Logistics Industry Review: June 2015
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It's Friday and heading into the height of summer sun, so we'll get right into it this month. Here's your review of everything supply chain and logistics industry-related that mattered most in June. (If we missed anything important, please let me and the readers know in the comments!)
Logistics in Review: June 2015
- US rail freight posted impressive numbers throughout the month, with the highlight being a record-setting second week in which intermodal volumes hit 283,363 containers. The news continues the country's wider embrace of intermodal transport solutions, which we examined in this article last fall.
- Road freight bounced back from its April dip, with the American Trucking Association reporting last month that May's 1.1% increase in tonnage almost erased the 1.4% drop the previous month Although volumes have not been able to sustain January's record high, analysts remain positive on the sector's performance for the rest of the year.
- In other road-related news, the Department of Transport effected an important part of its long-term road safety initiative, ensuring that tomorrow's vehicles will all be fitted with anti-rollover devices. The measure makes it mandatory for all trucks manufactured after August 1st, 2017, to be fitted with electronic stability control systems that are expected to prevent thousands of crashes every year, some of them fatal.
- When the world's largest shipping line lays out plans for a $1.8 billion capital investment in new vessels, you know the future of the industry is looking rosy (for them and the cargo they carry, at least). The major expenditure will bring 11 new ships into the expansive Maersk Line fleet, which currently stands at 255 vessels it owns and hundreds more that are chartered. The company has a reputation for introducing the latest and greatest ships to the high seas, such as the E-Class series which occupy two of the top five positions in terms of container volume.
- Speaking of shipping, the balance of Asia-centric imports to the United States has long favored West coast ports, for obvious reasons. That may all change in the second half of the decade, however, not only due to recent industrial action causing severe congestion for much of 2014, but because the expanded Suez Canal is about to reopen. As a bicoastal fulfillment provider, we're open to either side of the country, but this is an intriguing development that could see our home base of New Jersey seeing even more action than usual in the years to come. Let the (friendly) competition commence!