If you’re on the front lines of transportation management, you know there’s never a dull moment in this industry. Whether you’re navigating the ebbs and flow of capacity and rates, or you’re dealing with new regulations or customer requirements, finding the right balance between cost, service, risk, and compliance is more difficult than ever. Since…

One of the things many companies learned during the height of the Covid pandemic is that they really didn’t have good visibility across their end-to-end supply chain — at least not beyond their Tier 1 suppliers and partners. Fast forward to today and having multi-tier transparency and traceability is more important than ever. What trends ... Read m…

Chris Jones, Executive Vice President, Industry at Descartes shares insights and advice from a research report published by Descartes titled, “What Are Companies Doing to Survive the Supply Chain and Logistics Workforce Challenge?” Podcast version (click to play): The post [Video] Labor Shortages: What Are Supply Chain and Logistics Companies Doing…

After almost 30 years in the technology field, Fab Brasca recently launched TriSuccess Advisory, which among other things, provides fractional executive leadership and career/life balance coaching. How has Fab been able to succeed both as a business executive and an Ironman triathlete, which both demand a lot of time, energy, and commitment? What l…

Over the past four years, due in large part to the Covid pandemic, there has been a lot of discussion about the importance of risk management and how companies need to create more resilient supply chains, with logistics being a key enabler. We were reminded of this again just a few days ago, when a ... Read more The post [Video] The Important Role …

Labor shortages were among the top of supply chain challenges companies faced during the Covid pandemic. In fact, back in January 2022, we had Chris Jones, Executive Vice President, Industry at Descartes on the program to discuss this problem in an episode titled, “The Labor Shortage Problem: Why It’s Bigger Than You Think.” Here we ... Read more T…

When I started as an industry analyst almost 25 years ago, relatively few companies were shipping via parcel. You can say it was a niche mode for a small segment of the market. Fast forward to today, and with the rise of e-commerce, parcel shipping is now a critical mode of transportation for retailers and ... Read more The post [Video] Parcel Ship…

If you’re a distributor, you know that fleet performance has a direct impact on your financial performance, your ability to differentiate yourself from the competition, and your ability to deliver an enhanced customer experience. What separates the leaders from the laggards in the industry? What are some signs that a distributor isn’t employing rou…

When it comes to Artificial Intelligence, many companies are still in the learning phase — that is, they’re trying to understand the technology landscape and what’s possible, and it’s a bit challenging because everything is evolving very fast. At the moment, all the buzz and hype is about Generative AI, thanks in large part to ... Read more The pos…

We’ve got horrible roads where I live, lots of bumps and potholes everywhere. Not surprising, I’ve had to replace the shock absorbers on my car more than one time. What does a shock absorber do? They dampen and absorb all those bumps in the road so that your car can travel as smoothly as possible. ... Read more The post [Video] How To Prevent Your …

When it comes to freight transportation, certain modes tend to dominate the spotlight. Trucking because it carries the most freight; Ocean because it’s the gateway to global trade; and Parcel because it’s the fastest growing mode thanks to e-commerce. But there’s another way to transport freight that often doesn’t get the spotlight it deserves — ..…

For B2B and B2C companies alike, delivery is becoming a competitive differentiator and a key driver of customer experience. How well do you engage with customers about their deliveries? We explored that question recently with members of our Indago supply chain research community — who are all supply chain and logistics executives from manufacturing…

The boxer Mike Tyson famously said, “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” Similarly, everyone has a great supply chain plan until exceptions and disruptions occur — and then you have to adjust that plan or come up with a new one. That’s easier said than done, because, historically, there’s been ... Read more The post [Video] Di…

In June 2023, we asked members of our Indago supply chain research community — who are all supply chain and logistics executives from manufacturing, retail, and distribution companies — if they are using control towers in their supply chain operations. 40% of the survey respondents said they have implemented one or more control towers, and ... Read…

Finding available trucking capacity is often a challenge, especially when demand is high. The sad truth, however, is that a lot of capacity gets wasted too. We see this, for example, in the number of empty backhauls that happen every day. There is another form of wasted capacity, however, that many shippers overlook — that ... Read more The post [V…

If you follow the surface transportation market, you know it’s really a collection of markets, including truckload, less-than-truckload, dry van, and temperature controlled. Each of these segments is impacted by different trends and challenges related to demand, capacity, seasonality, regulations, and other factors. Today we’re putting the spotligh…

If you’re a transportation executive, you’ve always been tasked with developing a strategy and execution plan. The difference now is that maybe your CEO and CFO are more interested in what you’re doing. Since the transportation market is cyclical, every year is different, and 2023 is no exception. What dominates the transportation management agenda…