Speed, flexibility, and reliability are the differentiators in today’s small parcel environment, and technology is changing the competitive landscape. The explosion of e-commerce, combined wit... View More
Understanding how different classes of inventory move through the order picking/order fulfillment process is critical to designing a system that is accurate and efficient while meeting business... View More
United Parcel Service (UPS) surprised a lot of us last week with an early announcement on 2017 rate increases. Though the teaser was a couple months earlier than expected, it shouldn’t have shocked
On July 14, 2016, the National Motor Freight Traffic Association (NMFTA) issued a supplement to the National Motor Freight Classification (NMFC) to become effective on August 13, 2016. The gist... View More
Order picking in most distribution centers is where the highest concentration of people are located, which creates the highest cost area of the warehouse. The pressure will heat up in most distr... View More
It’s an exciting time in the parcel delivery business with new solutions and business models popping up by the minute, it seems. What will parcel delivery look like in the future? Will deliver... View More
From rates.ups.com: Effective December 26, 2016*, the published rates for our services will increase. This supports the ongoing investments we continue to make in the speed, scope and cover... View More
Editor’s note: This article is part of a three-part series on A Day in the Life of a Parcel. Parts one and two discussed several innovations in the early stages of the parcel lifecycle, includ... View More
There are a number of excellent reasons employers hire temporary workers (temps). “But Mom, everyone else does it.” On the other hand, if you’re looking for more specific and persuasive... View More
For companies in the e-commerce retail market, coordinating consumer returns of hazardous materials – otherwise known as reverse logistics – can be a challenging part of business. Hazardous
Have you ever ordered something online in the afternoon and checked to see if there was a tracking number by evening? You likely have… and are likely checking it again in the morning to see if
Today’s transportation environment is driven by using data to make critical decisions. Whether the focus is a concentrated carrier sourcing event or a company-wide network realignment, the fir... View More
We often hear of retailers struggling with “competing in the Amazon era,” the current e-commerce market that includes the web-based giant. Amazon is, without question, a formidable competitor... View More
When we last focused on cross-border e-commerce, in the 2015 article, “E-Commerce Cross Border Parcel Shipping,” the market was ready to take off, and since then, it certainly has. In a rece
It used to be that only high-volume senders had complete visibility into carrier costs. Their core business depended on efficient shipping to maximize profitability, and they invested significan... View More
In this installment of PARCEL Counsel, we will take a look at consignee chargebacks — a topic not previously addressed in this column. As used here, the term “consignee chargebacks”... View More
To some folks, managing people is the hardest part of being a leader. Whether you are a recently promoted supervisor or a seasoned experienced manager, it is never easy, and it is constantly cha... View More
You will notice that the topic of international trade is a hot one in this issue. This isn’t surprising, given the explosive growth of international e-commerce over the past decade or so. Even... View More
A recent Fast Company article written by the chief sustainability officer of Blue Yonder, Saskia van Gendt, caught my attention. Van Gendt wrote that while free returns have become a “powerf
Everyone has heard the pitch: upload your invoices and carrier agreements into AI and let it tell you what you're owed. We wanted to test that claim. So we hired an independent AI engineerin
Many e-commerce brands face rising levels of dead stock — the merchandise deemed unsellable or unlikely to sell soon. As executives evaluate e-commerce dead stock reduction options, some initially a
The world’s largest parcel carriers are shrinking physical footprints while expanding algorithmic control. UPS now processes the majority of its volume through automated facilities, and maj
What does an optimal e-commerce network look like? Is it the network with the fewest facilities, the fastest delivery promise, or the lowest transportation cost? In practice, the answe
A freight damage claim often points attention toward the carrier, but the root cause can start much earlier. If pallet loads leave a facility with inconsistent containment, shifting and instab
BROOKFIELD, Wis. – ProShip, a leading and award-winning provider of multi-carrier shipping software, has announced the return of ProS Who Know, an annual virtual event focused on the trends
Facilities handling high-volume parcel sorting and cross-docking operations face unprecedented challenges as cargo theft networks grow more sophisticated and insider threats multiply. Identifying th