Industry Insights

East Coast towns and cities already dealing with heavy rain are bracing for newly formed Category 3 Hurricane Joaquin, which could pound the region with flooding and strong winds by the weekend.  While forecasters say they have yet to determine whether the storm will hit the Eastern Seaboard, many states are bracing for its fallout. Rain, flooding and high winds will continue even if the center of Joaquin stays offshore, according to the National Weather Center. That uncertainty has prompted officials in states along the Atlantic to urge residents and businesses to take precautions. It was only three years ago […]

The months of September through December are traditionally peak season for motor truck cargo shipments. It’s also, unfortunately, a high season for cargo theft. According to data released by security firm FreightWatch International, in 2014, the “concentration” of cargo theft activity between September and December totaled 245 incidents, with the greatest number – almost one-third of the period’s total – occurring in October as a “surge” of goods flooded the supply chain ahead of “Black Friday,” the day after Thanksgiving retail shopping extravaganza. “Holiday weekends are notorious for presenting increased cargo theft risks for transportation companies, shippers, and manufacturers,” FreightWatch […]

Additive manufacturing, better known as 3D Printing, involves a process of making three-dimensional solid objects from a digital file. The creation of a 3D-printed object is achieved by laying down successive layers of material until the entire object is created. Each of these layers can be seen as a thinly sliced horizontal cross-section of the eventual object. The construction is achieved by computer control of one or more liquid or solid materials. Typical materials are synthetic resins, plastics, ceramics and metals. While this new technology has allowed for tremendous possibilities in the manufacturing of products, 3D Printing is also big […]

In the annual State of Logistics Report, produced by the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) and presented by Penske Logistics, the freight and logistics industry experienced a banner year in 2014 with record levels reached in certain sectors. In fact, according to Rosalyn Wilson, a transportation consultant who researches and writes the report, 2014 was the best year for U.S. logistics since the start of the recession in 2007. Overall, total U.S. business logistics costs rose to $1.45 trillion in 2014, a 3.1% increase from the previous year. Transportation costs rose 3.6% in 2014. Trucking, the largest component […]

The International Trade Administration (ITA) under the U.S. Department of Commerce is charged with assisting businesses in competing in the global marketplace. Last year alone, U.S. exported goods and services were valued at a combined total of $2.34 trillion, and the federal agency continues to help boost exports with several key initiatives designed to foster U.S. businesses’ success in international markets. Among the key initiatives in which the ITA played a critical role is the Information Technology Agreement, a plurilateral trade agreement that requires participants to eliminate their tariffs on a specific list of information technology (IT) and telecommunications products. […]

Announcement of ACE NCAP Test for RLF Entries On July 13, 2015, a Federal Register Notice (FRN) was published announcing CBP’s plan to proceed with a National Customs Automation Program (NCAP) test concerning ACE entries filed using remote location filing (RLF) procedures. The initial phase of this test began on August 12, 2015. ACE RLF Procedures The FRN updates the RLF procedures when using ACE Entry Summary Certified for ACE Cargo Release method of entry filing. As of now, only entry types 01, 03, 11 and 52 are eligible, however, CBP will expand the entry types eligible for ACE RLF entries as more […]