Never is your supply chain as important as when you no longer have access to it. Even the smallest business realizes the impact of losing just one step of the chain. One weakness in a link can often mean a breakdown of the entire chain. These disruptions and delays can have a massive impact, potentially…
1. Define your goals The business sector uses the term logistics to describe the efficient flow and storage of goods from where they originate to where they’re consumed. The supply chain includes transportation, shipping, receiving, storage and management of all these areas. Some of the key goals for all businesses are increased efficiency, more sales,…
Even as the US President Donald Trump’s trade war with China ramps up, some manufacturers and retailers are not moving their factories out of China. Instead, some are taking advantage of a little-known tax law called the “first sale rule” that allows companies to significantly undercut how much they pay in tariffs. Other e-commerce players are…
]International fuel surcharges have been a topic of conversation and negotiation for carriers and shippers alike for many years. Fuel is a huge percentage of a carrier’s overall cost for operating their business. Carriers have historically utilized various fuel surcharges, from “emergency” to “interim,” in order to pass along volatility of these costs to their…
Coinciding with the upswing in the world economy two years ago, global seaborne trade is doing well, note analysts for the Geneva-based United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). They also observe that containerized shipping expanded by 4% in 2018—the fastest growth in five years. “Global maritime commerce gathered momentum two years ago and raised…
Dive Brief: Amazon is reportedly ramping up its ocean freight services “quietly and below the radar,” as it aims to gain more control of its supply chain, USA Today reported. Since the beginning of last year, Amazon organized the shipment of more than 5,300 containers from China to the U.S. Amazon did not respond to Supply…
In today’s geopolitical climate, it is impossible to ignore the turbulent trade environment. Just turn on any major cable news channel. Browse the headlines of top-tier newspapers or swipe through a few digital news stories. See news related to the current renegotiation of the UK’s relationship with the EU, post Brexit or the bilateral trade…
As trade compliance professionals, we joke that our family members now finally understand what we do for a living. In fact, 2018 has been the year that anybody with access to a news platform has become well acquainted with the concepts of global trade compliance. Both shippers and logistics service providers are certainly on the…