Efficiency in the international cargo transportation network is a critical factor for the health of the global economy. It’s no secret that U.S. ports lack in efficiency, capacity, and technology compared to Asian and European ports, especially since the arrival of megaships.

For decades, U.S. infrastructure has been supported by last-second, short-term funding that’s been far from adequate. The recent implementation of the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act was a much-needed boost in funding, but shocking new statistics from the DOT have brought into question whether it will be enough to stabilize our crumbling infrastructure.

Logistics technology is increasingly valuable. Warehouses, trailers, and operators use technology to improve productivity, efficiency, and service.

Supply chain costs are controlled by management and strategy. You can keep costs down by managing every step in the supply chain process. To find reductions in supply chain costs, supply chain strategies have to align with customer expectations and business goals.

2014 Traffic Costs Industry $49.6 Billion. US highway traffic congestion added billions of dollars in operational costs for the trucking industry. More than a dozen states experienced congestion costs of more than $1 billion. 89% of the congestion happened on 12% of roads. The ATRI’s analysis showed that trucks were delayed more than 728 million hours.

Disruptions are Difficult to Manage Businesses are woefully unprepared for disasters and disruptions in their supply chain. In fact, two-thirds of employees say their businesses have not reassessed safety and crisis plans since the last time they faced a natural disaster.

The loading dock is the access point for shipping and receiving. Well-designed loading dock procedures minimize delays, reduce damage to cargo and optimize productivity.

3pl for supply chain visibilityA common transportation challenge of B2B and B2C businesses is lack of supply chain visibility. Without visibility, deliveries are slower, so inventory management suffers and it’s more difficult to manage risk. These challenges appear because of additional costs and unhappy customers. Also, companies can use 3PL for supply chain visibility.

Many businesses want to leverage big data in supply chain initiatives to drive efficiency, cost savings and unparalleled operational visibility. In order to do this, however, a business must have an enterprise-wide infrastructure for information gathering. Only 35% of organizations use a transportation management system (TMS), meaning most companies do not have much visibility into shipping processes, but more importantly, don’t have access to data that’s part of the end to end supply chain insight that’s necessary for big data initiatives.

You need to send your freight quickly but don’t want to pay for expedited freight – it’s a dilemma all shippers face. Many companies rely on expedited shipping, but, with some simple operational changes, you can contain transportation costs and meet service expectations at the same time.

A new report finds that the number of recorded cargo thefts and the average value of the freight attacks declined in 2015. But, regardless of this data, cargo theft is a real problem. Cargo’s value continues to increase, and thieves are sophisticated. Cargo theft is estimated to cost shippers and trucking companies at least $30 billion a year in the US, according to the FBI.

The Chinese economy drives demand for freight on the seas, and its economy’s existing weakness is weighing on the global shipping industry. Ocean shipping is necessary to the global economy, but shippers are experiencing somewhat of a crisis: low demand and surplus shipping vessels for hire. China’s slow economy is reducing demand for commodities like coal and iron ore, which affects dry bulk ocean transport.

Here’s an overview of 6 popular transportation and supply chain news stories from March: Research Brief: Inbound Freight Management. Inbound transportation consumes more than 40% of an average organization’s annual freight budget. New research indicates the biggest challenge managing inbound freight moves is controlling costs. More than half of shippers agree that to improve inbound freight, they need to acquire the best rate per shipment. Learn more by downloading the Research Brief.