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Year End Supply Chain Planning and Review

Posted by Land Link Traffic Systems on Dec 9, 2021 7:30:18 AM

As the challenging year of 2021 draws to a close it may be useful to review some of your operational and freight payment protocols. With freight rates expected to continue their northbound trend and stressed equipment inventories at an all-time high, a year-end audit may be beneficial. Things are a little quieter this time of year and there is plenty of recent data to review. Typically, this is a no cost exercise provided by your 3PL so there is every reason to have the review done. If for no other reason than knowing your operational and freight payment protocols are working.

Verify Your Costs

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Topics: Supply Chain Management, Third Party Logistics, Intermodal Freight, Transportation News, Maximizing Routing Efficiencies, Logistics News, Technology

Container Management Severely Out of Balance on the West Coast

Posted by Land Link Traffic Systems on Dec 2, 2021 8:26:30 AM

One of the biggest challenges for logistics providers is balancing their equipment with demand. To maintain profitability as well as service, carriers try to minimize empty miles and non-usage. Empty miles for a trucking company represent the cost of repositioning equipment to meet demand. Non-usage, in the case of containers, represents a lack of outbound shipments in a specific area. In both cases these pure expenses will be reflected in the outbound rate.

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Topics: Supply Chain Management, Third Party Logistics, Intermodal Freight, Transportation News, Reducing Freight Rates, Logistics Business, Maximizing Routing Efficiencies, 3D Printing, Logistics News, Industry Trends, Technology

Contract Manufacturing Supporting Inventories

Posted by Land Link Traffic Systems on Nov 18, 2021 7:42:49 AM

The Covid virus has presented production challenges for global manufacturing. Food, chemical and personal products companies, among many more, struggle to meet retail demand.

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Topics: Supply Chain Management, Third Party Logistics, Freight Bill Auditing, Intermodal Freight, Transportation News, Reducing Freight Rates, Logistics Business, Maximizing Routing Efficiencies, 3D Printing, Logistics News, Industry Trends, Technology, Big Data, dimensional pricing

The Origins of Veterans Day

Posted by Land Link Traffic Systems on Nov 10, 2021 8:57:07 AM

In 1921, an unknown World War I American soldier was buried in Arlington National Cemetery. This site, on a hillside overlooking the Potomac River and the city of Washington, D.C., became the focal point of reverence for America’s veterans. Similar ceremonies occurred earlier in England and France, where an unknown soldier was buried in each nation’s highest place of honor (in England, Westminster Abbey; in France, the Arc de Triomphe). These memorial gestures all took place on November 11, giving universal recognition to the celebrated ending of World War I battle field conflicts at 11 a.m., November 11, 1918 (the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month). The day became known as “Armistice Day.”

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Topics: Supply Chain Management, Third Party Logistics, Freight Bill Auditing, Intermodal Freight, Transportation News, Reducing Freight Rates, Maximizing Routing Efficiencies, Logistics News, Industry Trends, Technology, dimensional pricing

Metal and Oil Prices Soaring

Posted by Land Link Traffic Systems on Nov 4, 2021 8:27:07 AM

A surge in energy and metal prices is offering investors a fresh reminder of how the commodities market can fuel inflation and imperil the post-pandemic economic recovery.

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Topics: Supply Chain Management, Third Party Logistics, Intermodal Freight, Transportation News, Reducing Freight Rates, Logistics Business, Maximizing Routing Efficiencies, 3D Printing, Shipping News, Logistics News, Industry Trends, Technology, dimensional pricing

Is Manufacturing Returning to the United States

Posted by Land Link Traffic Systems on Oct 27, 2021 10:17:51 AM

Politicians on both side of the isle support the Biden administrations efforts to revive the U.S. manufacturing base. The American Jobs Plan (AJP) was a proposal by U.S. President Joe Biden to spend $2 trillion on U.S. infrastructure over eight years. It is the second portion of Biden's three-part "Build Back Better" agenda, with the first being the American Rescue Plan and the third being the American Families Plan. It was unveiled shortly after Biden signed into law the Rescue Plan in March 2021. Biden had pitched the proposal as "a transformative effort to overhaul the nation's economy".

