Transportation TIP List: Week of May 29th, 2016

Transportation TIP List: Week of May 29th, 2016

Developments in the supply chain and logistics segments may not always commence with much pomp and circumstance, but a number of them do go on to earn top honors in the industry. This graduation season, our weekly TIP List congratulates some current supply chain standouts, including a recent bill to reform Hours of Service rules and expanded freight zones at the Mexico-Texas border.

• House Set to Consider Bill to Reform Hours of Service, Block Safety Fitness Rule: The House’s Appropriations Committee voted to send to the full House a Department of Transportation funding package that would permanently restore 2011 regulations pertaining to truckers’ use of a 34-hour restart. The bill also would halt the DOT’s work on its proposed Safety Fitness Determination rulemaking and would prevent states from enforcing any state-enacted laws governing breaks for truckers.

• DOT Officially Expands Freight Zone at Mexican Border in Texas: The U.S. Department of Transportation has finalized a February-proposed expansion to the commercial freight zone at the El Paso, Texas, border crossing between the U.S. and Mexico. The changes come by way of the opening of a new cross-border bridge, prompting the DOT’s FMCSA to establish new boundaries for the El Paso border zone.

• Small Carriers/Owner-ops Land 40% of Freight Contracted to Large Carriers: Line items in publicly available financial reports from some of the country’s largest carriers show a large chunk of freight contracted to such carriers is doled out to smaller carriers, according to figures published last month by shipper-carrier connection platform LaneAxis.

• China Fixes Yuan at Five-Year Low Against Dollar: The People’s Bank of China set its daily yuan-fixing at the weakest level against the U.S. dollar in more than five years. The so-called yuan fix was set at 6.5693, the weakest level against the greenback since March 2011.

• Top 10 Countries with Resilient Supply Chains: Supply chains are facing a number of threats such as depressed oil prices, natural catastrophes and the spread of terrorism. These and other threats are reflected in the 2016 FM Global Resilience Index, which ranks 130 countries and territories according to nine drivers that can affect the vulnerability of a business in those regions.

• Consumer Interest in Food Content Prompts Supply Chain Shifts, CFOs Say: The growing demand for disclosure about chemicals, hormones and food formulation is changing how finance chiefs in the food industry direct investment in new technology, product development and sourcing of ingredients.

• U.S. Durable-Goods Orders Jump 3.4%, But Soft Demand Continues: Orders for long-lasting goods improved in April due to a surge in the volatile civilian-aircraft category, but underlying data shows businesses remain hesitant to invest.

What industry trends are on your list this week? Any others that you think we should have included?