Logistics Management (Highlands Ranch, CO) articles from January 2006

Logistics Management (Highlands Ranch, CO) archives from January 2006

A new name and a new venture for Yellow Roadway.(Management UPDATE: AN EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF INDUSTRY NEWS)
January 1, 2006... * A new name and a new venture for Yellow Roadway. Earlier this month, Yellow Roadway Corporation changed its name to YRC Worldwide Inc., reflecting the transportation service provider's push into global transportation and logistics markets....

Roger Nober has stepped down as STB chairman.(Management UPDATE: AN EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF INDUSTRY NEWS)
January 1, 2006... * Roger Nober has stepped down as STB chairman. The Maryland Republican had the unusual distinction of being not only chairman but also the sole member of the Surface Transportation Board for 54 weeks in 2003 and 2004. Nober earned kudos from...

RFID adoption continues its steady march.(Management UPDATE: AN EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF INDUSTRY NEWS)
January 1, 2006... * RFID adoption continues its steady march. Gartner Inc. says that worldwide spending on radio frequency identification (RFID) technology is on track to exceed $3 billion by 2010. The research firm estimates that total RFID spending in 2005 hit...

Transportation companies win IT innovation awards.(Management UPDATE: AN EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF INDUSTRY NEWS)
January 1, 2006... * Transportation companies win IT innovation awards. Five transportation organizations were named to the Info World 100 Best Projects of 2005 list for their innovative technology implementations. Con-Way Transportation Services was honored for...

And they're no slouch when it comes to customer service, either ...(Management UPDATE: AN EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF INDUSTRY NEWS)
January 1, 2006... * And they're no slouch when it comes to customer service, either... Overnite Transportation, Canada Post, Purolator, UPS, and the United States Postal Service are top-ranked when it comes to Internet-based communications with customers. So...

Truck-related fatalities have hit a 30-year low.(Management UPDATE: AN EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF INDUSTRY NEWS)
January 1, 2006... * Truck-related fatalities have hit a 30-year low. According to data released by the U.S Department of Transportation (DOT), the fatality rate for accidents involving large trucks in 2004 was the lowest it has been in 30 years. The 2004...

Is your logistics operation in solid shape going into the New Year?(Management UPDATE: AN EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF INDUSTRY NEWS)
January 1, 2006... * Is your logistics operation in solid shape going into the New Year? Find out for sure on Tuesday, January 31, at the 2006 Logistics Outlook Webcast, where industry analysts will give their takes on where rates in each mode are headed. The...

How is wireless and mobile technology improving fleet operations?(Management UPDATE: AN EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF INDUSTRY NEWS)
January 1, 2006... * How is wireless and mobile technology improving fleet operations? A survey of for-hire and private fleets conducted by transportation consulting firm Eye for Transport found that wireless technology helps improve efficiency, security, and...

What a difference a decade makes--or not.(Management UPDATE: AN EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF INDUSTRY NEWS)
January 1, 2006... * What a difference a decade makes--or not. LM editors working on a research project recently came across this headline: "Diesel-price surge pumps up truckload rates." Sounds like it could have been written last month, but in fact that was the...

Truck tonnage index jumps nearly two percent.(Management UPDATE: AN EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF INDUSTRY NEWS)
January 1, 2006... * Truck tonnage index jumps nearly two percent. According to the American Trucking Associations (ATA), the organization's for-hire Truck Tonnage Index rose 1.9% on a seasonally adjusted basis in November. This marks the third straight monthly...

Global trade is becoming increasingly important to shippers' bottom lines.(Management UPDATE: AN EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF INDUSTRY NEWS)
January 1, 2006... * Global trade is becoming increasingly important to shippers' bottom lines. A recent Accenture study found that U.S. business execs expect revenue generated outside of the country to account for 42 percent of their companies' total revenues...

The 2005 edition of Railroad Facts is off the presses.(Management UPDATE: AN EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF INDUSTRY NEWS)
January 1, 2006... * The 2005 edition of Railroad Facts is off the presses. The Association of American Railroads' pocket-sized reference includes facts and statistics about railroad finance, traffic, operations, equipment, and more. It also provides profiles of...

