Maritime industry experts are projecting a surge in freight rates and insurance charges—known as war risk premiums—following the move by Iranian military forces on Saturday to seize a commercial container ship near the Strait of Hormuz.
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A new report says that the supply chains in North America aren’t likely to return to pre-pandemic stability in 2024. On April 9th the Association for Supply Chain Management and KPMG released findings that show recent factors like border patrol closures between U.S. and Mexico trade corridors, and attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea have slowed the post-pandemic recovery process.
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Inbound cargo volume at the nation’s major container ports in the month of May is expected to top 2 million units for the first time since last fall, as imports grow despite new supply chain challenges, according to the Global Port Tracker report released this week by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Hackett Associates.
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Investment in Mexico has surged in the first three months of 2024 as more companies are looking south of the border to establish supply chain and manufacturing hubs, officials said. From January through mid-March, Mexico has received investment commitments worth more than $31 billion, compared to $36 billion total in 2023.
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Supply chain issues continued to be blamed for pushing a number of U.S. companies to file for bankruptcy in 2023 as the rush by corporations looking to courts to provide relief from mounting debts worsened. While the stretch of clogged ports, long backorders and scant raw materials supply that marked 2021 and 2022 has largely passed, troubled debtors last year laid much of the blame for their financial woes on snags in their supply chains. Problems included the inability to acquire essential components and materials, oversupplied inventories and labor shortages.
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A logistics strategy called transloading, which is a truck-to-rail or rail-to-truck strategy used by trucking companies during the pandemic to ease the container backlog, is increasing in popularity again after U.S. West Coast ports have started to receive higher volumes of containers that are being diverted away from the East Coast.
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Transportation and logistics provider ArcBest said it is using technology from Nvidia to “bridge the gap” in human-robot interactions during freight handling and said the use of semiconductor engineer Nvidia’s Isaac Perceptor provides enhanced safety and efficiency when handling materials on a warehouse floor.
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For-hire trucking tonnage increased 4.3% in February after dropping 3.2% in January, and was 1.2% below February 2023, according to the American Trucking Associations (ATA). ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello says, “February’s level was the highest in a year, yet the index still contracted from a year earlier, suggesting truck freight remains in a recession.”
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The Biden administration has selected 12,000 miles of freight-heavy interstates and the country’s largest container ports to begin a 16-year plan to deploy battery-charging and hydrogen-refueling stations for electric trucks.
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On March 8th, a federal judge blocked a U.S. National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) rule that would have made it easier for employees and unions to hold companies liable for labor law violations by franchises and contractors.
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World Millwork Alliance (WMA) 54 TH Annual Convention & Tradeshow will hold its’ premier event at the Memphis Cook Convention Center from September 11-15, 2018. WMA will offer Veterans and Students complimentary access to the exhibit hall during Millwork Career Day on Friday, September 14, 2018 during the show hours of 10:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
WMA welcomes Veterans and Students to explore a career in the millwork industry. Learn from worldwide millwork professionals while viewing the finest millwork products. Meet with industry distributors and manufacturers about the opportunities in a millwork career.
Pre-registration for a name badge is available by completing a WMA Registration Form. Any local Student or Veteran who has pre-registered will pick up their complimentary “Expo – One Day Pass” with a valid student ID or Veteran ID at the WMA registration desk in the Memphis Cook Convention Center.
Veterans must show a Veteran’s Administration (VA) identification card to receive an “Expo-One Day Pass” and to gain entrance into the exhibit hall on Friday, September 14, 2018.
Students must show a valid Student photo I.D. card to receive an “Expo-One Day Pass” and to gain entrance into the exhibit hall on Friday, September 14, 2018.
Pre-registration is open until August 13, 2018; thereafter, registration is onsite at the WMA registration desk in the Memphis Cook Convention Center.
