U.S. imports in July are the highest volume seen in one month since July of 2007. The United States brought in more than 1.69 million twenty-foot containers in July, which is 13 percent higher than last month's volume and 2 percent higher than July of last year.

Li & Fung - the most important company that most American shoppers have never heard of - has long been on the cutting edge of globalization, chasing cheap labor to garment factories first in China, then elsewhere in Asia, including Bangladesh. Now, with sweatshop disasters there drawing international scrutiny, the business is looking for the next best place - perhaps South America or sub-Saharan Africa - where it can steer apparel buyers seeking workers to stitch clothing together for a few dollars a day.

OD Household Services, part of Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc., has introduced a mobile app to help customers follow their shipments and connect with the company from any location, through the iPhone and iPad.

A host of marketplace trends are driving logistics companies to offer more value-added services and to physically locate closer to customers in order to support continued growth, says John Ferguson, CEO of SCI Logistics, a major logistics provider in Canada.

Domestic container volume continued its steady performance in the second quarter of 2013 with 9 percent year-over-year gains, largely attributable to a strong big-box segment, with total intermodal traffic rising by 2.4 percent for the quarter, according to IANA, a trade association for the intermodal transportation industry.

Saudi Airlines Cargo has re-launched its hub in Nairobi, Kenya, and expanded network coverage in sub-Saharan Africa.