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Global Logistics Outlook: An Early Look at 2021

Nov 19, 2020, 2:00 PM EST

As the peak pre-holiday shipping season looms over US shippers, businesses are scrambling to secure capacity while trying to determine transportation spending plans for 2021. That’s an increasingly tall order in an uncertain economy and transportation market. How, for example, should freight stakeholders prepare for what many economists see as an inevitable slowdown in early 2021, even as freight volumes are likely to increase or at least hold steady through the end of this year and possibly until the Chinese New Year in early February? The likelihood for disruption, as 2020 showed, extends from international container trades, especially the trans-Pacific, to last-mile parcel delivery — the latter likely to face pressure through the fall, starting with the early Amazon Prime Day event in mid-October. Beyond that, the timing of a COVID-19 vaccine, followed by global distribution, not only will throw air cargo and refrigerated supply chains into turmoil but could be the trigger to ignite the next economic rally. And that’s not to mention the impact of November’s US general election, and what the results might mean for businesses up and down the supply chain.

This webcast, scheduled in the aftermath of the election and in the midst of unprecedented upheaval, will examine what the close of 2020 will look like, and take an early gaze at 2021.

Moderator/Presenter:

Chris Brooks, Director, Programming, JOC Events, Maritime & Trade, IHS Markit

Speaker (s):

Dan Gardner, President, Trade Facilitators Inc.

Jonathan Gold, Vice President, Supply Chain and Customs Policy, National Retail Federation

Interested in sponsoring this webcast? For more information, please visit https://subscribe.joc.com/advertising/

Sourcing Optimization: A Case for Modernization

Nov 18, 2020, 12:00 PM EST

With supply chains crossing 74 countries on five continents, Latin American food producer Grupo Nutresa has — for 100 years — continually examined its sourcing processes and innovated to streamline distribution and supplier decisions. In the last decade, the company took on a wide range of procurement spend categories, including ocean transport, to assess how laborious and inefficient processes can be best improved in a significant and measurable way. Their answer: sourcing optimization that leverages automation capabilities.

In this webcast, members of the Grupo Nutresa strategic sourcing team will engage in a dynamic dialogue with their current sourcing optimization and automation provider, Keelvar, to discuss their journey to a solution including:

• Tips on identifying priority categories for sourcing optimization

• Leveraging positive results to expand application use

• Navigating required organizational and business process changes

• Creating ROI

Keelvar is pleased to sponsor this event to showcase the transformation possibilities when procurement teams add sourcing optimization capabilities and intelligent sourcing automation.

Moderator(s):

Alessandra Barrett, Senior Content Editor, JOC, Maritime & Trade, IHS Markit

Jennifer Sikora, Vice President, Marketing, Keelvar

Speaker(s):

Carlos Peña, Digital Procurement Leader, Grupo Nutresa

Maria Fernanda Velasquez, Digital Procurement Specialist, Grupo Nutresa

Going Digital: The Rise of Digital Freight Brokerage

Nov 17, 2020, 2:00 PM EST

Over the past several years, digital freight brokerages (DFB) have been a hot topic amongst supply chain leaders. The U.S. truckload market has experienced an uprush of new tech-forward brokerages entering the marketplace with the influx and adoption of new logistics technology.

Technology innovations designed to automate global supply chain operations have given rise to a tidal wave of VC-backed digital freight corporations aiming to capitalize on the industry’s fragmented state. However, many questions remain around their operations and value to supply chain networks.

• How do digital freight brokerages operate?

• What technology tools can be integrated and leveraged with DFBs?

• How are digital brokerage ecosystems built and optimized for use?

With these questions and many others often going unanswered and with fresh faces popping up what seems like weekly, it’s easy to get bogged down in all the noise of digital freight brokerage. Join us Tuesday, November 17 at 2 PM EST, as we cut through the clatter to unearth digital brokerages’ inner workings, how they work, and how digital tools and ecosystems can add value to a customers’ supply chain.

Here’s what we will cover:

• What is digital freight brokerage?

• Creating value through process and workflow automation

• Digital freight brokerage market outlook

• Competitive landscape

• Digital tools and ecosystems

Redwood speakers include:

• Mike Reed, Chief Product Officer

• Michael Johnson, Executive Vice President of Strategy

• Adam Moreau, Senior Vice President of Sales Operations

Reserve your spot today for what will be an informative freight tech session.

JOC Inland: Safeguarding Supply Chains in a Turbulent Market A Two-Part JOC Events Webcast Series

Nov 12, 2020, 2:00 PM EST

As 2020 draws toward its close, North American shippers are wondering whether 2021 will be a year of tight transportation capacity, high freight demand, and rising trucking and intermodal rates or the year transportation goes flat as the US and global economic recoveries stagnate.

This year could hardly have been more chaotic, with two inversions in US domestic freight markets as the recession first killed freight demand and then revived it, as the need for inventory replenishment built up a wave of imports that squeezed capacity and US freight pricing.

With so many variables in play, including the continuing COVID-19 threat, it’s never been harder to plan for a new year. Business cycles are moving faster, with swings in truck pricing power and capacity occurring almost every year.

This two-part webcast series will help shippers sort fact from hype and develop a grounded view of coming logistics needs and transportation environment. Our panels will bring together top analysts, shippers, and trucking, intermodal, and logistics executives.

The result will be an event that connects the dots between the international supply chain, from seaports, and transloading to last-mile logistics. We’ll map the broad issues and dig into specific problems shippers face moving goods from origin to market in the COVID-19 era.