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Topics: Supply Chain Management, Third Party Logistics, Freight Bill Auditing, Intermodal Freight, Transportation News, Reducing Freight Rates, Logistics Business, Maximizing Routing Efficiencies, Logistics News, Industry Trends, Technology, dimensional pricing

Inflation Affecting Freight Rates

Posted by Land Link Traffic Systems on Oct 21, 2021 7:34:17 AM

Inflation is painfully obvious literally everywhere. Transportation costs are not immune. Energy and labor shortages are fueling inflation concerns over freight costs.  Concerns have been further fueled by two contributing factors: tariffs and trade turbulence stemming from the Trump administration’s protectionist policies and supply chain bottlenecks as a result of rising transportation costs and ongoing truck-driver shortages. The US inflation rate for the 12 months ending in July was 2.9 percent—the highest since February 2012.  The cost of transporting goods is a component in every step in a company’s supply chain. Everything from iron ore, steel, parts and finished products has to move as raw materials are processed in global manufacturing. The cost of shipping containers across the ocean is higher, truck drivers are in short supply, and gasoline is more expensive than many expected earlier this year. Spot container shipping rates from Asia to the U.S. West Coast were five times higher last week compared with the same time last year, according to the Freightos Baltic Index. Those rates are more than 14 times higher than during the same time in 2019.

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Topics: Third Party Logistics, Logistics News

The California Oil Spill Likely to Add to the Supply Chain Difficulties

Posted by Land Link Traffic Systems on Oct 6, 2021 5:09:27 AM

Officials investigating one of California’s largest oil spills are looking into whether a ship’s anchor may have struck a pipeline on the ocean floor, causing a major leak of crude into coastal waters and fouling beaches, authorities said Monday.

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Topics: Supply Chain Management, Third Party Logistics, Freight Bill Auditing, Intermodal Freight, Transportation News, Reducing Freight Rates, Maximizing Routing Efficiencies, Logistics News, Industry Trends, Technology, dimensional pricing

What You Need To Know About Dimensional Pricing

Posted by Land Link Traffic Systems on Sep 29, 2021 10:34:03 AM

The debate over whether density-based pricing will succeed in toppling the traditional National Motor Freight Classification’s (NMFC) based pricing in the LTL industry is an ongoing debate. Carriers are pushing for dimensional pricing to manage the margins on lightweight shipments. This is the basis of the argument. Under the NMFC classification density was taken into consideration as was packaging and commodity but it was largely based upon weight. Back in the day, carriers in a battle over business after deregulation, were offering FAK (Freight All Kinds ) tariffs to get the business. This strategy ultimately led to unprofitable operation ratios, subpar delivery performance and ultimately the bankruptcy of some major carriers. Major national freight carriers in recent years have declared the days of beating up the carrier on rates is over. Unlike in the past, the LTL industry today has a massive volume of smaller shipments. There is also the challenge of completing same-day deliveries or time definite deliveries. Likewise, these shipments are not always of consistent size and density, making it difficult for shippers to sustain adequate profit margins.

Today, if you want dependable service, you’re going to have to pay for it. Let’s see if we can offer a cursory education on dimensional pricing.

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Topics: Supply Chain Management, Third Party Logistics, Intermodal Freight, Transportation News, Reducing Freight Rates, Logistics Business, 3D Printing, Logistics News, Technology, dimensional pricing

California Port Backlog is a Northeast Bonanza

Posted by Land Link Traffic Systems on Sep 22, 2021 4:36:53 PM

Trucking rates out of the Northeast have been steadily rising resulting from a spike in demand from shippers using the Port of New York, Philadelphia, and New Jersey as an alternative to the congestion in the California ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach, and Savannah.

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Topics: Supply Chain Management, Third Party Logistics, Freight Bill Auditing, Transportation News, Reducing Freight Rates, Logistics Business, Maximizing Routing Efficiencies, Logistics News, Industry Trends, Technology