DG&A's Transportation Consulting Blog
Transportation Consulting Blog
Welcome to my blog. This is the place where I write my thoughts and opinions about the issues affecting the North American Transportation industry.
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I have written about intermodal transportation several times over the years that I have been preparing this blog. I became a big fan of intermodalism during the 90’s when I ran Canada’s largest IMC (Intermodal Marketing Company). Each time I wrote a blog on this topic, I felt that the se...
I have been writing a blog on the transportation industry for five years. During this period I have received hundreds of postings and e mails from readers. Every now and then I receive an e mail that stands out. This week I received a thoughtful and interesting e mail and article f...
Over the past two months Stephen Harper has presented a clear and compelling vision of where he wishes to take Canada during his tenure as Prime Minister. First there was the border Security and Trade Agreement with the United States that he and President Obama announced to the world in Decemb...
It is hard to believe that a year has gone by since I sat in on a presentation on Social Media in Transportation at the 2011 SMC3 Winter Conference. This past week David Tuttle, VP, Digital Strategy at TMP Worldwide (who spoke last year) was back again and joined by Bobby Harris, President and...
As I reach my 30th anniversary in the freight transportation industry, I continue to be struck by the lack of innovation in this business. While we have had some changes over the past three decades (e.g. transition from 48 to 53 foot trailers and containers, scheduled train service, the rise o...
For the past decade, the Canada-U.S. model of economic integration has been deteriorating - - a victim of a border chocked with traffic, an overreaction to the 9/11 attacks, steep fees and erratic regulation. FAST trade has become thick trade. Canada – U.S. trade peaked in 2000 and has s...
We enter 2012 with a lot of unknowns. Will the European debt crisis be resolved effectively and expeditiously or will it lead to another recession? Will the American economy that is showing some signs of improvement, be able to strengthen during a U.S. election year that will likely prod...
As we enter the New Year, it is time to reflect on the events of the past year and try to anticipate some of the drivers of the economy in the months ahead. In this blog, I will take a look at some of the key economic trends in 2012. In the following blog, I will share some thoughts on t...
Freight Transportation Adjusts to a Resetting World Economy
The year 2011 was another momentous one that was shaped by events on all continents of the world. Uprisings in the Middle East and the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak and Muammar Gadhafi, the European debt crisis, the Occupy Wall ...
Today we received some unexpected good news in the United States as the unemployment rate fell to 8.6%. In Canada the news wasn’t as good as the unemployment rate increased to 7.4 percent. Without counting those people who have given up looking for work or who are underemployed (e.g. per...
Last Thursday night, I had the distinct pleasure of participating in a Shipper-Carrier Roundtable along with a number of old friends and colleagues. The event was organized by CITT, sponsored by Shaw Tracking and moderated by Lou Smyrlis, editorial director of Business Information Group, publi...
On several occasions I have commented in this blog about a looming truck capacity shortage. A soft North American economy coupled with political uncertainty and concerns about Europe and China, are discouraging carriers from making investments in their fleets. Truckers are seeking to max...
The traditional and social media remind us on almost a daily basis that we are seeing the first manifestations of a looming capacity problem. There are already capacity shortfalls in certain geographic areas using specific modes of transport. With 15 to 20 percent of truck capacity remov...
Two weeks ago I looked at the economic realities we are currently facing. Leading economists are predicting either a number of years of slow growth or a return to recession. Last week I focused on some of the strategies carriers are employing to maintain profitability. In this blog...
In last week’s blog, I tried to capture what appears to be the sentiment of a majority of economists. Their prediction is for slow growth not just for 2012, but also for several years after that. In the next two blogs, I will outline some of the approaches taken by shippe...
It is that time of year when many companies are in the process of finalizing their business plans and budgets for 2012. We end 2011 with political upheaval in the Middle East, a major unresolved debt crisis in Europe, political gridlock in the United States and a slowing economy in China. ...
Wal-Mart launched a program in mid-2010 to reduce costs and deadhead miles, leverage the retailer’s logistics skills and scale, improve visibility and control of its merchandise by taking control of deliveries of inbound freight. The company believed they could find opportunities to do the wor...
This week the world lost a business and technology giant with the passing of the iconic Steve Jobs, for many years the leader of the Apple organization. Steve Jobs’ name will forever be associated with launch of the iPod, iPhone, iTunes, iTouch and iPad, that helped propel Apple to the status ...
In view of the troubling state of the United States economy, shippers are looking for creative ways to reduce transportation costs, specifically LTL costs. Tight capacity and rising freight rates are making this a challenge as we head into the fourth quarter of 2011.
Schneider Logistics is of...
Each year, Mary C. Holcomb, Associate Professor at the University of Tennessee and Karl B. Manrodt, Professor at Georgia Southern University, in partnership with Con-way Inc., Ernst & Young, and Logistics Management conduct research and prepare an Annual Study of Logistics and Transportation Tr...
Most Recent Posts
- 2010 – 2020 - Intermodal’s “Transformational“ Decade
- A Driver’s Perspective on the Current State of the Trucking Industry
- Harper’s Vision for Canada has Major Implications for Transportation Companies
- Social Media in Transportation in 2012
- Innovation in Freight Transportation – Paper Pallets
