Your car windshield is about to become the next digital battleground for your disposable dollars. Car makers are proposing a smart windshield capable of displaying relevant ads in addition to expected information, such as car speed and blind spot awareness alerts. The ads would promote businesses along your route of travel on any given trip.

Among the top retailers who closed stores in 2016:

Sports Authority: 460 stores shutting down.
Walmart: Closing 269 stores, including 154 U.S. locations.
Aeropostale: 154 stores closing.
Kmart/Sears: 78 stores closing.
Ralph Lauren: Closing at least 50 stores.

The convenience of online shopping is the biggest challenge that brick and mortar retailers have faced in perhaps the history of their existence. Walmart is one of the few to have recognized the threat early and invest the capital to develop a robust online shopping alternative. Those who did not recognize the threat and react are those with vacant stores. It is the age of the super-sized e-commerce retailers like Amazon, Ebay and hundreds of others that are attracting the consumer dollars. The dominance of these mega online outlets is based on lower prices, many more options, and the convenience factor; sit at home on the couch and surf. Thus, many national and chain retainers must cut back or close up.

Brick and Mortar's New Role

In response to the dramatic changes in the business landscape over the past few years, many companies are launching business transformation programs to drive sweeping changes in their supply chain processes. Some examples of these changes are exploring new sourcing networks, establishing collaborative forecasting processes, optimizing networks and inventories, focusing on private-label products, and applying customer and supply chain segmentation to reduce complexity and improve margins.

There are many reasons to partner with a qualified third party logistics provider. Whether you ship small volumes or have complex distribution needs, a 3PL adds value and flexibility to your supply chain by providing some of the following services:

Amazon has just been awarded a patent for an "airborne fulfillment center utilizing unmanned aerial vehicles for item delivery." Though the patent was granted in April 2016, the plans for it have just gone public on the US Patent and Trademark Office website. What they describe sounds like something out of a Jestson's cartoon episode. The blimps would serve as floating and mobile warehouses. Unmanned drones would be loaded with deliveries for that particular market. 

2016 was a lackluster year in the transportation industry. Soft demand, driver shortages and looming federal regulation set an uneasy tone for the market. Encouragingly, analysts predict a more positive 2017 albeit in the 3rd and 4th quarters. 

The general consensus of transportation executives and industry analysts is a continuation of 2017 volumes and rates. Leading indexes of the manufacturing sector, which accounts for 80 percent of freight volumes, show that growth in that sector has been flat for almost two years. Orders of capital goods, an indicator of business investment, have come up slightly since sliding in a ditch during the summer. Some good news is the credit markets are expected to loosen up in 2017 under a Trump presidency. The bad news is that interest rates are edging up. In a business with margins as thin as the trucking industry and forecasts for a flat line in 2018, interest rates will make or break additional investment decisions.

Like most business decisions, choosing a Third Party Logistics company, or 3PL, is an investment of resources on both sides. What is at risk includes not only time and money, but more importantly, the future success of your firm’s profitability. Land Link Traffic Systems would like to share a few tips to help you in your 3PL selection.

During President Obama’s two terms, Washington regulators have produced 600 major regulations with dozens more in the pipeline, many of which will be affecting the trucking industry. They cover everything from emissions, safety reporting of accidents, hours-of-service (HOS), electronic onboard recorders, entry-level training, fuel-mileage standards, overtime pay, hair follicle testing for drug cheaters, speed governors, sleep apnea testing, diesel emission standards and visas for foreign workers who might ease the truck driver shortage. 

Technology has morphed the way we arrange both personal and commercial transportation. Here's a peek into what ideas are next.