Monthly Archives: September 2014

US Postal service to deliver Amazon groceries between 3 and 7 am

An article in the Wall Street Journal (September 6,2014) titled “U.S. Mail Delivers Amazon Groceries in Test” describes a pilot in which US Mail delivers containers of grocery including meat and dairy in San Francisco. The deliveries take place between … Continue reading

Posted in Capacity, Collaboration, Ecommerce, Service Operations, Supply Chain Issues, truck | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Should we expect US logistics costs to increase in 2014 ?

An article in the Supply Chain Digest (September 5,2014) by Dan Gilmore lists several recent price pressures on US transportation. He lists a 22.6% cost increase accounted by a combination of a 14% wage increase due to driver shortages, a … Continue reading

Posted in Capacity, Cost, logistics, Prices, Railroad, Train, truck | 16 Comments

Will the global package business model offered by “manyship.com” be sustainable ?

The website http://www.manyship.com describes a system in which individual travelers post their planned trip, shippers post their requirements and the available capacity is assigned to carry products between destinations. The company charges shippers $20 per pound and pays carriers $10 … Continue reading

Posted in Air, Capacity, Cost, Ecommerce, Global Contexts, Liability, Service Operations | Leave a comment

Rail delays and crop price impact

An article in the Financial Times (September 1, 2014) titled “Rail Delays Knock north US grain prices” describes speed reductions of 9% for Burlington Northern Railroad (BNSF) and 11% for Canadian Pacific causing shipment delays.  The backlog for BNSF was … Continue reading

Posted in Capacity, Grain, Operations Management, Prices, Railroad, Supply Chain Issues, Train | 7 Comments