Mercifully, the U.S. election is in its final days. As a Canadian with friends, family, colleagues and clients in the United States, it has been distressing to watch the talk shows, debates and the steady bombardment of election ads on television. There is no doubt that Mitt Romney and Barrack Obama are two very intelligent, […]
The Divided States of America – a Canadian Perspective on the U.S. Election
Attributes of Top Trucking Company CEOs
12 years ago
During my 30 years in the transportation business, I have had the privilege of leading some great organizations. Like everyone else, I have had my share of successes and disappointments. During this period I have also had the opportunity to work with and study a variety of CEOs. From experience and observation, I have identified […]
Shipper-Carrier Collaboration – – one of the major themes at this year’s Transportation Summit
12 years ago
The 2012 Surface Transportation Summit held in Toronto last week attracted over 200 shippers, carriers and industry vendors. The speakers and panelists discussed a wide ranging array of topics but one of the recurring themes was the need for shipper-carrier collaboration. The Great Recession placed tremendous downward pressure on freight costs and freight rates. The […]
For over two decades the University of Tennessee has been conducting its Masters in Logistics research study. This year the study was undertaken in partnership with Con-way Inc., Ernst & Young, and Logistics Management. The U.S. based participants accounted for an estimated $30.1 billion in domestic transportation expenditures and over $20.5 billion in international transportation. […]
Dan’s Transportation Newspaper
12 years ago
Many of us receive information from multiple news sources on a daily basis. You may start your day with the morning newspaper in hard copy or on your iPad, Kindle or Kobo. If you are in the transportation industry, throughout the day you are likely receiving trade magazines in hard copy and/or digital form, news […]
The Successful Management of Freight Transportation Requires a Partnership between Finance and Logistics
12 years ago
Freight costs often represent a significant percent of a manufacturer or retailer’s expenses. While many companies have highly qualified CFOs and VPs of Logistics or Transportation, the management of freight costs is often sub-optimized. This appears to be a result of a lack of collaboration between these executives with each having a different set of […]
Over the past several decades, “Offshoring” has become a very popular supply chain strategy. The low costs of production in many Asian countries combined with enhanced ocean shipping and improved North American intermodal services have made this sourcing option very attractive to many manufacturers and retailers. The Offshoring movement accelerated as companies in a variety […]
The proxy battle at CP Rail is unprecedented in Canadian business since it resulted in the resignation of the company’s CEO and 4 directors. It is hard to recall another proxy battle in recent history that produced such a profound and dramatic result. It is easy to discount what happened at CP Rail as the […]
Carriers and the transportation media have laid out a compelling case as to why transport companies should be receiving rate increases in 2012. As the Great Recession of the late 2000’s unfolded, shippers put significant pressure on their carriers to roll back their rates. For many carriers, rates have not returned to pre-recession levels. The […]
How should Shippers Manage Carrier Fuel Surcharges?
12 years ago
In the most recent Transportation Buying Trends Survey undertaken by Canadian Transportation & Logistics magazine, there is an interesting set of questions that pertain to fuel surcharges. Over 68% of shippers support the view that “fuel surcharges are necessary as long as fuel costs continue to be highly volatile.” Slightly less than half of the […]
