There are many reasons why in a green focused world where paper has been crowned undisputed king, inflatable plastic products have become the fastest growing packaging product segment for void fill and... View More

You don’t have to dig very deeply into reports from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) to confirm what we already know, which is that even though current fuel prices may be lower than... View More

Talking to your carrier more frequently can help you save money and improve operations. Most shippers talk to their carriers when there is an operational problem or when their agreements are being renewed.... View More

High-volume order processing caused a backlog in the shipping department. Their manual process resulted in an inconsistent flow of product—which proved costly from a labor and overall operating standpoint.... View More

Albert Einstein once said, "Know where to find the information and how to use it - that's the secret of success.” To be successful in managing parcel expense today, shippers need to change the process... View More

When a supply chain manager recently complained to me about the hiring constraints forced upon his department due to the still slow upturn in the economy, I asked him what level of employee he most needed.... View More

Measurements are important. It has been often said that if you can measure it, you can manage it. Most measures are inward looking but others are dyadic and can measure exchange activities between firms.... View More

Logistics professionals have been hearing the same two words for years: “Cut costs.” But each year these words have a different tone. In 2009 the tone was panicky, which resulted in layoffs... View More

Companies shipping goods to customers have several things to consider, from what carrier and transportation mode to utilize, to the packaging for the shipments. In addition to these essential details,... View More

Have you made a list of New Year’s resolutions? Did you include popular items such as losing weight, spending more time with family and friends, or getting organized? While you’re working to... View More

On January 2, 2011, new USPS Shipping Services prices went into effect for Domestic and International products such as Express Mail, Priority Mail, Parcel Select and Global Express Guaranteed, Express... View More

From an economic perspective, what you are shipping tends to matter less than the language of the agreement you have in place with the carriers that govern it. So never mind how you’re going to fit... View More

You may not realize it. But if you purchased or received a new electronic gadget this past holiday season only to discover that it didn’t work as well as the old one, you learned an important warehousing... View More

Welcome to my first column for PARCEL! While I’ve written a few articles over the last couple of years, this is the first installment of a recurring column. While I hope to cover a variety of topics,... View More

Are we in a boom economy? One might assume so based on the historic rate increases announced by UPS and FedEx for 2011. Unfortunately, the truth is that most shippers are still feeling the economic pinch... View More

In the first column of this monthly series, Those Extra Letters–Just Alphabet Soup, or Chicken Soup for Your Career? in February 2010, George Yarusavage addressed the value of supply chain certifications.... View More

With the recent refusal of UPS and FedEx to engage with third party negotiators, it’s time to take a look at the industry and answer two obvious questions. Where are we headed, and who will ultimately... View More

To quote Jerry Garcia, what a long, strange trip it's been. 2010 has been a challenging year for shippers for a number of reasons. Costs are up. Demand is down. Shipping managers are being asked to do... View More

Please download the PDF in order to see the charts referenced in the article. As always, we will also be publishing this analysis in our January/February issue, so you'll be able to have it in hard copy... View More

The world grows smaller every day, and more and more businesses are finding international markets for their products and goods. For many companies, though, the shipping process represents one of the greatest... View More