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Conference, hotel registration and sponsorship availability are now open and can be accessed via www.foodshippersofamerica.org.
Learn More... We are pleased to offer the following sponsorship opportunities for the 60TH Annual Food Shippers of America Conference March 1-3, 2015, at the JW Marriott Hill Country San Antonio, Texas:
Learn More... The 2015 John J. Murphy Scholarship program will again be available for a child or dependent of a supply chain logistics department employee of a Food Shippers of America member company whose membership has been paid in full.
A "Supply Chain" scholarship award of $5,000 will be awarded to the most qualified applicant with a major concentrating in business, logistics or supply chain management based on the review of submitted applications by the current officers and board members of Food Shippers of America. The top supply chain applicant will be invited to attend the Food Shippers of America annual conference for the awards presentation Monday morning of the 3-day event. Awards of $3,000 will be presented to the second and third most qualified individuals. The fourth most qualified applicant will receive a $2,000 award, and the fifth and sixth awards are $1,000 each. Additional consideration will be given to those applicants with a major concentrating in business, logistics or supply chain management, but we encourage all majors to apply. A total of $15,000 will be awarded. Scholarship applications and references must be received by December 31 for the upcoming year. The guidelines for becoming an applicant for this scholarship are as follows: 1. Applicant must be a child or dependent of a supply chain logistics department employee of a Food Shippers of America member company whose membership has been paid in full. 2. "Supply Chain" scholarship requires enrollment in a college business program with additional merit placed on those majoring in logistics or supply chain management. Additional awards are available to all applicants enrolled in a college program; however, additional consideration will be allocated to those applicants with a major concentrating in business, logistics or supply chain management. 3. Applicant must have maintained at least a 3.5 grade point average during their junior and senior years of high school and/or have maintained this average if currently enrolled in undergraduate or graduate courses. 4. Applicant packet must be completed in its entirety. 5. Received applications will be reviewed and selections determined by the current sitting officers and board members of Food Shippers of America. Learn More... Birchwood Foods
Caito Foods
Calbee North America
Dole International
Flagship Food Group
Frito-Lay
G&C Food Distributors
Graham Packaging
JFC International, Inc.
Mountain Valley Produce
OLAM
Perrigo Company
Premium Waters Inc.
Ruiz Foods
Services Group of America
Wayne Farms
Wendy's Quality Supply Chain Co-op, Inc.
Sun World International
The spot market for truck freight rebounded slightly in the first days of the fourth quarter, sending the DAT Solutions average dry van rate upward after two weeks of decline.
The DAT national average spot rate for dry vans rose one cent to $2.03 per mile in the week that ended Oct. 4, five cents off its most recent peak of $2.08 per mile Sept. 13. Learn More... Managing the transportation of goods in the food and beverage supply chain has always been a moving target, no pun intended. What’s changed in a big way recently is there is more pressure to control transport costs as carrier costs have exploded due to a chronic driver shortage, while government regulations keep adding new costs and headaches. The Food Logistics 2013 reader survey revealed that rising fuel and transportation costs are the industry’s fourth biggest concern, following improving customer service, food safety and security, and reducing supply chain costs.
Learn More... The annual SmartWay Excellence Award honors top shipping (retailers and manufacturers) and logistics company partners for superior environmental performance and additional actions to reduce freight emissions through effective collaboration, advanced technology and operational practices, a robust system for validating and reporting their SmartWay data and communications and public outreach. The SmartWay Excellence Award also recognizes top truck and multi-modal carrier partners that are setting efficiency benchmarks in how they move products and supplies.
Shippers and logistics company partners were recognized as SmartWay Excellence Award recipients on Tuesday, September 23, 2014, at the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) Annual Global Conference. Carrier partners were recognized on Tuesday, October 7, 2014 at the American Trucking Associations (ATA) Annual Management Conference and Exhibition. Learn More... The average price of a gallon of on-highway diesel went down 2.2 cents from last week to $3.733 per gallon for the week ending Monday, Oct. 6. With the exception of the week ending Sept. 8, when there was no change in prices, this will be the 12th consecutive week of declining prices, setting a record low for the year.
Diesel price averages went down in all 10 regions in the U.S., according to the Energy Information Administration. The largest average decrease was in the New England region, where prices at the pump went down by 3.2 cents per gallon. Prices went down nine-tenths of a cent in the California region, the smallest decrease in the nation. Learn More... 
The equity markets have hit a slippery patch since early September, and this week the fall in the major U.S. indices have been downright ugly. Concerns over slowing global growth, Europe’s feeble response to its fiscal woes, and some aggressive technical selling teamed up to hand the Dow a 335-point drubbing on Thursday.
Given this backdrop of selling pressure, it’s nice to know that there are many dividend stocks staying the proverbial course, and continuing to deliver on both the earnings and dividend fronts. After all, if stocks are getting hammered, at least we can take solace in the host of dividend stocks increasing their payouts to shareholders and boosting their dividend yields. Learn More... The regional less-than-truckload business isn’t what it used to be. In fact, it’s a lot more. For New England Motor Freight, that means more territory served by more terminals and a more diverse and integrated portfolio of transportation services. Add to that more revenue, more attention to LTL yield, more need for truck drivers and more growth opportunities.
