Mark Solomon joined DC VELOCITY as senior editor in August 2008, and was promoted to his current position on January 1, 2015. He has spent more than 30 years in the transportation, logistics and supply chain management fields as a journalist and public relations professional. From 1989 to 1994, he worked in Washington as a reporter for the Journal of Commerce, covering the aviation and trucking industries, the Department of Transportation, Congress and the U.S. Supreme Court. Prior to that, he worked for Traffic World for seven years in a similar role. From 1994 to 2008, Mr. Solomon ran Media-Based Solutions, a public relations firm based in Atlanta. He graduated in 1978 with a B.A. in journalism from The American University in Washington, D.C.
The hand-wringing by transportation trade groups that greeted the federal government's new rules governing commercial truck driver operations is giving way to the notion, at least in some quarters, that the policy may not be the onerous regulatory hammer initially feared to be.
On Dec. 22, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) issued its long-awaited final rule governing drivers' "hours of service" (HOS). The rule maintains a limit of 11 hours of continuous time a driver can be behind the wheel. It also keeps the 14-hour ceiling on the time drivers have to complete all on-duty work-related activities before being required to stop.
The rule cuts to 70 from 82 the maximum driver workweek and requires that drivers take a minimum 30-minute break during an eight-hour work period.
But the most controversial language requires that drivers working the maximum number of weekly hours take at least two consecutive rest periods—between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m.—during a "restart" period lasting 34 straight hours. Once the 34-hour cycle is over, drivers may effectively restart the clock on their seven-day workweeks, according to the rules.
The rule had barely been announced when it was quickly torn to shreds. The American Trucking Associations (ATA), which represents the nation's largest trucking companies, said the rule could compromise public safety by forcing trucks off the road during off-peak times for motor vehicle traffic and onto the highways to join millions of commuters on their way to work.
ATA also argues that the timing of the mandatory rest periods will keep drivers off the roads longer than 34 hours. The group said that requiring drivers to take two consecutive overnight periods of rest within the 34-hour cycle would have the effect of extending the restart period to closer to 45 or 46 hours.
Trade groups representing the nation's retailers contend that the rest periods will disrupt the productivity of retail supply chains that have been calibrated to handle cargo transported between midnight and dawn when goods can get to their destinations in a timely fashion over less-congested highways.
"Supply chain optimization is the bread and butter of America's most successful retailers. Their ability to move goods efficiently has changed the retail landscape and benefited consumers by reducing prices and increasing product assortments. The new hours-of-service rule will upend the advances in efficiency made over the past decade," said Kelly Kolb, vice president for government relations for the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA), in a statement.
"A pretty good rule"
But not everyone is perturbed. Don Osterberg, senior vice president of safety and security at Green Bay, Wis.-based truckload and logistics giant Schneider National Inc., said that "it's a pretty good rule. There are people who won't like the restart changes, but on balance, it's a rule we can live with."
Osterberg had been more concerned with language in the original December 2010 proposal that would have required drivers to complete all on-duty work-related activities within 13 hours instead of the current 14 hours. In remarks made at the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals' 2011 Annual Global Conference in October, Osterberg said the proposed reduction would have the effect of reducing the number of continuous hours a driver can be behind the wheel—even if the government didn't change the driving limit—because most drivers could not complete a continuous 11-hour driving shift under a more compressed overall work schedule. The final rule maintains the 14-hour workday, thus allaying Osterberg's concerns.
Ben Cubitt, senior vice president, consulting and engineering for Dallas-based third-party logistics service provider Transplace, called the rule the "best possible outcome" because it keeps the 11-hour continuous drive times within the 14-hour workday. The other changes "will have only minor impact, [and it] does not appear to be major hit on capacity," Cubitt said.
The National Retail Federation (NRF), while critical of the mandatory rest periods and their potential impact on safety, applauded the FMCSA for keeping the 11-hour continuous drive times. "We're pleased that regulators have seen the wisdom of keeping the current 11-hour limit, but longer overnight breaks create the potential for more big trucks to be mixing with passenger cars during congested daylight hours," said David French, NRF's senior vice president for government relations, in a statement.
Court challenge mulled
The rule is set to take effect on July 1, 2013, giving the supply chain 18 months to adjust. In the interim, industry groups may go to court to try to delay or override the rules—a tactic tried several times since the last version of hours-of-service regulations took effect in 2004.
The ATA plans to hold conference calls with members in the coming days to gauge the rank-and-file response and to determine if acceptance of the new rule is a better option than footing an expensive legal bill in an effort to stop their implementation.
