The first vehicles with some level of self-driving capability are expected to come to market by 2020, with sales volumes for autonomous vehicles likely becoming significant by 2025, according to a new report from Navigant Research of Boulder, CO.

The North American Transportation Industry is tremendously dependent upon labor unions. From the airline industry, railroad, trucking, parcel, and ocean transportation we rely on organized labor to make everything move. Labor pains in any one segment can have a rippling effect on the entire transportation infrastructure.

In times of tight equipment availability taking steps to accommodate a carrier can go a long way in ensuring timely and consistent pick ups and deliveries. The most obvious and perhaps simplest to initiate is getting the driver in and out of your facility as quickly as possible.

Driver shortage remains a significant problem in the trucking industry. Carriers have committed a significant amount of attention of late in increasing driver pay packages and recruiting efforts, especially on the truckload side. Sign on bonuses from thousands of dollars to Caribbean vacations are common. This summer, many well-known carriers, including Swift Transportation, Con-way Truckload and US Xpress made what amounts to a full-on press regarding increasing driver wages in an effort to secure more capacity and keep their wheels moving, as well as to prevent driver turnover at a time when it is becoming more difficult to recruit and retain drivers. These tactics will mostly help recycle existing drivers among carriers. 

PierPass Inc. Thursday launched the Free-Flow Program, testing a new cargo handling process expected to significantly reduce the time it takes participating commercial trucks to pick up containers at marine terminals. Today’s random-access process, where any truck can show up at any time to pick up any container, hasn’t changed since containerization began in the early 1960’s. 

HACCP is a management system in which food safety is addressed through the analysis and control of biological, chemical, and physical hazards from raw material production, procurement and handling, to manufacturing, distribution and consumption of the finished product. The HACCP system can be used at all stages of a food chain, from food production and preparation processes including packaging, distribution, etc. 

Vast Network of Resources

3PLs have a vast network of resources available that allow each step in the supply chain to be executed in the most efficient, cost effective way. They can leverage relationships and a wealth of industry experience, which results in lower overhead and the fastest possible service.  

The transportation industry faces huge challenges in measuring the economic effects of cargo theft. The illustration below provides a comprehensive overview of American cargo theft from January ,1 2013 to December 31, 2013. The review examines stolen commodity type , theft incident location, date, and time , cargo origin and destination , and mode of transportation.

With the significant expansion of its ExpressRail system and enhanced inland connections, The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is advancing its role as the gateway of choice for speeding cargo to a growing number of destinations in the Midwest, New England, Canada and beyond. 

Fed Ex and Ups announced it will institute Dimensional weight pricing on all ground packages by the end of 2014. Currently Fed Ex and Ups only apply Dimensional pricing to packages measuring 3 cubic feet or greater. Subjecting all packages to dimensional weight will affect virtually all US shippers. Dimensional weight is a calculation of a theoretical weight of a package. This theoretical weight is the weight of the package at a minimum density chosen by the freight carrier. Calculations are as follows.