Challenge: A large U.S. food producer was incurring sizable on-time, in-full delivery fines due to late deliveries to a large retailer. The producer’s objective was to contract a dedicated carrier that could provide 97% on-time delivery out of its highest-volume distribution center — moving its overall on-time delivery metric into acceptable range and avoiding costly penalties.
Ocean carriers, shippers and truckers can’t stop bickering over an issue that has plagued the transportation industry for years, and shows no sign of being easily solved: the ownership and management of chassis.
Stringent regulation and soaring insurance costs are causing some carriers in California to question whether they should continue serving the market. Others are closing their doors.
The closure of Meiwah, a local favorite in the Maryland suburb of Chevy Chase, set off a supply-chain reaction that stretched far beyond the neighborhood. Multiplied by thousands, it helps show how a pandemic has triggered the worst recession for almost a century.
COVID-19 is about to put the global trading system through its most dramatic stress-test since World War II, with supply lines for essential food and medical goods entering a critical phase as the pandemic peaks in the U.S. and Europe.