Logistics Matters with DC VELOCITY

Our guest in this week's episode is Mike Nervick, founder and CEO of Sleek Technologies. The recent passage of the long-awaited infrastructure bill could impact transportation and the movement of goods for decades to come. Nervick discusses the importance of the bill and how it will affect shippers and carriers. There has been a lot of coverage in the news about supply chain bottlenecks and h...

Our guest in this week's episode is Dr. Cristiano Façanaha, global director at environmental advocacy group CALSTART. He is a transportation and environmental engineer and an expert at designing and evaluating sustainable transportation systems. The world just concluded the COP26 climate conference in Scotland. Out of that meeting came several international initiatives and commitments to redu...

Our guest in this week's episode is Joe Ryan, director of intelligence and response at Overhaul Group. Cargo theft is on the rise, with some fairly significant losses during the past year as more freight moves than ever before. Beyond the loss of the cargo, there are ripple effects which amount to many times the costs of the actual products that are stolen. Ryan provides some insight as to ho...

Our guest in this week's episode is Sarah Watt, a senior director analyst at consulting firm Gartner. With much of the attention this week focused on the COP26 climate summit in Scotland, we discuss how the supply chain industry can become more of the solution rather than the problem when it comes to climate change. Ms. Watt shares how companies can build sustainable futures that meet the goa...

In this episode, our guest is Dr. Yossi Sheffi, a professor of engineering systems  at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and director of the MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics. Dr. Sheffi has written a new book called A Shot In the Arm: How Science, Engineering, and Supply Chains Converged to Vaccinate the World . He joins us to talk about the development of successful Covid-19 va...

In this episode, our guest is Bryan Palma of Kinaxis. Retailers are in for an uncertain holiday season, as inventories are out of whack and demand is difficult to satisfy. What should retailers and consumers expect from this year's peak season? There are some new unicorns among supply chain startup companies. These are firms that have reached $1 billion in valuation. What makes them so attrac...

Our supply chains are broken. We face many obstacles that will be with us for the coming months, and possibly years. This month, our sister publication CSCMP’s Supply Chain Quarterly will launch “Top 10 Supply Chain Threats,” a new 11-episode podcast that looks at the top 10 threats currently facing supply chains.  Links About  CSCMP's Supply Chain Quarterly Subscribe to  CSCMP's Supply...

In this episode, our guest is Yatish Desai, a principal at KPMG Supply Chain and Operations. As the holiday season approaches, shippers and carriers both are preparing for a season of disruption building upon the current chaos within supply chains. Desai talks about how shippers can prepare for increased delays and how modeling and planning can smooth the rough parts of their supply chains. This w...

In this episode, our guest is Steve Bell, an attorney for the law firm of Dorsey and Whitney LLC. Steve specializes in labor and employment practice and is here to discuss the ramifications of the Biden administration's new Covid-19 vaccination mandates for federal employees and companies with more the 100 workers. What are the requirements and when are they expected to go into effect? Will t...

In this episode, our guest is Doug Schrier, senior vice president of strategy at Transflo. While we know that automated trucks are coming someday, many may not be aware of the behind-the-scenes automation available today to keep the trucking industry moving forward. Artificial intelligence and machine learning help companies automate many of the industry's non-driving tasks. Consumers are all...

In this episode, our guest is Ellen Voie, President, CEO, and Founder of Women in Trucking. She discusses how her organization works to attract women into the trucking industry. She shares what barriers remain and how the industry can help to overcome them to open their truck doors to more women drivers. As any shipper knows, tight capacity remains in the freight markets — and it looks like this s...

In this episode, our guest is DC Velocity Publisher Gary Master. Supply chains everywhere are experiencing disruptions. It really is a mess out there. Gary talks about the current state of supply chains and identifies some of the trouble spots. He also discusses the CSCMP EDGE conference coming up this week in Atlanta which will provide professionals with a perfect opportunity to address many of t...