This year marks the 50th anniversary of containerization.(Management UPDATE: AN EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF INDUSTRY NEWS)
January 1, 2006... * This year marks the 50th anniversary of containerization--and the Smithsonian will throw a big bash in Washington to celebrate the occasion. The event is slated for April 27, exactly 50 years from the inaugural voyage of the IDEAL X, the...

One company's misfortune is another's blessing.(Management UPDATE: AN EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF INDUSTRY NEWS)
January 1, 2006... * One company's misfortune is another's blessing. Haband, the mail-order clothing retailer, recently ran ads touting outrageously low prices for shirts. Why so cheap? The ads, which feature a photo of a collision between two container ships,...

Logistics outlook 2006: control what you can control.(VIEWPOINT)
January 1, 2006... You THOUGHT 2005 WAS A TOUGH YEAR? Well, hold onto your hat. With the exception of ocean shipping, transportation rates will rise across the board in 2006--and from what we report in our 2006 Logistics Outlook, there's little relief in sight...

Average prices for shipping via truck.(TRUCKING)
January 1, 2006... Average prices for shipping via truck decreased by a meager 0.1% in November--the first monthly decline since December 2004. The culprit seems to have been LTL carriers, who reported that average tags fell 0.6%. Truckload carriers, by contrast,...

Domestic airfreight prices have been flying high.(AIR)
January 1, 2006... Domestic airfreight prices have been flying high. Average prices for scheduled domestic flights rose 9.7% in November from the same month a year earlier. The last time this industry pushed through such a large year-on-year increase was August...

The inflation waters appeared calm.(WATER)
January 1, 2006... The inflation waters appeared calm for inland waterways and deep-sea shipping in November, but looks can be deceiving. Prices for both markets didn't budge from October. Price comparisons, however, fall apart outside of that one-month view....

The rail freight industry continues to achieve.(RAIL)
January 1, 2006... The rail freight industry continues to achieve higher-than-expected price hikes. In November, average prices for railcar service jumped 1.7%. That was the fourth consecutive month the railroads recorded a solid price increase. Prices for...

Recent deals drive logistics industry consolidation; TNT Logistics, BAX, Exel lead the latest list of sales that will alter the global logistics landscape.(NEWS & ANALYSIS)
January 1, 2006... HOOFDDORP, NETHERLANDS -- TNT N.V.'s recent announcement that it is putting its TNT Logistics division up for sale confirms the ongoing trend of consolidation among global third-party logistics companies (3PLs). This news highlights the...

Proposed legislation takes aim at federal security programs.(CARGO SECURITY)
January 1, 2006... WASHINGTON -- A bipartisan effort spearheaded by U.S. senators Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Susan M. Collins (R-Maine) may have a lasting effect on how both shippers and the federal government go about keeping ocean cargo safe and secure. S....

NAFTA surface trade on the rise.(News Capsule)
January 1, 2006... News Capsule NAFTA surface trade on the rise The bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) said surface transportation trade between the United States and North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) partners Canada and Mexico...

Meet the new (CSCMP) boss.(INDUSTRY ORGANIZATIONS)(Interview)
January 1, 2006... OAK BROOK, ILL. -- Rick D. Blasgen, former senior vice president, integrated logistics for ConAgra Foods, recently began his new duties as president and CEO of the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP). Blasgen succeeds Maria...

UPS, FedEx ground rate hikes hit lightweight packages hardest.(Bohman on PRICING)
January 1, 2006... ON JANUARY 2, BOTH UPS AND FEDEX CORP. implemented their 2006 round of general rate increases for both ground and air shipments. Rates for ground shipments, which rose by an average of 2.9 percent last year, increased by an average of 3.9...

Three paths to improvement in fleet service management.(Byrne on EXCELLENCE)
January 1, 2006... THOUSANDS OF BUSINESSES operate vehicle fleets. And for most of them, service management is high on their list of headaches. For many, the challenge is deployment: putting the right parts and the right people in the right place at the right...

Endurance test: shippers who survived last year's logistics maelstrom will need both determination and creativity to keep costs under control in 2006.(Cover Story)
January 1, 2006... Shippers who didn't adjust well to the challenges of 2005--no-show truckers, bidding wars for railcars, and non-stop fuel surcharges-will get another chance to prove themselves in 2006. That's because U.S. economic growth is holding steady at...

