Transportation TIP List: Week of July 29th, 2018

Back-to-school season is rapidly approaching, and we’ve been studying up on the latest transportation trends! This week’s TIP List includes the impact of the driver shortage on the restaurant industry and how technology can help supply chains reach their full potential. Stay ahead of the curve with the stories below:

• Pressures of America’s Truck Driver Shortage Extend To Restaurant Industry: In the tight-margin restaurant industry, traditional headwinds like fuel costs and commodities ebb and flow. But the driver shortage is creating new pressures that will cause pricing implications for restaurants and their customers.
• Is a Strategic Disconnect with the C-suite Keeping Your Supply Chain in Sleep Mode?: New technology, such as AI, offers the potential to deliver hyper-relevant, hyper-personalized customer experiences at speed and scale. But evidence suggests that few supply chain executives are actually leveraging AI to deliver such experiences.
• Tightening Mexico Truck Capacity Benefiting Cross-Border Rail: Strong freight demand and higher trucking rates within the U.S. mean fewer trucks available for northbound loads at the US-Mexican border. That’s amplifying the perennial shortage of US-bound equipment, even as demand for cross-border truck and intermodal rail capacity grows.
• Costs Are Crashing the Party for Manufacturers: Manufacturers are booking more orders and delivering higher profits in a strong U.S. economy. But investors are worried about costs rising for some of the biggest industrial companies due to tariffs and a tight labor market.
• The Trade War and Retail: Is Your Holiday Season At Risk?: It may be summer, but it’s not surprising that many retailers are focused on the holiday season. What is surprising is that one of their key areas for concern this year is new and different: tariffs.

What supply chain trends are you reviewing this week?