In this episode, our guest is Steve Denton, CEO of Ware2Go, a UPS company. All businesses have been affected by Covid-19 during the past year and a half, but merchants and retailers have experienced more ups and downs than many. One of the more challenging problems is the rising cost of transportation for their goods. With peak season approaching,  how will merchants be able to deliver products in...

In this episode, our guest is Brad Wright, CEO of Chunker. Many small to medium sized businesses feel that they are being squeezed out of available warehouse space by much larger players. Tight capacity in industrial space is to blame. What are the alternatives for these smaller distributors to find the warehouse space they need to move their businesses forward without huge financial risk or a lon...

In this episode, our guest is Dr. Emily Tucker, assistant professor at Clemson University's Department of Industrial Engineering. Most of the medicines we rely on every day come from just two key trading partners overseas. That has created shortages and vulnerabilities in our medical supply chains and has limited our abilities to assure that we have medicines when we need them. Dr. Tucker exp...

In this episode, our guest is Scott Cornell, transportation lead and crime and theft specialist at Travelers. Cargo theft is on the rise compared to pre-pandemic levels. Cornell talks about where cargo is stolen and what types of products are most desirable to thieves. He also discusses ways that supply chain professionals can better safeguard their cargo. Because of strong consumer demand, U.S. p...

In this episode, our guest is Kathy Fulton, executive director of ALAN, the American Logistics Aid Network. Hurricanes can leave in their wake many supply chain disruptions, even for those not in the direct path of the storm. We are about to enter the heart of hurricane season. Kathy shares how companies can prepare their supply chains for when hurricanes impact the movement of goods and services....

In this episode, we discuss the whether reshoring will take hold as one way of mitigating the many supply chain disruptions we have experienced this year. Our guest, Andrew Viteritti, commerce and regulation lead at the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), shares research on the likelihood that U.S. companies will bring production back to North America. Is it a feasible solution? New economic news s...

In this episode, Darren Epps, senior director of advanced vehicle technology at Ryder, shares what it will take for freight companies to transition to electric fleets. It is more than just buying electric trucks. It involves decisions on infrastructure for charging them and determining which loads are best suited for currently available technologies. Many workers spent the last year working remote...

In this episode, Spencer Shute, a consultant with the supply chain and procurement consulting firm Proxima, discusses the recent executive order from President Biden designed to encourage more competition between American companies. The goal is to increase competition to better serve consumers, but what impact will these orders have on the supply chains that we currently know and how will it affec...

In this episode, Dr. Thomas Evans, chief robotics technology officer at Honeywell, discusses how automation can help small to medium-sized distributors compete with the big guys on the block. 5G cell technology is rolling out across the nation, but it will take a while for the infrastructure to be  in fully in place to make an impact. How will it eventually affect the growth of devices using Inter...

In this episode, Gary Master, president, COO, and group publisher at Agile Business Media, discusses the current state of supply chains. He explains that new challenges arise each day - almost like playing the arcade game Whac-A-Mole. Once one problem is addressed, another comes up to challenge supply chain managers. Product and component shortages, freight bottlenecks, labor issues, tight capacit...

In this episode, Mark Manduca, the newly appointed chief investment officer of GXO Logistics, discusses the new company and its role in the logistics industry. GXO is the result of a split in the logistics and warehousing segments of the large worldwide company, XPO Logistics. GXO has been created to assume the contract warehousing business. At its launch in a few weeks, it will become the second-...

In this episode, Richard Sinkoff, the director of environmental programs and planning at the Port of Oakland, is our guest. He discusses a new initiative to have California fund $2.25 billion improvements in ports and infrastructure to create a zero-emissions distribution network. The network would aim for zero-emissions handling, including trucks that come into and out of the state's ports....

In this episode, guest Dan Gilmore, chief marketing officer at warehouse software company Softeon, discusses how today's warehouse management software systems are being developed to handle the huge surge in robotics and other warehouse automation systems. Today's WMS and WES systems must monitor and direct many warehouse functions in real time to keep products flowing. They also must be...