Just as the domestic manufacturing sector is enjoying a strong and steady growth a 6.1-cent jump in diesel fuel prices across the country, during the week ending April 16, have diesel at its highest point of 2018, and its highest since the beginning of 2015. The U.S.’ average price for a gallon of on-highway diesel now stands at $3.104, the highest since the week ending Jan. 5, 2015, when diesel averaged out at $3.137. The increase was spurred by significant increases in all regions across the country, with the most significant increases being seen in the West Coast, which saw a 7-10 cent jump.

How digital supply chain management, the broad concept that cloud-based systems, analytics and monitoring of goods, vehicles and other assets via the Internet of Things will improve the way supply chains run, is a major concern for many logistics organizations today. We know its coming, but how many have a clear understanding of the technology and its applications? Similar terms like digitalization or Industry 4.0, digital supply chain management spans multiple technologies and includes its fair share of buzzwords but how will it all work?

Rideshare service Uber suspended autonomous car testing nationwide after a self-driving car struck and killed an Arizona woman crossing the street. Even though the video appears to show the pedestrian jaywalking as she walks a bicycle across a street the incident raises many more questions about the main concern of, and hurdle, for the practical commercial use of the autonomous vehicle. Uber has halted testing of autonomous vehicles until officials complete their investigation.

Toys R Us was very late to the e-commerce party at the turn of the millennium. To compensate for their outright short sightedness, they made a deal with what may have been the devil. In early 2000 Toys R Us signed a 10-year contract to be the exclusive vendor of toys on Amazon instead of investing in its own e-commerce platform. After the agreement ended, amazingly, Toys R Us was unsuccessful in implementing an in-house e-commerce presence. This coupled with over-dependence on a single vendor, a scary scenario, and draining debt servicing spelled eventual doom for one of the nation’s largest toy retailers.

Buoyed by surging demand, LTL carriers are revving up for a strong 2018, warning that tightening capacity means sharply higher rates in what is anticipated to be possibly the highest demand market in a dozen years. It is a generally unanimous feeling among Logistics market analysts that the current environment of consistently steady industrial and retail demand, the tightening of overall trucking capacity throughout the industry, and LTL’s special operational niche all are factors in creating the perfect storm of premium price points and strong demand.

The exponential growth of e-commerce is fueling significant changes in Logistics from order fulfillment to packaging protocol, line haul and final mile delivery. And the demand will only go one direction...directly north. To be prepared for what is to come, logistics managers need to think in terms of systems that they can leverage today to make processes more efficient, while also anticipating the longer-term developments that will reshape tomorrow’s possibilities. It's an exciting, yet challenging, time to be in the logistics business. There is much planning to be done. Keeping up with the trends will help logistics professionals keep pace with current demand while making informed decisions on everything involved in your organizations e-commerce supply chain strategy to meet future demand.

The robotics market serving logistics and transportation companies is primed for rapid growth over the next five years. There is a myriad of routine, repetitive tasks common to warehouse and distribution systems that are well suited to robotic technology. Much of today's warehouses are manually operated, meaning they have little or no automation support. 

Walmart released fourth quarter earnings on Feb. 20 and the results were less than expected. By mid-afternoon, the company was on track for its worst point drop in history as a publicly traded company. Walmart’s overall e-commerce sales slowed considerably in Q4 2017, increasing 23% in the quarter versus a previous increase of 50% in Q3 and 60% in Q2 of 2017. At the same time, quarterly profits sank 28% over the same period a year ago, not the correlative results anyone ever wants to see, so it was no surprise that the market responded in the manner in which it did.

Coming off a strong 4th quarter in 2017 and riding a firm economic wave, demand for transportation services are expected to be strong in 2018. Preliminary estimates released by the government last week showed that the nation’s output increased at an annual rate of 2.6 percent in the final quarter of 2017. Although that performance amounts to less than the optimistic 4 percent annual growth that President Trump has promised, it is further evidence along with a sinking jobless rate and surging consumer confidence, of the economy’s resilience. All these positive trends along with tax breaks and incentives are expected to increase investment and production levels in the U.S. and increase the demand for transportation services. 

In one of the first reports dealing with detention the U.S. DOT has concluded that time spent detained at shipper or receiver facilities cuts truck driver pay by between $1.1 billion and $1.3 billion annually. An underlying concern is also the effect on driver safety. An extra 15 minutes spent detained beyond the standard two-hour window causes industry crash risk to climb 6.2 percent, the DOT has estimated. That’s an average of about 6,500 additional crashes annually, the report notes.