Transportation TIP List: Week of October 30th, 2016
Posted - November 2, 2016
Daylight saving time ends this Sunday, which means we “fall back” and gain an hour of both sunlight and sleep. And that extra hour should free up a little bit of time to “fall into” this week’s TIP List. See below for all the stories, including intermodal transportation trends, news of Uber’s first self-driving truck and the impact of 3D printing on the supply chain industry.
- Intermodal Transport: The Little Engine That Could: After two years of steady acceleration, intermodal transportation in North America hit a slowdown in 2016. Volume in the second quarter of 2016 fell by 6.1 percent compared with the same quarter in 2015.
- Amazon Could Be A Lot Bigger Than We Think: Amazon’s data-savvy e-commerce model may have a far bigger reach in retail than commonly understood — signaling more threats to mass market retailers. In fact, Amazon’s yearly sales account for about 15% of total U.S. consumer online sales.
- Uber’s Self-Driving Truck Makes Its First Delivery: 50,000 Beers: Uber and recent acquisition Otto outfitted a truck with $30,000 worth of hardware and software in order to make the world’s first autonomous truck delivery — which consisted of 50,000 cans of Budweiser.
- US Crude Oil Stockpiles Drops Unexpectedly: Nationwide crude stockpiles unexpectedly fell 553,000 barrels in mid-October. Supplies along the West Coast decreased by 2.26 million barrels to 47.1 million, the lowest since January 2015.
- Motor Carrier Regulations Update: Caught in a Trap: The nation’s 44th president has led a regulatory assault on American business, specifically the $748 billion trucking industry. During Obama’s two terms, Washington regulators have produced 600 major regulations, with dozens more in the pipeline.
- Additive Manufacturing in the Spare Parts Warehouse is Increasingly Feasible: There has been some breathless coverage of the impact of 3D printing on the supply chain; and it has been speculated that additive manufacturing may be able to transform the spare parts supply chain.
- Supply Chain Futurists Predict the Impact Of Digital Transformation: Digital transformation can have a serious impact on your organization. For example, a digital supply chain can lower procurement costs by 20%, reduce supply chain process costs by 50% and increase revenue by 10%.
What industry trends are you gaining insight into this week?