Logistics News and Insights | RedArrowLogistics.com

News and Insights

Industry News, International, Shipping

Exporters Survival Guide to Trade War

  • April 16, 2018
It’s a volatile time for US-China relations, and the effects of the brewing trade war are being felt around the world. Seemingly every week, a new volley of tariffs is announced by the Chinese government or the Trump administration, creating uncertainty for freight forwarders, Wall Street traders, and heartland farmers alike. Despite the fact that […]
Shipping

Capacity, Congestion at Ports Drive Shipping Costs Up Everywhere

  • April 10, 2018
In recent months, anyone whose business takes them through US ports has faced an increasingly chaotic and expensive environment. Despite a robust economy and higher-than-expected export volumes, shippers are facing thinner profit margins as they run into a trucking bottleneck. Drayage rates are skyrocketing, fueled by a driver shortage and the demands of the ELD […]
Shipping, Trucking

How Fragile Supply Chains Caused KFC’s Chicken Shortage

  • April 6, 2018
This February, KFC experienced its worst nightmare: being a chicken restaurant with no chicken. Hundreds of KFC restaurants in the UK were forced to close for up to a week following a catastrophic breakdown of operations that saw frustrated customers calling the police, desperate franchise managers furtively buying chicken from supermarkets, and thousands of pounds […]
International, Shipping

Transatlantic Reliability is Plummeting. Here’s Why.

  • March 30, 2018
In recent months, shippers and freight forwarders have noticed a precipitous drop in the reliability of transatlantic carrier schedules. According to JOC, in 2017, reliability on westbound transatlantic routes fell 10.5 percent to 67.4 percent, while eastbound routes fell 10.6 percent, to land at 70.2 percent reliability. The first few months of 2018 have been […]
Industry News, Technology

The Late-Comer’s Guide to Blockchain

  • March 22, 2018
Lately it seems that the word on everyone’s lips is “blockchain.” What started as the obscure engine for cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin is now being adopted by some of the world’s largest corporations and institutions. In the logistics world, even the technologically averse are beginning to learn what blockchain is and how it stands to impact […]
Shipping, Trucking

Why Construction Projects Need Logistics Help

  • March 19, 2018
When it comes to big construction projects (be it a new bridge or Amazon’s new headquarters), transportation issues are one of the major ways budgets skyrocket, frustrations mount, and deadlines sail by. The problem begins with legions of subcontractors, who hire their own subcontractors ad infinitum, leading to chaos and cluttered work sites. Everyone has […]
Industry News, International

What Trump’s Threats to Free Trade Mean for Exporters

  • March 17, 2018
The Trump Administration has made it clear that its “America First” philosophy is incompatible with many of the free trade agreements which have been the cornerstones of American trade policy for decades. In the year since taking power, the Trump White House has walked away from trade deals that had been years in the making, […]
Shipping, Technology

Could Electric Barges Give Shipping a Clean Boost?

  • February 16, 2018
This summer, the world’s first battery-powered barges will take to the waterways of Belgium and the Netherlands, transporting cargo while reducing emissions. The rollout will begin with only five barges, but electric technology has the potential to dramatically alter inland waterway shipping here in the US, if lawmakers, barge operators, and logistics management companies are […]
Industry News, Trucking

2018 Trucking Rates: Advice for Shippers

  • February 12, 2018
Across the US, trucking rates have been hovering at record highs for months and show no signs of coming down. The higher rates and limited capacity are the result of a perfect storm of factors, some of which were unforeseeable, while others have been on the horizon for months or even years. Shippers who are […]
Industry News, International

China’s Recyclables Ban: A Crisis and an Opportunity

  • February 2, 2018
This January marked the official start date of China’s ban on yang laji: foreign garbage. Last July, China informed the World Trade Organization that it would no longer accept imports of 24 types of recycled materials, including scrap paper and the low-grade plastic used in grocery bags and soda bottles. China’s decision has profound environmental […]