The family-owned company, the largest regional LTL operator in the Northeast in 2013, according to SJ Consulting Group data, is expanding geographically and in the types of services it offers shippers, Tom Connery said. Connery, who joined NEMF in 2007 as executive vice president and COO, last week was named president of the carrier. Learn More... Having expanded its presence in Jacksonville earlier this year, Sunteck Transport Group is committed to a serious balancing act: managing its growth while maintaining its family business feel.
Ten years ago, supply chain management company Sunteck was a $50 million business. Since then, the privately held company has been growing revenue by about $100 million every three years, chief commercial officer Dave Dallas said, with that pace accelerating. The company expects to hit $400 million either this year or next year. Learn More... In the latest issue of the Ahern Advisory, the industry-leading newsletter published by Ahern & Associates, Andy Ahern discusses the widespread dilemma of driver retention. Retaining drivers has become a very difficult problem for many trucking companies. There is no single "one size fits all" solution to the problem, and in an industry that is facing constricting regulations, tighter protocols and higher costs overall, trying to keep drivers onboard – and keep them happy – has become one of the most pressing issues that trucking companies face today.
Andy Ahern, founder and CEO of the trucking and transportation logistics consulting firm Ahern & Associates, has been in the industry for more than 40 years and started Ahern & Associates nearly 30 years ago. Throughout this time, Ahern has gathered a substantial amount of information from his clients that are "movers and shakers" in the industry. Learn More... 
Daimler Trucks North America (DTNA) will expand the product offering of its Detroit Diesel brand to include medium-duty engines beginning in 2016. The new engines, branded the Detroit DD5 and DD8, will allow DTNA to supply Detroit engines to its Freightliner and Western Star trucks, Thomas Built Buses and Freightliner Custom Chassis vehicles.
Learn More... The Mid-South cotton harvest has begun at a time when the dollar’s value has climbed abroad and truck drivers are in short supply.
Cotton prices have eased almost 25 percent this year, although experts say that has less to do with the strong dollar than China cutting imports to work off record stockpiles. China is the world’s biggest cotton buyer and America is the biggest exporter. Learn More... Truckload capacity isn’t so much tight as it is imbalanced, according to Scott Moscrip.
"There’s more freight available where the capacity isn’t, and as a result, a lot of that freight is heading into the spot market," Moscrip, founder and CEO of load-matching service Internet Truckstop, said in a conference call with Stifel transportation analyst John Larkin. Truckload capacity is being pulled to the spot market and the small to midsize carriers that rely on load boards, despite rising spot market prices, Moscrip said. In many cases, large carriers are limiting their capacity and raising contract rates even higher, he said. "It’s almost a contract versus spot market rate battle that’s going on," he said. "Companies are more willing to take freight in the spot market because often times it has a better rate than what is even in the contract market," a situation Moscrip described as "incredibly unique." Learn More... ArcBest CorporationSM is pleased to announce that two of its companies – ABF FreightSM and Panther Premium LogisticsSM – have earned recognition as Inbound Logistics Top 100 Truckers for 2014.
Each year, Inbound Logistics editors select the best transportation providers by carefully evaluating submitted information, conducting personal interviews and online research, and comparing that data to the magazine's readers' growing motor freight and logistics challenges. "This year was challenging for the editorial team as they had to select 100 trucking leaders from more than 250 companies that submitted their credentials," said Felecia Stratton, Inbound Logistics editor. ArcBest solves complex transportation and logistics solutions through its four operating companies, ABF Freight, ABF LogisticsSM, Panther Premium Logistics and FleetNet America®. "We're working hard to make sure our customers know that they can come to the ArcBest companies for a variety of solutions to their transportation and logistics needs, and we're grateful for this recognition for ABF Freight and Panther from the editors of such a prestigious publication," said Judy R. McReynolds, ArcBest president and CEO. "We view this as another testament to the dedication of ArcBest people, whose can-do attitude and relentless approach to solving challenges gets things done on behalf of our customers every day." Learn More... Conestoga Transport, a trucking company based in Knoxville, Tennessee, claimed the "Grand Champion Trophy" for its safety record at the Tennessee Trucking Association’s annual convention in September.
Rodney Owen, vice president of operations for Conestoga Transport, accepted the award for the company at the 2014 statewide convention, which was held in Destin, Florida. Conestoga earned the highest honor with the "2014 Grand Champion Trophy" and also was awarded first place for safety in the category for carriers with 3 million miles and under. "Conestoga is honored to be recognized by the Tennessee Trucking Association because our number one goal is safety, and this award recognizes the hard work and expertise of each and every one of our drivers," Owen said. "Safe transportation must be our top priority because we share the highways with the motoring public, we must transport goods and materials in a timely manner, and we want our drivers to return home safely each day." Learn More... |
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