as other US ports grow

John McLaurin, president, Pacific Merchant Shipping Association | Feb 15, 2023

California needs to embrace and advance a future that strives to achieve environmental and community goals, but also preserves the job and economic contributions provided by ports in the state, the head of the Pacific Merchant Shipping Association says.
North American ports
Commentary

Change under way to elevate ‘T&C’ functions to proper status in supply chain

Jerry Peck, vice president of product strategy, QAD Precision | Feb 3, 2023

After years of “trade and customs” functions being largely considered an afterthought in supply chain decisions, a shift is afoot that would correct that.
Supply Chain
Commentary

Why the NMFC system has stood the test of time

Joel Ringer, vice president of classification, National Motor Freight Traffic Association | Jan 11, 2023

A classification system that considers the full requirements and costs of service providers, and is constantly being adapted to new realities, is the best system available, writes the vice president of classification for the National Motor Freight Traffic Association.
Commentary

Time to wean the LTL industry off the NMFC model

Satish Jindel, president, SJ Consulting Group and Shipmatrix | Jan 9, 2023

While a few carriers such as ABF Freight and FedEx Freight have rolled out dimensional pricing, and others have expressed the desire to do so, they have largely overlooked the reasons for shippers’ reluctance to switch to dimensional rates.
SurfaceLTL
Commentary

Supply chain failures of recent years have ‘Groundhog Day’ feel

Theodore Prince, chief strategy officer and co-founder, Tiger Cool Express | Dec 30, 2022

Nobody has been willing to admit that the only question about recent supply chain failures was when — not if — they were going to occur, writes Theodore Prince.
Supply Chain
Commentary

OSRA-22 not designed to control freight rates: NITL

E. Nancy O’Liddy, executive director, National Industrial Transportation League | Nov 14, 2022

The objective of OSRA-22 was never to address freight rates, but rather to provide the FMC with additional tools to better identify, prevent, and hold ocean carriers accountable for unfair or deceptive practices and behaviors, writes the executive director of the National Industrial Transportation League.
Transport, trade and regulation
Commentary

Pausing to look back at supply chain prognostications

Lawrence Gross, president, Gross Transportation Consulting | Nov 7, 2022

Commentary

STB, FMC increasingly active in pursuing statutory mandates

Theodore Prince, chief strategy officer and co-founder, Tiger Cool Express | Nov 3, 2022

Paul Revere’s midnight ride to warn the colonial militia of the impending British military action was facilitated by the sexton of Boston’s North Church using a lantern signal —one if the enemy approached by land, two lights if it came by sea. These days, we would need three lanterns to indicate trouble coming from both land and sea.
Transport, trade and regulation
Commentary

Unraveling the complexities of zero carbon with hydrogen

Georgios Plevrakis, vice president of global sustainability, American Bureau of Shipping | Nov 2, 2022

Maritime
Commentary

Let’s level the playing field for small importers

Brian Glick, CEO, Chain.io | Oct 25, 2022

Commentary

Course correction needed in wake of OSRA-22

Jessica Darby and Andrew Balthrop | Oct 20, 2022

Predictably, OSRA-22 overpromised and is at risk of under-delivering. Changes need to be made to mitigate the law’s unintended consequences.
Transport, trade and regulation
Commentary

Standardization eroding long-term value for standalone visibility providers

Kai Timmermann, chief operating officer at Prompt | Oct 14, 2022

Visibility aggregators face obsolescence as data standards increase the availability and usefulness of visibility data — unless they work now to deliver standalone functional value before the enterprise resource planning (ERP) and freight management systems in the operating layer co-opt their capabilities and value.
Commentary

US railroads need to overcome fear of ‘adverse publicity’

Theodore Prince, chief strategy officer and co-founder, Tiger Cool Express | Oct 6, 2022

The railroad industry’s previously inexhaustible supply of goodwill is rapidly dwindling as a recent avalanche of adverse publicity brings to the surface a long-standing undercurrent of discontent with the rail industry.
Commentary

Street turns: The shipping revolution that never happened

Brendan Tompkins, chief technology officer, Port Technology Services | Aug 31, 2022

Many motor carriers perform street turns when they can, but there’s never been a way to perform them at scale.
Commentary

Increasing the logistics industry’s innovation surface area

Alexander Nowroth, managing partner, Lebenswerk Consulting Group | Aug 22, 2022

Why do logistics companies use the few hundred years of experience from their boards of directors, the first line of management, and a few above-average employees, and leave the many thousand years of experience of the rest of the workforce out of the picture?
Commentary

Usefulness of NMFC system nearing its end

Satish Jindel, president, SJ Consulting Group, Inc. | Jul 7, 2022

For many, the National Motor Freight Classification (NMFC) system for pricing has long outlived its need and value.
Commentary

Development project threatens Port of Oakland’s future

Will Scott, Jr., president, African American Farmers of California; and Manuel Cunha, Jr., president, Nisei Farmers League | Jun 29, 2022

Commentary

Tone, not criticism, undervalues CSCMP report

Mark Baxa, president and CEO, Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals | Jun 29, 2022

Constructive feedback, rather than personal attacks, help improve "State of Logistics."
Commentary

CSCMP ‘State of Logistics’ report missed the mark

Theodore Prince, chief strategy officer and co-founder, Tiger Cool Express | Jun 27, 2022

Commentary

CSCMP ‘State of Logistics’ report missed the mark

Theodore Prince, chief strategy officer and co-founder, Tiger Cool Express | Jun 27, 2022

Commentary

Arming ocean shippers with data

Brian Glick, founder and CEO of Chain.io | May 31, 2022

Expanding visibility technology enables shippers to use data about the actual performance of their networks to negotiate rates and capacity with advanced awareness of whether what carriers and forwarders are offering will be profitable.
Logistics technology
Commentary

Ocean shipping reform: A quick ‘fix’ hides unintended consequences

Jessica Darby, Assistant Professor, Department of Supply Chain Management, Auburn University, and Andrew Balthrop, Research Associate, Supply Chain Management Research Center, University of Arkansas | May 24, 2022

The broader question is if a permanent expansion of the FMC’s regulatory authority is warranted in response to a short-term concern during unprecedented time.
Commentary

Lack of technology adoption hindering supply chain evolution

Victor Ofstein, head of strategic partnerships, Melio | May 18, 2022

Logistics technology
Commentary

‘Resilient’ 3PLs require flexibility, agility in disrupted supply chain

Jon DeCesare, president, World Class Logistics Consulting | Apr 14, 2022

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