Top Talking Logistics Posts & Episodes (Q2 2019)

By Adrian Gonzalez

That was fast, wasn’t it?

We’re at the halfway mark of 2019. The U.S. and China are still in a tariff war, but the domestic transportation market is more favorable for shippers today (more capacity, lower rates) than during the first half of 2018.

Mergers and acquisitions continue in the industry, both in the technology and third-party logistics (3PL) markets. For example, E2open announced yesterday that it completed its acquisition of Amber Road (see my commentary from when the deal was first announced in May), and last week LEGACYS Supply Chain Services announced that it acquired Direct Shot Distributing to enhance its e-commerce fulfillment capabilities.

Data quality still sucks in the industry, but we’re making progress with drones, and with blockchain too, particularly in ocean shipping.

Simply put, the first half of 2019 has been as expected: unpredictable, crazy, frustrating, enlightening, and fun.

Talking Logistics 3.0 and Indago

It’s been a busy first half for us too. First, we launched a new website at the end of May — our first refresh in over four years. It’s more user friendly, better SEO optimized, and highlights our great content better — including our video episodes, podcasts, and sponsor channels.

Second, we launched Indago, a market research community of supply chain and logistics practitioners from manufacturing, retail, and distribution companies who share practical knowledge and advice with each other in a trusted and confidential manner — while giving back to charitable causes like JDRF, American Logistics Aid Network, American Cancer Society, Feeding America, and Make-A-Wish.

It’s an uncommon approach to market research. It’s research with purpose.

We send out a survey question every Monday, which takes our members 2-5 minutes to answer, and we send them the results every Friday. Here are the 13 questions we have asked to date:

Are your truckload carriers sharing data/information with you about your performance as a shipper?
Over the next 5 years, which emerging supply chain technologies do you believe will have delivered the most supply chain benefits?
How often is your freight reweighed by carriers? In general, are the weights reported by carriers correct?
What time of the year do you normally conduct a transportation procurement event?
What are the main causes of poor inventory accuracy across your supply chain network?
Which factors are the most important to ensure a successful TMS implementation?
Which risks do you believe supply chain professionals need to plan for more effectively moving forward?
When evaluating potential third-party logistics providers, how important are the following set of factors in the selection process?
Which sources of knowledge do you use the most to stay informed of supply chain industry trends?
What skills and attributes will be the most important for supply chain young professionals to succeed moving forward?
What are the main factors that make obtaining end-to-end supply chain visibility a challenge at your company?
What factor would be the overriding reason you would bring an outsourced logistics operation back in-house?
What is the primary focus of your company’s supply chain innovation efforts today?

It’s a win-win value proposition: our members receive valuable market research that helps them make smarter business decisions, while our charity partners receive valuable donations that help them make an extraordinary difference in lives every day.

“This a great platform and valuable data!” said one of our members, the Manager of U.S. Transportation and Logistics at a leading manufacturing company. The most gratifying part, however, is that we have already contributed $1,600 in charity donations since we launched in March 2019!

Thank You!

As always, a big thank you to our sponsors for making Talking Logistics possible, and to all of you — our readers, newsletter subscribers, and social media followers — for making it all worthwhile.

In case you missed them the first time around or want to read/view them again, check out the top posts and new episodes from Q2 2019. After reading/watching them, share this post with your colleagues and social media followers, then post a comment and share your perspective on these topics!

New Episodes

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