Lately, it seems the shipping industry is staring down an all too familiar problem: the race to the bottom. This means annual RFPs and frequent carrier switching, costing shippers money as they spend time finding and onboarding new carriers. But it doesn’t have to be this way. With a bit of innovation, carriers can find […]
Since the White House imposed its first round of tariffs against China in February 2018, each new escalation of the trade war between the world’s two biggest economies has been greeted with disbelief. Yet this month, with the tariff rate on $200 billion of Chinese imports rising from 10 to 25 percent, business leaders, economists, […]
There’s no denying that the American trucking landscape is in turmoil. Transportation costs for U.S. businesses are up seven percent, year-over-year. What some were calling a “crisis” a few months ago has settled into a new normal, with higher rates and tighter capacity than anyone has experienced in decades. Along with rates, tensions between shippers […]
In 2018, American business leaders are grappling with several profound shifts in the economic and social landscape: sweeping demographic changes, uneasy international relations that threaten supply chains, the stunning rise of ecommerce, and a serious national discussion on the role of business in fostering social good. Taken together, these issues can seem overwhelming, but the […]
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 […]
In recent months, while most Americans have been distracted by an exhausting and embittered news cycle, the Chinese government has been extending its reach throughout the globe in an unprecedented bid to reshape the world economy according to its own values and ambitions. In launching its “One Belt, One Road” initiative, China is pouring over […]
The holiday shopping season is rapidly approaching, ushering in the busiest time of year for shippers, carriers, and the cargo thieves who prey on them. While estimates for the total cost of cargo theft vary wildly, the FBI calls it a “multi-billion-dollar criminal enterprise” and reported 628 cargo thefts in 2016 (though owing to inconsistent […]
No single issue is poised to disrupt logistics like the coming driverless truck revolution. It’s been on the horizon for years, and yet the trucking industry is only just beginning to consider the ethical, legal, and moral implications of automation. Now trucking stands on the brink of a new era, as the first wave of […]
Any business contemplating a partnership with a third-party logistics (3PL) provider faces an immediate choice: asset based or non-asset based? The difference, broadly, is that asset based 3PL providers own their own trucks, warehouses, etc., while non-asset based providers contract those services out to other companies. (Red Arrow Logistics, for the record, is a non-asset […]
The United States is reeling from a particularly brutal hurricane season, with Harvey and Irma predicted to costs hundreds of billions of dollars in reconstruction and the loss of life is incalculable. But while many have called these storms “historic” or “once-in-a-lifetime,” the reality is that extreme weather events are becoming all too common, as […]