Cloud ERPs (enterprise-resource-planning) are taking the manufacturing world by storm (pun intended). But is the hype hotter than the strategy itself, and will it work for your business? Emergent technology is marketed as the best new solution; what really counts is the reliability and usability of the solution your company ends up with when the…
A number of metals, including rare earth metals, necessary for the production of electronic devices such as computers, laptops, and cell phones have entered the supply chain from the troubled region of the Democratic Republic of Congo. According to government sources, to fund violence in the region they mined and sold these metals. Lawmakers are…
Providing chassis for deliveries at U.S. ports is not exactly lucrative, which is why a number of large ocean shipping companies (such as Maersk Line, Yang Ming, CMA CGM, OOCL, NYK Line, and Evergreen) have decided to quit providing this service at several U.S ports, including those at Long Beach and Los Angeles. Now port…
Following just the first complete month of 2014, a survey conducted by Bloomberg Industries called the Internet Truckstop survey shows a positive outlook among trucking companies in regards to the remainder of the year. Respondents to the survey included freight brokers and small owner operator trucking companies. An increase in the overall volumes expected, combined…
The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Storm Warning for much of the Southern United States and Eastern United States in anticipation of a line of snow and ice extending from Texas to the Atlantic Coast. It was expected to hit early Tuesday morning. A secondary front is expected between Tuesday and Wednesday, bringing…
Fuel consumption has become an overhanging issue within the transportation sector. The matter rests on the need to fulfill ecological standards as well as saving the parent or host company sufficient amounts of funding that is better used elsewhere.
An upturn in consumer spending combined with greater investments by companies is expected to drive up demand for trucking during the course of 2014, according so new economic analysis reports. Bob Costello, a chief economist who works with the American Trucking Association, expects the number of truck loads to grow by 2.3 to 2.7 percent…
As crude oil shipments across railways and along waterways ramp up due to increased shale oil productivity, lawmakers in the state of Washington take a look at what additional safety measures might need to be put into place to safeguard the public. Devastating railroad accidents involving crude oil shipments in Canada and North Dakota have…
As prices for natural gas soared in recent weeks by about 30 percent, many in the green energy sector worried that rising rates would curtail the gradual movement of the trucking sector away from diesel fuel and toward natural gas. However, Jim Harger of Clean Energy Fuels, as well as others in the industry, do…
Rare earth metals are a group of elements found with moderate abundance in the core of the earth. There are 17 rare metals, 15 in a group called lanthanides plus yttrium and scandium. These elements are essential in many manufactured products, including catalytic converters for automobiles, certain petroleum refining equipment, television sets, cell phones, portable…