Transportation TIP List: Week of April 24th, 2016

Transportation TIP List: Week of April 24th, 2016

With the observance of Earth Day last week and Arbor Day coming up on Friday, it’s natural that we’ve been thinking about the current and future supply chain landscape. This week’s TIP List features topics that showcase how the transportation industry is interacting with the environment – from traffic congestion problems and new ocean shipping mandates, to companies in Japan struggling to restart in the wake of earthquake aftershocks. Get a read on the transportation climate with the articles below!

• DOT Again Concludes Too Little Data Exists to Make Determination on Truck Size/Weight Changes: An extensive federal study of heavier and larger trucks says greater analysis and fewer data limitations are necessary to gauge impact on the transportation system. Researchers said that until information limitations are overcome, federal truck size and weight law should remain unchanged.

• Japan’s Quake-Hit Companies Struggle to Get Back to Work: Companies with factories in quake-struck southern Japan, including Suntory Holdings Ltd. and Honda Motor Co, are struggling to return to full production as aftershocks hinder their efforts. Suntory said it might take more than a month to restart its factory in Kumamoto prefecture.

• Traffic Congestion Cost Trucking Industry $49.6 Billion in 2014: Traffic congestion cost the trucking industry an extra $49.6 billion in operating costs in 2014, according to data released this week by the American Transportation Research Institute. The analysis of the data by ATRI revealed congestion cost an average of $26,625 per truck per 150,000 miles.

• July SOLAS Mandates: What You Need to Know: On July 1, 2016, a number of key ocean shipping mandates from the International Maritime Organization (IMO) will go into effect. These new mandates will bring about some challenges for shippers as they make the necessary operational changes to comply and properly report the weight of their ocean cargo.

• Electronic Packaging, Smart Labels, the Internet of Things & the Manufacturing Paradigm: Electronic packaging has become part of the lexicon in the traditional packaging and label space, and the drivers are apparent. Yet, for all of the rhetoric and publicity around “electronic packaging” and “smart labels,” there is a fundamental disconnect.

• Getting that “Swing” in Supply Chain Management: The Boys in the Boat tells the story of how an eight-oar crew team won the gold medal at the 1936 Olympics. Those familiar with the sport know that the secret to success is getting all eight rowers perfectly synchronized. When it comes to supply chain management, however, many companies are far from achieving that swing.

• Droids Not Drones Are the Future of E-Commerce Deliveries: In the shadow of Greenwich’s 02 Arena – the futuristic dome originally built as London’s showpiece for the Millennium – what looks like a picnic cooler on wheels zips among groups of gawking children. This little delivery robot, designed to autonomously navigate sidewalks, not roads, later this year will begin making deliveries from local businesses direct to customers.

What industry trends do you see cropping up this week?