Carriers shipping cargo through Canadian and Mexican ports do not violate any U.S. law, treaty, agreement or Federal Maritime Commission regulation, according to an FMC study prompted by members of Congress.

Roy Becker, president of Roy Becker Seminars, talks about some of the major issues that companies are facing today, in obtaining financing for their importing and exporting activities.

Online shoppers often abandon their carts when they see the cost of shipping, a response that has led many online sellers to offer shipping for free or a low, flat-rate.

The North American Emission Control Area (ECA), under the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL), went into effective Aug. 1, 2012, bringing stricter controls on emissions of sulphur oxides, nitrogen oxides and particulate matter for ships trading off the coasts of Canada, the United States and the French overseas collectivity of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon.

There are many opportunities to recapture value from returned products and, in the process, strengthen customer relations, says Jeff Jorgensen, vice president of supply chain execution at Spinnaker, a global supply chain and execution company.

Advances in voice technology have made the productivity and accuracy benefits of voice-directed applications much more widely available, without extensive and expensive software implementation, says Mark Engemann, Southeast regional account manager at Wavelink.