Goodman Group, Australia's largest listed industrial property group, says its wholly owned North American subsidiary, Goodman Birtcher, has received approvals for the development of a proposed $350m logistics center in Linden, N.J. The project is part of the recently announced $1.4bn development pipeline in the key U.S. logistics markets of California, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

A lack of certainty appears to be the case within the freight forwarding market as momentum fails to take hold. In the latest findings, the Stifel Logistics Confidence Index slipped 2.7 points to 55.2. While still above the important 50-level, too many questions remain unanswered – will a strike be averted at the U.S. West Coast ports, what will happen within the sea freight market now that P3 alliance has collapsed? Is economic growth really slowing?

Safety science company Underwriters Laboratories launched its Information & Insights division, created to meet the demands by businesses for more sustainably made products - including housewares, beauty supplies, cleaning products and consumer technologies from computers to smart devices - and sustainable supply chains.

Tim Voulopos grew up around transportation, majored in logistics and then worked his way up to an executive position at Cardinal Logistics Management. Today there is more technology and fewer drivers, which presents a real challenge, but the basics of trucking really haven't changed, he says.

Finding logistics workers with the right skills is a growing challenge for all companies. One approach that promises to help is a national certification program funded by the Department of Labor and being developed by two universities and nine community colleges.