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Helpful Articles - Supply Chain

As the transportation industry continues to focus on sustainability, rail freight continues to stand out. The consulting firm IDC calls rail “the most energy efficient and least carbon intensive freight transportation mode.” Case in point: Rail makes up about 9% of freight activity, but it only accounts for 3% of energy use in the transportation sector. But the rail industry isn’t resting on its laurels. Instead, the industry continues to embrace technological innovations designed to reduce its carbon footprint even further, improve safety, increase efficiency, prevent breakdowns, and keep cargo moving. In this article, we’ll investigate some of the latest innovations in rail freight, including...

Understanding the difference between transloading and intermodal freight shipping can help you keep your cargo moving efficiently—and save you money. Not sure what these logistics terms mean? We’ll walk you through the definitions of both, and explain which method to choose when—and why. We’ll also throw in a quick discussion of another similar term, transshipping, so you can understand all of these logistics strategies and pick the right one for your freight. What Does Transloading Mean in Shipping? Transloading refers to moving cargo from one mode of transportation to another. More specifically, when cargo is transloaded, it’s unloaded from one transportation method (such as an...

The holiday season can be a make-or-break one for many retail businesses. Statistics from the National Retail Federation (NRF) reveal that retailers earn, on average 19% of their total sales during the last two months of the year. (Or more, depending on the business!) As you prepare for the holiday season, we’ve got five insights for you. These tips will help you optimize your logistics, protect your margins, and keep your holiday stress to a minimum—at least where your business is concerned!   #1: The “Holiday Season” Starts Earlier Every Year Remember the days when the holiday shopping season (semi-)officially kicked off with Black Friday,...

Drayage acts as a crucial link in getting cargo to its final destination. These short-haul trucking services offer vital connections between ports, rail spurs, warehouses, storefronts, and other destinations. In other words, drayage is an essential logistics function that keeps freight moving. By definition, drayage refers to trucking freight over short distances. In this article, we’ll give you a deeper dive on this concept so you can understand why drayage is so vital to logistics. You’ll also understand why you might see a drayage line item on your freight invoice, and you’ll know exactly what you’re paying for when you’re shipping freight. By the way,...

Data drives better decisions. That’s the foundation underpinning supply chain analytics, a discipline that allows organizations to mine insights from its procurement, manufacturing, inventory management, warehousing, and distribution activities.   Leveraging these insights, companies gain the opportunity to reduce costs, increase efficiencies, better manage potential risks, plan more effectively, and create a more resilient supply chain that’s capable of flexing in response to today’s challenges.   In this article, we’ll walk you through a complete explanation of supply chain analytics: what it is, why it’s important, what benefits it can offer, and what challenges companies might encounter in this arena. With this understanding, you’ll have...

Inbound logistics moves supplies, raw materials, and/or inventory to a business. In other words, inbound logistics provide an organization with the items it needs to sell products to its customers. Given this, it’s easy to see why inbound logistics are absolutely crucial to any business’s supply chain.   In this article, we’ll take a deeper look inbound logistics. What, exactly, qualifies as inbound logistics? How, exactly, do inbound logistics work? (We’ll include examples!) And, maybe most importantly, what benefits and challenges does it present to an organization and its supply chain manager?   With all the answers to these questions, you’ll get a solid foundation...