For good or ill, the rules demonstrate that the federal government will be in the trucking industry's collective face for years to come. Noel Perry, senior consultant at Nashville, Ind.-based FTR Associates, said the changes would reduce industry productivity by about 3 percent. And John G. Larkin, Baltimore-based managing director and lead transport analyst at investment firm Stifel, Nicolaus & Co., said "many carriers will struggle to recruit [and] train drivers and keep costs in line as the industry becomes more highly regulated."
Larkin said the trend toward increased government intervention will "end up playing into the hands" of well-managed carriers with strong safety ratings and effective driver recruitment and retention strategies. It will be critical for those select group of truckers to raise rates quickly in response to cost pressures that will be "inevitable" in a new world of government involvement, Larkin added.
Autonomous forklift maker Cyngn is deploying its DriveMod Tugger model at COATS Company, the largest full-line wheel service equipment manufacturer in North America, the companies said today.
By delivering the self-driving tuggers to COATS’ 150,000+ square foot manufacturing facility in La Vergne, Tennessee, Cyngn said it would enable COATS to enhance efficiency by automating the delivery of wheel service components from its production lines.
“Cyngn’s self-driving tugger was the perfect solution to support our strategy of advancing automation and incorporating scalable technology seamlessly into our operations,” Steve Bergmeyer, Continuous Improvement and Quality Manager at COATS, said in a release. “With its high load capacity, we can concentrate on increasing our ability to manage heavier components and bulk orders, driving greater efficiency, reducing costs, and accelerating delivery timelines.”
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but it follows another deployment of DriveMod Tuggers with electric automaker Rivian earlier this year.
Manufacturing and logistics workers are raising a red flag over workplace quality issues according to industry research released this week.
A comparative study of more than 4,000 workers from the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia found that manufacturing and logistics workers say they have seen colleagues reduce the quality of their work and not follow processes in the workplace over the past year, with rates exceeding the overall average by 11% and 8%, respectively.
The study—the Resilience Nation report—was commissioned by UK-based regulatory and compliance software company Ideagen, and it polled workers in industries such as energy, aviation, healthcare, and financial services. The results “explore the major threats and macroeconomic factors affecting people today, providing perspectives on resilience across global landscapes,” according to the authors.
According to the study, 41% of manufacturing and logistics workers said they’d witnessed their peers hiding mistakes, and 45% said they’ve observed coworkers cutting corners due to apathy—9% above the average. The results also showed that workers are seeing colleagues take safety risks: More than a third of respondents said they’ve seen people putting themselves in physical danger at work.
The authors said growing pressure inside and outside of the workplace are to blame for the lack of diligence and resiliency on the job. Internally, workers say they are under pressure to deliver more despite reduced capacity. Among the external pressures, respondents cited the rising cost of living as the biggest problem (39%), closely followed by inflation rates, supply chain challenges, and energy prices.
“People are being asked to deliver more at work when their resilience is being challenged by economic and political headwinds,” Ideagen’s CEO Ben Dorks said in a statement announcing the findings. “Ultimately, this is having a determinantal impact on business productivity, workplace health and safety, and the quality of work produced, as well as further reducing the resilience of the nation at large.”
Respondents said they believe technology will eventually alleviate some of the stress occurring in manufacturing and logistics, however.
“People are optimistic that emerging tech and AI will ultimately lighten the load, but they’re not yet feeling the benefits,” Dorks added. “It’s a gap that now, more than ever, business leaders must look to close and support their workforce to ensure their staff remain safe and compliance needs are met across the business.”
The “2024 Year in Review” report lists the various transportation delays, freight volume restrictions, and infrastructure repair costs of a long string of events. Those disruptions include labor strikes at Canadian ports and postal sites, the U.S. East and Gulf coast port strike; hurricanes Helene, Francine, and Milton; the Francis Scott key Bridge collapse in Baltimore Harbor; the CrowdStrike cyber attack; and Red Sea missile attacks on passing cargo ships.
“While 2024 was characterized by frequent and overlapping disruptions that exposed many supply chain vulnerabilities, it was also a year of resilience,” the Project44 report said. “From labor strikes and natural disasters to geopolitical tensions, each event served as a critical learning opportunity, underscoring the necessity for robust contingency planning, effective labor relations, and durable infrastructure. As supply chains continue to evolve, the lessons learned this past year highlight the increased importance of proactive measures and collaborative efforts. These strategies are essential to fostering stability and adaptability in a world where unpredictability is becoming the norm.”
In addition to tallying the supply chain impact of those events, the report also made four broad predictions for trends in 2025 that may affect logistics operations. In Project44’s analysis, they include:
More technology and automation will be introduced into supply chains, particularly ports. This will help make operations more efficient but also increase the risk of cybersecurity attacks and service interruptions due to glitches and bugs. This could also add tensions among the labor pool and unions, who do not want jobs to be replaced with automation.
