On January 1, IMO regulations will come into effect and kick off a shift to lower sulfur marine fuels. The new regulations require marine fuels to have a sulfur content of 50 ppm, down from the current standard of 350 ppm. In practice, that means the ships are now beginning to start cleaning out their […]
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 […]
As Hong Kong enters its tenth week of increasingly violent and disruptive demonstrations, both companies and the people on the ground are growing increasingly nervous. On Friday, roughly a thousand protestors dressed in black staged a sit-in at Hong Kong international airport, distributing flyers, and chanting “Do You Hear the People Sing?” from Les Miserables. […]
The container shipping industry has long had a healthy market environment with a wide selection of carriers to choose from. But in just the last few years, the industry has seen a sharp increase in consolidation. Some experts warn that we’re witnessing the formation of a loose oligopoly in container shipping. So how did this […]
These days, you don’t have to inhale to get a lift from the marijuana industry. With a market cap that is estimated to be as high as $77 billion by 2022, legalized cannabis has the potential to be so lucrative, it’s sometimes called the “green gold rush.” However, like the original gold rushes, investing in […]
These days, the outlook for international trade can turn on a dime (or a tweet). International supply chains, on the other hand, take much longer to adjust to changes, especially when it comes to China, the world’s second largest economy and the site of so much of the world’s manufacturing. However, despite the difficulties of […]
For years, the conversation about innovative fulfillment strategies has been driven by a single company: (you guessed it) Amazon. Retailers have often been left playing catch-up to the aggressive, customer-focused fulfillment philosophy pioneered by Jeff Bezos’ Seattle-based Goliath. Recently however, other companies have been exploring creative distribution solutions of their own, and are finding themselves […]
Moving freight through the world’s biggest cities is about to become even more expensive. Beginning in 2021, New York will be the first American city to implement “congestion pricing,” and will charge a toll to vehicles entering Manhattan south of Central Park. New York City’s congestion pricing plan is a response to ever-worsening traffic issues […]
After a winter marked by tight capacity and high rates across the U.S. freight market, spring is bringing a respite for shippers across several areas. While no one factor is entirely responsible for this shift, one clear cause that supply chains are slowing down, now that the race to stockpile inventory ahead of the Chinese […]
In the wake of the Ethiopian Airlines crash that left 157 people dead, leaders around the world are questioning whether regulators are doing enough to prevent these tragedies. Aviation safety is a critical issue, not just for passengers’ peace of mind, but to a global economy that relies on confidence in the people who build, […]