Session Chair: Ari Ashe, Senior Editor, Southeast Ports, and Intermodal Rail, JOC, Maritime & Trade, IHS Markit

Agenda

2:00-2:05 pm Welcome Remarks

2:05-2:45 pm Intermodal: The Year of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde There has never been quite a year like 2020. When COVID-19 closed retailers across the US, intermodal volumes dropped to levels not seen since the 2008-2009 Great Recession. Crews and engineers were furloughed and locomotives and cars were put into storage as so little freight was moving on the rails. As Americans began buying more consumer goods online, however, intermodal traffic picked up on Union Pacific Railroad with UPS parcels, and on BNSF Railway with Amazon and Walmart cargo. Stores also reopened and began to require inventory replenishment, often routed through Los Angeles and Long Beach, which was put on the rails. The results were a congested rail network, difficulty finding capacity, slower train speeds, lower trip plan compliance, and record rates in the spot market and surcharges on the UP network. In this session, we’ll describe how shippers have handled such a sudden change in the market, how they can find capacity in the last few weeks of the peak season, and what do expect in terms of pricing and service in 2021.

Moderator: Ari Ashe, Senior Editor, Southeast Ports, and Intermodal Rail, JOC, Maritime & Trade, IHS Markit

Speakers:

Jim Filter, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Intermodal, Schneider

Lawrence Gross, President, and Founder, Gross Transportation Consulting

Michael Zamost, Vice President, Intermodal, Echo Global Logistics

2:45-3:15 pm The Final Mile: A Conversation With UPS'S Shalin Shah

Moderator: Cathy Morrow Roberson, Senior Contributor, JOC, Maritime & Trade, IHS Markit

Speaker:

Shalin Shah, Vice President, Global E-Commerce Market Development Strategy, UPS

3:15-4:00 pm The Shipper Perspective: What’s Working and What’s Not Shippers and beneficial cargo owners that put memories of the tight capacity and rocketing rates of 2018 behind them last year saw pricing pressure — sometimes extreme pressure — return in 2020 as waves of imports replenishing depleted stock arrived at US ports as the economic recovery got underway. As an uneven recovery continues, will 2021 be more like 2018 than 2019, and what are shippers doing to prepare for that possibility? There’s growing urgency to find efficiencies and reduce costs while using logistics as a key lever to meet corporate goals. This panel of logistics managers will explore the way forward for US shippers.

Moderator: William Cassidy, Senior Editor, Trucking and Surface Transportation, JOC, Maritime & Trade, IHS Markit

Speakers:

Greg Brinkman, Vice President, Inbound Logistics, Bob's Discount Furniture

Laura Eory, Senior Transportation Manager, GAF

Warrick Jones, Director, Transportation, and Logistics, House-Autry

Holly Pearce, Director, and Logistics, Southern States Cooperative

4:00 pm Closing Remarks

Interested in sponsoring this webcast? For more information, please visit https://subscribe.joc.com/advertising/

JOC Inland: Safeguarding Supply Chains in a Turbulent Market A Two-Part JOC Events Webcast Series

Nov 11, 2020, 2:00 PM EST

Session Chair: William Cassidy, Senior Editor, Trucking and Surface Transportation, JOC, Maritime & Trade, IHS Markit

Part I Agenda

2:00-2:05 pm Welcome Remarks

2:05-2:45 pm The North American Freight Outlook How will the US economic recovery evolve in 2021, and how will it affect supply chains, modal choices, and shipper plans and budgeting in the year ahead? Eight months after the initial COVID-19 pandemic shutdowns threw the economy into a deep recession, shippers are still dealing with supply chain disruption and dislocation. The strong freight demand generated during the recovery has meant more dislocation, but the recovery has been uneven. This panel will delve into the economic outlook for the US, what that means for freight demand and transportation pricing, and what shippers should do to prepare for what could be a stronger but costlier US surface transportation environment in 2021.

Moderator: Mark Szakonyi, Executive Editor, JOC.com and The Journal of Commerce, Maritime & Trade, IHS Markit

Speakers:

Paul Bingham, Director, Transportation Consulting, Economics, and Country Risk, IHS Markit

Chris Caplice, Executive Director, MIT Center of Transportation & Logistics; and Chief Scientist, DAT Solutions

2:45-3:15 How Technology Can Reshape Procurement

Moderator: Eric Johnson, Senior Editor, Technology, JOC, Maritime & Trade, IHS Markit

Speaker:

Anshu Prasad, CEO, Leaf Logistics

3:15-4:00 pm The Trucking Outlook: Analyzing the Market's Dynamics Trucking companies swung between extremes in 2020, first as economic collapse left many without freight and then as an economic rebound rapidly tightened capacity and sent spot truckload rates skyrocketing. US truckload and less-than-truckload carriers entered the fourth quarter with capacity tighter than it was even in 2018. Shippers agreed to short-term bids and rate hikes to guarantee they get trucks. The trucking sector’s costs are rising too, however, especially costs associated with drivers and insurance. With 2021 as uncertain as any year in recent memory, how are truckers and the shippers that depend on them preparing?

Moderator: William Cassidy, Senior Editor, Trucking and Surface Transportation, JOC, Maritime & Trade, IHS Markit

Speakers:

Cecil E. "Chip" Overbey Jr., Senior Vice President, Strategic Planning, Old Dominion Freight Line

Shana Riggs, Owner, RJ Supply Chain Consulting

Shelley Simpson, Executive Vice President, Chief Commercial Officer, and President of Highway Services, J.B. Hunt Transport Services

4:00 pm Closing Remarks

Interested in sponsoring this webcast? For more information, please visit https://subscribe.joc.com/advertising/