Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Tropical Storm Zeta expected to regain hurricane strength and slap Gulf Coast

If it strikes U.S. on Wednesday, storm would be 11th hurricane of the season, nearly double the average of six.

hurricane zeta wind track

Weary Gulf Coast residents are bracing for another potential hurricane strike on Wednesday, as Tropical Storm Zeta drenches Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula today and steers directly toward the Gulf of Mexico, where warmer than usual water temperatures are expected to recharge the storm’s energy as it rumbles toward New Orleans.

Federal meteorologists have issued a hurricane warning for the coastline between Morgan City, Louisiana, and the Mississippi/Alabama border, a region that includes Lake Pontchartrain, Lake Maurepas, and metropolitan New Orleans, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center. If Zeta wallops Louisiana as a hurricane by Wednesday night as forecasts predict, it would then proceed to move inland across the southeastern U.S., bringing damaging winds and urban flooding into into the Ohio Valley and Mid-Atlantic areas through Thursday.


The threat of the storm has already prompted Gulf of Mexico oil producers to evacuate workers and halt production from many coastal and offshore facilities, at least the sixth time they have done so this year. That could cause energy prices to rise, because those companies have now shut 16% of the nation’s oil production and 6% of natural gas output.

The impact would represent another hammer blow in a relentless 2020 storm season that has already delivered damage from hurricanes Delta, Sally, and Laura, all arriving in quick succession during September and October. Zeta would become the 27th named storm of the tumultuous 2020 Atlantic hurricane season—breaking the 2005 record for the earliest such event—and would be the 11th full-fledged hurricane of the season. An average season sees just six hurricanes and 12 named storms, according to published reports.

Regardless of Zeta’s category, it arrives as the same time that disaster experts are laying plans to cope with enhanced fire risks in California by instituting power outages through rolling blackouts, and to deal with a major winter storm that is now dropping 6 to 10 inches of snow and ice across the U.S. southwest and southern plains states, according to a threat analysis webcast  by Riskpulse, a Texas-based supply chain risk analytics company.

According to Riskpulse, this latest hurricane is likely to trigger the Port of New Orleans to close on Wednesday and Thursday, but as of today the port’s most recent storm update stated that cargo operations were continuing as officials monitor Hurricane Zeta’s path. In addition to that major hub, 22 smaller ports scattered along the Louisiana and Alabama coasts are likely to close as well, the firm said. Additional closures could include half a dozen intermodal shipping hubs and portions of the interstate highways 10, 12, 55, 59, and 65.

In preparation to stage a recovery from those impacts, the humanitarian disaster relief group  American Logistics Aid Network (ALAN) is thanking companies in many corners of the logistics community for the in-kind donations they have already made this year of space, services, equipment, and transportation. Those deeds have ranged from deliveries of donated pet food to animal welfare centers to face shields shipped to medical facilities, and gifts of packing boxes, refrigerated trailer space, transportation of personal protective equipment (PPE), and an electronic pallet jack, ALAN Executive Director Kathy Fulton said in a blog post.

The Latest

More Stories

drone flying through warehouse

Robotic revolution

Robots are revolutionizing factories, warehouses, and distribution centers (DCs) around the world, thanks largely to heavy investments in the technology between 2019 and 2021. And although investment has slowed since then, the long-term outlook calls for steady growth over the next four years. According to data from research and consulting firm Interact Analysis, revenues from shipments of industrial robots are forecast to grow nearly 4% per year, on average, between 2024 and 2028 (see Exhibit 1).

market forecast for industrial robots - revenues graphEXHIBIT 1: Market forecast for industrial robots - revenuesInteract Analysis

Keep ReadingShow less

Featured

Freight Science dashboard screen
Freight Science

High-tech solution helps truckload carrier drive change

The trucking industry faces a range of challenges these days, particularly when it comes to load planning—a resource-intensive task that often results in suboptimal decisions, unnecessary empty miles, late deliveries, and inefficient asset utilization. What’s more, delays in decision-making due to a lack of real-time insights can hinder operational efficiency, making cost management a constant struggle.

Truckload carrier Paper Transport Inc. (PTI) experienced this firsthand when the company sought to expand its over the-road (OTR), intermodal, and brokerage offerings to include dedicated fleet services for high-volume shippers—adding a layer of complexity to the business. The additional personnel required for such a move would be extremely costly, leading PTI to investigate technology solutions that could help close the gap.

Keep ReadingShow less
indigo software screenshot WMS

Aptean adds British WMS vendor in latest acquisition

The Georgia-based enterprise software vendor Aptean today said it had acquired Indigo Software Ltd., a British provider of purpose-built warehouse management and logistics software solutions.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Aptean said the move will add new capabilities to its warehouse management and supply chain management offerings for manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors, retailers, and 3PLs. Aptean currently provides enterprise resource planning (ERP), transportation management systems (TMS), and product lifecycle management (PLM) platforms.

Keep ReadingShow less
schneider app screenshot for owner operators

Schneider seeks more business with owner-operators

Transportation and logistics service provider Schneider National Inc. is reaching out to owner-operators, encouraging them to do more business with the Wisconsin company using an updated digital platform.

Schneider says its FreightPower platform now offers owner-operators significantly more access to Schneider’s range of freight options. That can help drivers to generate revenue and strengthen their business through: increased access to freight, high drop and hook rates of over 95% of loads, and a trip planning feature that calculates road miles.

Keep ReadingShow less
trucks used by jillamy 3PL

Texas 3PL Mode Global acquires Jillamy’s freight brokerage arm

The Texas third-party logistics firm (3PL) Mode Global has acquired the freight brokerage business of supply chain service provider Jillamy, saying on Monday that the deal advances its strategy of expanding its national footprint.

Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed, but Mode Global said it will now assume Jillamy's comprehensive logistics and freight management solutions, while Jillamy's warehousing, packaging and fulfillment services remain unchanged. Under the agreement, Mode Global will gain more than 200 employees and add facilities in Pennsylvania, Arizona, Florida, Texas, Illinois, South Carolina, Maryland, and Ontario to its existing national footprint.

Keep ReadingShow less