Transportation TIP List: Week of January 22nd, 2017

The nominations for the 89th Academy Awards were announced this week, and the film La La Land racked up 14 nominations, tying the record for the most in movie history. And this week’s TIP List is headlining some of the premier trends within the supply chain and transportation industry. Our features include a rise in U.S. industrial production, America’s infrastructure needs and the recent fuel price hikes in Mexico. See who snagged our nominations for this week’s top story below.

• China’s First Freight Train to The U.K. Rolls into London: A freight train which started in Yiwu, China, completed its first journey to London last week – after traveling for 16 days across 7,456 miles, nine countries and two continents.

• U.S.—Bound Import Levels Up: U.S.-bound waterborne imports had a strong end-of year finish. December had a total of 928,535 shipments, an increase of 0.3% compared to November’s 926,198 shipments – and 2016 year-end shipments totals saw an increase of 8.9%.

• Car Buyers, Online Shoppers Lifted U.S. Retail Sales in December: American consumers finished last year spending at a solid pace, splurging on cars and pouring money into online shopping during the holidays, a sign the economy is on a steady footing.

• Fuel Hikes Set to Consolidate Mexico Trucking Sector: The recent spike in diesel fuel prices in Mexico is just one of the factors that may lead to consolidation, tighter capacity and higher costs for shippers doing business in Mexico.

• U.S. Industrial Production Rose 0.8% in December: U.S. industrial output rose at the fastest pace in more than two years in December as activity surged at utilities and manufacturers inched ahead, the latest sign of steady but unspectacular economic growth.

• Truckers Call on Trump for More Efficient Infrastructure: Details of President Trump’s trillion-dollar infrastructure stimulus are still unclear, but the need for big spending on America’s crumbling bridges and highways is not.

• U.S. Shippers Racing to Lock Down Truck Rates: U.S. shippers eager to avoid rate hikes in the latter part of the year are sitting down with trucking providers to talk pricing and putting business up for bid as they try to protect savings gained in last year’s weak freight market.

What transportation industry trends are you watching this week?