Commentary

Customer Loyalty Should Be Job One

Today’s parcel industry is starkly different from that of 1998, when UPS and FedEx Ground brought ground delivery service into the same arena as air express by guaranteeing delivery times

Q: I’m a motor carrier claims manager.

As importers weather some of the most brutal conditions in years in the eastbound trans-Pacific trade — merchandise is missing store delivery windows and carriers either are enforcing the letter

Losing Ted Kennedy’s seat to the Republican Party is stirring deep angst in the White House and among Democrats on Capitol Hill.

Last month’s special election in Massachusetts may have rocked the political landscape, but for anyone with a stake in transportation, the best and most immediate impact may be a clearer path to

The 1972 song “Stuck in the Middle With You” was a one-hit wonder by Stealers Wheel.

It’s not every day that I’m minding my own business and my phone rings, and on the other end of the line is the logistics director for one of the world’s largest retailers.

Q: A broker accepted our load and gave it to another carrier, who is a carrier of ours anyway. The broker went bankrupt since accepting our payment in full, but has not paid its hired carrier.

The first month of any year is typically a time for predictions — predictions about the direction of the stock market; predictions on the outcome of political elections (remember to register and

For the first weeks of January, at least, 2010 is shaping up as the year of inventory for everyone in the supply chain.

The chaos in delivering aid to Haitians more than a week after the Jan. 12 earthquake is all too familiar to José Holguín-Veras.

The U.S. economy will gain strength over the course of this year. The United States will get a value-added tax. Home improvement retailers will see a couple of good years.

Q: A major parcel company offers a big customer discounts and incentives on ground and express service at a modest level — let’s say 10 percent — for weights of one through 20 pounds

Over the last year or two, we heard a good deal about fusion centers, locations where the federal government electronically shares details about individuals with state and local governments (which als

There have been some welcome reports of improvement in general shipping trends at the start of 2010, but the more important signs that dark economic clouds may be clearing may be coming far from truck

The eighth revision of the Incoterms, the International Chamber of Commerce shipment and delivery terms, is well under way.

NOW THAT THE NEW DECADE IS UPON US, it’s important to know what breakbulk and heavy-lift industry leaders are seeing in their crystal balls.

The wind turbine market in China needs to be considered from two perspectives, domestic and exports, to fully appreciate its magnitude.

It’s difficult to say whether the 2008-2009 global economic recession will leave the shipping industry with the kind of imprint that World War I left on the British poet Robert Graves, author of

Logistics is both the most important factor and the biggest obstacle facing a massive international aid operation rushing emergency supplies to Haiti.

In the aftermath of the Great Recession, which sent U.S.

Q: Some time ago, you answered a question about whether it was legal for consignees to require shippers to use certain carriers to deliver purchased product to their facility or whether this was restr

Although we all hope for a strong economic recovery in 2010, it is increasingly clear West Coast ports and the trade industries that depend on them won’t be recovering to their previous peaks an

A few clients and several business friends have asked for my views on where 2010 is heading, and my stock answer is, “If I knew that, I’d bottle it, sell it and be very active in the buyin

It’s often said that incidents such as the attempted Christmas Day bombing of a Northwest Airlines flight provide a wake-up call.

With the rising cost of operations, tough decisions lie ahead for the entire air freight industry that will affect capacity on a global level. However, as the U.S.

Battered by the economic downturn, the U.S. industrial real estate market faces its greatest challenges in decades.

Simply put, 2009 was the worst year in container shipping history.

Under attack from seemingly every side, is 2010 a Waterloo for the freight transportation industry?

Following the cyclical upturns in ECRI’s leading indexes, the U.S. economic revival has begun to gain strength despite lingering skepticism about its viability.

It may be easier to talk about the things we know will happen in 2010 than to try to guess what might be coming.

This year’s Annual Review & Outlook comes at a critical time not only in the transportation and shipping world but also in the broad trading economy.

Geraldine Knatz, executive director of the Port of Los Angeles, was referring only to seaports but could just as easily have been speaking for the entire industry when she wrote in her commentary for

For the first time since Armstrong & Associates began tracking the U.S. third-party logistics market in 1995, revenue declined on a year-over-year basis.

Wal-Mart Stores is quickly setting the tone for the shipping industry in the New Year by working to cut even deeper into its transportation and logistics spending.

The idea of scanning 100 percent of ocean containers coming into the country didn’t get what could be termed a ringing endorsement recently.

Q: As a long-time reader of your column, I must admit I rarely disagree with your advice and assessment of a question.

The celebration of the new year is a time-honored tradition across centuries, going back at least 4,000 years to ancient Babylon.

American workers face a jobless recovery, and more stimulus spending won’t fix what’s broke.