By 2016 over half a billion customers will use M-commerce solutions to shop via their smartphones, according to Hamburg based research company yStats. Many of these shoppers will be making use of innovative... View More
FedEx announced on September 18 that its shipping rates will increase, effective January 6, 2014. FedEx Express package and freight rates will go up an average of 3.9 percent for U.S., U.S. export and... View More
Coming into the fall season we are all working on setting the budgets and initiatives that will be our priorities for 2014. We brainstorm to create a comprehensive list, cull it down to a select few, present... View More
What defines a successful transportation program in your company? Do you manage transportation with real information, or do you just get by with a couple of data elements? The difference is subtle yet... View More
SurePost, a UPS solution, and SmartPost, a FedEx solution, both rely on the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to get small packages to their final destinations. Through SurePost and SmartPost, UPS and FedEx are... View More
If you've ever seen the 1992 comedy My Cousin Vinny, starring Joe Pesci, then you know that bringing in a third party to negotiate anything remotely involving your personal well-being can be a questionable... View More
This week FedEx announced average rate increases of 3.9% for Express and International services effective January 6, 2014. Unlike previous rates increases, FedEx will not offset rate increases by modifying... View More
This year we witnessed another turbulent time in the freight audit and payment service sector. A reprise of a situation from a decade ago when two companies collapsed. Fraud, embezzlement, bankruptcy,... View More
One of the primary ways shippers can streamline their supply chains is through mode optimization. While many companies have figured out the small parcel air to ground service level optimization, many of... View More
Your operational, administrative, and technical requirements should be driven by, and a reflection of, the identified mission and KPIs of the transportation function. The importance of considering these... View More
As more shippers are turning to less expensive ground services, the regionals continue to gain traction versus the more expensive and less flexible offerings of UPS and FedEx. Shippers are also beginning... View More
You can have a financial plan for your distribution business. You can have an operations plan, as well. However, until you can see your operational decisions within the context of your financial plan,... View More
The Internet, first known as ARPANET, has been in use since the 1960’s, when the first message was sent from a University of California laboratory. In 1982, the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) was... View More
When it comes to uncovering supply chain savings, the focus is usually on outbound shipments, but what about inbound shipments? The costs associated with inbound shipments may be as difficult to... View More
An interesting side note regarding UPS SurePost is the significance the product played during recent UPS/Teamsters contract talks. Since UPS SurePost packages are aggregated and inducted for USPS postal... View More
We often get requests from our customers to evaluate how Zone Skipping might save them money or improve their shipping times. There is no “one size fits all” answer. Stated differently, “It... View More
Over the last decades, few industries have experienced the need to “press play” as much as the logistics and delivery industry. Changes have been so dramatic that the association that represents... View More
In a recent conversation, a director of supply chain commented, “You almost need a master’s, juris doctorate, and about 30 years of experience in supply chain management to understand today’s... View More
