It’s hard to believe that once again, summer is almost halfway through. Memorial Day kicked off our summer, but it seemed that before we even knew it, the lazy days of June were gone, the 4th of... View More

The USPS has been the focal point of many discussions about its destiny. I find this very intriguing… even if some of the discussions border on ludicrous. I recently read that the USPS should get... View More

I just finished reading The Vested Way: How a “What’s In It for We” Mindset Revolutionizes Business Relationships by Kate Vitasek and Karl Manrodt. This invaluable e-book got... View More

The USPS has made it quite clear that its Intelligent Mail initiatives are a main component of its ability to create value for the mail, increase visibility, and reduce operations costs. At all opportunities,... View More

Regional parcel carriers are a vast group and each has its own set of strengths that your organization can leverage to enhance your supply chain. They can provide better transit, white glove services,... View More

In the last installment of PARCEL Counsel, we discussed the dilemma for shippers created by the FMCSA’s policy to publish a motor carrier’s Safety Measurement System (SMS) data and carrier... View More

Classifying goods for export or import can be a challenge. In the following article, we will discuss some details about classifying products using the Commodity Control List and the Harmonized System.... View More

Groupon might have made group purchasing popular in recent years, but the concept has been around for much longer than most people realize. Group purchasing organizations (GPOs) can be traced all the way... View More

One of the most common — and expensive — mailing and shipping problems is un-deliverability. Not only does it result in returned mail and parcels, it can negatively affect customer relations,... View More

The online retail industry passed the $200 billion mark in the 2011 revenue estimates released last month. Projections show it will grow by another 60% in the next five years and cross the $300 billion... View More

In the last installment of PARCEL Counsel, we took a look at the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) safety ratings, the Safety Measurement System (SMS), and Behavior Analysis and Safety... View More

One of my pet peeves is the improper sealing of packages, so this article on the topic of package sealing is one that I wish everybody in the shipping industry would read. As someone who is on the delivery... View More

When it comes to global parcel and freight forwarding agreements, caution should be the rule of the day. Why? Because these agreements can often contain difficult to interpret terms or condition, which... View More

If you’ve ever used a travel pricing website to plan your vacation, used a realtor to buy a house or called 1-800-GOFEDEX, then you know the routine. Priceline.com, Century 21, Convergys –... View More

In this volatile economy, increased parcel shipping costs have been steadily eating into the bottom line of high-volume shippers (just take a look at your newest post-rate increase parcel invoice). In... View More

The company for which I work does not really have any special shipping needs. We do not ship anything that is temperature-sensitive; hazmat materials rarely enter the equation; and we don’t ship... View More

As 2010 drew to a close, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) began publishing on its website data compiled and generated as part of an initiative called CSA... View More

In my last article on exporting, I said I would go into some more depth this time. I recently began working on a harmonized system database classification project for a client, and I thought it might be... View More

The football season is in full gear, and there are similarities between football and the parcel industry. I thought I would share some thoughts on how they are similar. Football is a sport that consist... View More

It’s commonly known that shipping companies like FedEx and UPS extend deep discounts to volume shippers like Amazon, Dell and Wal-Mart. But what cost-effective shipping alternatives are available... View More