The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) announced their quarterly index for manufacturing growth this quarter through November was up to 57.3 percent, which is a significant improvement over the 56.4 percent reading announced in October. Any percentage over 50 is considered a sign of market growth. This is the highest growth seen in two and…
Ousted JC Penny CEO Ron Johnson was let go in April following poor sales, profit losses, and a lack of cash on hand for the company. JC Penny hired Johnson in November 2011 after his successes running Apple retail stores, but his tenure was short lived as his practices failed to bring success to JC…
AkzoNobel is a company based in the Netherlands that develops, manufactures, and distributes a variety of paints, specialty paints, coatings, and DIY products, including home maintenance paints and coatings, as well as coatings and paints for the automotive industry, shipping industry, and aircraft industry. In business since the 1770s, AkzoNobel operates in more than 80…
Dominating the news on Cyber Monday, especially in the midst of the Obamacare disaster, is a tough act, but Amazon managed the feat this week with their announcement of plans to employ a drone home delivery service within the next few years. According to reports by 60 Minutes and other top news agencies, Amazon plans…
The manufacturer’s organization of the UK, EEF, is revising projections for the 2013 production year to indicate stronger than expected growth, and is further gearing up their supply chain infrastructures in anticipation of an even stronger year in 2014. While the overall economy of the UK is expected to grow by 2.4 percent, manufacturing output…
Prices remain low among ocean container shippers, particularly concerning rates for shipping between Europe and Asia. However, the European Commission is pursuing investigations on about 14 different shippers because the EC has reason to believe that the companies were engaging in activities which violated antitrust laws. According to the laws, companies do not actually have…
The Federal Motor Carriers Safety Administration recently pushed through changes to truckers’ hours of service regulations, and, at the time, many truckers and the American Trucking Association said that the FMCSA did not use sound research or good judgment when drawing out the rules. Now that the plan is in place, and truckers are losing 2-10…
Nov. 29, 2013 was a busy news day. When news analysts weren’t weighing in (and duking it out) over Obamacare, reporters across the nation were running spots on long shopping lines, customers who camped for days in frigid temperatures to get the best deals, and even a few skirmishes over the best merchandise in brick…
The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) recently released a report card of U.S. infrastructure, including roadways and bridges that the trucking industry depends upon to transport 68 percent of of all U.S. freight tonnage. Already, bridges have collapsed in Saint Paul, Minnesota; Green Bay, Wisconsin; and Mount Vernon, Washington. The ASCE gave roadways in…
Chief of Freight for FedEx, Bill Logue, recently spoke to the National Industrial Transportation League in Huston, Texas, and made frightening predictions for the future of the world’s transportation infrastructure systems. According to Logue, the problems are across the board, including issues with roadways and bridges, airports, and seaports. The Federal Highway Administration predicts that…