Category Archives: Trucking

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Reefer crisis – stranded perishables rot at Chinese ports

The unprecedented effect of China’s Coronavirus actions on supply chains continues to astound us. Sam Whelan’s article points out that quarantines on drivers moving between cities and/or ports have caused driver shortages.  Cold chain goods can’t be moved and lie rotting in the box.  How can food and perishables shippers function in such an environment?

Firms are also charging extra fees for handling and storage.  A lot of the trouble is with goods coming to China from neighbors such as India. there are some issues with US exports to China as well.

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via Reefer crisis looms as stranded perishables rot at congested Chinese ports – The Loadstar

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Posted on February 13, 2020 by in Logistics, Production Operations, Shipping, Supply Chains, Trucking

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JB Hunt offering new drop-and-hook service

JB Hunt is a powerhouse in managed logistics. Offering a drop and hook service seems like a reasonable thing to do.  Many firms have yard space to keep a spare trailer, and it allows them to load it on their own time instead of waiting for the truck to show up.

In my experience int he telecom equipment business, this was a big deal. We were always loading up to midnight, but sometimes had to wait for drivers to arrive. Or the drivers had to set aside the time to appear so the trailer could be loaded, and wait in a queue.  It would have changed our whole production system to be able to load the trailers, even a few, in advance.   In fact, we could have loaded a couple trailers with generic equipment that could be customized on site in case there were last minute orders; we were always looking to grab as many orders before quarter close that we could.

Having warehouse workers work at odd hours for truck arrivals is difficult for operators.  And drivers would appreciate the convenience as well.

Shortly in the future, paperwork will be able to be handled electronically as well, son the driver would just need to grab and go.  The right clients will make this work well.

Hunt has an astute management team and is a frequent adopter of new ideas in logistics.

screenshot-www.supplychaindive.com 2018-01-29 09-45-53-153

via JB Hunt announces new drop-and-hook service with 500 trailers | Supply Chain Dive

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Posted on May 7, 2019 by in Logistics, Supply Chains, Trucking

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Six operators join to form the UK’s largest logistics company

Alex Lennane has written in the Loadstar about the merger or assimilation of six UK diverse logistics firms under one management.  Perhaps this is what’s necessary to get firms to work together– a bigger hammer.  If they cannot learn to do it on their own, let’s put them together under one management.

However, this approach is fraught with issues. Most mergers do not reach the state of grace they envisioned, because of resistance to change within.  And much of the value of a firm is in its people, and their skills at dealing with the countless exceptions that mark any business.   Another is the heterogeneity of the businesses– every firm in a merger thinks their way of doing something has to work that way for them.  It might not be true, or it might, but even thinking it draws boundaries that can take considerable effort to crack.

We will have to see if this new management structure generates rewards the size the PE firm expects.  Of course if they just make something big enough to sell publicly with temporary results, that will be enough for them to make their money and pass the risk on.

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via PE firm puts six operators together to form the UK’s largest logistics company – The Loadstar

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Posted on November 23, 2018 by in Logistics, Production Operations, Strategy, Supply Chains, Trucking

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