The new administration in the United States introduces a lot of uncertainty, with talks of major tariffs for numerous countries as well as talks of US freight getting preferential treatment through the Panama Canal. If these things do come to fruition, expect to see shifts in global trade patterns and sourcing.
Natural disasters will continue to become more frequent and more severe, as exhibited by the wildfires in Los Angeles and the winter storms throughout the southern states in the U.S. As a result, expect companies to invest more heavily in sustainability to mitigate climate change.
The peace treaty announced on Wednesday between Isael and Hamas in the Middle East could support increased freight volumes returning to the Suez Canal as political crisis in the area are resolved.
The French transportation visibility provider Shippeo today said it has raised $30 million in financial backing, saying the money will support its accelerated expansion across North America and APAC, while driving enhancements to its “Real-Time Transportation Visibility Platform” product.
The funding round was led by Woven Capital, Toyota’s growth fund, with participation from existing investors: Battery Ventures, Partech, NGP Capital, Bpifrance Digital Venture, LFX Venture Partners, Shift4Good and Yamaha Motor Ventures. With this round, Shippeo’s total funding exceeds $140 million.
Shippeo says it offers real-time shipment tracking across all transport modes, helping companies create sustainable, resilient supply chains. Its platform enables users to reduce logistics-related carbon emissions by making informed trade-offs between modes and carriers based on carbon footprint data.
"Global supply chains are facing unprecedented complexity, and real-time transport visibility is essential for building resilience” Prashant Bothra, Principal at Woven Capital, who is joining the Shippeo board, said in a release. “Shippeo’s platform empowers businesses to proactively address disruptions by transforming fragmented operations into streamlined, data-driven processes across all transport modes, offering precise tracking and predictive ETAs at scale—capabilities that would be resource-intensive to develop in-house. We are excited to support Shippeo’s journey to accelerate digitization while enhancing cost efficiency, planning accuracy, and customer experience across the supply chain.”
Donald Trump has been clear that he plans to hit the ground running after his inauguration on January 20, launching ambitious plans that could have significant repercussions for global supply chains.
As Mark Baxa, CSCMP president and CEO, says in the executive forward to the white paper, the incoming Trump Administration and a majority Republican congress are “poised to reshape trade policies, regulatory frameworks, and the very fabric of how we approach global commerce.”
The paper is written by import/export expert Thomas Cook, managing director for Blue Tiger International, a U.S.-based supply chain management consulting company that focuses on international trade. Cook is the former CEO of American River International in New York and Apex Global Logistics Supply Chain Operation in Los Angeles and has written 19 books on global trade.
In the paper, Cook, of course, takes a close look at tariff implications and new trade deals, emphasizing that Trump will seek revisions that will favor U.S. businesses and encourage manufacturing to return to the U.S. The paper, however, also looks beyond global trade to addresses topics such as Trump’s tougher stance on immigration and the possibility of mass deportations, greater support of Israel in the Middle East, proposals for increased energy production and mining, and intent to end the war in the Ukraine.
In general, Cook believes that many of the administration’s new policies will be beneficial to the overall economy. He does warn, however, that some policies will be disruptive and add risk and cost to global supply chains.
In light of those risks and possible disruptions, Cook’s paper offers 14 recommendations. Some of which include:
Create a team responsible for studying the changes Trump will introduce when he takes office;
Attend trade shows and make connections with vendors, suppliers, and service providers who can help you navigate those changes;
Consider becoming C-TPAT (Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism) certified to help mitigate potential import/export issues;
Adopt a risk management mindset and shift from focusing on lowest cost to best value for your spend;
Increase collaboration with internal and external partners;
Expect warehousing costs to rise in the short term as companies look to bring in foreign-made goods ahead of tariffs;
Expect greater scrutiny from U.S. Customs and Border Patrol of origin statements for imports in recognition of attempts by some Chinese manufacturers to evade U.S. import policies;
Reduce dependency on China for sourcing; and
Consider manufacturing and/or sourcing in the United States.
Cook advises readers to expect a loosening up of regulations and a reduction in government under Trump. He warns that while some world leaders will look to work with Trump, others will take more of a defiant stance. As a result, companies should expect to see retaliatory tariffs and duties on exports.
Cook concludes by offering advice to the incoming administration, including being sensitive to the effect retaliatory tariffs can have on American exports, working on federal debt reduction, and considering promoting free trade zones. He also proposes an ambitious water works program through the Army Corps of Engineers.