Visibility is a buzzword in the logistics environment; it represents the real-time status of supply chain processes. Nancy Marino, from Columbus Consulting, believes that today’s businesses need to go beyond visibility to full transparency. In her interview to SupplyChainBrain, she claims that consumers want to know where their order is at every point in the supply chain and that requires more than supply chain visibility. What does it mean for companies — to go from shipment visibility to true transparency and put its supply chain under analysis?

The American Trucking Association (ATA) recently released a freight transportation forecast, predicting growth through the year 2026. According to Forecast, overall freight tonnage will grow 25.5% from 2013 to 2025 and freight revenues will surge 72%.

The holidays are upon us! This week’s major demand: Thanksgiving dinner; a tradition, celebrated by 250 million Americans, who all eat the same meal, each year, on the fourth Thursday of November. The tradition of Thanksgiving can only take place when supply chain demands are met and timely logistics take place.

New Juniper Research has shared interesting insight on the current and future state of e-commerce: global online retail sales are estimated to reach $1.7 trillion by the end of 2015, which is 17% higher than 2014’s total. Among the factors that propel e-commerce growth are public Wi-Fi deployment, 4G and LTE rollouts, and social media’s trend of “buy” buttons.

Shippers can’t rely solely on attracting drivers and carriers by paying higher rates during the capacity crunch. Carriers have the privilege to choose which shippers to work with, based on facilities, dependable schedules and flexible contracts. A shipper might assume they’ve proposed an attractive freight rate, but if the facility doesn’t provide restrooms and parking lots for the drivers, it might be more difficult to secure space for your shipments.

Because of low oil prices, fuel surcharges are relatively low, which helps ease the cost of transportation for shippers. Current carrier pricing is better than it has been in years, but this trend won’t last.

Carriers are selective about what freight they haul. They’re taking steps to ensure equipment and personnel are utilized to maximum potential. Due to a lack of drivers, capacity is shrinking and it’s harder for carriers to haul the large amounts of freight that they used to.

Fuel Price: Impact on Logistics The oil prices, mainly due to increased output from North American fracking, has dropped significantly in the past few months. Oil affects just about every industry in the US economy, especially freight transportation.

Here is a quick summary of some of the most talked about transportation, supply chain and logistics topics from September 2015:

The supply chain is always moving and prone to disruptions, which can make consistent delivery difficult. You want customers to trust that you’ll meet their expectations, but disruptions are often out of a company’s control. Your customer won’t care what the problem is; they will only view delays as poor service.

New technological advancements, changes in regulations and shifting shipping trends have made the transportation industry an exciting, and often challenging, environment to work in. Truck drivers especially are noticing new trends in the industry – from same-day delivery expectations to automated vehicles and a proposal to lower the age minimum of drivers.

In July 2013, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) implemented some significant changes to the way drivers record their hours on duty. The 3 main changes included were: