March 2016

As e-commerce delivery pressures continue to dramatically alter the service landscape, our panelists offer practical advice for how shippers can re-adjust their packaging and better understand carrier needs—as well as their own.

The maturation of multi-channel distribution has put added pressure on all major modes of freight transportation. “Just-in-time” and “just-in-case” strategies now have to meet the “just do it” demands created by today’s highly impatient consumer.

Warehouse execution system (WEC) suppliers are offering higher-level functionality—such as waveless order processing, performance analytics and mobile apps—turning WES into a configurable platform for warehouse operations management.

Bloated inventories have come to characterize the current state of U.S. manufacturers and retailers for the first quarter of 2016, forcing logistics managers to apply classic reverse strategies to wring out supply chain waste.

Capital expenditure plans for materials handling solutions are ebbing overall, but restrained spending on hardware is balanced by steady investment in the information solutions that tie equipment together.

With “tepid” freight demand dampening LTL profits, analysts and carriers executives say that fuel, capacity utilization, and mounting regulation will play a large role in 2016 rates. Here’s what shippers should expect.

This month we’ve decided to focus the majority of our editorial on the impact (and subsequent challenges) e-commerce and multi-channel fulfillment is having on logistics and transportation management.

While the U.S. economic engine is slowly sputtering ahead, the two major parcel carriers—UPS and FedEx—have announced substantial increases again this year. Both companies continue to raise prices in sync—and well in excess of inflation.