Imagination pays off.(TRANSPORTATION TRENDS)
January 1, 2006... Diesel prices are off the charts. Fuel surcharges are at all-time highs. Capacity is tight. Discounts are down. Accessorial charges are way up. And the driver shortage has never been tighter. With supply chains stretched halfway around the...

Metrics take center stage; WMS and TMS vendors are integrating performance metrics into their products--and shippers are making the most of this powerful data.(SUPPLY CHAIN TECHNOLOGY)
January 1, 2006... As the producer of hats worn by such notables as country singer Toby Keith, Dorfman Pacific of Stockton, Calif., can't afford to mess around when it comes to performance. That's why for the last 18 months, this purveyor of labels like Scala...

Cut through the paper! For all imports big and small, the challenge is the same--learning how to use information technology to streamline paperwork and clear goods through Customs ASAP.(GLOBAL LOGISTICS)
January 1, 2006... No matter how well-oiled an importer's logistics operation may be, nearly every one of them has seen shipments hit the customs "wall" and languish there for a frustrating (and expensive) length of time. To prevent that from happening,...

Friendly persuaders: looking for a site for a new DC? Consultants, developers, and economic agencies are anxious to help. Just remember: They're not all unbiased.(Site Selection: WAREHOUSE & DC)
January 1, 2006... Global competition is putting companies in a pressure cooker, forcing them to reduce costs and reassess their supply chain strategies--and making distribution increasingly important to a company's economic success. It makes sense, then, to...

LoadHog solves heavyduty dock problems.(NEW PRODUCTS)
January 1, 2006... SPX Dock Products has released an updated version of its LoadHog modular dock bridge. The new LoadHog has a capacity of 15,000 pounds gross vehicle weight (GVW) and is comparable to a 40,000-pound capacity pit leveler. The LoadHog mounts...

Environmentally friendly container coating.(NEW PRODUCTS)
January 1, 2006... Michelman Inc. has introduced its Nomar Series of abrasion resistant coatings to meet market requirements for non-scuff performance of corrugated shipping containers. According to the manufacturer, the coating eliminates abrasion of both the...

Size and strength make mobile terminal unique.(NEW PRODUCTS)
January 1, 2006... DLoG's X 7 mobile industrial terminal allows users to efficiently perform data-capture operations in extreme temperatures for logistics, time recording, and quality-assurance tasks, among other applications. The X 7 measures 22 x 15 x 8 cm and...

Electric walkies step up to demanding conditions.(NEW PRODUCTS)
January 1, 2006... A new line of electric walkies from Mitsubishi Forklift Trucks--available in 3,000-, 4,500-, and 6,000-pound models--offers the shortest head length in its class and performs under variable conditions, says the manufacturer. Each model can...

GT Nexus adds integrated freight audit.(NEW PRODUCTS)
January 1, 2006... GT Nexus has announced the availability of its new Global Freight Audit management system. Deployed over the GT Nexus Web portal as a network-based service, the system leverages an industry-proven platform to deliver a new solution for managing...

Vehicle-mount computer for multiple environments.(NEW PRODUCTS)
January 1, 2006... Paragon Data Systems, a provider of automated data-collection solutions, is offering the CV60A vehicle-mount computer from Intermec Technologies. The unit is geared for real-time data-collection applications, using either a vehicle or...

New supply chain horizons.(Global Supply Chain Conference)
January 1, 2006... The third annual Global Supply Chain Conference (GSCC) 2005 featured an impressive lineup of speakers to discuss the latest trends, opportunities and challenges in supply chain and logistics management. This unique online event, which was...

China ports update: seven developments to watch: it's hard to keep up with the pace of change at China's seaports, but understanding the issues affecting those ports will help take the risk out of your China logistics strategy.
January 1, 2006... Here's an interesting statistic: The world's largest municipality isn't Tokyo or Sao Paolo or Seoul. It's Chongqing, a metropolitan area of more than 30 million people in the middle of China. That's a noteworthy number by itself. But it's...